Sunday, December 13, 2020

Head Football Coach Blake Anderson Leaves Arkansas State for Utah State

Late last week Blake Anderson resigned as head football coach at Arkansas State to take up the same position at Utah State.  Here is a look at the Arkansas State football program since 2008 (the first year that I collected all the variables needed for the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model).  This time period spans head coach Steve Roberts last three seasons with the Red Wolves (2008-2010), Hugh Freeze (2011), Gus Malzhan (2012), Bryan Harsin (2013) and the seven seasons under Blake Anderson (2014-2020).

After the figure below is a more detailed look at the Arkansas State Red Wolves football program during head coach Anderson's tenure based on the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model using data provided by www.cfbstats.com.  (The vertical school color bars represent seasons where head coaches changed).

Blake Anderson [2014-2020*]

2014
Arkansas State finished the regular season at 4-8 (and bowl eligible) where they were defeated by #42 ranked Toledo by a score of (44-63) to finish the season at 7-6 overall.  The Red Wolves' played against an “average” strength of schedule (SOS), meaning that the Red Wolves (SOS) was plus or minus one standard deviation of the "leagues" SOS.  Arkansas State's best regular season victory was against #32 ranked Utah State by a score of (21-14) and their worst loss was to #63 ranked Tennessee by a score of (19-34).  Arkansas State was the #50 ranked team overall, with the #26 ranked offense and the #98 ranked defense using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com

2015
Arkansas State finished the regular season again at 9-3, and played #19 Louisiana Tech in their bowl game, which they lost by a score of (28-47) resulting in a 9-4 overall record. The Red Wolves played  against an “easier” strength of schedule (SOS), meaning that the Red Wolves' SOS was between one and two standard deviations greater than the "league" average SOS.  Arkansas State's best regular season victory was against #1 ranked Appalachian State by a score of (40-27) and their worst loss was again to #65 ranked Missouri by a score of (20-27).  Arkansas State was the #77 ranked team overall, with the #43 ranked offense and the #100 ranked defense using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com.

2016
Arkansas State finished the regular season at 7-5 (and bowl eligible).  This year the Red Wolves were victorious in the bowl game against #66 ranked UCF by a score of (31-13) giving them an 8-5 overall record.  The Red Wolves' again played against an “easier” strength of schedule   Arkansas State's best regular season victory was against #31 ranked Troy by a score of (35-3) and their worst loss was to FCS Central Arkansas by a score of (23-28).  Arkansas State was the #29 ranked team overall, with the #63 ranked offense and the #20 ranked defense using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com

2017
Arkansas State finished the regular season again at 7-4, and were defeated in their bowl game against #69 ranked Middle Tennessee State (30-35) to finish 7-5 overall; while playing against a “much easier” strength of schedule (SOS), meaning that the Red Wolves (SOS) was greater than standard deviations of the "leagues" SOS.  Arkansas State's best regular season victory was against #65 ranked New Mexico State by a score of (37-21) and their worst loss was again to #118 ranked Nebraska by a score of (36-43).  Arkansas State was the #29 ranked team overall, with the #27 ranked offense and the #58 ranked defense using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com.

2018
Arkansas State finished the regular season at 8-4, and were bowl eligible, where they were defeated by #52 ranked Nevada by the score (13-16) to finish 8-5 overall. The Red Wolves' played against an “easier” strength of schedule.  Arkansas State's best regular season victory was again against #75 ranked Texas State by a score of (33-7) and their worst loss was to #100 ranked Louisiana-Lafayette by a score of (43-47).  Arkansas State was the #47 ranked team overall, with the #24 ranked offense and the #68 ranked defense using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com.

2019 
Arkansas State finished the regular season at 7-5, and were bowl eligible, where they defeated #87 FIU (34-26) to finish 8-5 overall.  The Red Wolves played against an “easier” strength of schedule (SOS).  Arkansas State's best regular season victory was against #58 ranked Georgia Southern (38-33) and their worst loss was to #110 ranked Georgia State (38-52).  Arkansas State was the #92 ranked team overall, with the #43 ranked offense and the #122 ranked defense using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com.

2020
Arkansas State is currently 4-7 with their best win against #68 Georgia State by a score of (59-52) and their worst loss of the season was to currently ranked #117 Texas State by the score of (45-47).  The Red Wolves' are currently the #11 ranked offense, the #126 ranked defense (2nd to last given three teams are currently not playing this Fall) and the #74 ranked team  in the Football Bowl Subdivision.

2020 NCAA FBS Head Coaching Changes