Memphis football's plan for Arkansas State: Study coach Butch Jones' past success
After two games facing the Air-Raid and triple option offenses, Memphis football coach Ryan Silverfield was ready for a different plan preparing for Arkansas State Saturday (6 p.m., ESPN+).
Silverfield and his staff watched tape from Arkansas State coach Butch Jones' previous stops at Tennessee, Cincinnati and Central Michigan. With Jones in his second season with the Red Wolves, any past clues were worth exploring beyond the Tigers' thrilling 55-50 win last season.
"I don't want to give away our tells but I'm one of those nerd of the film so I've started to study some stuff back," Silverfield said. "It's not in black-and-white yet, we haven't had to pull out the old analog tapes that some of these guys are too young to remember."
It's probably a relief studying a more traditional team. Arkansas State (1-1) didn't provide much resistance to Memphis last season as the Tigers (1-1) scored a season-high 55 points in Jonesboro led by career-high days from Brandon Thomas (191 rushing yards) and Calvin Austin III (239 receiving yards).
The defense, however, made that 55-50 win much closer by allowing the Red Wolves to score touchdowns on four consecutive drives. Memphis led by 18 points in the third quarter but survived when Arkansas State's pass into the end zone on the game's final play was knocked away.
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Another meltdown would cause more concern, but there's more confidence in this year's defense after holding to Navy to 314 yards in last week's 37-13 win. Instead of missed tackles and blown assignments, the Tigers were cleaner and forced three turnovers.
A more nagging issue for Saturday is the Tigers won't have one of their defensive leaders for the first half. Starting senior linebacker Xavier Cullens was penalized for targeting in the fourth quarter and has to stay in the Tigers' locker room until halftime.
Silverfield said he'll have senior Tyler Murray to switch to middle linebacker while Geoffrey Cantin-Arku will get more reps alongside Murray and Cincir Evans.
It adds another wrinkle to what's been a challenging start for the defense. But a new week means a new way to study. If Navy Week was a buildup months in the making, Arkansas State prep means Silverfield and his staff are fine getting more familiar with Butch Jones and his past travels.
"It's the third game of the season. There's going to be something we haven't seen and just hopeful that we're prepared and ready for it," Silverfield said.
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This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis football's Arkansas State plan: Study Butch Jones' past success
