Welcome to Four Down Territory which is a post I will make weekly with a few thoughts I have about things that are going on.
So, I’ll give you three thoughts on Arkansas State football or college football in general. Then, the last thought will be whatever I want it to be.
1: Sun Belt Conference Media Day's will be hosted next Tuesday and Wednesday:
It's that time of the year again, and I am absolutely pumped for it! SBC Media Day's will be held next week in New Orleans and we will get our first real chance at hearing from the head coaches and select athletes from every program within the conference.
Arkansas State will be represented by head coach Butch Jones, along with senior linebacker Melique Straker and junior safety Justin Parks. You can view the representatives from each team from the conference by Clicking Here.
Something I am looking forward to is hearing Butch Jones discuss how the team has progressed since spring ball came to an end, and what he thinks about the QB situation. I really think that is going to be the big story line surrounding fall camp this year. Colorado transfer J.T. Shrout and Jaxon Dailey will be the main two I have my eyes on during fall camp. I want to see who separates theirselves and how quickly they can do so. If there is no separation I would personally go with Dailey since he will have more years of eligibility and would be the future of the program.
2: Screw it. Let's see if Butch Jones and staff can find a way to start things off with a bang with an upset win over Oklahoma.
Look, I get it, on paper Oklahoma should absolutely run away with this game, and I picked OU to win this one in my article earlier this week, but damn it would be a lot of fun to see this team walk out of that game with a win!
Let's be honest. Oklahoma already thinks they have this in the bag. They will not give Arkansas State a single shot at winning this game. But, this team has absolutely NOTHING to lose. They can go out, play free, and leave it all on the field and let the cards fall as they may. If you do this and catch OU sleeping you never know what can happen.
Stranger things have happened in college football before. Why not find a way to let it happen here?!?!?
3: The Sun Belt Conference isn't going to be a joke:
I have said it numerous times and I will say it again; The Sun Belt Conference is now the best Group of Five conference in the country, in my opinion. Kudos to the Sun Belt brass for making the moves they did a couple of years ago to elevate this conference. This isn't the old days where you could have a mediocre team and find a way to win the conference. If you are going to win this conference now you are going to have to have a team that can absolutely bring it.
There are some stud football players in this conference now that will be Sunday players before it is all said and done. Not only that, but there are some quality coaches across the board within this conference.
The SBC has elevated itself, and it is going to be fun to watch how things continue to play out over the years.
4: I'm having a blast watching my kids grow up and get involved with sports.
I'm a dad just like many of you, and I have had an absolute blast watching my kids play sports here recently.
My oldest son is 15 and is ate up with baseball. He just finished his American Legion season where he played up on the 17u team at Sheridan. He finished the season with a 1.050 ERA in 6.2 innings pitched and a .364 batting average in 32 plate appearances with four doubles and three triples. He had a .957 fielding percentage with one error in the field playing second, short, third, and outfield throughout the summer. He is receiving camp invites, though we don't really know how serious anyone is at this point. However, it has been a lot of fun to watch him develop and it will be a lot of fun to see how his high school career goes over the next four years.
My middle son has taken a liking to football. He will be in the 8th grade this year. He played his first season of football last year after only playing peewee ball once in the third grade. He ended up being a starter on the offensive and defensive lines, and worked hard to grow as a player during the season and in the weight room over the offseason. It's going to be fun to watch him this fall!
My daughter has fallen in love with cheer, gymnastics, and karate. She is 10 and growing like a weed every day. She recently survived a roll over crash with my 81 year old grandpa after he blacked out at the wheel, hit a tree, then rolled the car 2-3 times. She was able to crawl out of the back of the car once it stopped rolling. She called 911 then called my wife. I can't begin to tell you how proud of her I am for being able to keep her composure in order to alert the authorities then to call us. She walked away with nothing more than seatbelt rash across her collarbone, while my grandpa was also unharmed. They determined that a change in his blood pressure medicine caused his blood pressure to bottom out, leading to him passing out at the wheel.
I'll say this, no one will ever be able to tell me there isn't a God after seeing that car and seeing my baby girl be able to crawl out of it without being harmed.
So, I’ll give you three thoughts on Arkansas State football or college football in general. Then, the last thought will be whatever I want it to be.
1: Sun Belt Conference Media Day's will be hosted next Tuesday and Wednesday:
It's that time of the year again, and I am absolutely pumped for it! SBC Media Day's will be held next week in New Orleans and we will get our first real chance at hearing from the head coaches and select athletes from every program within the conference.
Arkansas State will be represented by head coach Butch Jones, along with senior linebacker Melique Straker and junior safety Justin Parks. You can view the representatives from each team from the conference by Clicking Here.
Something I am looking forward to is hearing Butch Jones discuss how the team has progressed since spring ball came to an end, and what he thinks about the QB situation. I really think that is going to be the big story line surrounding fall camp this year. Colorado transfer J.T. Shrout and Jaxon Dailey will be the main two I have my eyes on during fall camp. I want to see who separates theirselves and how quickly they can do so. If there is no separation I would personally go with Dailey since he will have more years of eligibility and would be the future of the program.
2: Screw it. Let's see if Butch Jones and staff can find a way to start things off with a bang with an upset win over Oklahoma.
Look, I get it, on paper Oklahoma should absolutely run away with this game, and I picked OU to win this one in my article earlier this week, but damn it would be a lot of fun to see this team walk out of that game with a win!
Let's be honest. Oklahoma already thinks they have this in the bag. They will not give Arkansas State a single shot at winning this game. But, this team has absolutely NOTHING to lose. They can go out, play free, and leave it all on the field and let the cards fall as they may. If you do this and catch OU sleeping you never know what can happen.
Stranger things have happened in college football before. Why not find a way to let it happen here?!?!?
3: The Sun Belt Conference isn't going to be a joke:
I have said it numerous times and I will say it again; The Sun Belt Conference is now the best Group of Five conference in the country, in my opinion. Kudos to the Sun Belt brass for making the moves they did a couple of years ago to elevate this conference. This isn't the old days where you could have a mediocre team and find a way to win the conference. If you are going to win this conference now you are going to have to have a team that can absolutely bring it.
There are some stud football players in this conference now that will be Sunday players before it is all said and done. Not only that, but there are some quality coaches across the board within this conference.
The SBC has elevated itself, and it is going to be fun to watch how things continue to play out over the years.
4: I'm having a blast watching my kids grow up and get involved with sports.
I'm a dad just like many of you, and I have had an absolute blast watching my kids play sports here recently.
My oldest son is 15 and is ate up with baseball. He just finished his American Legion season where he played up on the 17u team at Sheridan. He finished the season with a 1.050 ERA in 6.2 innings pitched and a .364 batting average in 32 plate appearances with four doubles and three triples. He had a .957 fielding percentage with one error in the field playing second, short, third, and outfield throughout the summer. He is receiving camp invites, though we don't really know how serious anyone is at this point. However, it has been a lot of fun to watch him develop and it will be a lot of fun to see how his high school career goes over the next four years.
My middle son has taken a liking to football. He will be in the 8th grade this year. He played his first season of football last year after only playing peewee ball once in the third grade. He ended up being a starter on the offensive and defensive lines, and worked hard to grow as a player during the season and in the weight room over the offseason. It's going to be fun to watch him this fall!
My daughter has fallen in love with cheer, gymnastics, and karate. She is 10 and growing like a weed every day. She recently survived a roll over crash with my 81 year old grandpa after he blacked out at the wheel, hit a tree, then rolled the car 2-3 times. She was able to crawl out of the back of the car once it stopped rolling. She called 911 then called my wife. I can't begin to tell you how proud of her I am for being able to keep her composure in order to alert the authorities then to call us. She walked away with nothing more than seatbelt rash across her collarbone, while my grandpa was also unharmed. They determined that a change in his blood pressure medicine caused his blood pressure to bottom out, leading to him passing out at the wheel.
I'll say this, no one will ever be able to tell me there isn't a God after seeing that car and seeing my baby girl be able to crawl out of it without being harmed.
