The Arkansas State Red Wolves football team has been plagued with injuries to start the 2019 season. Through just five games, the Red Wolves have suffered four season-ending injuries with a plethora of various minor injuries along the way.

For Arkansas State, it’s next man up. However, that’s not always as simple as it sounds.

“It’s a life lesson. Life doesn’t ask you what you want, it just throws it at you. Our kids have to be resilient. We’ve got to find ways as a staff to win,” head coach Blake Anderson said. “We’re in a bind physically, there’s no doubt, but we don’t want it to be an excuse. It’s ‘no excuses, others first, go to work.’ We need that now more than ever.”

Here’s a quick glance at the Red Wolves injury report for Georgia State:

QB Logan Bonner - Season (Thumb)

CB Jerry Jacobs - Season (ACL)

NT Forrest Merill - Season (Bicep)

RB Ryan Graham - Season (ACL)

DT Kevin Thurmon - 4-6 Weeks (Hand)

WR Dahu Green - Questionable (PCL)

RB Marcel Murray - Game Time Decision (Ankle)

RB Isaiah Azubuike - Day-to-Day (Hip)

LB Caleb Bonner - Day-to-Day

CB Jeremy Smith - Day-to-Day

On the offensive side of the ball, the Red Wolves are without their original starting quarterback and had to dig deep into the running back room by the end of their contest with Troy. Green saw his first action of the season last week but was taken out of the game because he was “just not healthy” according to Anderson.

Quarterback Layne Hatcher stepped up in relief of Logan Bonner against Troy, putting up 440 yards and 4 touchdowns in a 50-43 win. He completed 25-of-35 passes and threw two interceptions along the way. With Murray and Graham held out of the game and Azubuike banged up early in the contest, Jamal Jones — who began the fall fifth on the depth chart— saw significant playing time against Troy. The redshirt senior scored his first career touchdown in the process.

Anderson said there is a real possibility that Murray will suit up this weekend as a “true game-time decision”, but also that he “absolutely” expects to have Murray ready for an Oct. 16 matchup with Louisiana. Azubuike is listed as the starter for the Georgia State game if Murray can’t go, though he missed most of the Troy game with a hip pointer. He is considered day-to-day, as is Green out wide.

If the hits to the offensive end seem bad, a quick look at the defense puts it into perspective.

"We had to get creative on defense against Troy. We’ll have to do similar things against Georgia State and future opponents,” Anderson said.

In the preseason, three Red Wolves were named to the Preseason All-Sun Belt Defensive First Team. Of those three, only William Bradley-King remains healthy. Forrest Merrill is out for the season with a bicep injury and Jerry Jacobs is out for the year with a torn ACL.

The Red Wolves also snagged three spots on the Preseason All-Sun belt Defensive Second Team. However, Kevin Thurmon is out for up to six weeks with a broken hand, leaving just two active Red Wolf defenders on the list. Additionally, linebacker Caleb Bonner left the Troy contest early with an injury but is considered day-to-day with “bumps and bruises” according to Anderson. Cornerback Jeremy Smith also falls under the same category for A-State.

Overall, the way the injury bug has infected Arkansas State has been detrimental, though the Red Wolves have shown just how tough and resilient they truly are in the process. A season ago, 18 players were injured throughout the season, but most were rotational players. This season, some of the best players not just on the A-State roster, but in the entire Sun Belt are out of commission.

Moving forward, this will be a team that may struggle to find their identity with so many moving parts and relatively inexperienced players. However, if one thing is certain, it is that they will compete with everything they have. At the end of the day, there’s a real possibility that they won’t have what it takes to get the job done, but it will not be for lack of effort.

In the past 10 months, this team has arguably been through more turmoil than any squad in the nation, and they’ve remained resilient. Expect no less for the rest of the 2019 campaign.

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