Know Your Miami Hurricanes Opponent: Who Are The Arkansas State Red Wolves?

I have to admit, when the Miami Hurricanes 2014 football schedule came out I looked at the game on Saturday, September 13th vs Arkansas State and thought to myself, “That’s a win.” Heck, I had never heard of Arkansas State. To my surprise, all the talk on the radio and my twitter timeline has been about how we can’t take this team lightly. I also found out that the Canes are only a 16.5 point favorite against this team that resides in the Sun Belt conference. It was then, that my inquisitive mind went to work.

Who are the Arkansas State Red Wolves?

Here are some quick introductory facts:

Arkansas State University is located in Jonesboro, Arkansas which is in the northeast corner of the state.
The football team plays their games at Centennial Bank Stadium which has a capacity of 30,964.
The team was originally named the Arkansas State Indians, but in 2008 they changed their name to the Red Wolves.
Their first season as a football team was in 1911
Arkansas State’s rivals are Memphis and Louisana-Monroe

I’d like to head straight to the modern era of Arkansas State football. The Sun Belt conference added football in 2001 and Arkansas State was added as an inaugural member. Steve Roberts was the head coach for 9 seasons (2002-2010) and had an overall record of 45-63. Despite the losing record, it was during this time period where Arkansas State began to flourish. In 2005, Arkansas State won the Sun Belt conference and finished with a record of 6-5. They were invited to their first bowl game since 1970 to play Southern Miss in the New Orleans Bowl. They ended up losing that game 31-19.

Coach Steve Roberts sure left his mark on the Arkansas State football program when he left in 2010. He handed down an abundance of talent on the roster for the future coaches.

Hugh Freeze took over in 2011 and led Arkansas State to a 10-2 record, and was 8-0 in the Sun Belt conference. After the last regular season game that season Hugh Freeze took a head coaching job at Ole Miss. Running backs coach David Gunn was name the interim head coach for the bowl game. Arkansas State ended up losing to Northern Illinois 38-20 in the GoDaddy.com Bowl.

More from Miami Hurricanes News

In 2012, Gus Malzahn was named head coach. Arkansas State finished that year 10-3 overall with only 1 loss in conference play. It was the first time in school history they had back to back 10 win seasons and back to back conference championships. Unfortunately for Arkansas State, Gus Malzahn left at the end of the season to coach at Auburn (we all have seen what he has done at Auburn). John Thompson was named interim head coach and coached the team to a 17-13 win versus Kent State in the GoDaddy.com Bowl.

In 2013, Bryan Harsin became the head coach. Harsin led Arkansas State to a 7-5 record and was 5-2 in conference play. They were named co-champions in the Sun Belt conference, sharing the title with UL-Lafayette. Once again, Arkansas State lost a head coach at the end of the regular season as Coach Harsin announced he was leaving to coach at his alma mater Boise State. John Thompson played interim head coach again and led Arkansas State to a 23-20 win versus Ball State in the GoDaddy.com Bowl.

This season Blake Anderson was named head coach. Coach Anderson came over from the University of North Carolina where he was the offensive coordinator. It is quite obvious that Arkansas State would like to have some coaching stability and hopes that Coach Anderson will be there for more than one season.

***

It will be interesting to see what happens this Saturday when the Red Wolves visit the Canes. It seems as though Arkansas State had a bit of a down year last year compared to what they have been used to. Is it because the talent that Steve Roberts brought is mostly gone or is it lack of stability within the coaching staff? A 7-5 record still isn’t horrible and this team should not be taken lightly. Hold on to your seats Canes fans, this game has a chance to be bumpy.

Home/Miami Hurricanes News