Arkansas State Red Wolves Preview 2022: Season Prediction, Breakdown, Key Games, Players

Arkansas State College Football Preview 2022: Team breakdown, season prediction, keys to the campaign, and what you need to know

Arkansas State Red Wolves Preview 2022: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead to the Arkansas State season with what you need to know and keys to the season.


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Arkansas State Red Wolves Preview
Head Coach: Butch Jones, 2nd year at ASU, 2-10
13th year overall, 86-64, 2021 Preview
2021 Record: Overall: 2-10, Conference: 1-7
Keys To The Season | Season Prediction, What Will Happen
Arkansas State Top 10 Players | Arkansas State Schedule

Arkansas State Red Wolves Preview 2022

It’s been a rough run for a program used to playing for big things in the Sun Belt.

While others like Louisiana, Appalachian State, and Coastal Carolina have become the stars of the conference, and with other good new parts coming into the league, Arkansas State has sputtered and struggled over the last two seasons with no defense, not enough of an offense to keep up, and without and semblance of a break.

Butch Jones is a solid head coach. Things might not have gone perfectly at Tennessee, but he’s got the chops to use 2021 as a rebuilding season and turn this year into a big step forward.

First, getting more out of the defense would be nice. More on that in a moment.

Arkansas State Red Wolves Preview 2022: Offense

The Red Wolves have the passing attack. Part of the reason they were on top of the Sun Belt in passing was out of necessity. They had to keep throwing to try keeping up the pace, but they also had the parts.

The O averaged close to 400 yards and 25 points per game, but the ground game wasn’t good enough and the offensive line gave up way too many sacks. The passing attack really was strong, but …

Losing top wide receiver Corey Rucker to South Carolina hurts, but 6-1, 208-pound Te’Vailiance Hunt and deep threat Jeff Foreman are decent veterans to start with. This was a very, very, young group, and now there’s decent depth to keep rotating into the mix.

Former Florida State starter James Blackman was terrific at times over the first half of the year before getting knocked out for the season with a shoulder injury. Layne Hatcher stepped in and kept bombing away, but with Blackman back he’s gone to Texas State. The Red Wolves will keep throwing, but …

Again, the ground attack has to be better. That starts with needing more from a line that had a mix or different parts last year but now will go younger, a slew of new guys will be in the mix, and … it might take a little bit to come together after a rough spring. It’s not a massive line outside of 340-pound tackle Robert Holmes, but this group should be able to move.

Now the backs need more work. Arkansas State only ran 349 times last year for 989 yards and four scores. Averaging under three yards per carry, the backs had nowhere to go. Smallish speedster Lincoln Pare led the way with 455 yards and a score, but now he’s in the transfer portal.

Arkansas State Red Wolves Preview 2022: Defense

Not everything was awful about the Arkansas State defense. Yeah, it was last in the nation against the run, and yeah, it was the second-worst in college football overall, and it allowed 506 yards and 39 points per game, but …

There was pressure. Not enough of it, but former Tennessee transfer Kivon Bennett generated eight sacks and 16.5 tackles for loss from one defensive end spot, and fellow former Volunteer John Mincey is a veteran to start with on the inside. Now this group has to hold up a wee bit against the run, even with a slew of new guys in the rotation.

The linebacking corps isn’t big, but it can move. The plays behind the line mostly came from the line, but 6-1, 216-pound junior Jaden Harris and 5-10, 180-pound Melique Straker have the quickness to do more.

Teams were so busy running on ASU that the secondary caught a bit of a break. This group should take a bit to come together, especially at safety. The corners will be fine in time, but losing second-leading tackler Jarius Reimonenq to James Madison stings.

Keys To The Season | Season Prediction, What Will Happen
Arkansas State Top 10 Players | Arkansas State Schedule

Arkansas State Red Wolves: Keys To The Season, Top Game, Top Transfer, Fun Stats NEXT

Arkansas State Red Wolves Top 10 Players: College Football Preview 2022

Who are the 10 best Arkansas State players going into the 2022 season?

Arkansas State Red Wolves Preview 2022: Who are the top 10 players going into the season?


Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

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Arkansas State Red Wolves Preview
Offense, Defense Breakdown | Keys To The Season
Season Prediction, What Will HappenSchedule

Arkansas State Red Wolves: CFN College Football Preview 2021

College Football News Preview 2021: Previewing, predicting, looking ahead to the Arkansas State football season with what you need to know

College Football News Preview 2021: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead to the Arkansas State football season with what you need to know.


Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
Top Players | Keys To The Season
What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
Arkansas State Football Schedule
– Arkansas State Red Wolves Previews
2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015

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2020 Record: 4-7 overall, 2-6 in Sun Belt
Head Coach: Butch Jones, 1st year (84-54 overall)
2020 CFN Final Ranking: 112
2020 CFN Preview Ranking: 93
2019 CFN Final Ranking: 67

Arkansas State Red Wolves College Football Preview 2021: Offense

New head coach Butch Jones has been a huge help right off the gate – the talent is coming in through the transfer portal. The Red Wolves were already solid offensively – they led the Sun Belt in total offense but were fifth in scoring, averaging 490 yards and 33 points per game – so there’s not too much of a need to mess with what worked. Offensive coordinator Keith Heckenforf is still around.

Logan Bonner and Layne Hatcher have been part of a strong quarterback rotation, but Bonner followed former head man Blake Anderson over to Utah State. In comes former Florida State starter James Blackman to at least be part of the mix and a rotation, but Hatcher could be too good to push out coming off a 19 touchdown, two pick season. Neither one adds much to the ground game.

The receiving corps loses leading receiver Jonathan Adams and second-leading target Brandon Bowling – he took off for Utah State – but this should be the team’s biggest strength with a ton of talent in place and several options coming in from the transfer portal.

Dahu Green was second on the team in receiving yards despite missing half the season and 6-2 sophomore Corey Rucker is a rising star who averaged over 28 yards per grab. The tight ends get plenty of work – Reed Tyler should be good for close to 30 grabs.

Leading rusher Jamal Jones is done, but there are a whole lot of running backs to choose from. Lincoln Pare and 2019 leading rusher Marcel Murray combined for over 600 yards – Pare did most of the work with 450 of the yards – and Iowa State’s Johnnie Lang and former Yale all-star Alan Lamar should be an instant factor.

Left tackle Jarrett Horst left for Michigan State, but the other four starters are back up front to a line that struggled against the run but was okay at keeping defenses out of the backfield.

– What You Need To Know: Defense
Top Players | Keys To The Season
What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
Arkansas State Football Schedule

NEXT: Arkansas State Red Wolves College Football Preview 2021: Defense