Arkansas State Football

Butch Jones, who coached Central Michigan, Cincinnati and Tennessee before joining Nick Saban's staff at Alabama, has agreed to become Arkansas State's next head coach.

"It is truly an honor and privilege to be the head football coach at Arkansas State University," Jones said in a statement, per ESPN's Chris Low.

"It is a position that I take great pride in, and I look forward to connecting with our student-athletes to build upon the strong tradition of excellence both on and off the field of play."

Jones, 52, has gone 84-54 lifetime. Five of his 11 teams finished in the Top 25 of the Coaches Poll, and four won conference titles.

The former Ferris State football player coached CMU for three seasons, finishing his tenure with an 11-2 mark in 2009. He moved on to Cincinnati in 2010 and left the program after the team won back-to-back Big East titles.

Tennessee then came calling in 2013, and Jones took over the Volunteers' program. The Vols won three bowl games and finished No. 22 in the AP poll in 2015 and 2016. However, the 2017 Vols started the year with a 4-6 mark (0-6 SEC), leading to Jones' dismissal.

Jones then left for Alabama and worked for Saban as an assistant for two years before earning a new title as the special assistant to the head coach in 2020.

Jones will lead an Arkansas State program that went 4-7 this season (2-6 Sun Belt). The Red Wolves had posted nine straight winning seasons beforehand.

Jones is replacing Blake Anderson, who left to become Utah State's head coach.

Arkansas State head football coach Blake Anderson announced Tuesday on Twitter that his wife, Wendy Anderson, died Monday night at the age of 49:

According to Chris Bumbaca of USA Today, Wendy Anderson was initially diagnosed with breast cancer in 2017. She went into remission, but it returned last year and she did not respond to treatment.

Arkansas State had announced Monday that Blake Anderson was taking a leave of absence from the program to be with his ailing wife.

In Anderson's place, assistant head coach and defensive coordinator David Duggan is serving as the Red Wolves' interim head coach.

The 50-year-old Anderson has been the head coach at Arkansas State since 2014 and has led the Red Wolves to a winning record in each of his five seasons at the helm. It isn't yet known if he will be on the sidelines when Arkansas State opens its season against SMU on Aug. 31.

Blake Anderson noted that he and Wendy were together for 27 years. Wendy is survived by her husband, as well as the couple's three children, Coleton, Callie and Cason.

Nothing embodies college football quite like a tropical resort.

Arkansas State unveiled designs to revamp Centennial Bank Stadium's north end zone. The elaborate renderings include waterfalls on both sides.

According to the school's site, the renovations will also feature a new weight room, locker room, players' lounge and "team-theater meeting area." The estimated price and completion date have yet to be announced, as the board of trustees must approve the final plan.

"The vision is very clear for us," athletics director Terry Mohajir said in a statement. "We're building an experience in order to help fund this opportunity to enhance the perception of our athletics program. This project will allow us to attract the top students in the country and provide first-class services to develop our students on and off the playing surfaces."

The Red Wolves are not the first program to give the fall and winter sport a summer vibe. UCF proposed building a beach club in its new stadium two years ago. Arkansas State is hardly a flashy or prestigious school, so this grand blueprint is likely an attempt to put the program on the map.

[Arkansas State Athletics]

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Arkansas State finished the regular season with an eight-game winning streak, going 6-1 against the spread over its last seven outings. Louisiana Tech, meanwhile, is 7-2 straight up over its last nine games but only 4-5 ATS, as it's contended with some tough spreads. In a renewal of an old Big West conference rivalry, the Red Wolves tangle with the Bulldogs in the New Orleans Bowl.

New Orleans Bowl point spread: Red Wolves opened as one-point favorites, according to sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark. (Line updates and matchup report)

College football pick, via Odds Shark computer: 38.4-34.0 Red Wolves

Why the Red Wolves can cover the spread

ASU opened this season 1-3, with losses to USC, Missouri and Toledo, then swept through its Sun Belt slate, including a 40-27 upset of Appalachian State on the road, to earn its fourth conference title in the last five seasons. The Red Wolves finished with a flourish, hitting the 50-point mark each of their last three times out, capping things off with a 55-17 romp over Texas State in the season finale.

Arkansas State outgained the Bobcats by 144 yards and outrushed them by 179 yards. It has now outgained its last three opponents by an average of 170 yards per game.

On the season, the Red Wolves are outrushing foes by 90 yards per game, and that's usually a good way to win games and cover spreads.

Why the Bulldogs can cover the spread

Tech started this season 1-2, with close losses at Western Kentucky and at Kansas State, and later lost at Mississippi State. But the Bulldogs then won four in a row, setting up a division championship game in the C-USA West against Southern Miss. Unfortunately, Louisiana Tech let a close game get away in a 58-24 defeat.

The Bulldogs only trailed the Golden Eagles 24-17 late in the third quarter, but several big plays by Southern Miss resulted in a slightly misleading final score.

On the season, Louisiana Tech ranks 27th in the country in total offense, averaging 37 points per game, led by former Florida quarterback Jeff Driskel, who's accounted for almost 4,000 yards and 29 touchdowns. Also, the Bulldogs defense ranks 11th against the run, allowing just 116 yards per game on the ground. And a good, stiff run defense might come in handy against Arkansas State.

Smart pick

ASU has outgained each of its last five opponents; Louisiana Tech has been outgained and outplayed its last two times out. The smart money here sides with the Wolves.

Betting trends

Louisiana Tech is 9-0 SU in its last nine games against the Sun Belt.

The total has gone over in Arkansas State's last eight games.

Louisiana Tech is 3-0 ATS in its last three bowl games.

The underdog is 5-2 SU and ATS in the last seven New Orleans Bowls.

All point spread and lines data courtesy of Odds Shark, all quotes gathered firsthand unless otherwise noted. Check out Twitter for injury and line movement updates and get the free odds tracker app.

With most of the football world either still fighting the New Year's Six hangover or focused on the NFL playoffs, the GoDaddy Bowl isn't exactly a marquee event.

But Kareem Hunt made sure America took notice.

The explosive sophomore running back racked up a GoDaddy Bowl-record 271 rushing yards and five scores against Arkansas State, leading the Rockets to an entertaining 63-44 victory on Sunday night.

One of the most productive backs in the nation, Hunt finishes the season with 1,631 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns. CBS Sports' Dane Brugler foresees him as a major part of the draft conversation once eligible next season:

Hunt, who looked like he was operating against defenders stuck in molasses for most of the night, had his biggest run of the day in the first quarter. He took a carry to the left, put one foot into the ground, cut upfield and exploded 44 yards to pay dirt with ease:

While Hunt was the star, Toledo's defense came up with a number of big plays as well.

Junior linebacker Trent Voss recovered a fumble in the end zone on the first play from scrimmage, giving Toledo a lead just 10 seconds into the game.

Just before halftime, the defense did it again, as Allen Covington picked up another fumble and rumbled 67 yards for a touchdown, giving the audience the always-beloved "fat guy TD."

Of course, that's only by definition, as Covington weighs in at 275 pounds. It certainly didn't look like a typical "fat guy TD":

Arkansas State wasn't without its highlights. Fredi Knighten completed 23 of 31 passes for 403 yards and touchdown throws of three, 27, 44, 55 and 66 yards. Three of those went to Booker Mays, who finished with five receptions and 138 yards.

Probably most known as the fainting player in Arkansas State's now-famous fake punt attempt, Mays quadrupled his touchdown total on the season, per CBS Sports CFB:

The Red Wolves also had their own defensive score, as Money Hunter returned an interception 94 yards, cutting the deficit to 11 points late in the third quarter.

But every time Arkansas State got close, Toledo went right back to Hunt, moving the ball on the ground with little resistance. Even when Hunt went down in the fourth quarter with a cramping issue, Damion Jones-Moore came in and added 103 yards and two touchdowns of his own.

The loss ends a two-game winning streak in the GoDaddy Bowl for Arkansas State.

Nevertheless, after amazingly losing Hugh Freeze, Gus Malzahn and Bryan Harsin to head coaching jobs in the last three years, it's an incredible accomplishment by the program to simply keep churning out winning seasons.

As for Toledo, it has some rebuilding to do next season, as it loses all five of its senior starting offensive linemen.

With Hunt, though, it may not matter who's blocking for him. He should keep the Rockets firmly in contention atop the Mid-American Conference in 2015.

It looks like Arkansas State is wasting no time replacing Gus Malzahn. A little more than a week after Malzahn left the Red Wolves to coach Auburn on Dec. 4, the school has hired Texas co-offensive coordinator Bryan Harsin to take over the program, according to Jim Vertuno of the Associated Press:

A person familiar with the negotiations tells The Associated Press that Texas co-offensive coordinator Bryan Harsin will become the head coach at Arkansas State. Harsin is expected to be introduced at Arkansas State on Wednesday. 

UPDATE: Wednesday, Dec. 12 at 12:51 p.m. ET

Texas is also wasting no time in replacing Harsin. According to ESPN's Joe Schad, Major Applewhite and Darrell Wyatt will be taking over as co-offensive coordinators for the Longhorns with the former calling the plays:

Major Applewhite and Darrell Wyatt will be co-offensive coordinators at Texas following the departure of Bryan Harsin, with Applewhite taking over play calling, according to a source. Applewhite, who has coached running backs, will also now coach quarterbacks.

---End of Update---

Harsin has spent the past two seasons under Mack Brown at Texas as the co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. He is considered largely responsible for the development of David Ash, who excelled early in the season before a late-season swoon sent the sophomore quarterback to the bench.

Developing quarterbacks is nothing new for Harsin. A signal-caller during his playing career at Boise State, the young coach joined the team's staff as a graduate assistant in 2001 and was influential on Chris Petersen's Broncos after taking over as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2006.

Though this will be his first attempt at a head coaching job, Harsin joins a program on the rise at Arkansas State. In his first season with the Red Wolves, Malzahn went 9-3 (7-1 in the Sun Belt Conference) en route to the team receiving a GoDaddy.com Bowl berth.

That is the school's second consecutive bowl berth and third invite to a postseason game since joining the FBS in 2005. 

With the talent cupboard pretty full, Harsin should have no trouble continuing to build the program going forward. Still, Arkansas State faithful will be hoping Harsin isn't using this job as a stepping stone 

Both Malzahn and Hugh Freeze left the school after one season to pursue opportunities in the SEC. By hiring Harsin, the Red Wolves hope they've found a guy who will not only continue the program's ascent, but also be there for years to come.

Whether that happens remains to be seen, but Wednesday should be a day for rejoicing, as Arkansas State has brought in one of the top young offensive minds in college football.

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