ASU inks three at mid-year

JONESBORO, Ark. (12/20/12) - Arkansas State head football coach Bryan Harsin announced Thursday that junior college standouts Brennan Tutor and Chandler Rogers and Bentonville (Ark.) High School product Garrett Kaufman have all signed to play for the Red Wolves.

Tutor is a 6-4, 285-pound offensive lineman transferring from Itawamba (Miss.) Community College and Rogers is a 6-2, 215-pound quarterback who just completed his sophomore season at Copiah-Lincoln (Miss.) Community College. Kaufman was a three-year varsity starter who completed a decorated career at both linebacker and running back with the Tigers in 2012.

Tutor and Rogers will both have two years of eligibility remaining with the Red Wolves, while all three players will be able to practice with the team during its spring camp as midyear signees.

The 6-1, 225-pound Kaufman was a three-year varsity starter at Bentonville, earning all-conference honors as both a junior and senior and all-state recognition in 2012. A three-star recruit by ESPN.com, Kaufman was named All-Arkansas, the conference's defensive player of the year and a finalist for the Farm Bureau Class 6A/7A Defensive Player of the Year in the state after recording 129 tackles from his linebacker position.

He helped lead Bentonville to three conference championships, posting 114 tackles as a junior and rushing for more than 700 yards during his sophomore campaign. He was a member of the AP Super Team and KURM Dream Team as a junior as well.

A Brookhaven, Miss. native that attended Brookhaven Academy, Rogers helped lead Copiah-Lincoln to a 9-3 record and No. 14 ranking in the final NJCAA Poll in 2012. With Rogers taking the snaps, the Wolfpack claimed their first Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges (MACJC) state championship since 1985.

As a sophomore, he put up numbers that were among the best in the country with 3,164 passing yards and 30 touchdowns. His 263.7 yards per game were the sixth most among all NJCAA players and his passing touchdowns ranked as the fourth most. He connected on 241-of-390 passing attempts for a 61.8 completion percentage and also posted a long pass of 75 yards and long run of 82. He was named a MACJC Second Team All-State selection for his efforts.

Tutor redshirted his true freshman season at Itawamba before starting at tackle for the Indians as both a freshman and sophomore. He earned MACJC Second Team All-State honors as a sophomore after helping Itawamba to a 6-3 record, including a 24-23 win over then-ranked No. 3 East Mississippi Community College in its season finale. He was part of the Indians' offensive line that paved the way for 393.2 yards and 24.4 points per game in 2012.

Tutor was named first team all-area in both 2008 and 2009 at Pontotoc (Miss.) High School. He was a three-year varsity letterman, received his school's leadership award as a senior and was an alternate in the Mississippi-Alabama All-Star game.