This past weekend the Red Wolves put a 56-0 beat down on Alcorn St. It was obvious from the very beginning that this FCS opponent was outmatched athletically and physically. At times it didn’t even feel like a real football game. More like a Varsity vs Jr Varsity scrimmage. It was ugly, but if it wasn’t for Gus Malzahn it could have been a lot worse.

Arkansas State’s quarterbacks finished the game 14-16 passing for 238 yards and 3 touchdowns. If Malzahn wanted to be a jerk he could have easily went Madden style and threw bombs all night for touchdowns. There were 4-5 plays the Red Wolves tried to throw the ball down field and all ended with a touchdown or huge gain. The ASU receivers just ran right past the defense.

Quarterback Ryan Aplin ended the game 12-13 for 198 yards and 3 touchdowns. And only played the first half. He had more touchdowns than incompletions! The Red Wolves only attempted 3 passes in the 2nd half and all of those were in the 3rd quarter.

Not only did Malzahn rarely throw the ball, but he pretty much only threw it when he had to. The Red Wolves attempted 16 total passes. In 13 of those attempts the Red Wolves needed at least 7 yards for a first down. As a team Arkansas State totaled 56 rushing attempts for the game. 23 rushing attempts in the first half and 33 rushing attempts in the second half.

Everyone in the stadium could see this was a lopsided matchup and Alcorn St had no business being on that field. Hopefully everyone in the stadium also noticed Malzahn did everything he could not to embarrass them. If you want to applaud anything from this game, applaud Malzahn for taking care of business, but being respectful at the same time.