2013-14 Football Previews – (Sun Belt) – Red Wolves
Arkansas State is the defending champion in the Sun Belt Conference. The Red Wolves went 7-1 in the conference and 10-3 overall in 2012. Gus Malzahn left the team for Auburn after last season, and Bryan Harsin will get the chance as the team’s new head man.
Sun Belt 2013 College Football Previews: Arkansas State Red Wolves (Team Link)
Head Coach: Bryan Harsin
2012 Record: 10-3
Arkansas State Gambling Odds to win BCS Championship: +2,000 (Part of Field)
Arkansas State Gambling Odds to win Sun Belt Conference: +250
Expectations are high again in Jonesboro, but the team did lose a lot of talent from last season.
Hugh Freeze and Gus Malzahn were both only in Jonesboro for a year, but they both won a Sun Belt title. Harsin has some big shoes to try to fill, and he’ll have to do it without star quarterback Ryan Aplin.
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Aplin finished his career as the Sun Belt’s all-time leader in passing yards with 10,758. The Red Wolves will break in a new starter at quarterback, but there’s talent at a lot of positions on this team.
Team Strengths:
David Oku and J.D. McKissic give the team a couple of great play makers on the offensive side of the ball. Oku was the team’s leading rusher a year ago, and he is also a great pass catcher. McKissic piled up 103 catches in his freshman season last year, and he should be ready for a monster sophomore season.
Arkansas State has a very powerful offensive line. Led by tackle Aaron Williams and guard Steven Haunga, the Red Wolves may have the best offensive front in the conference. This unit has been very good for the past few years, and they know how to dominate in the trenches. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
The Red Wolves have a lot of talent on the defensive front. Ryan Carrethers and Amos Draper are very good run stuffers in the middle of the defense. There is plenty of speed to go around at the defensive end spots.
Team Weaknesses:
Aplin is the type of guy that is next to impossible to replace. He was the team’s starter for four years, and no one on this roster has even close to the kind of talent or experience level that Aplin had. It’s going to take some time for whoever gets the starting role to learn the offense and be able to spread the ball around in a way that can help this team keep up with other strong offenses in the Sun Belt. You just can’t lose a guy like Aplin and not take a major step back at the position.
Arkansas State’s pass defense looks like a weakness heading into the 2013 season. There aren’t many veterans on this group (only five starters return on the entire defense), and this unit has been picked on by the best quarterbacks in the league the past couple years. Look for opponents to throw it early and often against Arkansas State.
2013-2014 Arkansas State Football Prediction: 6-6
Arkansas State has one of the more difficult schedules in the Sun Belt. The Red Wolves have to travel to both Louisiana-Monroe and Western Kentucky. The non-conference schedule includes tough games at Missouri and at Auburn (where they’ll face their former coach). This isn’t a bad team, but it’s highly unlikely they’ll be able to match their success of the last two seasons.
2013 Red Wolves Schedule
8/31/13 7:00 PM ET ARPB
9/7/13 7:30 PM ET @AUB
9/12/13 7:30 PM ET TROY
9/21/13 4:30 PM ET @MEM
9/28/13 TBD @MISOU
10/12/13 TBD IDAHO
10/22/13 8:00 PM ET ULLAF
11/2/13 TBD @SALB
11/9/13 TBD @ULMON
11/16/13 TBD TEXST
11/23/13 TBD GeoSt.
11/30/13 4:00 PM ET @WKEN
