Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

Why can't this state of nearly 3 million people not only support two NCAA bowl subdivision programs, but two college teams that annually finish in the Top 25 national rankings? Gus Malzahn believes Arkansas can do it.

And, if the University of Arkansas is only playing two games a season in Little Rock and is taking its one, alternating years rivalry game (LSU) from War Memorial Stadium to its home campus in Fayetteville, why can't Arkansas State's football program fill a void in Central Arkansas with an annual visit? Malzahn, ASU's new head football coach, believes the Red Wolves can establish such a presence here.

Malzahn brought his vision of Arkansas State football to the Rotary Club of Little Rock, Club 99, on Tuesday, and he also shared the same ideas with the Little Rock print and TV media afterward at the Doubletree Hotel. Arkansas State is pursuing playing a BCS-level opponent, one whose fans would travel well, at Little Rock’s War Memorial Stadium, and Malzahn would like a Little Rock game on the schedule every year.

“Next year’s schedule is complete,” he said, referring to the fall slate that features trips to Oregon and Nebraska. “We are looking at a couple of dates in 2013. … I could see us beginning to play in Little Rock starting in that season.”

Arkansas State has traditionally been scheduled as cannon fodder for such powerhouse programs as Alabama, Auburn, Texas, Oklahoma, LSU and Virginia Tech — taking a big paycheck to supplement its athletic budget and taking a big loss at the same time. Presumably, Oregon and Nebraska are looking at the Red Wolves in that same regard this fall.

“We’ll do a better job of scheduling in the future,” Malzahn said, getting a hearty laugh out of the crowd. While playing a “money” game or two is one thing, doing it against Top 10 powerhouses is another.

Perhaps there is a big-name program who would take a two-for-one deal — two home games against ASU in exchange for a trip to Little Rock, which until things change might still be viewed as a neutral site for the Red Wolves. Malzahn, whose hiring already has stirred serious excitement about the ASU program statewide, is determined to change that.

For now, though, ASU is still the program whose fans haven't really bothered to travel to Little Rock when it tried to establish a presence here. ASU managed to convince Oklahoma State to play at War Memorial Stadium in 2006, but the people who were there recall the 18,000 fans being as much for OSU as ASU.

The program doesn’t need 37,000 empty seats, not when the Red Wolves have shown they’ll draw nearly 30,000 in Jonesboro for the rare decent game at home (Southern Miss, Memphis). ASU doesn’t need a game in which both combatants are viewed as the road team.

Perhaps the new coach's focus on Little Rock can change that. With the University of Arkansas’ recruiting broadened nationally to where the Hogs are only trying for a handful of high school stars from the state, Malzahn believes plenty more athletes within these borders are D-I caliber and can help ASU. In recent years, they’ve been heading out to Oklahoma State, Ole Miss and elsewhere.

Malzahn landed do-it-all quarterback Fredi Knighten from Pulaski Academy, who was probably headed to Louisiana Tech before ASU hired its new coach. Malzahn likened Knighten to Michigan’s Dennard Robinson but with an ability to throw accurately, he told the Rotary members Tuesday. Malzahn wants to continue to build a talent pipeline from Little Rock to Jonesboro.

“I look at Little Rock as a very talented place,” he said. “The only loss we had at Springdale in 2004 was to Little Rock Central, and it’s a game that still haunts me. I remember how good those Central players were.”