No 17 - Arkansas Razorbacks 2010 Preview

Thursday, September 02, 2010

by Aengus Moorehead

No 17 - Arkansas Razorbacks 2010 Preview - Ryan Mallett

Last season was a very positive step forward in season two of the Bobby Petrino era. Arkansas Razorbacks won eight games, including the Liberty Bowl, and established themselves as one of the most dangerous offensive teams in the country. The Razorbacks managed their winning season in spite of a difficult gauntlet of road games and are considered a rising program with Petrino at the helm. With the most veteran team in the entire conference, can Arkansas Razorbacks compete in the SEC West Division?

The reason for the turnaround last fall was the performance of the offense, which scored an SEC-best 36 points per game! Much of that credit should go to junior quarterback Ryan Mallett (3,624 yards, 30 TDs, 7 INT in ’09), a Michigan transfer who was named SEC’s 2nd Team in the postseason awards only because Tim Tebow was listed on the 1st Team as a lifetime award of sorts. Mallett is a perfect fit for Petrino’s pass-happy offense and he is widely considered to be a future 1st round NFL pick. He’s also going to be the best quarterback in the SEC this season.

2009 Results: 8-5, Won Liberty Bowl vs. East Carolina
Head Coach: Bobby Petrino (3rd year, 13-12 @ Arkansas, 52-21 Overall)
Home Venue: Razorback Stadium (72,000) Fayetteville, Arkansas

Even better news is at wideout, where Mallett has a great group of pass catchers at his disposal. Juniors Joe Adams (7 games, 29 catches, 568 yards, 7 TDs, 2nd Team All-SEC), Greg Childs (48 catches, 894 yards, 7 TDs) and Jarius Wright (41 catches, 681 yards, 5 TDs) are three of the most dangerous players in the entire conference and sophomore Cobi Hamilton (19 catches, 347 yards, 3 TDs) was a big play threat as a true freshman! On top of that talented quartet of wide receivers, senior tight end D.J. Williams (32 catches, 411 yards, 3 TDs) was a 2nd Team All-SEC selection and is widely considered a future NFL star. This is the deepest group of receivers in the entire SEC and it isn’t even close. Arkansas Razorbacks is going to pile up yards through the air this season.

But the one area that needs to improve for Arkansas to become a truly elite unit is in the running game. Petrino has a reputation of favoring a passing attack and it showed last year as the Razorbacks attempted the fewest running plays in the entire SEC! However, there are a lot of talented runners on this team as junior Broderick Green (442 yards, 11 TDs) and sophomore Ronnie Wingo (319 yards, 3 TDs) are going to be the primary ball carriers this fall. Expect this solid tandem to bring a bit more balance to the attack as I expect Arkansas Razorbacks to run the ball with greater frequency.

Many people are automatically ignoring this team as a contender because the defense finished 8th in the league in scoring defense last year at 25 points per game, but that is a major mistake. First of all, the Hogs cut down opponents’ scoring by six points per contest last season after finished dead last in the league in 2008. On top of that, they showed progress throughout the season, allowing only 22 points per game in the final six contests.

The Arkansas Razorbacks struggled against the run in 2009, finishing 8th in the SEC while allowing 153 rush yards per game. That means they need to improve on the front line if this season is going to turn out differently. The good news is that Arkansas Razorbacks played a lot of freshmen last season and all of them will benefit from their trial by fire.

The Arkansas Razorbacks should also be able to count on a solid group of linebackers. Juniors Jerry Franklin (94 tackles, 1.5 sacks) and Jerico Nelson (74 tackles, 2.5 sacks) were the team’s #1 and #3 tacklers in 2009, respectively, and both should benefit from the improvement on the D-Line. Senior Freddy Burton (54 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 INT) also played extensively last fall, so Arkansas Razorbacks will have a talented and veteran group of ‘backers this season.

But the part of the defense that we should be watching the closest is the secondary. This group allowed a touchdown of at least 60 yards in eight consecutive games last year, so they need to show some major improvement.

The Razorbacks have a pretty manageable schedule this season. Outside of SEC play, the only BCS Conference opponent will be Texas A&M, who has become a yearly foe in Dallas. Aside from that notable showdown, they play UTEP, Louisiana-Monroe and D-1AA Tennessee Tech, and they will not lose any of those three home games.

The SEC schedule is a lot tougher, as their first three league games are probably their most difficult conference clashes. Arkansas Razorbacks opens SEC play in Week 3 with a visit to Georgia before coming home the next week to take on defending champion Alabama. After an off week precedes the trip to Dallas to play A&M, the Hogs return to the conference to play at Auburn! On top of that stretch, the other two SEC road games are at South Carolina and Mississippi State, which means the final half of the year includes home tilts against Ole Miss, Vanderbilt and rival LSU. While this appears fairly daunting on paper, facing Georgia and Alabama early is a key advantage for the Razorbacks and that makes this schedule a little less difficult. On top of that, this road schedule is nothing compared to last season’s brutal away slate.

Upon closer inspection, the question for the Hogs this fall shouldn’t be whether they can compete in the SEC West, it should be whether they can win the SEC West! There is no doubt that their offense will be a terror to deal with for every single team on the schedule since they have so many weapons that it is going to be simply impossible to cover everyone.

As for the defense, Arkansas Razorbacks looks primed for another big improvement this fall. The D-Linemen are much more experienced, the linebackers are going to be more effective playing behind a stout front and the secondary appears to be much less chaotic with some position changes in the spring. On top of that, this was a much stronger unit in the 2nd half of 2009 and their 5-1 record (the only loss was in overtime at LSU) was a direct result of their enhanced play.

PREDICTED RESULT: 10-2 (6-2 SEC) - Bodog NCAA College Football Futures Lines

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arkansas razorbacks - bobby petrino - broderick green - cobi hamilton - d.j. williams - freddy burton - greg childs - jarius wright - jerico nelson - jerry franklin