The Wolves backed that pedigree up immediately, ripping off a 5-0 start in 2025 — the first time a transitioning FCS program did that against FCS competition since North Dakota State in 2006 — and finishing 8-3 with a #22 national ranking. They'd have had a real case for the FCS playoffs had they been postseason-eligible in year two. That's the level of program Arkansas State is welcoming into Centennial Bank Stadium, not a scrimmage.
Arkansas State's calling card under Jones has been depth and program stability — three straight bowl trips is nothing to sneeze at in the Sun Belt — but an unsettled QB room in Week 1 is exactly the spot where a well-coached, momentum-carrying FCS team can make things uncomfortable. West Georgia isn't walking in staring up at the scoreboard; they're walking in believing they belong.
The bigger question for Arkansas State is whether the pieces gel fast enough. Ten returning starters, seven of them on offense, is a solid foundation, but foundations don't matter if the new quarterback and a shaky O-line are still figuring each other out on opening weekend. West Georgia, by contrast, returns continuity at the top with Hurst and Englehart's staff already installed and comfortable, even if the jump in competition level from the UAC to a Sun Belt roadtrip is untested.
However this shakes out, it's a useful measuring-stick game for both programs — Arkansas State finding out what it has at quarterback before conference play, and West Georgia finding out if last year's breakout was real or a product of a soft UAC slate.