Ark State meets expectations

Based on the past few years, Arkansas State has had great success in the Sunbelt and relatively none in non-conference play. They have played some quality teams but they have also played some inferior teams and the result has been the same. Honestly, it is the weirdest thing considering that they have basically been the gold standard for conference play in the Sunbelt.

This past Saturday they strapped it on against a very talented Memphis team. The result was about as expected. Memphis showed itself and Arkansas State continued its sloppy non-conference play. They could not get anything going in the passing game with returning gunslinger, Logan Bonner, or side car resident, Layne Hatcher. I know that the departure of Omar Bayless hurt in a major way. Dahu Green has potential to be the dude this season and showed us a little preview this week. I am interested in seeing how he progresses.

There were times when the running game had some nice moments and did not completely falter. Jamal Jones has the makings of a very capable back but not good enough to carry an offense if the passing game forgets that there is a game.

The Red Wolve's defense, super bad ass name, gave up over 500 yards with over 200 coming on the ground. They surrendered four touchdowns via air strike and one from ground and pound. You never really expect this team to show up for a game this this based on history but its almost as if they still thought it was a practice. They were able to manage one reversal but it was far too little as Memphis did pretty much whatever they wanted.

I'm a Sunbelt guy so I have seen Arkansas State at their best and this was surely not it. There is a 100% guarantee that they will be firing when conference play starts as they always are. One loss does not a season make but it did not look pretty. As crazy as this sounds, after the week one games I would have Texas State ranked higher in the Sunbelt than Arkansas State.