'Do we have an advantage anywhere?': Butch Jones speaks on Michigan in a Week 3 tilt

Trent Knoop | Sep 11, 2024

Arkansas State Red Wolves head coach Butch Jones coaches against the Northern Illinois Huskies in the Camellia Bowl at Cramton Bowl in Montgomery, Ala., on Saturday December 23, 2023. / Mickey Welsh / USA TODAY NETWORK

Former Central Michigan, Cincinnati, and Tennessee head coach, Butch Jones, is now in his fourth season as the head coach of Arkansas State. The Red Wolves are out to a 2-0 start after winning close games against Central Arkansas and Tulsa. Jones now has to go into Ann Arbor to face the defending national champions who are coming off of a crushing loss to Texas last weekend.

“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.”

Jones was asked what makes Michigan a good football team. He spoke a little about the Wolverines' special teams and how sound they have been year-in-and-year-out. But then he spoke about the elite talent Michigan has on both sides of the ball and shouted out Donovan Edwards, specifically. Back when Jones was with Alabama as an assistant, he recruited Edwards and has familiarity with the senior running back.

“First of all, they have really talented, good football players,” said Jones. “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 [Donovan Edwards]. I recruited him when I was at Alabama. 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.”

Michigan running back Donovan Edwards (7) runs for a first down against Texas during the first half at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor on Saturday, September 7, 2024. / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Wolverines are wanting to prove something following that 31-12 defeat to the Longhorns. But did Texas show Arkansas State what it can do in order to keep the game close this weekend? Jones spoke highly of what Steve Sarkisian can do as a head coach with elite talent. While Jones didn't say whether Texas gave him a blueprint, he said football comes down to both fundamentals and a game of mismatches.

“Make no mistake about it: Texas is ranked where they are, and [head coach Steve] Sark 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?”

Arkansas State will come into the Big House on Saturday for a Noon ET kick.

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