Ja'quez Cross

2024: Named Preseason All-Sun Belt and Athlon Sports Second Team Offense … Appeared in all 13 games for Arkansas State with seven starts … Finished second on the team with 638 rushing yards and third with two scores … Posted back-to-back 100-plus yard rushing games against Texas State and Southern Miss, pushing his career total up to four total 100-plus yard games … As the team’s top kickoff returner, he returned 24 kickoffs for 475 yards with a long return of 33 yards … Currently is tied for seventh all-time with a kickoff return career average of 24.0 yards per return … Also ranks 10th all-time in A-State history with 1129 kickoff return yards … Hauled in a career-high 228 receiving yards on 35 catches … Scored his first receiving touchdown in the win at Southern Miss … Finished with back-to-back games with a season-high six receptions against South Alabama and at Texas State … Finished with a season-high 18 carries at Southern Miss for 127 yards … Responsible for a tackle against Bowling Green in the bowl game victory ... Arkansas State Athletic Director’s Honor Roll member. 2023: Sun Belt Conference Third Team All-Conference as a return specialist … Was named the Sun Belt Conference Offensive and Special Teams Player of the Week following a career performance in Arkansas State’s 77-45 victory against Texas State … Became the first player in league history to earn the offensive and special teams weekly honor in the same week … Cross finished the contest against the Bobcats with a career-high 320 all-purpose yards including 13 carries for 139 yards and three touchdowns … Added a 93-yard touchdown return against the Bobcats … Finished the year with a team-leading 738 rushing yards on 128 carries and seven touchdowns … His 66 yard rush against Stony Brook was the team’s longest rush of the year … Also contributed 161 receiving yards on 24 catches … Was the team’s leading kick return specialist, finishing the year with 654 kickoff return yards and one touchdown … Ranked second in the league in kick return yards … Had six games with 100-plus all-purpose yards. 2022 (A-State): Appeared in eight contests with a start at Louisiana … Responsible for 92 rushing yards … Finished with a career-high 33 rushing yards at Louisiana … Had a long run of 12 yards in the win against Grambling … Had 56 receiving yards with a career-high of 21 in the season-finale against Troy. 2021 (Purdue): Saw action in three games and redshirted his true freshman season at Purdue in 2021 … Recorded 13 rushing attempts for 27 yards with a long run of five yards … Caught one pass covering six yards. High School: Helped guide Fordyce (Ark.) HS to a 2020 state title and 15-0 record with a 5-0 2A Region 8 record … As a senior in 2020, paced the team with 872 rushing yards on 100 carries with a team-best 20 touchdowns and added a squad-leading 751 receiving yards on 35 catches with nine touchdowns, also the most on the team, to total 2,002 all-purpose yards and 1,656 total yards … 3-star recruit by 247Sports … No. 11-ranked overall recruit in the state of Arkansas by 247Sports.com. Personal: Born Jan. 11, 2002.