Sun Belt Sports Fans

The Arkansas State Red Wolves and head coach Steve Roberts need to turn over a new leaf this season… and avoid precisely what befell their next opponent this past weekend.

Arkansas State has made a habit out of losing close games. Last year, ASU lost by only three points at Iowa, nearly toppling the same team that rolled to an Orange Bowl victory a few months later. The Red Wolves also dropped a six-point decision to Louisiana-Monroe, an eight-point game to Louisville, and a three-point white-knuckler against Louisiana-Lafayette. The boys from Jonesboro, Arkansas, could have finished in the top tier of the Sun Belt standings; instead, they fell toward the bottom third of the league. Such is the margin for error in a generally open conference.

The team that’s mastered the art of Sun Belt football in recent years – managing to come out on the sunshine side of numerous pulse-pounding pigskin dramas – is Troy. Coach Larry Blakeney’s ballclub has won three of the last four league titles by generating enough offense for just about any pressure situation. Yet, in the final pre-Sun Belt game of 2010 for the Trojans, they developed – shall we say? – an alarmingly Arkansas State-like tendency to come up short at crunch time. Leading at one point by a 23-0 score, Troy coughed up 21 fourth-quarter points at Alabama-Birmingham, including a Hail Mary touchdown pass on the last timed down of regulation. The PAT gave UAB, of Conference USA, a stunning 34-33 upset win over the Trojans, who hope that close losses won’t bleed into the Sun Belt slate.

It should be mentioned that in addition to the Arkansas State losses mentioned above, there was one other game from 2009 in which the Red Wolves could have won just as easily as they lost: a game against Troy.

Yes, before ASU lost at Iowa or against any of its other chief Sun Belt competitors, the Red Wolves fell at home to the Trojans, 30-27. Another year, another typical Sun Belt escape it was for the best team in the league. Another year delivered one more close-but-not-quite moment of searing agony for Mr. Roberts and his charges. Troy wasn’t in peak form that day in Jonesboro, but the flag carrier in the “Belt” once again walked away with a league scalp, reminding opponents why they’ve ruled the roost in recent years. Roberts had to admire ASU’s 17-0 run after Troy had amassed a 23-10 lead early in the third quarter, but in the end, “Downtown” Levi Brown, Troy’s decorated signal caller, delivered a cold-blooded strike in the heat of fourth-quarter competition. Brown’s 8-yard toss to Cornelius Williams gave the visiting Trojans a lead with 7:53 to go in regulation, and when Troy’s defense rose up in the final minutes, that modest advantage–a lonely field goal–held up for the rest of the afternoon. For Troy, the outcome represented business as usual. For the Red Wolves, a wrenching defeat wound up lingering through the remainder of the season, hijacking ASU’s level of performance.

One year later, Arkansas State needs to display the resilience that Troy typically manages to bring to the ballpark. This time, Troy could be depressed after blowing the UAB game, so if the Red Wolves are to shake up the Sun Belt with a road upset, they’ll need to hit Troy hard, early and often.

We’ll see if Arkansas State has the fortitude to bust the Trojans in the chops and gain sweet revenge for last year’s painful defeat.

Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer