2009 Husker Football Opponent Preview: Arkansas State

Husker Mike — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 11:00:24 -0000

In Nebraska's bid to win the Sun Belt Conference championship in 2009, Arkansas State stands to be the biggest challenge of them all. Florida Atlantic seems to be the team that Husker fans look most warily at, with a top 25 offense and a four year starter at quarterback. But frankly, I think Arkansas State is the best of Nebraska's three Sun Belt foes.

The Red Wolves, who changed their mascot from the Indians last season, are lead by seniors Corey Leonard and Reggie Arnold on offense. Leonard will also be a four-year starter, and is a dual-threat quarterback who can hurt you with his legs and his arm. Ask Texas A&M about Leonard; he gashed the Aggies for 86 yards on the ground in wrecking Mike Sherman's debut in College Station. For last season, he rushed for 516 yards and threw for 2347, totalling 16 touchdowns through the air and four more on the ground.

Three-time all-conference running back Reggie Arnold rushed for 1074 yards and seven touchdowns last season. He'll be backed up by sophomore Derek Lawson, who added 695 yards and an impressive 7.2 yards per carry average in his freshman season.

Defensively, the Red Wolves will be led by returning Sun Belt defensive player of the year, defensive end Alex Carrington. All told, Arkansas State returns eight starters from the second best defense in the Sun Belt Conference. Phil Steele named junior defensive tackle Bryan Hall to his first-team all conference list, and added five more defenders on his second and third all-conference teams. Arkansas State finished 2008 as the #2 defense in the Sun Belt behind Troy.

Arkansas State finished 2008 at 6-6, though they added a nice pelt with a road victory over Texas A&M in the season opener. Their other BCS conference opponent, Alabama, blanking the Red Wolves 35-0.

With a mobile quarterback, solid running backs, and a stout defense, the Red Wolves are the best of the Sun Belt foes the Huskers will face in 2009. It's almost a no-win situation for the Huskers in this game: you are expected to win, and if you lose, you face uproar and embarassment. But if fans were planning to spend the money on any of the pay-per-view broadcasts of the Sun Belt schedule, the Arkansas State matchup is likely your best bet. If the Huskers are on their game, the Huskers should win this game going away, but if they're not, Arkansas State could claim another upset over a Big XII foe.

[ Update - CB]

Arkansas State started the season with a 61-0 win over Mississippi Valley State. They scored 40 points and had 294 yards by half time, and allowed only 69 yards to MVS for the game. There was some bad news for the Red Wolves as they lost two fifth year senior starters for the season, effectively ending their college football careers. Starting left guard Dominic Padrta suffered an apparently leg injury while free safety Evan Van Dolah suffered an injury during a full-speed collision while making a tackle. Van Dolah started all 12 games last season and was one of the Red Wolves' top tacklers and a leader on the defense.

Redshirt junior Alfred Louis will replace Padtra, while true freshman Cliff Mitchell will be in the rotation to back up Louis. Van Dolah's replacement will be redshirt junior M.D. Jennings, who started every game at strong safety last season. Another redshirt junior, Kelcie McCray, will move into the free safety position.

Poll

If you were a Vegas oddsmaker, what would you set the line for the Nebraska/Arkansas State matchup at?

Huskers by three scores or more

133 votes

Huskers by double digits

136 votes

Huskers in a close one

19 votes

Red Wolves in a shocker

13 votes

Red Wolves stun the nation with a blowout upset win in Lincoln

8 votes

309 votes | Poll has closed

Football Outside of the Big Ten - The Sun Belt

Bama Hawkeye — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 14:28:37 -0000

From time to time, it's important to look outside the Big Ten and remind ourselves that there is football being played by other teams in other conferences. The Rivalry, Esq. begins its look at those other conferences at the bottom: the Sun Belt. Frequent fodder for September victories, in 2008, the league actually made gains in their attempt to catch the MAC.

In 2009, Western Kentucky will move from the ranks of the Independents and join the league. The Hilltoppers won't be good, but they'll be in the league. This will give the league nine members and a more balanced schedule. Of course, we in the Big Ten have never cared much for balanced schedules...

1) 2008 Recap

a. Who Won the League?

The Troy Trojans, which I suppose is no more or less redundant than the Illinois Illini, won the Sun Belt with a 6-1 conference record.

b. Games of Note

As with the MAC, the Sun Belt's games of note are the times that they can catch one of the BCS teams sleepwalking through a gimmie non-con game. In the season opener, Arkansas State upset Texas A&M 18-14 in College Station. The following week, Middle Tennessee State beat Maryland 24-14 in Murfreesboro, TN. Why Maryland took the game at MTSU remains a mystery. In conference, on November 1, Louisiana-Monroe gave champion Troy their only defeat, a 31-30 Warhawk victory in Monroe. Four weeks later, a shootout in Dolphin Stadium saw Florida Atlantic defeat Florida International 57-50 in overtime. That's right. 50 points each at the end of regulation. Now that's fun.

However, the game of the year was the one that got away: November 15, 2009, Troy at LSU. It was a game that was scheduled for September, but postponed due to Hurricane Gustav. The Tigers were ranked #20, but were coming off of an overtime loss at home to Alabama. With two minutes left in the third quarter, Troy led LSU 31-3. Let me write that again in bold: With two minutes left in the third quarter, Troy led LSU 31-3. I remember being at Bryant-Denny Stadium and the stadium erupting when the score was announced. And then, Troy stopped playing. LSU scored a touchdown in the third, and then piled on the only thirty points of the fourth quarter for the 41-31 win. Of course, game stories indicate that many of the purple and gold clad fans missed it because they left while their team was down. This would be LSU's only win in their last four regular season games.

c. Games against the Big Ten

Date	Sun Belt Team	Score	Big Ten Team	Score	Location
August 30, 2008	Western Kentucky	13	Indiana	31	Bloomington, IN
September 6, 2008	Florida International	0	Iowa	42	Iowa City, IA
September 13, 2008	Florida Atlantic	13	Minnesota	14	Minneapolis, MN
September 13, 2008	Louisiana-Lafayette	17	Illinois	20	Champaign, IL
September 20, 2008	Florida Atlantic	0	Michigan State	17	East Lansing, MI
September 20, 2008	Troy	10	Ohio State	28	Columbus, OH

Minnesota escaped against a good Sun Belt team, Troy was over-matched, yet acquitted themselves well against Ohio State, but the game of note is the Illini-Ragin' Cajun matchup. Although Illinois came out on top, it should be noted that this was a mediocre team that they were playing. U.LA-La (I like to pronounce it "ooo la la" for fun) had come off a 51-21 loss to Southern Miss. This game, more than the loss to Mizzou two weeks before, should have tipped us off that the Illini would not be heading back to Pasadena.

d. Bowl Games

As champion, Troy traveled to the New Orleans Bowl, where they played in a sloppy, but fun, game against Southern Mississippi. The Golden Eagles won 30-27 in OT after blocking Troy's field goal attempt. I'd be remiss if I didn't include a photo of the uniforms together.

Florida Atlantic, coached by handsomest man in college football, upset Central Michigan 24-21 in the Motor City Bowl. The Owls got the invite when the Illini couldn't beat Northwestern to get their sixth win and bowl eligibility.

2) 2009 Preview

a. Games of Note

The conference game of the year looks to be the clash between Arkansas State and Troy in Jonesboro, AR on September 26, 2009. The winner of that early contest should be in the driver's seat for the conference title. As for the non-conference schedule, there are the usual unwinable games against Florida, Texas, and Alabama. But here are nine games in which the Sun Belt has a chance to get a quality (it's all relative down here) non-conference victory. Beating teams from the non-BCS leagues may be more important than a shocking win over a BCS power. These are the games that establish the pecking order for the lower tier leagues. The Sun Belt has nowhere to go but up. Five wins in these nine games would build on last year's positive season.

Date	Sun Belt Team	Opponent	Location
September 3, 2009	Troy	Bowling Green	Bowling Green, OH
September 3, 2009	North Texas	Ball State	Muncie, IN
September 12, 2009	Middle Tennessee	Memphis	Murfreesboro, TN
September 12, 2009	Western Kentucky	South Florida	Bowling Green, KY
September 12, 2009	North Texas	Ohio	Denton, TX
September 12, 2009	Louisiana-Lafayette	Kansas State	Lafayette, LA
September 26, 2009	Florida International	Toledo	Miami, FL
October 3, 2009	Florida Atlantic	Wyoming	Boca Raton, FL
October 31, 2009	Arkansas State	Louisville	Louisville, KY

b. Games Against the Big Ten

The Big Ten has been slow to choose Sun Belt teams to fill out team schedules. Having the MAC in your backyard will do that. In fact, the 2009 brings back more MAC and less Sun - just one game on the docket.

Date	Sun Belt Team	Big Ten Team	Location
October 3, 2009	Arkansas State	Iowa	Iowa City, IA

c. Bowl Affiliations

The league champion goes to the New Orleans Bowl to face a team from Conference USA. The only other way another team gets selected is if there are too few 7-win teams to claim spots. That has earned the Sun Belt multiple bids in the past few years.

3) 2009 Projections

a. Who will win the League?

Arkansas State is experienced and talented. QB Corey Leonard will be a fourth year starter, and ASU may well have the best two backs in the Sun Belt, with Reggie Arnold and Derek Lawson. Both lines will be strong. Troy will take a step back; Florida Atlantic and Middle Tennessee State aren't quite as good. I'm thinking that this is the year that the Red Wolves (Indians is so 2006) head to New Orleans.

b. Any Wins Against the Big Ten?

There better not be. Iowa should be too big and deep for Arkansas State. A team competing for a Big Ten title should be dominant over even the best the Sun Belt has to offer. That said, if Arkansas State was playing one of the lesser 2009 Big Ten Teams (I'm looking in your direction Hoosier State), they'd have a decent shot at the upset.

c. Who Goes Bowling?

Arkansas State will go as the league champion. After that, it will depend upon the mediocrity of the other conferences. Troy or Florida Atlantic could sneak a second bid to a lower tier bowl.

d. Any MNC Hopes?

No. Well, let's be fair. If Florida International runs the table, I think that they have to be on the short list of teams in consideration for the trip to Pasadena. Of course, that will require them winning at Florida, at Rutgers, and at Alabama...

The End of the Sun Belt's National Title Hopes.

e. The Rivalry Notes

This will be a question posed to one of the site's founders that relates the conference at hand with the Big Ten. Law Buckeye is up first

For Big Ten schools, is there any difference between scheduling a Sun Belt team and a I-AA team?

Unquestionably, yes. There are pronounced differences in perception and competitiveness. To qualify to play in the FBS every program has to meet minimum attendance and financial disbursement requirements. FBS schools spend more on their programs, commitment that's felt in facilities and, ultimately, on the field. The bottom line is regardless of what Michigan fans tell you, non-BCS schools are simply more competitive as a unit than their I-AA brethren.

Additionally, there's a soft factor here in perception. Factors like strength of schedule favor putting non-BCS teams on the slate.

So why do major BCS programs keep showing up to the prom with middle school dates? In Ohio, it's a matter of spreading the wealth around the state. It's no coincidence we scheduled Youngstown State, Tressel's former I-AA haunt, in 2007 and 2008.

SB Nation - Derek Lawson