Arkansas State and dual-threat QB visit Michigan to complete non-conference play

Four years after the original game date, Michigan hosts Arkansas State in the first-ever meeting between the two schools, with both programs in better positions than they were in 2020.

This is an early look at Michigan’s third and final nonconference game of the 2024 football season. Fresno State (August 31) and Texas (September 7) have already been featured. All three games will take place at Michigan Stadium.

Butch Jones is entering his fourth season as Arkansas State’s head coach. His first head coaching job was at Central Michigan in 2007. He won there and at Cincinnati, but in five seasons at Tennessee he never went above 9-4. Before finding a new home in Jonesboro, he was an analyst under Nick Saban at Alabama.

He won two games in 2021, three the next, and last year he went 6-7 with a loss in the Camellia Bowl. It was a truly up-and-down season. The Red Wolves gave up 73 points (in a season-opening shutout loss at Oklahoma) and scored 77 (in a blowout win over Texas State). They scored at least 31 points in their six wins and no more than 21 in their seven losses. After finishing 4-4 ​​in the Sun Belt, they believe they can compete for a conference title in 2024.

Jones focused on rebuilding through high school recruiting, and Arkansas State has landed the best recruiting classes in the Sun Belt each of the last three years. The talent is starting to show. Jaylen Raynor, the reigning Sun Belt Freshman of the Year, is back at quarterback. He’s a real threat for both teams, and his effort in the second half of Week 3 last season gave the team new momentum. “He came in and changed everything,” Arkansas State radio commentator Matt Stolz said.

A trio of talented running backs — Ja’Quez Cross, who played his freshman season at Purdue in 2021 and is a dangerous kick returner, Zak Wallace and Cedrick Hawkins — combined for nearly 1,500 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns last season. (Raynor added five rushing scores.) The team returns its top two pass catchers and has signed others through the transfer portal, including Malik Hornsby, a former Arkansas quarterback.

The offensive line is bigger than in the past, Stolz said, and is carried by center Jacob Bayer, who was selected to the All-Sun Belt first team.

The other side of the ball was a problem last season, ranking last in the conference in rushing defense. Early-season losses to Oklahoma and Memphis (37-3) didn’t help the numbers. The unit got better as the season went on, Stolz said. One online publication listed linebacker Charles Willekes — who played the 2019 and 2020 seasons at Michigan State — as Arkansas State’s top player in 2024. He and top tackle safety Trevian Thomas are back, as is sack leader Nate Martey. The Red Wolves signed Marvin Ham II, a linebacker from Belleville, Michigan, who started 10 games in five seasons at Colorado, as well as several other starting transfers.

Arkansas State, by the way, has the only mascot of its kind in Division I sports. There are Red Foxes, Red Raiders, Redbird, Redhawks, RedHawks, a Red Storm and even a Red Flash, but no other Red Wolves.

They’ve never been to Ann Arbor. But when they do go – for kickoff on Sept. 14 at noon Eastern Time on the Big Ten Network – they’ll see a familiar face on the home team’s sideline. After Michigan’s spring game, the team signed kicker Dominic Zvada, who played the last two years at Arkansas State.

It’s unlikely that Zvada will be the difference in this matchup, as Michigan should be the clear favorite. The Wolverines will need to stay focused, even though they just played Texas and USC visits the following week. The Red Wolves hope to enter Ann Arbor 2-0 for the first time since 2008, when they beat Texas A&M to open the season. This year, they have home games against Central Arkansas and Tulsa before heading to the Big House.

Michigan was scheduled to host Arkansas State in 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic halted all nonconference play across the sport. Arkansas State finished 4-7 that year and lost its head coach to Utah State. Michigan finished 2-4 and many fans called for Jim Harbaugh’s head. He stayed, of course, and left with a national title last season before being replaced by Sherrone Moore.

Harbaugh’s teams dominated home non-conference play, posting a 22-0 record including a number of clear wins. Moore will look to keep that winning streak going against a challenging team.