For many Arkansas State fans, it felt rushed, changing from Indians to Red Wolves.

The NCAA made the announcement in August of 2005. Six months earlier Arkansas State had signed a group of freshmen who would become the first Red Wolves as true seniors and red-shirt juniors. Ben Owens, Reggie Arnold, Corey Leonard, and Evan Van Dolah in their first season at A-State would pick up conference championship rings and travel to Lafayette for the New Orleans Bowl that had been displaced by Hurricane Katrina. The stadium announcer would only refer to the team as Arkansas State because of the new NCAA policy on Native American names and the graphics used would be the stAte logo not the ASU with the Indian embedded.

When the 2008 season arrived, they would be the first Red Wolves and the first to knock off an "AQ" team as in "automatic qualifier" because then Big XII member Texas A&M was a member of a conference with a guaranteed slot in the Bowl Championship Series.

They had experienced a near miss the year before in Austin.

A few of the players have shared their memories of the win in College Station.

Matt Mandich



To be honest it was a surreal experience. We had played in big games and big time atmospheres before but that place was different. I knew we had a chance to win the whole time because I knew my teammates were playing as hard as they could and executing well. Only when Ben picked off that final drive did it sink in we were going to win. We had come close before to knocking off big teams a few times in my career but always fell short. That day was special for me and my class and the rest of my teammates. It was a by-product of everything that those players and coaching staff poured into the program. I will always remember we had to score most of our points off of Josh’s leg that game. He was clutch!

Ben Owens

Owens would become the first (and so far only) A-State player to be named national player of the week. His memories.





Evan Van Dolah



I remember the accommodations in College Station weren’t great. We stayed in an old dorm and the AC wasn’t working when we arrived which pissed us off. The heat that weekend was no joke.



It took us a while to get Mike Goodson corralled. We knew going into that game he was a difference maker. He proved that pretty quick. Things started to come together as the game progressed. We tightened up and made some big plays. I knew when we recovered Goodson’s fumble late in the game we were going to win it.



Josh Arauco had a big night coming through with major points for us. Reggie ran the ball well, and I still play Corey’s touchdown pass to Kevin Jones in my head in slow motion.



After the final whistle we were going crazy together on the sideline. I vividly remember looking at some fans’ reactions and they were crushed. It was a great win for the program that night. It was an amazing feeling and I’ll carry that with me for the rest of my life.





Tom Castilaw



I remember standing on the sidelines. It was late in the 4th and watching as our defense lined up. It seemed slow motion but I remember Ben Owens reaching up and pulling the football into his chest when he got the interception. The energy was instant from our sidelines and I felt like the stadium was silent. All you could hear was the screams of A-State.



I also remember being greeted at our stadium as we pulled in late from that game by all the fans. It was awesome. We were all so tired but had a blast celebrating in the parking lot.