Miami looks to continue it's winning ways this weekend with Arkansas State coming to town. Let's see if we can find out a little more about them.
Before getting started, give this thread a read if you haven't already. For some reason chiefsfan likes Arkansas State football, and he gave a pretty fair and honest post detailing his team's strengths and weaknesses. It's a good read, and a helluva a lot more serious (and better) than anything you are about to read here so check it out.
1. Where they are in the standings/rankings:
Yes, the Sun-Belt Conference is still a thing, even after all of the realignment junk that happened over the past 2 years. Arkansas State is one of the better teams in that league, and has had a run of being a cradle for hot new coaches. In 2011 Hugh Freeze turned a Sun-Belt title and 10 win season into the Ole Miss job. In 2012 Gus Malzahn did the same thing and got the Auburn job. Bryan Harsin didn't win 10 games in 2013, but did win the Sun-Belt and was able to get the job at his alma mater, Boise State. Now they're coached by Arkansas native Blake Anderson, who was UNC's offensive coordinator last year. If you remember anything about that UNC game, it was that they ran a high-tempo offense. It was also the 1st of many times our defense looked really bad.
2. What happened the last time Arkansas State played in a game?
Amy Smotherman Burgess/News Sentinel
From the AP:
Sure getting 2, 4th down conversions on 1 drive might sound good, but when you factor in their 3rd down conversion rate (4-17) with their 4th down conversion rate (2-5), they were just 6-22 that day. Not a very good "Money Down" performance by them. Here's what some Tennessee person said about them.
From: VolNation
Great. Here's some highlights of their game with Tennessee.
[video=youtube;SMhuYUV464Y]www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMhuYUV464Y[/video]
They gave Tennessee all they could handle in front of a crowd of over 99k. They certainly won't be intimidated by the dozens or so of the "Canesfam, bro" crowd.
3. Who to be scared of:
Adam Lau/Associated Press
Fredi Knighten
He's not the biggest of QB's (listed at 5'11 and 189lbs), but he's still dangerous as all ****. USA Today named him 1st team all conference in the pre-season. This unranked 2 star from Little Rock was recruited by Malzahn to run his version of the spread offense and that's what he's still playing in. Here he is throwing the game winning TD against Ball State in the GoDaddy Bowl last season
[video=youtube;QUtI1wTBCOM]www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUtI1wTBCOM[/video]
He gave Tennessee fits last week and he'll no doubt do the same to us.
4. Player that will score against us:
Nelson Chenault/USA Today
Michael Gordon
"Flash" Gordon is an undersized, shifty back. What the Junior RB lacks in size he makes up for in being a tough guy to tackle. He's not a bowling ball, more like a ball bearing. He doesn't go down at first contact that often, either because he broke the tackle or he just outran them to the edge. Lindy's named him the toughest guy to bring down in the Sun-Belt, which I guess is a category. He's on the Doak Walker watch list too. Here's some highlights from his Sophomore season:
[video=youtube;SF_yhOBMigs]www.youtube.com/watch?v=SF_yhOBMigs[/video]
Pretty good.
5. Person that will **** you off:
Arkansas State
J.D. McKissic
This guy won't **** you off because he has a stupid name (although he does), he's going to **** you off because he's going to light us up. Definitely a Dexter McCluster-ish type of player. He set their school record last year for career receptions with 185...as a Sophomore. Now a Junior, he's already in the top 5 in Sun-Belt history in that same category. In July he was named to the Paul Hornung award watch list which goes out to the best all-purpose player. Here are his highlights from when he was just a Freshman and Sophomore:
[video=youtube;gjJOKmwkdto]www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjJOKmwkdto[/video]
Holy ****. Those weren't all against scrub teams from the Sun-Belt that he was abusing either. Auburn, Missouri, and Nebraska all made an appearance in his highlight tape. Every time they need a big play this guy will provide it. Have your wife lock your dog in bathroom or something so you can't kick him when makes some big catch on 3rd and long.
6. Some Guy:
G.M. Andrews/Associated Press
Qushaun Lee
Qushaun is a 5th year Senior and leader of the defense. Through 2 games he's tied for the team lead in interceptions and solo tackles. He's 2nd on the team in tackles for loss. Lee is basically Arkansas State's Perryman, and Golden compared him physically to Denzel yesterday. He's probably an inch or 2 shorter than him though. This guy is built like a fire hydrant. Here he is getting flagged for murdering some poor guy from Alcorn St.
[video=youtube;tnTzLEPhDGs]www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnTzLEPhDGs[/video]
He dead.
6. If Arkansas State was a character from a video game, they would be:
That dog in Duck Hunt
For as many good players they may have on their roster and how well coached they might be, they are still a Sun-Belt team. There's no legitimate, defensible reason for this to be a close game. So naturally, you will be annoyed to all **** whenever they do something good against us. If and when they score on us, this might as well be their school fight song.
[video=youtube;g1QCbXCezNc]www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1QCbXCezNc[/video]
There's even a gif for whenever we settle for field goals inside the 10, or fail to convert on 3rd dow- excuse me...on Money Downs.
Be prepared to be rustled.
7. Official Internet meme for this game:
Courage Wolf
Before getting started, give this thread a read if you haven't already. For some reason chiefsfan likes Arkansas State football, and he gave a pretty fair and honest post detailing his team's strengths and weaknesses. It's a good read, and a helluva a lot more serious (and better) than anything you are about to read here so check it out.
1. Where they are in the standings/rankings:
Yes, the Sun-Belt Conference is still a thing, even after all of the realignment junk that happened over the past 2 years. Arkansas State is one of the better teams in that league, and has had a run of being a cradle for hot new coaches. In 2011 Hugh Freeze turned a Sun-Belt title and 10 win season into the Ole Miss job. In 2012 Gus Malzahn did the same thing and got the Auburn job. Bryan Harsin didn't win 10 games in 2013, but did win the Sun-Belt and was able to get the job at his alma mater, Boise State. Now they're coached by Arkansas native Blake Anderson, who was UNC's offensive coordinator last year. If you remember anything about that UNC game, it was that they ran a high-tempo offense. It was also the 1st of many times our defense looked really bad.
2. What happened the last time Arkansas State played in a game?
Amy Smotherman Burgess/News Sentinel
From the AP:
Sure getting 2, 4th down conversions on 1 drive might sound good, but when you factor in their 3rd down conversion rate (4-17) with their 4th down conversion rate (2-5), they were just 6-22 that day. Not a very good "Money Down" performance by them. Here's what some Tennessee person said about them.
From: VolNation
freak said:
Great. Here's some highlights of their game with Tennessee.
[video=youtube;SMhuYUV464Y]www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMhuYUV464Y[/video]
They gave Tennessee all they could handle in front of a crowd of over 99k. They certainly won't be intimidated by the dozens or so of the "Canesfam, bro" crowd.
3. Who to be scared of:
Adam Lau/Associated Press
Fredi Knighten
He's not the biggest of QB's (listed at 5'11 and 189lbs), but he's still dangerous as all ****. USA Today named him 1st team all conference in the pre-season. This unranked 2 star from Little Rock was recruited by Malzahn to run his version of the spread offense and that's what he's still playing in. Here he is throwing the game winning TD against Ball State in the GoDaddy Bowl last season
[video=youtube;QUtI1wTBCOM]www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUtI1wTBCOM[/video]
He gave Tennessee fits last week and he'll no doubt do the same to us.
4. Player that will score against us:
Nelson Chenault/USA Today
Michael Gordon
"Flash" Gordon is an undersized, shifty back. What the Junior RB lacks in size he makes up for in being a tough guy to tackle. He's not a bowling ball, more like a ball bearing. He doesn't go down at first contact that often, either because he broke the tackle or he just outran them to the edge. Lindy's named him the toughest guy to bring down in the Sun-Belt, which I guess is a category. He's on the Doak Walker watch list too. Here's some highlights from his Sophomore season:
[video=youtube;SF_yhOBMigs]www.youtube.com/watch?v=SF_yhOBMigs[/video]
Pretty good.
5. Person that will **** you off:
Arkansas State
J.D. McKissic
This guy won't **** you off because he has a stupid name (although he does), he's going to **** you off because he's going to light us up. Definitely a Dexter McCluster-ish type of player. He set their school record last year for career receptions with 185...as a Sophomore. Now a Junior, he's already in the top 5 in Sun-Belt history in that same category. In July he was named to the Paul Hornung award watch list which goes out to the best all-purpose player. Here are his highlights from when he was just a Freshman and Sophomore:
[video=youtube;gjJOKmwkdto]www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjJOKmwkdto[/video]
Holy ****. Those weren't all against scrub teams from the Sun-Belt that he was abusing either. Auburn, Missouri, and Nebraska all made an appearance in his highlight tape. Every time they need a big play this guy will provide it. Have your wife lock your dog in bathroom or something so you can't kick him when makes some big catch on 3rd and long.
6. Some Guy:
G.M. Andrews/Associated Press
Qushaun Lee
Qushaun is a 5th year Senior and leader of the defense. Through 2 games he's tied for the team lead in interceptions and solo tackles. He's 2nd on the team in tackles for loss. Lee is basically Arkansas State's Perryman, and Golden compared him physically to Denzel yesterday. He's probably an inch or 2 shorter than him though. This guy is built like a fire hydrant. Here he is getting flagged for murdering some poor guy from Alcorn St.
[video=youtube;tnTzLEPhDGs]www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnTzLEPhDGs[/video]
He dead.
6. If Arkansas State was a character from a video game, they would be:
That dog in Duck Hunt
For as many good players they may have on their roster and how well coached they might be, they are still a Sun-Belt team. There's no legitimate, defensible reason for this to be a close game. So naturally, you will be annoyed to all **** whenever they do something good against us. If and when they score on us, this might as well be their school fight song.
[video=youtube;g1QCbXCezNc]www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1QCbXCezNc[/video]
There's even a gif for whenever we settle for field goals inside the 10, or fail to convert on 3rd dow- excuse me...on Money Downs.
Be prepared to be rustled.
7. Official Internet meme for this game:
Courage Wolf
