COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Breaking down the opponents on Ohio State football’s 2022 schedule, this is the second in a series and moves to the Week 2 game: a visit to Columbus by Arkansas State.

The game

Arkansas State at Ohio State, Sept. 10, Time TBA

Arkansas State's nickname is the Red Wolves, so these are some red wolf pups, because Arkansas State football photos are difficult to find.

State of the opponent (scale of 1 to 10)

The Red Wolves are a decade removed from consecutive 10-3 seasons, putting those seasons together during the one-year tenures of Hugh Freeze and Gus Malzahn in 2011 and 2012. They still averaged an 8-5 record in the seven-year run after that from 2013 to 2019. Then tragedy stuck, as Wendy Anderson, the wife of long-time head coach Blake Anderson, died of breast cancer in August 2019 at the age of 49. Blake Anderson took a month-long leave of absence, then coached the 2019 and 2020 seasons. He then took the Utah State head coaching job, looking for a fresh start for his family.

Former Cincinnati and Tennessee head coach Butch Jones was hired and went 2-10 last season in his debut in Jonesboro. But this is a program capable of competing at the top of the Sun Belt Conference. Arkansas State won or shared the conference title in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2016. Now Coastal Carolina, Appalachian State and Louisiana rule the Sun Belt, and the Red Wolves are trying to get back to that level. They might take a step up this season, which puts them at about a 5.

What’s at stake?

Jones’ future? Arkansas State has proved a stepping stone for coaches, with Freeze jumping to Ole Miss, Malzahn to Auburn and Bryan Harsin to Boise State after single seasons. Jones is trying to climb back up the coaching ladder after going 27-13 at Central Michigan in three seasons, 23-14 at Cincinnati in three seasons and then 34-27 at Tennessee in five seasons. He was fired before the end of Year 5 in 2017 at 4-6 after losing every SEC game that season. Jones then spent three seasons as a staffer (not a full assistant) at Alabama before taking the Arkansas State job. At 54 years of age, he might have another run left in him.

And $1.8 million is also at stake. Well, it’s not really at stake. That’s just what Ohio State is paying Arkansas State to play this game.

Arkansas State quarterback James Blackman was thrust in as the starting quarterback at Florida State in 2017 as a true freshman.

Offensive opponent to watch

Quarterback James Blackman started 24 games at Florida State over four seasons and is tied for 10th in Seminoles history with 43 touchdown passes. That’s not the kind of resume you usually find with Sun Belt quarterbacks.

Blackman took over as the FSU starter as a true freshman in 2017 after Deondre Francois was lost for the season in the opener. He threw for 186 yards per game with 19 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. Then Florida State started to fall apart.

Jimbo Fisher quit at the end of 2017 to take the Texas A&M job. Willie Taggart went 9-12 and was fired at the end of his second year. And then Mike Norvell went 3-6 in his first season and Blackman’s last in Tallahassee. Blackman never had a chance to get settled after getting thrown in freshman year, and then he was in a quarterback battle at Arkansas State last year, making five starts.

Now in his sixth college season, he’s finally locked in as the starter as a 6-foot-5, 190-pound veteran who’s been through a lot. That’s a ton of experience for a former top-400 national recruit. He might bring a little something to this game.

Defensive opponent to watch

Kivon Bennett is the son of former Pro Bowl linebacker Cornelius Bennett, who was the No. 2 pick in the 1987 NFL Draft out of Alabama. Kivon was a three-star recruit in the Class of 2017 who played four years at Tennessee. He was recruited by Jones there, and transferred to Arkansas State last season to once again play for his former coach. The 6-foot-2, 246-pound defensive end started every game last season and led the Red Wolves (and ranked sixth in the Sun Belt) with eight sacks. He was named second-team all-conference, and the only other Arkansas State player to make first-team or second-team All-Sun Belt on offense or defense was receiver Corey Rucker, who transferred to South Carolina.

And the guy running the defense for the Red Wolves? It’s defensive coordinator Rob Harley, the former Ohio State walk-on defensive back of the Jim Tressel era who is the great-great nephew of OSU legend Chic Harley.

The Buckeyes last beat a Sun Belt team when Terrelle Pryor and Ohio State toppled Troy in 2008.

Series history

The teams have never met. The Buckeyes have played one game in history against the 10 current members of the Sun Belt Conference, beating Troy 28-10 in 2008. That game, the week after a 35-3 loss at USC, was Terrelle Pryor’s first start at quarterback.

Arkansas State plays a game like this every season. In the last five years the Red Wolves lost to Washington 52-3, to Georgia 55-0 and to Alabama 57-7. But Arkansas State also beat Kansas State 35-31 in 2020, and almost beat Nebraska in 2017, losing 43-36 by overthrowing a pass into the end zone from the 11-yard line on the game’s final play.

What the fans think

On scales of 1-10, our Ohio State text subscribers were asked to rate their excitement for the game, and their worry about an Ohio State loss. (Sign up for a two-week trial of the texts by texting 614-350-3315 or here.)

Excitement/interest: 4.33

Worry: 1.39

Percent chance of an Ohio State win

King Mwikuta, Jr. is another Power 5 transfer who should help the Arkansas State cause, as the No. 159 recruit in the Class of 2019 joined the program from Alabama, where he played in 14 games in three seasons. Add him to Blackman and Bennett, and the Red Wolves have some guys who could pop, though they’ve also lost several players to the transfer portal, led by Rucker.

Arkansas State did beat Kansas State and hung with Nebraska, but against the elite programs, they’ve lost by 40-plus. Expect that to continue against the Buckeyes, though there should be a few guys on the field who can hang. When Appalachian State beat Michigan in 2007, App State wasn’t yet in the Sun Belt, so Arkansas State can’t call on that. This would be an epic upset, but let’s stay conservative and give Ohio State a 99 percent chance to win, rather than 99.9.

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