Because I was a little late getting the questions out to my fellow beat writers, I think I caught a couple of them on vacation this week. As such, we’ll have to skip past the South Carolina game for now to Arkansas (I’ll circle back later).
If you missed Mississippi State, Clemson or Florida Atlantic, you can go back and read them.
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Arkansas Razorbacks
Head coach: Bobby Petrino (4th season at Arkansas, 23-14; 8th season overall, 64-23 overall at Louisville, Arkansas)- 2009 record: 10-2 (6-2, t-2nd SEC West), lost to Ohio State 31-26 in Sugar Bowl (later vacated)
- Returning starters: 11 (5 offense, 6 defense)
- Total offense: 482.5 ypg (2nd SEC, 9th nationally)
- Total defense: 347.9 ypg (5th SEC, 36th nationally)
- Series: Auburn leads 11-8-1
- Last meeting: Auburn won 65-43 last year at Jordan-Hare Stadium
- Consensus prediction: Third in SEC West
Five-week schedule glimpse
- Sept. 24: at Alabama
- Oct. 1: vs. Texas A&M (in Arlington, Texas)
- Oct. 8: Auburn
- Oct. 15: Bye
- Oct. 22: at Ole Miss
The Razorbacks had their breakthrough season under Petrino last year, getting to a BCS bowl for the first time and winning 10 games (could have been more if the Ohio State five hadn’t been allowed to play in the Sugar Bowl). Even though Ryan Mallett is gone, Arkansas has got some talent. It had 14 preseason All-SEC selections on the first, second and third teams. Alabama, the conference favorite, had 16. That’s pretty good company.
To see just how good the Razorbacks are, I went to Robbie Neiswanger of the Arkansas News Bureau. Follow him on Twitter here and read his work here. Here are his answers to a few questions:
RN: I don’t think it was a fluke. Wilson may not have Mallett-like arm strength, but who does? What he does have a good arm, better mobility than Mallett and three years of experience in Petrino’s offense. Not only that, he has a wealth of weapons around him. So all signs point to Wilson making a pretty smooth transition into the job. That said, there’s something we didn’t get to see with Wilson in the late-game appearance he made last season. Nobody devoted an entire week (or two or three) to preparing for him. So it will be interesting to see how he plays when defenses like Alabama, LSU, etc., know all of his strengths and weaknesses. But I think he’ll do well.
RN: Davis and the run game. We saw what Arkansas looked like as a one-dimensional outfit against Alabama last September and the lack of a run game led to its frustrating loss. The Razorbacks are going to move the ball through the air with the talent they have at wide receiver and tight end. But they won’t win a championship without Davis, Ronnie Wingo, Dennis Johnson, etc., enjoying success on the ground. Davis was the MVP of Arkansas’ stretch run to the Sugar Bowl last season and his performance will be critical to any success once again.
RN: That’s the big question for this team. What happens up front? Especially at tackle. Losing Anthony Oden (who dismissed earlier this month) is a big blow because he could’ve been a starter. It leaves the Hogs with junior Grant Freeman, junior college transfer Jason Peacock and true freshman Brey Cook. None of them are proven. Arkansas feels good about its interior with center Travis Swanson and guards Alvin Bailey and Grant Cook, but it’s going to take some time for this group to jell. The good news is that the SEC opener at ‘Bama is week four.
RN: It definitely has the makings of his best group because of the amount of experience returning. It didn’t seem too long ago that guys like defensive end Jake Bequette and linebacker Jerry Franklin were starting as redshirt freshmen and taking their share of lumps. But they’ve gained so much experience along with others like linebacker Jerico Nelson and safety Tramain Thomas. Arkansas also has a defensive line Petrino has said finally looks like the ones the Razorbacks face every week. And there’s solid depth there as well. That’s key. But is there enough depth at linebacker outside of Franklin and Nelson? Is there enough depth in a secondary that lost two starters, especially at cornerback? These are questions that will determine just how much success Arkansas’ defense enjoys this season.
RN: Road wins. When you look at Arkansas’ schedule it’s clear their most challenging games on paper are the trips to Tuscaloosa (Sept. 24) and LSU (Nov. 25). Arkansas was awful on the road in 2009, but gained a lot of confidence during SEC road trips last season. If that carries into 2011 (and assuming they don’t trip up in home games along the way) the Razorbacks could be a legitimate threat to win the SEC West.
NCAA ’12 says …
We have to fast forward a week to get to this matchup. In that time, Auburn pulled off a 31-28 road win against South Carolina, getting back up to No. 12 in the rankings. The Tigers followed it up with a 24-10 loss to Arkansas, however. The Razorbacks scored the only two touchdowns of the second half, getting 137 yards and a touchdown out of Davis. Arkansas ran for 199 yards. Clint Moseley replaced Barrett Trotter for some reason (not sure if for injury) and threw three interceptions. It dropped Auburn to 4-2 overall and 2-1 in the SEC.
And that’s a wrap for the Hogs. Thanks to Robbie for helping me out. I look forward to the trip to Fayetteville this fall. It was a fun town last time we beat writers were there.
Up next: Florida.