What Arkansas State coach Butch Jones said about Michigan: 'Really good football team' with 'talent across the board'

In its fourth season under head coach Butch Jones, Arkansas State is 2-0 for the first time since 2008. The Red Wolves have escaped with victories over Central Arkansas (34-31) and Tulsa (28-24), but bigger challenges are ahead. Arkansas State is set for two-straight road tilts against Power Four opponents: No. 17 Michigan and Iowa State.

“We have to get a lot better in a hurry,” Jones said. “Maybe the things that we’ve gotten away with — with the lack of ball security, our ball-carrying technique, protecting the quarterback, the ability to impact the quarterback on defense, taking the ball [away] — the competition now increases.

“Michigan is a really, really good football team that will expose you if you’re not fundamentally sound, if you don’t take care of the football.

“Let alone, it’s our first road test, going on the road and playing in front of over 111,000 people. So how do we handle the crowd noise? What’s our composure like? All those things, our cadence, all the different things that go into [it] in addition to playing the defending national champs.”

Michigan Stadium is the largest in college football, and the Wolverines had won 23-straight home games until they lost to Texas last week.

“You can’t worry about external factors,” Jones said. “The length of the football field, the width of the football field is the exact same as it is here at Centennial Bank Stadium. And I think that’s the big thing: Having the maturity and the road focus to not get caught up in the things that don’t matter — the clutter, the distractions.

“The composure that it takes to go on the road … how are we going to be able to handle and control the noise, the momentum swings. I’ve been on the other side of it, too, for a long time, and I know what we would tell our teams and having to start fast and getting a big momentum play early and push the ball down the field early — all those things.”

Jones said that Michigan’s special teams unit will pose a big challenge, citing that the Wolverines use defensive linemen as hold-up guys on their punt unit, something they haven’t seen this season. He was asked about what on offense and defense makes Michigan a formidable opponent.

“First of all, they have really talented, good football players,” Jones said of Michigan. “I mean, it’s why they have top-10, top-25 recruiting classes every single year. They have talent across the board, they have depth across the board.

“On defense, they’ve probably got possibly three first-rounders. Offensively, very familiar with the running back. I recruited him when I was at Alabama — [senior] Donovan Edwards. He’s right from Michigan, West Bloomfield. So all these things, there’s a lot of familiarity there.

“But they’re a good football team. There’s a reason why they won the national championship last year. They’ll be one of the premier teams in the Big Ten Conference. They’re well-coached; I have a lot of respect for their coaching staff and what they do. 

“There are plenty of challenges, but we have to control what we can control, and that’s our effort, that’s our fundamentals, that’s our details, that’s our mindset going into this game, all the above. And then you just try to hang around. You just try to hang around and keep playing. We’re gonna have to have maturity to weather the storm early. When you go on the road, that’s part of the road focus and knowing how they’re going to attack you and the poise that goes into it.

“I think it’ll be a big but a really good test for us, in terms of being able to go on the road, perform with the expectations that we have against a really quality opponent.”

Texas dominated Michigan last week, getting up 24-3 at the half and finishing it off by winning 31-12. Jones was asked if the Red Wolves can draw anything from the way the Longhorns played.

“Make no mistake about it: Texas is ranked where they are, and [head coach Steve] Sark[isian] does a great job. But they played one of the premier teams in the SEC and in college football. So you look at schemes, you look at all those things.

“But for us as coaches, you gotta put your players in the best possible situations to succeed. And a lot of that is scheme-oriented — how can we create angles, how can we do different things? The fundamentals of getting off blocks.

“With all that, football never really changes. It still comes down to fundamentals and details. It comes down to blocking and tackling. It comes down to making the routine plays, routinely. If we have a receiver open, we gotta get him the ball. We gotta be able to protect [quarterback] Jaylen [Raynor] in the pocket, all those things.

“But you watch all their games, you try to formulate a game plan, which we will. Football is a game of matchups. It’s a week-to-week season, because it’s really how your team matches up with their team, in terms of personnel. How can you overcome some mismatches? Do we have an advantage anywhere?”

Michigan native Butch Jones making return to the state, The Big House

Jones is a native of Saugatuck, located on Michigan’s west coast. The 56-year-old played and coached at D-II Ferris State (Big Rapids, Mich.) and spent 10 seasons as a coach at Central Michigan, including three as the head man from 2007-09. When he was the Chippewas’ offensive coordinator in 2003, his team took on Michigan in Ann Arbor, losing 45-7.

“I’ve been in there a number of times and grew up going to the stadium,” Jones said. “Grew up remembering the Rick Leachs and the Rob Lytles and the Harlan Hucklebys and all those individuals and great players. But it’s been a while since I’ve been back.”

Jones said growing up in Michigan had a big impact on his life.

“It molded everything,” he noted. “I grew up probably about two-and-a-half hours from Ann Arbor in a resort town called Saugatuk, right on Lake Michigan. My father was the chief of police for over 35 years. My mom was the hospital administrator. We go back there, we have a place there. My mom is still alive. The whole town shuts down over the summer [on] Fourth of July. We go back. Everyone that’s a business owner, I went to high school with.

“Very familiar with the University of Michigan. The best man in my wedding is an assistant A.D. there, who’s in charge of The Big House and Crisler Arena and all the sports venues. Obviously, have a good relationship with the chancellor, very good friends with the athletic director, a lot of guys on the staff.

“But that only goes so far. We’re going there to play the game. We’re in football, but we’re in the business of winning. So that’s kind of a mindset. It’ll be good to see everyone in passing.

“It’ll be great to go there, but really you’re focused on the task at hand, and that’s the defending national champion.”