Hopeless odds against No. 1 Alabama? Red Wolves say no

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- It's not likely.

But it sure isn't impossible.

"We play probably the best football team I've ever seen in a pair of cleats this weekend," Arkansas State University Coach Blake Anderson said. "Talk about a signature win, it would definitely be that."

Sun Belt Conference member Troy did this last year, beating Ed Orgeron's ranked LSU bunch 24-21 on a warm September night inside a hostile and stunned Tiger Stadium.

Appalachian State, which the Sun Belt's coaches predicted to finish second behind ASU at the end of this season, traveled to then-No. 10 Penn State last Saturday and dropped a 45-38 overtime nail-biter.

An Arkansas State upset against the top-ranked, so-great-for-so-long Alabama Crimson Tide -- a five-time national champion in the past nine seasons -- at 2:30 p.m. today at Tuscaloosa's Bryant-Denny Stadium is more of a dream than a probability. The Tide are 36-point favorites.

"It's not every week that you get to go down and play the No. 1 team in the country," Anderson said. "We look forward to going down there and seeing what it's all about."

The Red Wolves, with five conference championships in the past seven years, present no breeze for the Tide.

An electric offense led by senior quarterback Justice Hansen's right arm, the Red Wolves' 497 passing yards and 79 total plays in a 48-21 victory over Southeast Missouri State in the opener caught the eye of Alabama Coach Nick Saban.

That production proves ASU's capability of causing a fuss against any secondary.

"I think they're somewhere up there, close to No. 1 in pass offense," Saban told reporters in Tuscaloosa earlier this week. "They do a great job of spreading the field. Their quarterback does a really good job. This is a real challenge for our defensive team."

History gives the heavily-favored Tide reason to believe Week 2 suggests another stomping of a nonconference foe. Alabama has defeated 74 consecutive unranked teams under Saban, the longest streak in FBS history.

Saban is 5-1 against Sun Belt opponents as the Tide's coach, with his lone loss to the University of Louisiana-Monroe in 2007, his first season as the Crimson Tide's head coach.

Alabama is obligated to pay Arkansas State $1.7 million for Saturday's game -- which Sun Belt Commissioner Karl Benson is planning to attend -- according to a copy of the game contract obtained by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in 2016.

The Red Wolves aren't approaching Saturday's matinee as if there's no risk. Even if many think anything short of a blowout could be considered a moral victory for ASU, the Red Wolves are not handling Saturday -- which they call an "opportunity" -- as if there's nothing to lose.

It's why Anderson and players had this meeting with the Tide circled since January.

"We take it as any other game," he said. "We want to protect the ball. We know if we turn the ball over, we're going to make it hard to beat them. We've got to maximize every advantage that we might have. Everything is heightened.

"There's no let-it-loose, no-risk attitude. It's about execution no matter who you're playing."

January was nine months ago. The day has finally come.

"We've been preparing for this game since last January," Anderson said. "All the things we did in our offseason, everything we do in terms of discipline and accountability and details, it all leads to a game like this where those things are going to be at a critical level."

Sports on 09/08/2018