SEC Pre(diction) Season: Arkansas

BamaHoosier

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Great threads WMack! Looking forward to all of them.

I doubt the Hogs will win much more than 5-6 games, and I would say they are a long shot at best to make it to a bowl game. I think their offense has the potential to keep them in some games simply because they can pound it and control the ball. The problem is I don't think they have the studs or the depth on defense to pull out the close ones. I figure they'll hover around the .500 mark throughout the season, and I think they will win one game this year that they have no business winning, (my pick would be LSU) but they won't have the consistency to do much more than that.
 

WMack4Bama

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I agree with rgw in that being the first game, they'll give the barn all they can handle and may sneak out a win.
They've got a brutal schedule, but I like them to beat TAMU and MIZZU. MO is only returning 8 starters, and I don't believe their depth was that good last year.
I'll touch on it more in the Mizzou thread, but for my money Maty Mauk is the best QB coming back this year that I've seen play. He filled in WELL for James Franklin when he was out. They also return RB Russell Hansbrough (who most of us know as the guy that LaMichael Fanning belly to back suplexed) who is a scatback type who doesn't mind carrying it between the tackles. They also have a bevy of receivers not named DGB who played well last season. Mizzou will be sneaky good.
 

rgw

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Yeah, I think Mizzou has sustainability in the 8-10 win range most seasons. They'll have more variability but I think SEC recruiting will help stabilize them more than when they were in the Big-12.

I don't see Auburn losing to Arkansas but I think the fact it is an opener plays into Arkansas' hands for keeping it competitive. Malzahn's teams (gifting him the "chizik years" as his own) seem to start the season pretty slow but finish strong. Considering they may be trying to balance their offense with the pass, they may misfire a bit in this game but power through in the fourth quarter. Ol' Big Burt has it tough at Arkansas...this ain't a schedule to get the fanbase feeling warm fuzzies about your progress in year two.
 

graydogg85

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Arkansas has been bereft of defensive talent for years now...really, going back to the last few years of the Houston Nutt era. Petrino's recruiting compounded the problem, but he was largely able to mask it with offensive prowess. I can't see Bielema being a long-term guy there because I don't think he'll win enough games in the short-term -- the complete style transformation he's attempting will take at least three seasons, if not longer, and it's hard to see the Arkansas collective being able to stomach four or five consecutive sub-.500 seasons. Bret is actually a pretty good coach but this is just bad timing and a bad fit in general.
 

theballguy

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With regards to why I have them beating TAMU:
What does Arkansas do very well? Run the football.
What does TAMU do horribly? Defend the run.
Ark run the ball? I'll give you 'ok to good' but not very well. Yes, TAMU's run defense is bad Arky has no answers anywhere really in a game against the Aggies. And TAMU will not be great this upcoming season.
 

WMack4Bama

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Ark run the ball? I'll give you 'ok to good' but not very well. Yes, TAMU's run defense is bad Arky has no answers anywhere really in a game against the Aggies. And TAMU will not be great this upcoming season.
Actually running the ball is ALL they can do. As I said, 3 top flight runners and a mediocre QB and it's a run-run-run recipe. Good enough for 6th in the league last year. Not super, but not bad either
 

gohogs14

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Jan 27, 2012
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I think the OP is pretty accurate.

It is possible that every single spot on the team is improved but it still not showing up in our record with that schedule. This could be the best group of running backs we've had since the McFadden/Jones/Hillis era but unless our passing game gets better it won't mean much.

I do think our WRs deserve a lot of the blame for the way Brandon Allen played last year. Regardless if he was injured or not, there is no excuse to complete less than 50% of your passes though. In a couple years I think our OL will be pretty nasty. Our DL should be solid and supposedly our secondary should be improved but still not great, but our LBs severely lack depth (we had 4 scholarship LBs on the roster in the spring).

I know last season was pretty awful but honestly we were just a few points away from getting 6 wins. We won't be favored in many but Auburn and Alabama are the only games I see us as having 0% shot at this year. Look at the LSU game- It's at home, we get a bye week before it and LSU plays Alabama the week before. That could get interesting.
 

81usaf92

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I think Bret is a better coach than what his record showed last year or probably this year. Take into account he is trying to make Arkansas a big guy football team when under petrino they were a finesse team. its going to take time,but the question is if Arkansas going to be patient enough to see it through and can he invade Missouri to get better recruits.
 
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TUSKtimes

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Brandon Allen at QB looked like a whipped pup most of last year. Threw it all over the place with a bad shoulder. Not much defense and Bielema has done little to capture the eye of high school talent yet. In the West they are more hope than hype.
 

gohogs14

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I think Bret is a better coach than what his record showed last year or probably this year. Take into account he is trying to make Arkansas a big guy football team when under Nutt and petrino they were a finesse team. its going to take time,but the question is if Arkansas going to be patient enough to see it through and can he invade Missouri to get better recruits.
I don't think Nutt had finesse teams. He led the league in rushing for like 8/10 years. Petrino's definitely was though.

An Auburn player called us the most physical team they played last year so that's a start.
 

81usaf92

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I don't think Nutt had finesse teams. He led the league in rushing for like 8/10 years. Petrino's definitely was though.

An Auburn player called us the most physical team they played last year so that's a start.
Yeah I can see it but it sometimes seems that it was big plays in big games against AU and LSU and bama choking under Shula when it came to nutt.
I think if bielema gets 3 to 4 years I could see him being like what ole miss is now but they need to get into the state of Missouri in recruiting and lockdown Arkansas to have a chance
 

BamaJama17

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I don't think Mitch Mustain could save these guys. They are going to be bad no matter what.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

DzynKingRTR

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I think the OP is pretty accurate.

It is possible that every single spot on the team is improved but it still not showing up in our record with that schedule. This could be the best group of running backs we've had since the McFadden/Jones/Hillis era but unless our passing game gets better it won't mean much.

I do think our WRs deserve a lot of the blame for the way Brandon Allen played last year. Regardless if he was injured or not, there is no excuse to complete less than 50% of your passes though. In a couple years I think our OL will be pretty nasty. Our DL should be solid and supposedly our secondary should be improved but still not great, but our LBs severely lack depth (we had 4 scholarship LBs on the roster in the spring).

I know last season was pretty awful but honestly we were just a few points away from getting 6 wins. We won't be favored in many but Auburn and Alabama are the only games I see us as having 0% shot at this year. Look at the LSU game- It's at home, we get a bye week before it and LSU plays Alabama the week before. That could get interesting.
You guys typically give LSU fits.
 

alabama mike1

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Arkansas is still a year or two away from getting back to where they were a few seasons ago. CBB and his team face the toughest schedule in the country this year and this is only his first, real recruiting class where he had a year to recruit. Given that, 3-4 wins will be about the best the Hogs can do IMO.
 

The Kig

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May 1, 2014
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Coming from the perspective of both a Hog and BAMA fan, much of this thread echoes the expectations of the realistic Hog fans. Somewhere between 4-7 wins, with 4 being more realistic and 7 coming if there are a couple of upsets and enough improvement on both sides of the ball.

Most Hog fans recognize that there could be marked improvement and it still not translate to wins. The change in philosophy and the complete Charlie Foxtrot of the two seasons that preceded CBB's arrival yield a team that isn't prepared to compete in the best division in college football. However, I do think the Hogs are closer than many realize...at least within the starting group. Depth is still an issue, but other than a few games, like BAMA, expect them to be competitive.

Personally, I see it going this way:

@ Auburn - L (but within 10 points, line is huge and I am betting the "farm")
vs Nichols St - W
@ Texas Tech - W
vs NIU - W
vs TAMU - W
vs Bama - L (not 52-0, but by 5 TD's min)
vs UGA - L
vs UAB - W
@ Ms St - L
vs LSU - W (99 yard drive w/ some defensive play calling that cost most of the Defensive coaches their jobs away from a win last year).
vs Ole Miss - L (within 3 pts)
@ Mizzou - L (quite possibly a W here)
 

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