It’s Arkansas State’s First Chance to Haunt the Big House
What’s the point of Arkansas State traveling to Ann Arbor to face the national defending champions? It’s been revealed that the College Football Playoff Committee, the laziest organization ever assembled, won’t take strength of schedule in consideration when evaluating G5 programs. Even the short term results of the win have questionable relevance. Just this week, Northern Illinois put a parking shoe on #5 Notre Dame, and the AP sleepily stuck the Huskies at #25 – while only dropping the Irish to #16. So what’s the point?
Cynics will say $1.8M is the point. True, Arkansas State can use the cash more than Michigan, the fourth wealthiest college football program in the nation. Much was made about the payout to Northern Illinois after the win in South Bend, but budget conscious fans can rest assured that these guys are good for it. Thanks for the check, Wolverines. We can afford to play baseball for another year.
“In football, we’re in the business of winning.”
Butch Jones
No, the point of playing Michigan, dear Reader, is to beat Michigan. Historically, the Red Wolves have had mixed success with big money games, the last a 73-0 atomic bombing from Oklahoma. As a result, the benchmark for many fans is “don’t get hurt.” Honestly, the chance of getting hurt against Michigan is just as good as the odds of getting injured against ULM. Pain is not the issue. The W is, and always will be, the issue. And when the Red Wolves take the field at the Big House on Saturday, the win will be the only thing on their minds.
Let’s Take A Look At These National Champions
“This is our biggest challenges to date,” said head coach Butch Jones in his Tuesday presser. Considering how narrowly the Red Wolves escaped UCA and Tulsa, that might give Arkansas State fans some considerable pause.
However, it’s not like Michigan is without issues. There’s the Punishment of Success; thirteen Wolverines from the 2013 national championship team were drafted into the NFL in April. The program’s kaki-wearing, milk-chugging head coach, Jim Harbaugh, is now leading the San Diego Chargers. What Harbaugh left behind was a tangled Christmas lights string of NCAA infractions that landed on the lap of new head coach Sherrone Moore.
The Wolverines launched the season with a 30-10 win over Fresno State, but the offense wasn’t exactly fire, and the score is aided by a touchdown from the defense. At the moment, the Wolverines are playing a pair of quarterbacks – Davis Warren and Alex Orji, the latter relied largely on his ability to make plays with his legs. Warren tossed a pick and a TD on just 118 yards passing.
Warren was equally anemic against Texas, to which he threw for 204 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. Additionally, the Michigan defense had no answer for Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers, who enjoyed a sack-less Saturday while throwing a trio of touchdowns. Texas is a Top 5 program this season, but I’m not sure what dismayed national pundits more: Michigan scoring just one touchdown on Texas at home, or the Jets getting obliterated by the 49ers on Monday night football.
Red Wolves fans needn’t get too excited by Michigan’s struggle against Texas. Sun Belt followers may remember Clemson getting car washed by Georgia only to billy-club the Appalachian State Mountaineers 66-20. Perhaps Moore and that Michigan offense is still troubleshooting the kinks. Maybe the Fresno State defense is more closely related to Texas’ than one might have once believed. Who knows? Even a wounded Wolverine is dangerous – or so I assume. I’ve never encountered one in the wild.
Butch Speak
“In critical moments of the game, there are three choices a coach has to make. Players over plays. Give it to the best player. Next choice, we’re just going to run what we run, because we have confidence in our playmaking. Third, try to make the make the best play possible.”
Finding Ways to Win
“We played our style of play,” explained Butch Jones after the comeback win over Tulsa. “We played Arkansas State football.” The attitude on this Red Wolves team is unlike any in Jones’ four years at the helm. There is no level of adversity that overwhelms Arkansas State’s supply of confidence. When down by four to UCA with only 55 seconds on the clock, the team didn’t panic. Instead, Jones relied on his quarterback (who had struggled with accuracy the entire game) to lead a game winning drive. When the Red Wolves played a horrendous first half of football against Tulsa, the team leaders shrugged and went to work putting out an excellent second half of pigskin.
“I knew I’d have a chance to make up for it,” said Courtney Jackson (Week 2 SBC Special Teams Player of the Week), who followed up a disastrous miscue on a punt return with a 77-yard punt return in the second half.
There will be plenty of adversity to overcome when Arkansas State takes the field with #17 Michigan. But the pressure isn’t on the Red Wolves – the microscope is focused on the national champions. Arkansas State is playing with Big House money with generous outcome expectations. This is a must win for Michigan. It’s a luxury win for Arkansas State. Expect to see an A-State team who is both taking in the moment and projecting confidence that only comes with surviving two near misses.
Wolverine To Watch: Josaiah Stewart, Senior, Defensive End
Defense is supposed to be Michigan’s strength, and nobody on the squad has had a hotter start than senior defensive end Josaiah Stewart, a name Sun Belt fans may recognize as the former 4-star recruit totaled 12.5 sacks for Coastal Carolina as a freshman in 2021. Stewart left Conway for Michigan in in 2022, and he made his first start for the Wolverines in Week 1 against Fresno State. Stewart leads the team with two sacks and his second on the team with total tackles (9).
The Great Zvada
The MVP of Michigan’s young season may be former Arkansas State star kicker Dominic Zvada, who has converted all five goals including three from 50-plus yards (52, 53, 55). Zvada was brilliant for the Red Wolves in his freshman and sophomore seasons, and to see him working against A-State in the Big House will be a bizarre moment for fans. It will likely be bizarre for Zvada as well.
“When Michigan started recruiting me, I knew it would be a possibility I would play them. I still love and talk to them to see how they’re doing. They’re having a great start to the season and I congratulated them,” Zvada said. “There’s no bad blood. It’s all love and will be good to see them. It’s going to be a good game for us and I’m excited to play them.”
Key Red Wolf 1: Brian Whitehead, Senior, Defensive End
A big reason for the defensive upswing was the play of Liberty transfer Brian Whitehead, a 6’1″ 252 pound senior who contributed to two TFL’s on Saturday. The Red Wolves defensive line was a question mark entering the season, with very few players having ever taken a snap for Arkansas State. But with Whitehead providing pressure, the Red Wolves defensive trench wore down Tulsa’s beefy offensive line and put the brakes on the Golden Hurricane run game. Whitehead will be called up again to not only put pressure on Michigan slinger Davis Warren, but prevent big Wolverine running back Kalel Mullings from eating up clock and yards.
Key Red Wolf 2: Ja’Quez Cross, Junior, Running Back
Michigan is stout against the run. The Wolverines held Fresno State to just nine yards on the ground and gave up a manageable 143 yards to Texas’ multi-pronged run attack. The Red Wolves offensive line, which saw the return of starting center Jacob Bayer last week, will be put to the test on Saturday. The man who could make a difference is Ja’Quez Cross, who is not only quick around the edge, but is a reliable pass catcher, too. With Zac Wallace providing the inside bruise, Cross would be a perfect weapon to catch the Wolverines off guard.
The Final Analysis
We mentioned this earlier: the pressure is on Michigan, not Arkansas State. The Wolverines not only have national expectations to meet, but they chose to make the Red Wolves their homecoming opponent. It’s a must-win situation for head coach Sherrone Moore.
Pressure makes diamonds, but pressure also crushes submarines. If the Red Wolves open the game with Sun Belt Heat, it may be enough to fluster the defending champions into making mistakes. At those moments, its up to Arkansas State to execute. If at first they fail, it’s okay. Football always provides another opportunity.
IMAGES: Mine
Howlraiser 