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Michigan football opponent preview: Arkansas State

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Michigan football opponent preview: Arkansas State


Arkansas State is out to its first 2-0 start in a long time under former Tennessee head coach Butch Jones. The Red Wolves have been in some shootouts so far this year with both Central Arkansas and Tulsa. But Arkansas State has found ways to win both games and the Red Wolves are entering the Big House this weekend.

Michigan, on the other hand, is coming off of a big loss to Texas last weekend. The Wolverines are hoping to right their wrongs against an undermatched Arkansas State team. The Red Wolves may come from the Sun Belt, but as Jones said earlier this week, his team is going to dig, watch the Texas tape, and see if his team has any sort of advantage they can use on Saturday.

Saturday will make the first-ever matchup between the two programs. The game will be aired on Big Ten Network and will kick at Noon ET.

Here are some stats to look at along with some noteable Arkansas State players to watch.

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2024 stat comparison:

Scoring offense: Michigan (103rd) 21 PPG — Arkansas State (68th) 31 PPG

Scoring defense: Michigan (70th) 20.5 PPG — Arkansas State (102nd) 27.5 PPG

Passing offense: Michigan (113th) 162.5 YPG — Arkansas State (37th) 286 YPG

Passing defense: Michigan (98th) 240.5 YPG — Arkansas State (70th) 198 YPG

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Rushing offense: Michigan (101st) 114 YPG — Arkansas State (85th) 140.5 YPG

Rushing defense: Michigan (25th) 76 YPG — Arkansas State (115th) 199 YPG

Total offense: Michigan (120th) 276.5 YPG — Arkansas State (52nd) 426.5 YPG

Total defense: Michigan (70th) 316.5 YPG — Arkansas State (100th) 397 YPG

Turnovers Lost: Michigan 4 — Arkansas State 4

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Turnovers Gained: Michigan 2 — Arkansas State 2

Sacks Allowed: Michigan 2 — Arkansas State 4

Sacks: Michigan 3 — Arkansas State 2

2024 PFF comparison:

Overall grade: Michigan (63rd) 81.2 — Arkansas State (108th) 69.4

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Offense: Michigan (70th) 70.7 — Arkansas State (109th) 64.0

Passing: Michigan (40th) 78.1 — Arkansas State (108th) 62.0

Pass block: Michigan (117th) 55.0 — Arkansas State (102nd) 60.7

Running: Michigan (46th) 77.2 — Arkansas State (87th) 69.9

Run block: Michigan (45th) 67.1 — Arkansas State (100th) 57.6

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Defense: Michigan (92nd) 70.3 — Arkansas State (117th) 64.8

Run defense: Michigan (43rd) 79.5 — Arkansas State (114th) 65.7

Pass rush: Michigan (45th) 69.7 — Arkansas State (72nd) 65.5

Coverage: Michigan (114th) 60.5 — Arkansas State (115th) 60.2

Top Arkansas State players to know:

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QB Jaylen Raynor: Raynor is a true dual-threat athlete at quarterback for the Red Wolves. He has thrown for 572 yards, three scores, and two interceptions through the air in two games. Raynor has also rushed for a team-high 122 yards and two scores on the ground. Raynor will test the Michigan linebackers on Saturday.

RB Zak Wallace: As important as Raynor is to the Arkansas State ground game, Wallace is a major part as well. The true bell-cow of the running backs, Wallace has run for 119 yards and two scores for the Red Wolves. The read-option is a big part of the Red Wolves’ offense.

WR Corey Rucker: The 6-foot receiver has dominated the touches and yardage through the air. Rucker is the only receiver who has double-digit receptions sitting at 13 catches on the season. He has a whopping 239 yards and two scores for Arkansas State. Rucker is averaging 18.3 yards per reception.

DE Jayden Jones: The big 6-foot-5, 265-pound lineman has four tackles through two games. But he is leading Arkansas State with 1.5 TFLs and one sack through two games.

LB Charles Willekes: After a 90-tackle campaign in 2023, Willekes is back in 2024 and he’s already racking up the tackles. The linebacker is tied for a team-high 17 tackles in two games. Willekes also has a .5 TFL to his name as well.

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S Justin Parks: Parks is the best defender Arkansas State has and is tied with Charles Willekes with 17 tackles on the season. The hard-hitting safety also has forced a fumble for the Arkansas State defense through two games.

– Enjoy more Michigan Wolverines coverage on Michigan Wolverines On SI –

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Police say Oakland County teen missing, endangered

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Police say Oakland County teen missing, endangered


Authorities are asking for the public’s assistance to find a missing Oakland County teen who is considered endangered.

Adrianna Smith, 15, was last seen in the 3500 block of South Fenton Road, just south of the city of Holly in northwest Oakland County, according to Michigan State Police.

She is believed to have left her home in a 2002 Jeep Liberty with an adult male, possibly a man named Derek Girtman, MSP said.

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Smith is described as having blonde hair and green eyes. She is about 5 feet, 7 inches tall and 160 pounds. She has one tattoo above her right knee and another on her left ankle.

Anyone with information about Adrianna’s whereabouts is asked to call 911 or the MSP Metro North Post at either (800) 495-4677 or (989) 370-8926.



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US supreme court sides with Michigan in its fight to shut down ageing pipeline

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US supreme court sides with Michigan in its fight to shut down ageing pipeline


The supreme court on Wednesday sided with Michigan in ruling that the state’s lawsuit seeking to shut down a section of an ageing pipeline beneath a Great Lakes channel will stay in state court.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote for a unanimous court that the Enbridge energy company waited too long to try to move the case to federal court.

The case is part of a messy legal dispute about a pipeline that has moved crude oil and natural gas liquids between Superior, Wisconsin, and Sarnia, Ontario, since 1953.

Dana Nessel, Michigan’s attorney general, sued in state court in June 2019 seeking to void the easement that allows Enbridge to operate a 4.5-mile (6.4km) section of pipeline under the straits of Mackinac, which link Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. Nessel, a Democrat, won a restraining order shutting down the pipeline from Ingham county judge James Jamo in June 2020, although Enbridge was allowed to continue operations after meeting safety requirements.

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Enbridge moved the lawsuit into federal court in 2021, arguing it affects US and Canadian trade. But a three-judge panel from the sixth US circuit court of appeals sent the case back to Jamo in June 2024, finding that the company missed a 30-day deadline to change jurisdictions.

The pipeline at issue is called Line 5. Concerns over the section beneath the straits rupturing and causing a catastrophic spill have been growing since 2017, when Enbridge engineers revealed they had known about gaps in the section’s protective coating since 2014. A boat anchor damaged the section in 2018, intensifying fears of a spill.

The Michigan department of natural resources under Gretchen Whitmer, the state’s governor, revoked the straits easement for Line 5 in 2020. Enbridge filed a separate federal lawsuit challenging the revocation.

Enbridge won a ruling from a federal judge blocking the move, but Whitmer, a Democrat, has appealed to the sixth US circuit court of appeals. In March, the supreme court rejected Whitmer’s appeal claiming that she couldn’t be sued in federal court.

It was unclear how the federal ruling blocking Whitmer’s revocation attempt would affect Nessel’s case in state court. The company said in a statement that the judge in the Whitmer case had already decided federal regulators, not the state, are responsible for Line 5 safety and they had found no issues that would warrant shutting it down.

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Enbridge also is seeking permits to encase the section of pipeline beneath the straits in a protective tunnel. The Michigan public service commission granted the relevant permits in 2023, but a coalition of environmental groups and Michigan tribes has filed a lawsuit seeking to void state permits for the tunnel. The state supreme court is weighing that case.

Enbridge also needs approval from the US army corps of engineers and the Michigan department of environment, Great Lakes and energy.

The pipeline is at the center of a separate legal dispute in Wisconsin as well. A federal judge in Madison last summer gave Enbridge three years to shut down part of Line 5 that runs across the Bad River Band of Lake Superior’s reservation. The company has appealed against the shutdown order to the seventh US circuit court of appeals, but it started work in February to reroute the line around the reservation.

The Bad River Band and environmental groups have filed a state lawsuit seeking to halt the work, arguing regulators have underestimated the damage the reroute construction will cause. That case also is pending.



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Hockey roundup: Three Michigan State recruits at U18 worlds; Bruins top Sabres

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Hockey roundup: Three Michigan State recruits at U18 worlds; Bruins top Sabres


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Three Michigan State recruits will represent Team USA at the world U18 hockey championships in Bratislava and Trencin, Slovakia.

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The U.S. opens against Czechia on Wednesday (10 a.m., The Hockey Network).

The future Spartans are: defenseman Nick Bogas (Royal Oak), defenseman Tyler Martyniuk (Washington Township) and forward Brooks Rogowski (Brighton).

Other local commits include: defenseman Abe Barnett (University of Michigan) and goalie Luke Carrithers (Western Michigan).

Team USA’s head coach is Nick Fohr (Dexter) with Kevin Porter (Northville) and Dan Darrow (Livonia) among the assistant coaches.

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The tournament features 10 countries with the final scheduled for May 2.

Bruins tie series with Sabres

The visiting Boston Bruins scored three second-period goals and held off a late Buffalo Sabres rally to post a 4-2 win on Tuesday and even their Eastern Conference quarterfinal playoff series at one victory apiece.

Viktor Arvidsson scored in the last two periods, giving the Bruins 1-0 and 4-0 leads. Morgan Geekie and Pavel Zacha also lit the lamp for Boston, which heads home for Game 3 of the best-of-seven series on Thursday.

Jonathan Aspirot, Casey Mittelstadt and David Pastrnak each dished out two assists for the Bruins, and Jeremy Swayman made 34 saves.

Bowen Byram and Peyton Krebs scored as Buffalo climbed within 4-2 in the closing minutes.

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Sabres goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen allowed four goals on 19 shots before Alex Lyon entered in relief following Arvidsson’s second marker, which came just 16 seconds into the third period.

Buffalo had a 36-26 shot advantage, including 20-8 in the third period, but its power play went 0-for-5. Boston finished 1-for-6 on the man advantage.

The physical contest featured 47 penalty minutes for each team.

Following a scoreless opening period, the Bruins took over in the second, scoring on three of their 11 shots against Luukkonen.

Arvidsson broke the deadlock 4:54 into the middle frame, taking Aspirot’s lob pass in ahead of the defense and beating Luukkonen five-hole with a backhander from the left circle.

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A gaffe by Luukkonen helped Boston double its lead with 3:31 left in the period, as Geekie’s high backhanded dump from the far side of center ice eluded him over the glove.

The Bruins’ power play got in on the action 1:41 later. After Geekie’s one- handed keep-in at the blue line extended the play, Zacha tipped in Pastrnak’s shot from the top of the right circle while stationed in the bumper position.

Arvidsson made it 4-0 early in the third, prompting Sabres coach Lindy Ruff to change goaltenders. Aspirot banked a long feed off the boards to set up the play, leading Arvidsson down the left wing to score on a 2-on-1 rush with Zacha.

The Sabres struck twice in a 1:14 span to make things interesting. Byram accepted Beck Malenstyn’s back pass for a wrister from the top of the right circle to break Swayman’s shutout bid with 6:06 left.

Krebs soon made it 4-2, batting down and scoring the rebound of a Rasmus Dahlin point shot that caromed off the post and back into the crease.

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Detroit Red Wings received six A’s in The Detroit News’ final grades for the 2025-2026 season.

Grades and key takeaways for Finnie, Gibson, Seider, Larkin, Raymond and DeBrincat after the Wings’ late collapse.



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