Red Wolves Review

I left Northeast Arkansas over four years ago and a lot has changed around the Jonesboro-Paragould area. However, one thing has been consistent for my entire life: Arkansas State University football has been drowning in mediocrity. In the last couple of years, though, ASU has made a real push to improve its football program. In 2011 ASU took a chance on its new head coach by promoting its young offensive coordinator, Hugh Freeze, who eventually led them to a 10-2 record in the regular season, a conference championship, and a bowl game.

Of course, Freeze didn’t waste any time turning his success at ASU into a new contract in the SEC at Ole Miss. I can’t blame the guy, but once again ASU was just a stepping stone. The Red Wolves could have easily been happy with 2011 and faded back into Sun Belt mediocrity; it’s what I expected my alma mater to do.

However, ASU replaced one offensive guru with another, this time one with a national championship under his belt as an offensive coordinator in Gus Malzahn. While Malzahn won’t have the same first-year success as Freeze (Malzahn has already lost as many games as Freeze did all of last year), Malzahn has brought an even higher level of excitement to the football program because of his notoriety in the state.

Whether Malzahn follows in Freeze’s footsteps or sticks around for a few years remains to be seen; however, I decided to attend ASU’s homecoming game against South Alabama—my first game in over five years—to see if I could get a feel for the program, its fan base, and the future. What follows is a list of pros and cons I noticed while in Jonesboro.

Pros:

Liberty Bank Stadium – Formerly known as ASU Stadium, Indian Stadium, and/or Red Wolf Stadium (I don’t think so, but why not?), Liberty Bank Stadium isn’t really an upgrade in name, but a few small changes have been made that make a big difference—these changes are mostly Red Wolves banners and record and achievements plaques around the stadium. The synthetic grass was actually laid in 2006 while I was still there, but it looks fantastic. The stadium seats a little over 30,000, which is more than enough for the current fan base.

(The next three are pros, but aren’t necessarily good signs for the program.)

Ticket Prices – I’d much rather pay $10 to watch a college football game every Saturday than around $100. However, it’s also very true that you get what you pay for—well, most of the time: I didn’t pay $55 to see Arkansas lose to a Sun Belt team… Anyway, good for ASU fans—not so good for a university trying to pay its head coach almost one million dollars.

Parking – My friends and I arrived in Jonesboro about an hour and a half before the game. Miraculously, or it so it seemed when you’re used to parking two miles away, we parked in the Convocation Center parking lot for free and walked less than a quarter of a mile to the stadium. Once again, a great convenience, but not a great sign for the budget.

Seating – General admission at ASU is king. Buy a ticket and essentially sit anywhere you want (with a few exceptions). Feel free to go to the restroom or buy a drink and your seat will be there when you get back. Can you imagine what would happen if Arkansas games were all general admission and you left your front-row seat to use the bathroom? Chaos.

Third-downs – If I was impressed by anything, it was the fans’ participation on third downs. Arkansas Razorback fans drive me crazy because they (we) seemingly can't agree on what to do on third downs. Scream? Clap? Stand up? Well, take note, Hog fans: at ASU the fans howl and make little wolf signs with their fingers (which I thought was a hook-em horns at first). It may be a little corny, but at least everyone was on the same page.

Neutral:

Tailgating – Granted, we went to a tailgate with some of my family, which included my parents—so we knew ahead of time that it wasn’t going to be the most festive of tailgate parties. Had we gone to the student section, I’m sure we have had a more natural experience. Even then, what struck me most at the tailgate was the lack of interest in the game. There wasn’t any Baggo being played, or footballs being thrown, or excited chatter about schemes. Something was just off.

Pre-kickoff routine – As much as I liked the howling and wolf signs, I despised the Jaws music and swaying before kickoffs. Before opening kickoff, my friend Justin and I debated calling the hogs—we didn’t know what else to do; it’s absolute tradition. However, we noticed the student section putting arms around each other, swaying back and forth to the Jaws music, and yelling Boom! at every kickoff. I like the student section participation, but I just don’t get what the Jaws music or Boom! has to do with the Red Wolves. Seems like something that won’t last. Maybe an ASU fan can give me a little insight into the routine?

Cons:

Atmosphere – A lot goes into the overall atmosphere of a college football game: tailgating, the number of fans, the opponent, the time of day, etc. The best way to describe the atmosphere at ASU on Saturday would be subdued. And that’s kind of sad to say—it was homecoming after all. There just wasn’t that buzz in the air, that anticipation in your gut, or that collective energy of thousands of fans waiting to be unleashed in cheers or jeers. It felt like a Sun Belt game. I know that may be unfair to say—after all, it was a Sun Belt conference matchup—still, it felt like that fans still hadn’t bought in completely yet. Maybe Red Wolves fans are waiting for Malzahn to stick around for a few years, or to win another conference championship, or to play Arkansas.

I don’t know what’s holding the program back, but ASU football has the opportunity to build on its recent success, especially if Malzahn is around next year. However, before Red Wolves fans expect to take the next step, maybe they should completely buy into the program first.