Arizona Bowl: 5 things to watch as Arkansas State faces Nevada

What to watch at the Nova Home Loans Arizona Bowl

Energetic Nevada coach Jay Norvell — who has a Herm Edwards-like, own-the-room vibe about him — launched into full metaphor mode about halfway through a news conference Friday morning.

First, the second-year Wolf Pack coach compared Saturday’s Nova Home Loans Arizona Bowl matchup against Arkansas State to a final exam. “It’s going to test us in every way,” Norvell said.

He then compared the game to … surfing.

“I don’t know if any of you people surf,” Norvell said. “We’ve got some West Coast kids that have. When you’re waiting for a wave to come in, you don’t wait for a small one. You wait for a challenging one. This is a challenge for us.”

There aren’t a lot of opportunities to surf around here. So we suggest another metaphor for the fourth Arizona Bowl:

Brunch.

Who doesn’t like brunch?

The game is set to kick off in prime brunch time: 11:15 a.m. It features a smorgasbord of storylines — a little bit of this and a little bit of that to satisfy every appetite.

Here’s a look at what’s on the menu at Arizona Stadium:

Unfamiliar yet similar

Jonesboro, Arkansas, and Reno, Nevada, are almost 2,000 miles apart. Arkansas State and Nevada played only one common opponent this season: UNLV.

Yet in some ways, the two teams are mirror images of each other. They even have comparable nicknames.

Nevada started the season 3-4 before winning four of its last five. Arkansas State started 4-4 before winning its last four.

The Arizona Bowl combatants have strikingly similar statistical profiles:

• Points per game: ASU 31.8, Nevada 32.3
• Points allowed per game: ASU 26.4, Nevada 28.1
• Passing yards per game: ASU 283.3, Nevada 285.3
• Total defense: ASU 376.6, Nevada 378.2
• Sacks: ASU 32, Nevada 32

Both teams feature quarterbacks who started their careers at Power Five schools and transferred to junior colleges before finding homes. Taking it a step further, Red Wolves QB Justice Hansen once participated in a high school scrimmage against David Cornwell, whom Wolf Pack QB Ty Gangi beat out to become Nevada’s starter three years later.

“Justice is a little bigger athlete than Ty, but similar guys — guys that can hurt you with their feet and their arm,” said Norvell, who was the co-offensive coordinator at Oklahoma in 2014, when Hansen was a freshman for the Sooners. “Just really good leaders, guys that have really paid their dues and been through the ups and downs.

“Ty’s got scars. He was never the guy ever and until this last year. Justice had to transfer and made a new career at Arkansas State. I think that’s one of the most important qualities a quarterback has to have — your toughness and your ability to overcome adversity — and those two kids definitely have it.”

Unlike most of the games that preceded it this postseason, the Arizona Bowl should be competitive. Through Thursday, the average margin in the first 19 bowl games was 20.2 points — and that was before Auburn opened Friday by pulverizing Purdue 63-14. Only five games had been decided by one score.

Arkansas State opened as a two-point favorite. Nevada is now favored by 1.5. Two of the first three Arizona Bowls were decided by less than a touchdown.

Freshmen running backs

Friday’s media event at the AC Marriott was a showcase for seniors. Several spoke wistfully about the Arizona Bowl, framing it as a final opportunity to hang out with their buddies.

But two true freshman tailbacks will play prominent roles Saturday.

Marcel Murray (A-State) and Toa Taua (Nevada) led their teams in rushing during the regular season. Each was named his conference’s top freshman.

Murray shared carries almost evenly with senior Warren Wand, who expressed pride in his apprentice’s accomplishments.

“Marcel came a long way from the beginning,” Wand said of Murray, who rushed for 793 yards and seven touchdowns. “I’m not surprised. He came in, hard worker, kept his head down. Pretty much the same thing I did as a freshman.”

Red Wolves coach Blake Anderson said Wand went above and beyond to help his understudy — even though Murray would cut into his playing time.

“To be enough of a team player and truly put your ego on the side and teach another guy that is going to literally take reps away from you, that is just not easy to do,” Anderson said. “That does not happen every day, and I’ve not seen many guys do it better than he did.”

Taua rushed for 816 yards and six touchdowns, averaging 5.2 yards per attempt. He also caught 20 passes for 194 yards and a score. Nevada went 6-3 when Taua carried the ball 10 or more times in a game.

“He’s young, so at times I’ve got to coach him up in the backfield and make sure he knows what he’s doing,” Gangi said. “He’s an incredible player.”

Merritt badge

Nevada’s leader in receiving yards, McLane Mannix, transferred earlier this month to be closer to his ailing mother in Texas. The Wolf Pack lost another key player to transfer in safety Nephi Sewell, who ranked sixth on the team in tackles.

With Mannix now committed to Texas Tech, the perimeter spotlight shifts to Arkansas State’s Kirk Merritt.

In his first season in Jonesboro, Merritt leads the Red Wolves in catches (75), yards (939) and touchdowns (seven). The former four-star recruit began his college career at Oregon and spent time at Texas A&M, so none of this is surprising.

But Merritt wasn’t trending in a positive direction a year and a half ago.

Merritt was dismissed from the A&M program — then under the leadership of current Arizona coach Kevin Sumlin — in April 2017 after pleading not guilty to two counts of indecent exposure. He had been suspended indefinitely the previous fall after being arrested for allegedly exposing himself to two female academic tutors.

Merritt resurfaced at East Mississippi Community College — the school featured in the first season of the Netflix documentary “Last Chance U” — before returning to Division I with Arkansas State.

“Kirk’s not the only guy on our team that started out somewhere else and ended up finding a home at our place,” Anderson said. “We kind of believe in second chances. We’re really calculated about who we take, and we vet every situation very thoroughly.

“He was a guy we were willing to take a chance on and felt like he would make the most of a second opportunity, and he’s done exactly that. He’s been a great student, he’s been a great player. He’s done everything off the field as promised and as asked.

“We turn away a lot more transfer guys than we take. But when we find one that we truly believe in, we’re willing to give him an opportunity.”

Who wants it more?

Bowl games tend to be unpredictable because so much hinges on each team’s mental state.

“Bowl season is just really sort of its own monster,” Hansen said. “Anybody can beat anybody, and it shows who’s prepared and who’s entering the game with the right mindset.”

Arkansas State is making its eighth straight bowl appearance, including five in a row under Anderson. He has led the Red Wolves to five straight winning seasons but is just 1-3 in bowl games.

“In my opinion, bowls come down to who wants to be there, who the game is really, truly important to,” Anderson said. “That’s where you see some of these matchups that on paper would go one way, (yet) you get in the game (and) it goes completely the opposite. That happens every year with teams that are motivated and teams that aren’t.”

Anderson is pitching to his team the importance of earning a ninth victory this season. Nevada is seeking the sixth bowl victory in school history, the last having come in the first Arizona Bowl in 2015.

Norvell, who’s been a coach in college or the NFL for more than 30 years, put a lot of thought into the Wolf Pack’s practice schedule. The goal: keep the team engaged.

“One of the problems you could have is starting too early on your opponent, because you get stale,” Norvell said. “We practiced our seniors one day. Then the next day we pulled our seniors and practiced with our team that’s coming back next year. And then the third day, we scrimmaged our young guys.”

Two weeks before the Arizona Bowl, Nevada shifted its attention to Arkansas State, mimicking the rhythm of the regular season.

“Guys get used to doing things a certain way,” Norvell said. “I think we’re at a really good place right now.”

Day game!

As mentioned at the top, kickoff is slated for 11:15 a.m. The forecast for Saturday calls for a high of 51 degrees with sunny skies and minimal wind — perfect football weather.

Nevada and Arkansas each played four afternoon games this season. The players are looking forward to the early kickoff.

“I hate sitting in the hotel all day waiting to play,” Gangi said. “We practice in the mornings too, so we’re kind of on that schedule anyways.”

The last two Arizona Bowls kicked off at 3:30 p.m. But day games at Arizona Stadium have been rare. Arizona has had just two afternoon home kickoffs over the past three seasons after having two apiece each of the previous five years.

An added bonus of the 11:15 a.m. kickoff: Fans can get home in time to catch the second half of the first national semifinal between Notre Dame and Clemson.