After all the preparation that went into the season opener, not to mention the emotion of knocking off a top-five team in the country, Week 2 seems like a sigh of relief for the Buckeyes.
Reigning Sun Belt cellar-dweller Arkansas State is not Notre Dame, and it just might be the easiest game on Ohio State’s regular-season schedule – at least on paper. The Red Wolves dropped 10 of their 12 games in Butch Jones’ first season as head coach and aren’t exactly pegged to be world-beaters in 2022.
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ARKANSAS STATE RED WOLVES |
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1-0 ROSTER / SCHEDULE |
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NOON – SATURDAY, SEPT. 11 OHIO STADIUM COLUMBUS, OHIO |
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BIG TEN NETWORK FOX SPORTS |
Still, with a lesser opponent comes the expectation to look stellar for a team like Ohio State, which isn’t without some kinks to iron out after an uneven performance against the Fighting Irish over the weekend.
Here are five things to know about the Red Wolves, who will enter Columbus as 44-point underdogs to the Buckeyes next weekend.
Jones helped Bama beat Bucks in 2020
Arkansas State’s head coach knows what it’s like to beat Ryan Day and the Buckeyes.
Jones was Nick Saban’s special assistant during Alabama’s 2020 national championship run, which was punctuated with a 52-24 thrashing of Ohio State to capture the college football crown on Jan. 11, 2021. Jones was hired to helm the Red Wolves program on Dec. 12, 2020, but remained on staff with the Crimson Tide until they won it all the following month.
An offensive analyst for Alabama in 2018 and ’19, Jones helped finetune a top-six total offense in the nation in each of his three seasons in Tuscaloosa. Despite an unsuccessful first season at Arkansas State overall, Jones’ offensive expertise paid dividends for the Red Wolves – statistically, at least – as Arkansas State possessed the No. 11 passing offense in the nation a year ago.
Arkansas State is Jones’ fourth head coaching stop in the college football ranks, having previously spent time at Central Michigan (2007-09), Cincinnati (2010-12) and Tennessee (2013-17). Jones had winning records overall at each of those stops, won four bowl games and finished in the final AP Top 25 on four occasions.
Jones won two conference titles in the MAC and two in the Big East and was named coach of the year in the latter league in 2011.
Coming off worst season in 21 years
When Jones replaced former Arkansas State head coach Blake Anderson at the top of 2021, the Red Wolves were fresh off their first losing season since 2010. Arkansas State’s 2-10 record in Jones’ first year, though, was its worst since going 1-10 in 2000.
The Red Wolves went 1-7 in the Sun Belt to finish the year with sole possession of last place in the conference. Arkansas State allowed no fewer than 21 points to any opponent all season and gave up at least 40 points in six different games.
Arkansas State ranked 124th in the country in scoring defense a year ago, allowing an average of 38.6 points per game, and its total defense was even worse. Of the 130 teams in FBS football, Arkansas State was second-to-last with a defense that gave up 505.9 yards to its opponents per game. The Red Wolves were one of just two teams in the county to give up at least 500 yards per game, alongside Duke.
The lone win of Arkansas State’s conference schedule came against Louisiana-Monroe, but even then, it had to eke out a three-point victory against a team that finished the year with a 2-6 record in Sun Belt play.
Half of Arkansas State’s 2021 defeats came by single-digit margins, but that was hardly a consolation for the Red Wolves.
Former Buckeye at running back
Brian Snead will return to Ohio Stadium this weekend as the former Buckeye running back, who was dismissed from the team due to sexual assault allegations in 2018, plays his second game with the Red Wolves.
A top-100 recruit in the 2018 class, the Florida native played just two games in scarlet and gray before a university investigation led to his suspension and eventual dismissal. Snead then went the junior college route for a year at Iowa Western Community College before transferring to Austin Peay.
Snead racked up 1,051 yards and 10 touchdowns in two seasons with the FCS program, where he was named to the OVC All-Newcomer Team after his first year with Austin Peay. Snead transferred to Arkansas State over the summer and has already made an impact in the Red Wolves’ backfield.
With 12 carries, 57 yards and a touchdown on the ground in Arkansas State’s season opener, Snead had the second-most rushing attempts on the team and made an eight-yard grab in the passing game.
The 6-foot, 210-pound back will be one of the focal points of the Red Wolves’ offense as he enters Ohio Stadium one more time, although Arkansas State had the third-worst rushing offense in the country in 2021.
Blowout win in Week 1
Regardless of its caliber of opponent, Arkansas State couldn’t have asked for a much better start to the season on Saturday.
The Red Wolves throttled Grambling, 58-3, to start their year off with some much-needed momentum following last season’s missteps. Jones’ offense did what it was supposed to do, racking up 572 total yards and eight touchdowns on an FCS opponent, but perhaps the defensive effort was the best sign of all for Arkansas State.
Hue Jackson’s first Grambling roster completed just four of its 18 pass attempts, averaged just 1.5 yards per carry on the ground and never found the end zone through four quarters. Given the aforementioned defensive metrics that helped doom the Red Wolves’ 2021 campaign, those marks could give the unit some confidence moving forward.
Unfortunately for Arkansas State, it’ll be tough to build on such a performance when going up against last season’s No. 1 total offense in the country, even if the Buckeyes had an off-kilter start to the year against Notre Dame on that side of the ball.
Former FSU starter at quarterback
Integral to Arkansas State’s explosive Week 1 win was the play of quarterback James Blackman, who finished with four total touchdowns and just five incompletions against the Tigers. And Blackman isn’t exactly an unheralded signal-caller for the Red Wolves.
The six-year college football veteran played four years at Florida State before transferring to Arkansas State in January 2021 and has logged plenty of experience at the highest level of the sport.
The 6-foot-5 Florida native started 12 games for the Seminoles as a true freshman and 10 games in his third year but lost the starting job in 2020, which led to his eventual transfer. Blackman’s 43 passing touchdowns are 10th all-time at Florida State and his 5,445 passing yards put him 12th in program history.
Blackman started five games for the Red Wolves in 2021, throwing for 1,344 yards, eight scores and four picks before missing the season's final six games due to injury. Back healthy in 2022, Blackman’s size and experience will give Jim Knowles and company something to think about in Week 2.
