After milestone performance, A-State’s Lang wins Sun Belt weekly honor

JONESBORO, Ark. (KAIT) - Arkansas State senior return specialist and running back Johnnie Lang took home the Sun Belt Special Teams Player of the Week, the conference announced Monday afternoon.

Lang returned three kicks for 146 yards in A-State’s 45-28 win over ULM Saturday, including a 98-yard return for a touchdown. His 48.6 kickoff return average set a single-game program record.

The Florida native finished with three touchdowns in the game: A rushing and a receiving score to go along with the kickoff return. He became the third player in Sun Belt history to accomplish that feat, the first since former FIU and Indianapolis Colts wide receiver T.Y. Hilton did it in 2010. Lang became just the 15th player to do that in all of FBS since 2000

The senior recorded 254 all-purpose yards in the win and is up to 936 (187.2 per game) this season. That mark leads all of FBS by 104 yards.

He’s the first Red Wolf to earn Sun Belt weekly honors in 2022. Alan Lamar, Corey Rucker and Blake Grupe were all named Players of the Week throughout last season, with Grupe the last to win in Nov. 2021.

Arkansas State continues to impress on special teams. The Red Wolves rank first in the nation in ESPN’s SP+ (ESPN+ subscription required) in the special teams category.

Lang and the Red Wolves will look for more success as they host James Madison Saturday night at 6:00 PM. The game will be televised on NFL Network.

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