Ranking the Top 131 College Football Programs of the Last 40 Years: 113. Arkansas State
The Southeast's Cradle of Coaches
While Miami (OH) is known as the “Cradle of Coaches”, Arkansas State might hold that title for the 2010s. They went from Hugh Freeze, to Gus Malzahn, to Bryan Harsin, to Blake Anderson, finally most recently to Butch Jones. 4 of them coached in the SEC, and Anderson coached Utah State to a MWC title in 2021. These coaches helped Arkansas State win 5 Sun Belt titles in 6 years from 2011-16, the best dynasty in the conference’s history. They had a 40-7 conference record in those 6 years!
Best Seasons and Highlights
+------+----------------+------+--------------+--------+
| rank | team | year | resume score | record |
+------+----------------+------+--------------+--------+
| 23 | Arkansas State | 2012 | 17.637 | 10-3 |
| 29 | Arkansas State | 2011 | 11.888 | 10-3 |
| 51 | Arkansas State | 2015 | 2.16 | 9-4 |
| 61 | Arkansas State | 2013 | -3.882 | 8-5 |
| 59 | Arkansas State | 2016 | -5.435 | 8-5 |
| 61 | Arkansas State | 2018 | -6.173 | 8-5 |
| 59 | Arkansas State | 2019 | -8.49 | 8-5 |
| 70 | Arkansas State | 2017 | -10.586 | 7-5 |
| 81 | Arkansas State | 2014 | -15.574 | 7-6 |
| 76 | Arkansas State | 2008 | -17.848 | 6-6 |
| 68 | Arkansas State | 1995 | -22.048 | 6-5 |
| 82 | Arkansas State | 2006 | -25.638 | 6-6 |
| 88 | Arkansas State | 2005 | -26.076 | 6-6 |
| 87 | Arkansas State | 2007 | -26.077 | 5-7 |
| 103 | Arkansas State | 2020 | -27.7 | 4-7 |
| 94 | Arkansas State | 2010 | -28.781 | 4-8 |
| 93 | Arkansas State | 1999 | -30.701 | 4-7 |
| 87 | Arkansas State | 2002 | -31.522 | 6-7 |
| 102 | Arkansas State | 2009 | -31.952 | 4-8 |
| 92 | Arkansas State | 1996 | -35.922 | 4-7 |
| 94 | Arkansas State | 2003 | -38.605 | 5-7 |
| 104 | Arkansas State | 2004 | -41.946 | 3-8 |
| 119 | Arkansas State | 2022 | -43.339 | 3-9 |
| 103 | Arkansas State | 1998 | -45.546 | 4-8 |
| 99 | Arkansas State | 1993 | -46.101 | 2-8-1 |
| 109 | Arkansas State | 2001 | -54.193 | 2-9 |
| 125 | Arkansas State | 2021 | -54.685 | 2-10 |
| 107 | Arkansas State | 2000 | -54.873 | 1-10 |
| 104 | Arkansas State | 1997 | -55.913 | 2-9 |
| 105 | Arkansas State | 1994 | -62.077 | 1-10 |
| 107 | Arkansas State | 1992 | -63.303 | 2-9 |
+------+----------------+------+--------------+--------+
Overall Score: -831 (113th)157-212-1 record
5 conference titles
4-6 bowl record
0 consensus All-Americans
12 NFL players drafted
Arkansas State has been in the FBS since 1990, so they’ve played 33 of 40 possible seasons since 1983. In those 33 years, State won 5 conference titles, the most of any program on this list so far. 10 bowl appearances is also great, and a 157-212-1 record is almost scratching .500 for the first time in the series. Despite 0 consensus All-Americans, WR Omar Bayless was voted an All-American by the AP in 2019.
Top 5 Seasons
Worst Season: 1992 (2-9 overall)
Arkansas State’s 3rd season in the FBS. They were in rare form to start, losing 0-49 to Toledo, 0-61 to Oklahoma, and 0-31 to Northern Illinois. Somehow they were able to beat Southwestern Louisiana (now known as UL Lafayette) 20-7 in the last game of the season, and beat FCS team Southern Illinois in week 4. QBs Tom Sears and Johnny Covington combined for 4 TD and 17 INT. Sears wouldn’t throw another pass for Arkansas State, while Covington went on to have a respectable career, throwing 14 TD 13 INT in his senior season in 1995. Coach Ray Perkins would ditch Arkansas State to be Bill Parcell’s offensive coordinator in New England after just 1 season.
5. 2016 (8-5 overall, 7-1 Sun Belt)
All of Arkansas State’s top 5 seasons are conference title winning years, but this was the worst of them. Who would’ve thought this team would win the conference title again? They started just 0-4 with losses to (eventual 3-9) Utah State and FCS Central Arkansas. Down 26-20 to Georgia Southern with just 15 seconds left, QB Justice Hansen lobbed a ball to the back corner of the end zone, and future All-American WR Omar Bayless came down with the acrobatic, 9 yard TD catch to give Arkansas State the lead with just 9 seconds left and steal the win. That win would change the season. Arkansas State won 5 straight and headed to Troy to face the #25 Trojans, and blew them out 35-3. A week 11 loss to UL Lafayette prevented Arkansas State from winning the title outright, but they finished the season 7-5 and shared the Sun Belt crown with Appalachian State. The Red Wolves beat UCF in the bowl 31-13 despite having just 8 first downs, thanks to long passing plays and UCF turnovers. Defensive linemen Ja’Von Rolland-Jones and Chris Odom had 13 and 12.5 sacks on the year, respectively.
4. 2013 (8-5 overall, 5-2 Sun Belt)
Arkansas State’s 3rd Sun Belt title (and 3rd in a row). This was under Bryan Harsin, who joined the Red Wolves from Texas’ offensive coordinator position. This team didn’t have as impressive wins as 2016, but they didn’t take any really bad losses to FCS teams. They limped to the finish in the last 2 weeks with a 35-33 win over 0-12 Georgia State, and a 31-34 loss to Western Kentucky. WKU was only 4-3 in the Sun Belt, though, and Arkansas State won the title at 5-2. A surprising win in the bowl over 10-2 Ball State was the best win of the year. Future NFL RB JD Mckissic was a 1st team All-Sun Belt WR, doing it all by catching 82 balls for 662 yards and 4 TD, rushing 18 times for 139 yards and 1 TD (7.7 YPC), throwing 1 TD, kick returning 1 TD, and averaging 30 yards per kick return and 8.5 yards per punt return. DT Ryan Carrethers was 1st team as well and drafted in the 5th round after the season.
3. 2015 (9-4 overall, 8-0 Sun Belt)
Arkansas State’s 4th conference title and Blake Anderson’s 1st. As usual, it was a slow start due to a tough non-conference schedule of #8 USC and #21 Missouri. Arkansas State might’ve made a New Years 6 bowl between 2011-16 if they didn’t schedule so tough out of conference. After beating Missouri State and losing to Toledo the next 2 weeks, they had one of the best offenses in the country the rest of the way, going 8-0 and averaging 48.6 PPG in their 8 Sun Belt games. A lethal rushing attack saw 3 RBs go for 600+ yards each and QB Fredi Knighten added 400 and 5 TD himself. DE Ja’Von Rolland-Jones, who I mentioned earlier, led the Sun Belt in sacks with 8.5, and would go on to have 42 career sacks, ranking #2 all time in sacks! He finished his career after 2017 with 2 Sun Belt POTYs and is the conference’s career leader in TFL, sacks, and forced fumbles.
2. 2011 (10-3 overall, 8-0 Sun Belt)
Arkansas State’s 1st conference title. Hugh Freeze coached for 1 year and left for Ole Miss after the season, but had a great year. They actually played the big dogs close, only losing 15-33 to Illinois and 7-26 to #12 Virginia Tech. On the year, they averaged 32.5 PPG while giving up 20.8 PPG, ranking 31st and 25th in the nation, respectively. The defense had some really talented players, most notably LB Demario Davis who was 2nd on the team in tackles and added 3 sacks and 7 TFL, before going on to make 4 All-Pro teams (and counting) in the NFL. DE Brandon Joiner won Sun Belt DPOTY with 13 sacks and 6 TFL. Without much of a run game (leading RB had 484 yards and 3.9 YPC), QB Ryan Aplin had to carry the load with 588 yards and 10 TD, while throwing for 3588 yards 19 TD 16 INT, winning Sun Belt POTY. A 10-2 regular season ended with a 20-38 loss to Jordan Lynch’s Northern Illinois in the GoDaddy.com Bowl.
1. 2012 (10-3 overall, 7-1 Sun Belt)
And finally, Arkansas State’s 2nd title. This was the Gus Malzahn season. They finished #23 in my rankings, averaging 35 PPG and giving up 24.5 PPG. Arkansas State started the year 2-2 with losses to P5 teams (as usual), but a 13-26 loss to Western Kentucky in week 5 put their Sun Belt title chances in jeopardy immediately. WKU had gone 7-1 in the conference the year before, their only loss to Arkansas State, so they were now the favorites to win the title. After 2 conference wins, a matchup between Arkansas State and 4-2 UL Lafayette saw Arkansas State win 50-27 on ESPN2 to move to 5-3. After a win over North Texas, Arkansas State had a tough road ahead of them with 2 of their last 3 games against top contenders UL Monroe and Middle Tennessee. Arkansas State (5-3, 4-1) would beat UL Monroe (6-3, 4-1) 45-23 to prove they were still the favorite in the Sun Belt. A win against Troy set up Arkansas State (8-3, 6-1) against Middle Tennessee (8-3, 6-1) to determine the Sun Belt champion. It wasn’t even close, as the Red Wolves won 45-0, outgaining MTSU by 300+ yards. They’d cap the year with a 17-13 upset over #25 Kent State who had entered the MAC championship game at 11-1. QB Ryan Aplin won his 2nd Sun Belt POTY award with 3342 passing yards 24 TD 4 INT, and added 6 rushing TD. RB David Oku and WR JD McKissic added 1000+ rushing and receiving yards, respectively.
5th Quarter
We’re starting to see the level of these teams go up. 5 titles in 6 years? Nutty.
Ranking the Top 131 College Football Programs of the Last 40 Years - Main Hub
Image is “Arkansas State Football Player”, by Flirry Voru, licensed under CC BY 3.0
