SB Nation - Greg Childs

Know Your Opponent: Arkansas Razorbacks

jeremyflint — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:07:35 -0000

Here we go with another round of Know Your Opponent. This time we are talking to fellow SBN bloggers Arkansas Expats. Here is what they had to say about the game this weekend. You can check out my answers to their questions as well.

1. Arkansas seems to be a Jekyll and Hyde team this year. They are near the top of the conference offensively, but rank near the bottom (or at the bottom) when it comes to defense. Why is there such a big difference between the two sides of the ball this year?

That's easy: talent.

Obviously everyone knows about Ryan Mallett at QB by now, but even beyond that Arkansas has really good players at every one of the skill positions on offense. Our eight TDs last week against Troy were scored by seven different people, and that's pretty much how it's been all season...lots of points of attack.

Unfortunately for us Hog fans, we don't have the talent on the defensive side to match. There are probably a lot of reasons for this, but the bottom line is that we just aren't as good on that side of the ball.

Also, that talent disparity includes our coaching staff, too. Bobby Petrino is regarded as one of the top offensive minds in the game even by his many detractors, and he's lived up to that reputation during his time at Arkansas. Although I'm sure defensive coordinator Willy Robinson generally knows what he's doing, my guess is that he's not in that league.

2. I have seen very little of Arkansas this year. I think the only games I watched was the loss to Alabama and the Georgia game, which I swear was really a couple of PAC-10 teams dressing up as SEC teams. Aside from QB Ryan Mallet, who are the playmakers on offense and defense that Bulldog fans should keep an eye on?

Well, as I was saying in the above answer, we have a lot of threats on offense. You never really know who's going to be the star in any particular game, but I'll start by calling out the receiving corps - WRs Joe Adams, Jarius Wright and Greg Childs and TE D.J. Williams are all really good, and you can count on some big plays by those guys. Our running game struggled in the earlier part of the season, but has improved lately. The starter is Michael Smith, but he's backed up by big back Broderick Green, sophomore Dennis Johnson (who also returns kicks), and freshmen Knile Davis and Ronnie Wingo, Jr.

Also as noted above, we don't have as many playmakers on defense. Malcolm Sheppard anchors our defensive line and will be a key part of our effort to stop Anthony Dixon. LB Jerrico Nelson is also usually in the middle of the action.

3. Mississippi State has never beaten Arkansas on the road (Fayetteville or Little Rock). Why do you think coming to Arkansas is such a tough road game for most teams in the SEC? Is it the travel? The atmosphere? The annoying pig calls?

Hard to say, exactly. Arkansas is pretty unusual this day and age in that we have two home fields. Most games are in Fayetteville, but the general feeling is that Little Rock actually offers more of a home field advantage - it's a louder stadium and the fans tend to be a little rowdier there. (Note: I'm from Little Rock, so there might be some bias in that statement.)

I have no idea what you're referring to by "annoying pig calls". If by some chance you're referring to the mighty "Woo Pig Sooie" Hog call - the greatest fan chant in all of sports - then yes, I'm sure that usually intimidates opponents into submission as well.

4. Give me some of the key matchups that you are looking for this Saturday on offense and defense.

The most important matchup for me will be the Hogs defensive line against Anthony Dixon. I expect Dixon to have a big day, but if he has a huge day Arkansas will be in trouble. Our nightmare scenario is a game where he cranks out about 220 yards and 3 TDs, and leads a bunch of clock-killing drives to keep the ball away from Ryan Mallett and the offense, while also opening up some possibilities in your passing game. If that happens, we're legitimately in trouble.

Next after that will be Ryan Mallett versus your defensive line. If they can constantly get in his face and force him out of his comfort zone then it will be hard to get on track offensively. If he has time to stand back there and find his receivers, then watch out.

5. How do you see this game playing out? Mississippi State is a run-based spread offense, with flashes of a passing game. Arkansas is allowing 132 yards on the ground and is ranked near the bottom in pass defense and total defense. Will the offense just rack up enough points to put the Bulldogs out of reach or will it be a close game that comes down to the last few minutes?

I think this will be a tough game for the Hogs. You guys have just missed out on beating some good teams, and will be fired up to get a step closer to bowl eligibility. I expect a tough, physical game that's close for most of the time. Mallett and the offense are playing really well right now, so they'll put up some points - but I also think Dixon will counter with a big game of his own (at least one 50+ yard TD run is pretty much guaranteed). In the end, though, I think the Hogs' "bend but don't break" defense will keep the Bulldogs out of the end zone enough times to pull out the win.

Previewing South Carolina at Arkansas: Q & A with Arkansas Expats

Gamecock Man — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:13:41 -0000

More photos » by Danny Johnston - AP

about 1 month ago: Arkansas wide receiver Lucas Miller, left, and Arkansas tight end D.J. Williams celebrate Miller's third quarter touchdown in the NCAA college football game with Eastern Michigan in Fayetteville, Ark., Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009. Arkansas defeated Eastern Michigan 63-27. (AP Photo/Danny Johnston)

Browse more photos »

I got together with our SB Nation colleagues Arkansas Expats to preview this weekend's game. Here's what they had to say. (My answers to their questions are here.)

1. Bobby Petrino's tenure at Arkansas started off badly in 2008 and then pulled it together a bit late in that year, leading to speculation that 2009 would be a breakout year for the Hogs. However, while Arkansas has played well at times this year--particularly in the victory over Auburn and the close loss to Florida--it has also struggled and doesn't seem very far ahead of where it was late in 2008. Is this an accurate assessment, and how do Arkansas fans feel about Petrino's performance at this point?

Well, in one way the Hogs are very much ahead of where they were last year, and that's on offense. Last year, the Hogs averaged 21.9 points per game, which ranked seventh in the SEC, and 373.1 total yards of offense per game, the fourth-highest average in the conference. This year, they're averaging 35.9 points and 438 total yards of total offense per game, both of which rank second in the SEC. Ryan Mallett is a huge upgrade over Casey Dick, and the Hogs receiving corps - led by Greg Childs, Jarius Wright and Joe Adams - is as electric a group as we've ever seen in Fayetteville.

However, those gaudy statistics at least partially obscure the fact that the offense is fairly one-dimensional - the running game has struggled to get going this year, and tight-end D.J. Williams, a true star last year, has yet to develop a good chemistry with Mallett. Our special teams unit continues to struggle at times, and the defense too often has been downright woeful.

Add it all up, and we think the Hogs are noticeably better than last year (the 2008 team could never have taken a Florida squad down to the wire in Gainesville) but perhaps not as improved as many Hog fans were hoping. There were lots of predictions of an 8-4 regular-season record this summer, and obviously that mark is going to be very tough to attain now.

Despite the team's various struggles this season, Hog fans are still very supportive of Petrino (although there was some grumbling after Ole Miss and Houston Nutt whipped Arkansas in Oxford). Razorback fans can be as unrealistic as any fans in the country, but the large majority of us seem to realize that Bobby inherited a program that will require more than two seasons to rebuild.

2. Ryan Mallett has had an impressive season so far. However, outside of the Georgia and Auburn games, his big numbers haven't always translated into lots of points or wins in big games. What has Mallett done well this year, and what does he need to continue to work on to take his game to the next level?

Mallett has an absolute cannon of an arm, and this season the Hogs are serious threats to score quickly and often via the deep pass. But too often it seems, the deep pass has been the Razorbacks' only way of scoring. As mentioned above, Mallett and D.J. Williams have yet to click, and Arkansas' short passing game could use some improvement.

Ryan has struggled with his accuracy at times, and his mobility is an issue against aggressive defenses. He's only a sophomore, so it stands to reason that he should improve in most of the above-mentioned areas. Except for the mobility issue, that is. Not sure there's much he can do about that.

3. Despite having more experience than a year ago, Arkansas continues to have a shaky defense, especially against the pass. What has gone wrong this year, and is there light at the end of the tunnel for this particular group?

Well, the Hogs' defense may be more experienced than last year, but it's not much more talented. Although it’s quite possible that Petrino’s first pick for the D.C. job (Ellis Johnson – a guy you might be familiar with) would be having more success with this group than Willy Robinson had he stayed in Fayetteville, there’s only so much that can be done with a group that’s thin in so many key areas. The Hogs’ staff is making defense the recruiting priority, but of course that won’t help us stop whatever Spurrier has planned for Saturday.

Having said that, the Hogs' defense actually has had a few bright spots this year. We seem to do well against spread teams, having held both Auburn and Florida far below their usual outputs, and the defensive line, led by Malcolm Sheppard, is actually pretty strong. Last time we checked, Arkansas was towards the top of the country in making tackles for a loss...the only problem is that those tackles are often followed by a defensive breakdown that gives up a big play.

As far as a light at the end of the tunnel goes, we'd like to believe that a few more good recruits and a more consistent across-the-board effort from the whole team will solve a lot of the basic woes. But, until that happens we're going to have to rely on Mallett's arm to win games for us.

4. Because you're our Western Division opponent and the series has been back and forth and has had some really great games, a lot of Gamecocks see this series as a budding rivalry of sorts. Where would you put the Gamecocks on your list of SEC rivals?

That's a great question. Rivalries in the SEC are a funny thing - by the time the Hogs and Gamecocks joined the party, most of the other guys had been playing (and hating on) each other for about 100 years. Plus, both of us haven't really beaten the key teams consistently enough since joining to engender too much significant ill-will ... we're more in the "pesky nuisance" category.

So, there are a few teams Razorback fans particularly look forward to playing (and, ideally, beating), but we'm not sure if you could consider those rivalries in the true sense of the word. LSU is definitely one, and Ole Miss is becoming another (for reasons that are probably obvious). As far as South Carolina goes, there's certainly potential there for it to become a solid rivalry - we play every year and both fanbases are sort of looking for that mutual hate we described earlier - but from the Arkansas side we don't think we're quite there yet. We think most Hog fans tend to focus on the Western Division teams first and foremost, but we'd be all for getting something going!

5. Prediction. Who will win and how will it go down?

Well, for starters we should put in a plug for your readers to visit our site tomorrow when we unveil the official prognostication from our staff soothsayer, Rasputin. We lack his predictive powers, but the homers in us have to say Arkansas in a close, probably fairly high-scoring game.

Obviously, both teams really need this one in terms of setting up a strong finish to the season, and we expect it to be pretty intense (or as intense as a game played at the crack of dawn can be). Your offense will probably break off at least a couple of really big plays (it's apparently written into the SEC by-laws that each opponent will have a 70+ yard scoring play against us this year), and your defense (especially Eric Norwood) concerns us, but hopefully a well-rested Michael Smith and a newly healthy Joe Adams will give us the offensive spark needed to put us over the top.

Thanks to Arkansas Expats for participating in this Q & A.

Five Questions With Arkansas Expats

mlmintampa — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 19:00:27 -0000

We exchanged questions and answers with SB Nation Arkansas writers Arkansas Expats (which I want to read Celebrity Jeopardy style as Ar Kansan Sex Pats). We did not ask which slimmed down Arkansas politician do they like the best; Bill Clinton or Mike Huckabee. On to the questions;

1. Arkansas held Auburn to 23 points and only 133 yards passing. Have they figured out something on defense or was the game last week a fluke?

That's a very good question, and unfortunately nobody quite knows for sure. What we do know is that the defense was absolutely horrific against Georgia, very bad against Alabama, decent against Texas A&M (which came into the game with a top-ranked offense) and pretty good against Auburn (except in the 3rd quarter, when they resorted to their early season form).

So, the trends are at least moving in the right direction and I do feel like the defense is better now than it was at the beginning of the year. But, we still give up way too many big plays and the ceiling for this defense isn't all that high...at best it will be a competent "bend, but don't break" unit rather than one that actually wins games. So, no one will be confusing us with the 1985 Chicago Bears (or 2009 Florida Gators) any time soon.

2. Arkansas is top-15 nationally in scoring and total offense. Was this expected in year two of Petrino?

Pretty much...the anticipation of a high-powered offense, particularly a passing one, is what made Hog fans so excited when Petrino originally came on board and what's given us the strength to shake off approximately 8 billion "Petrino is going to take a plane to [insert team name here] at halftime" jokes.

Last year was very much a transitional period, but this year with some better talent at the skill positions and Ryan Mallett coming in at QB fans had pretty high expectations for the offense. So far those expectations have been met and then some...with the ominous exception of the running game, which has been mostly shaky.

3. Five players are in double digits for catches and six in triple digits for yards. Does Mallett have a go to guy, or is it whoever is open?

We do have the benefit of a really deep and talented receiving corps (which is good because they keep getting hurt). Mallett hasn't singled out one person as a go to guy, but does seem to favor a trio of sophomores - Joe Adams, Jarius Wright and Greg Childs - all of whom have made multiple big plays and have pretty gaudy stats.

The good news for you and bad news for us is that, out of that trio, only one is at full strength. Wright had a minor concussion against Auburn and will probably play at Florida, but he's still being tested. And Adams had what was termed as a "mild stroke" last week, which is obviously a scary thing. Word is that he's doing better, but no one knows when he'll be back on the field (if at all)...definitely not against Florida.

4. Arkansas leans on their passing game more than any other SEC team. If Florida's secondary can lock up Mallett, what chance do the Razorbacks have to run the ball?

As I noted earlier, the running game has struggled a bit this year. We actually did really well on the ground against Auburn's porous D, but getting anything going against the Gators will obviously be incredibly tough.

The good news for the Hogs is that we have a very good running back - Michael Smith, who was 2nd in the SEC in rushing yards last year. The bad news is that he's banged up after suffering a hamstring injury against Auburn and has only been practicing in limited capacity. Without him playing (and playing well) our already small chance of a victory drops down very close to zero.

To answer your question, I'm sure the Florida defense will go after Mallett and have some success - particularly your D line versus our O line. So, to negate that and open up the passing game in general we'll need to get the running game going. It's possible - Bobby Petrino is a smart guy and I'm sure he's spent a lot of time thinking about this - but I'm not betting my mortgage on it.

5. Mallett isn't 2006 Brandon Cox or 2008 Jevon Snead, right?

Ha. Well, when all is said and done I think Mallett will actually wind up a much better QB than either of those guys - both because of his freakish arm and the fact that he's playing in an offense perfectly geared towards his talents. But, since I suspect you're mainly concerned with avoiding an untimely upset like the kind those two dished out, I'll say that Tim Tebow probably won't feel the need to make any frame worthy emotional promises after the game.

I do think Arkansas has a better offense than any of the teams you've faced so far this year (hopefully we'll find the end zone more than, say, LSU) but I'm also sure your defense is quite capable of locking it down enough for Tebow and company to do their thing against our less-than-nasty D. In the end, I think the Hogs will perform better than they did against Alabama but, unless Florida completely falls asleep out there I think you guys will do just fine in avoiding a Cox/Snead scenario.

Arkansas Penalties Breakdown

outsidethesidelines — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 01:32:38 -0000

After the penalties largely went away in our thumping of North Texas, unfortunately they were back when the Hogs came to Tuscaloosa to the tune of seven penalties for 60 yards. Let's take a closer look at all of the penalties that occurred, and how they impacted the Tide this past Saturday.

Delay of game penalty on the punt team on a 4th and 5 at the Arkansas 46-yard line. This came at the end of the Tide's first possession when we were lining up to punt. The five yard penalty moved the ball back to the Alabama 49-yard line, but ultimately the penalty turned out to be meaningless. Even after being moved five yards further back, P.J. Fitzgerald's punt still sailed into the end zone, and Arkansas started their ensuing possession on their own 20-yard line.

Pass interference penalty on Javier Arenas on a 3rd and 7 for the Hogs late in the first quarter. This was an incomplete pass and would have forced an Arkansas punt from their own 10-yard line. Instead, it was a close call that went in the Hog's direction, and it gave them new life with a first down at the Arkansas 21. The Tide would get the stop immediately thereafter, but a conversion on a fake punt gave them yet another new life. Arkansas ultimately drove it all the way to the Alabama 30, but Javier Arenas redeemed himself and largely negated the penalty by getting Ryan Mallett on a sack that ended the drive. Arenas called for a fair catch at the Alabama 14-yard line.

False start penalty on Drew Davis on a 2nd and 9 from the Alabama 15-yard line, immediately following the aforementioned stop of Arkansas. This continued a long string of pre-snap penalties on the right side of the offensive line, but ultimately it turned out to be harmless. It created a 2nd and 14, but Mark Ingram picked up the first down on the very next play. Four play later, Trent Richardson went 50+ yards over right end to put the Tide up 7-0.

Block in the back penalty on Cory Reamer during Javier Arenas' punt return with approximately 6:00 remaining in the second quarter. The penalty erased a 13-yard return by Arenas that would have given the ball on the Alabama 43-yard line. With the penalty, 'Bama was moved back to our 33-yard line, and we went three and out after we narrowly avoided an interception on a forced pass by Greg McElroy to Julio Jones on third and four.

Block in the back penalty on Cory Reamer during Javier Arenas' punt return immediately after the preceding block in the back penalty. This one was the really costly one, as it wiped out a very long return by Arenas that would have had Alabama knocking on the Arkansas goal line. The first block in the back on Reamer was a solid call, but this one was a bit more tacky. Reamer barely got into the back of the Arkansas defender, and it was a defender who would have been unlikely to get to Arenas at any rate. At any rate, this penalty ultimately cost the Tide points, and combined with the next penalty, it ended the Tide's chances of making this a three-possession game at halftime.

False start penalty on James Carpenter on a 4th and inches play from the Arkansas 35-yard line. This one was particularly costly, and annoying, because it forced the Tide to punt the football with approximately 90 seconds remaining, and also because Carpenter -- who flinched because of a slight movement by the Arkansas defensive end -- was the last person who should have been jumping. The penalty forced a Tide punt, and Fitzgerald sailed another one into the end zone. Arkansas ran a play straight into the line, thus ending the half, and the Tide went into halftime with a 14-0 lead.

Kick catching interference on Dre Kirkpatrick on the Alabama punt that immediately followed our three and out to start the second half. This one was a clear penalty on Kirkpatrick, and wasn't a controversial call at all. Kirkpatrick did a great job of playing gunner on special teams, but he just got there a split second too soon on this one. The Hogs would have gotten the ball at their own 30, but the penalty gave it to them at their own 45. And it proved fairly costly, too, as five plays later the Hogs scored their only points of the game when Ryan Mallett hit Greg Childs on an 18-yard touchdown pass after Kareem Jackson found himself caught in no-man's land.

All in all, the penalties did return, but thankfully they didn't cost us in this game. Some of the penalties were meaningless, and while a couple of them did legitimately cost us some points, this game was a glorified blowout in which they didn't make any major impact. At most, they probably turned a potential 38-0 game into a 35-7 game, so it was largely a meaningless result one way or the other. Moving forward, though, if some of these penalties occur in a closer game, we might not get so lucky.

Southwest Classic Preview

Beergut — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 19:36:58 -0000

The Aggies will play Arkansas for the first time since 1991 when they meet the Razorbacks on the field Saturday. The Razorbacks left the Southwest Conference for the Southeastern Conference following the 1991 season; the Ags sent them on their way with a 13-3 loss in College Station. In the 18 seasons since then, Arkansas has lost 95 games, making you wonder if they made the right move by leaving for the SEC. The renewal of the rivalry between A&M and Arkansas helps both teams; it gives A&M a marquee non-conference game in the Metroplex, which helps with television exposure and recruiting, and it gives Arkansas a guaranteed game in Texas for the next 10 seasons, which will definitely help their recruiting. A&M might have the bigger advantage here, simply because the location will make it a de facto home game for the Aggies.

Join us after the jump as we take a statistical look at Arkansas so far this season....

Passing

		Passing									Rushing					Sacks
	G	Rating	Comp	Att	Pct	Yds	Y/G	Y/A	TD	INT	Rush	Yds	Y/G	Avg	TD	Sack	YdsL
Ryan Mallett	3	83.0	50	96	52.1	877	292.3	9.1	7	1	10	-22	-7.3	-2.2	0	-	-
Tyler Wilson	2	103.0	17	25	68	84.5	169	6.8	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	-	-

Rushing

		Rushing					Receiving
	G	Rush	Yds	Y/G	Avg	TD	Rec	Yds	Y/G	Avg	TD
Michael Smith	3	24	163	54.3	6.8	1	5	52	17.3	10.4	0
Broderick Green	3	15	39	13	2.6	1	1	8	2.7	8	0
Ryan Mallett	3	10	-22	-7.3	-2.2	0	0	0	0	0	0
Ronnie Wingo, Jr.	3	13	61	20.3	4.7	0	1	8	2.7	8	0

Receiving

		Receiving
	G	Rec	Yds	Y/G	AVG	TD
Joe Adams	3	13	206	68.7	15.8	2
Greg Childs	3	13	250	83.3	19.2	3
Ben Cleveland	1	1	11	11	11	0
London Crawford	1	2	44	44	22	0
Knile Davis	2	1	-1	-0.5	-1	0
Reggie Fish	1	1	9	9	9	0
Broderick Green	3	1	8	2.7	8	0
Cobi Hamilton	3	6	68	22.7	11.3	1
Van Stumon	1	1	2	2	2	1
D.J. Williams	2	4	46	23	11.5	0
Ronnie Wingo, Jr.	3	1	8	2.7	8	0
Jarius Wright	3	11	261	87	23.7	1

Kicking

		Field Goals								PAT
	G	0-19	20-29	30-39	40-49	50+	FGM	FGA	PCT	XPM	XPA	PCT	pts

Obviously, Ryan Mallett is the leader of this offense. As QB, he makes the Razorback spread attack go. Mallett has been able to spread the ball around to 12 different receivers so far this season, but his main targets seem to be Greg Childs, Joe Adams, and Jarius Wright. Mallett has been solid and sometimes spectacular this season; he had 408 yds through the air on 21-39 passing for 5 TDs against Georgia. Granted, Georgia has the second-worst pass defense and second-worst defense overall in the SEC, but that is still a solid performance, regardless of who you play. Part of that poor defensive showing for Georgia is because of Ryan Mallett. If Mallett has a weakness, it is that he is fairly immobile in the pocket. He was sacked twice against Georgia and three times against Alabama; getting pressure on Mallett and forcing him to hurry his throws will be imperative for the Aggie defense. Alabama was able to hurry him 8 times besides those 3 sacks, and that is something we want to duplicate.

The Razorback running game is headlined by Michael Smith, a stud picked by many as All-SEC in the preseason. Smith had over 1000 yds rushng last season, despite missing two games, and has produced this season when given the ball, as shown by his 6.8 yards per carry average. Unfortunately for Smith, Arkansas has been playing from behind in games against Georgia and Alabama, which has caused them to run the ball less. As a team, Arkansas only averages 94.7 yds per game rushing, which ranks them dead last in the SEC. Arkansas is also dead last in scoring defense (32.3 ppg) and total defense (386.7 ypg), but we'll get to that later. Next to Mallett going crazy, Smith is my biggest concern going into this game. If we don't contain him and stop the running game early, it can be a long night in Arlington for our defense.

Defensively, Arkansas is led by Matt Harris, a redshirt freshman free safety from Richardson Pearce HS. Harris has 19 total tackles on the season, which ties him with senior LB Wendel Davis, who is from Sweeny, TX. I've always said you know you are in trouble when your defensive leader in tackles is a safety, which is partially the case here, but Davis is a stellar LB, with 2.5 tackles for loss, a pass broken up, and 1 fumble recovery so far this season. The Hogs defensive line is led by DE Adrian Davis, a senior from Rosenberg, TX (you starting to understand why Arkansas wants a game in Texas for recruiting?), who has 16 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 1 sack, and 1 fumble recovery so far on the season. Arkansas' pass defense is the weakness of their team; they are currently last in the SEC, giving up an average of 263 yds per game, and have already given up 8 TDs through the air. Being able to protect Jerrod Johnson from their pass rush so he can exploit their porous pass defense will be one of the bigger offensive keys to the game for A&M. Arkansas' run defense isn't great, but it isn't horrible, giving up an average of 3.3 yards per carry, and 123.7 yds per game. They have given up 4 rushing touchdowns on the year, though. Given that Arkansas' spread offense is going to force opponents to want to run the ball more to keep the ball out of Ryan Mallett's hands, this isn't a bad performance by their defense. If we can get 150 or more yards rushing on Arkansas to balance out our passing attack, we'll be in a good position to win the game.

Overall, I think Arkansas is a solid to decent team which is still figuring things out in coach Bobby Petrino's second season. Like us, Arkansas is still learning to win games after a losing season last year. Arkansas has a significant advantage over us in that they have played two conference games, so their team has been through the fire. Coming into this game after two straight losses, Arkansas will be a hungry and desperate team, and will play with a lot of intensity. Matching that intensity and breaking their will, so we destroy any hope they ever have for victory, will be the key to us winning the game on Saturday.

Week Four Preview: #3 Alabama vs Arkansas Overview

outsidethesidelines — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 13:00:33 -0000

More photos » by April L. Brown - AP

Arkansas QB Ryan Mallett is the best pure passer Alabama has faced this season.

Browse more photos »

The 49-14 thumping that Alabama put on Arkansas last year in Fayetteville was easily the most lopsided game this series has seen in a decade. Last year's game, however, was also an anomaly as this series generally sees close, hard-fought contests, and none should expect another crimson landslide for a second year in a row.

There are two majors reasons for that: One, Arkansas looks to be a much better team this year than they were a year ago, and two, last year's game was much closer than the scoreboard indicated. Lopsided score notwithstanding, last year's game was actually played pretty evenly by the two teams, and the massive disparity on the scoreboard resulted from four major players all going Alabama's way. Those four plays were Glen Coffee's long touchdown run, Casey Dick's two interceptions (while driving) that were returned for touchdowns, and Terrence Cody's goal line stand to end the first half, and all of them directly resulted in Alabama touchdowns. Don't expect all of the big plays to go the Tide's way this year, and thus a much closer game this time around.

Let's take a closer look at the match-ups.

Alabama Offense v. Arkansas Defense

On the surface, this seems like a lopsided match-up in the Tide's favor. The Alabama offense has been surprisingly effective to date -- 500+ yards of total offense in each of the first three games, and 127 total points -- and Greg McElroy has exceeded all reasonable expectations. The offensive line was a major question mark coming into the season, and while penalties have hurt them somewhat, they've still generally gotten the job done. Even with Julio Jones not even playing in more than half of the offensive snaps to date, nothing has really been able to slow down the Tide's offense. On the other hand, Arkansas' defense has been nothing short of abysmal to date. It was a very bad unit a year ago, and unfortunately for the Hog faithful it's one that has shown little or no improvement since.

So is it just a given that the Alabama offense is going to rack up points left and right against Arkansas? Perhaps, but let's not be so fast.

An objective look at Arkansas' defense yields a group that is very light on elite top-end talent and quality depth throughout the roster, but even so this unit may not be as hapless as many would make it seem. Clearly the Hogs had a disastrous performance last week against Georgia, but it is worth noting that performance came almost entirely without the presence of two of Arkansas' best defenders: middle linebacker Jerry Franklin and cornerback Rudell Crim. Franklin is the leader of the linebacker corps and he was ejected in the second quarter, and Crim is the team's best cornerback, but he went out with leg cramps early. And as if missing two of their best players wasn't a big enough issue in its own right, their replacements -- Terrell Williams and Greg Gatson -- were effectively outright disasters. Franklin will be back this week, however, and you can rest assured that the Arkansas medical staff will have Crim properly hydrated this time around, so their returns alone will go a long way towards improving this Arkansas defense.

The big concern for Alabama, most likely, comes in the running game. The offensive line is still a bit of an unknown commodity, and for all of the criticisms of the Arkansas defense, we really haven't been challenged in the way that this Hog front seven will challenge us. Given our proclivity towards using two-tight end sets, we practically lost five starters at the point of attack from a year ago (Andre Smith, Antoine Caldwell, Marlon Davis, Travis McCall, and Nick Walker), and the replacements for those five starters simply don't have the size that their predecessors did. Combined we are about 100 pounds lighter at the point of attack than we were last year -- which is to say nothing of the fact that the combination of Preston Dial and Brad Smelley isn't near the blocker that Travis McCall was, size differential notwithstanding -- and that alone probably means that we cannot dominate teams in the trenches like we did a year ago.

And that is where Arkansas really challenges us. For all of the criticisms of their defense, this is a big, strong unit in the front seven, and that is something we really haven't seen this year. Virginia Tech openly traded size for speed, and both Florida International and North Texas were clearly outmatched physically. Arkansas, however, is a very different animal altogether. They average nearly 280 pounds in the front four, the linebacker corps averages around 235 pounds, and with Malcom Sheppard manning the defensive tackle position, they will be able to match our physical style of play. In all likelihood, if the Arkansas defense is to slow down the Alabama offense, this is likely how they will have to do it.

Unfortunately, however, the rest of the match-ups for the Hogs simply do not look good.

Looking at the rest of the defensive backfield, even with a healthy Rudell Crim, the secondary is still one of the worst in the conference. Starting opposite Crim is Ramon Broadway, but Broadway has made news for three things this year, none of which are good for the Hogs: Getting arrested for not showing up to traffic court, running his mouth before the Georgia game, and ultimately getting lit up by A.J. Green. He's a below average corner in coverage, and the same thing goes for the rest of the rotation at cornerback. Highly-touted true freshman Darius Winston -- a consensus five-star prospect -- has not been able to make any impact whatsoever. Likewise, the safety play from Tramain Thomas and Matt Harris has impressed no one to date.

Largely the same thing goes for the linebacker corps as well. Jerry Franklin is a fine player at middle linebacker, but while the starters surrounding him, Wendel Davis and Freddy Burton, have a good bit of size, neither of the two look to be particularly good players right now. The aforementioned Terrell Williams struggled greatly last weekend trying to fill in for Franklin, and while Jerico Nelson is a good player against the pass, at barely 200 pounds he struggles to get on the field on running downs, thus limiting his effectiveness.

The best match-up of all may very well come against the Arkansas defensive line in the passing game, which has struggled to rush the passer. Jake Bequette and Adrian Davis start at defensive end, but neither are particularly adept pass rushers, and while Sheppard is more active than your typical interior player, there's only so much you can legitimately expect when you need your interior defensive linemen to generate the bulk of your pass rush. Despite Georgia being without its starting left tackle last week, Arkansas still couldn't muster any pressure whatsoever on Joe Cox, ultimately racking up only one sack and one hurry on approximately 30 passing attempts. Alabama may still have some issues protecting off the edge, but Greg McElroy ought to find himself with plenty of time to throw the football.

All in all, the Arkansas defense may be a bit better than it has been given credit for, and at any rate Alabama is still going to have to come out and execute successfully over the course of 60-70 plays to get the job done. Nevertheless, you still have to think that the Tide will put up more than their fair share of points this weekend. Arkansas may make running the football tough, but Arkansas' porous defensive backfield mixed with a lack of a consistent pass rush is likely a lethal combination in and of itself if Greg McElroy continues to play like he has so far this year.

Alabama Defense v. Arkansas Offense

While most expect the Alabama offense to have a big day against the struggling Arkansas defense, it's clear to everyone that it will be strength on strength when the Arkansas offense comes on the field. Both the Alabama defense and the Arkansas offense have the ability to be among the nationally elite with regard to their respective units, and making matters even more intriguing both units are led by two of the most advanced football minds in all of college football.

The Arkansas offense is a scary group, no two ways about it. Ryan Mallett has the arm strength of JaMarcus Russell, and he is easily the best pure pocket passer that Alabama has faced in years. The backfield is loaded with talented tailbacks that bring experience along with their unique mixes and matches of different physical builds. Tight end D.J. Williams is clearly the best in the conference, and back-up Ben Cleveland is a very valuable threat as a possession receiver. The wide receiver corps, too, is a good one from top to bottom. They don't have a true superstar ala Julio Jones, but they do have five or six high quality wide receivers who have good athleticism and who run good routes -- Greg Childs, Jarius Wright, and Joe Adams are good enough to begin with, and Lucas Miller is returning this week from injury. That alone makes the Hogs very difficult to defend on the perimeter, even without saying anything with regard to Mallett. Bottom line, at the very least, this is the third-best offense in the conference, and it could easily be the best.

The only real weakness of the Arkansas offense comes up front at the point of attack, where the Hogs offensive line is seemingly still a relic of the Houston Nutt era. All five starters committed to Nutt, and not surprisingly they are generally the big, physical mashers that Nutt loved so much in his run-heavy offense. The "smallest" player on the line comes in at around 6'5 and 305 pounds, and truthfully that fact is probably doing the Hogs few favors. This line is, on the whole, a fish out of water. They are more physically built to pave the way for a run-heavy offense, but with the coaching turnover they are now being asked to pass protect against highly athletic pass rushers in a pass-happy offense. On a fundamental level it's effectively a recipe for disaster, and not surprisingly it's a team that has struggled to a degree to protect the passer. Starting right tackle DeMarcus Love probably needs to be playing inside at guard, and starting left tackle Ray Dominguez was absolutely atrocious against Georgia with four penalties and one sack allowed. The left tackle of the future is Anthony Oden, the younger brother of basketball star Greg Oden. He'll be a star one day, and the Arkansas coaches have indicated he may play some this week against Alabama, but he's a true freshman and given Nick Saban's love for giving multiple fronts that confuse offensive linemen, I'm not sure exactly how eager the Arkansas coaching staff is to put him in front of 93,000 fans. Nevertheless, if Dominguez' struggles continue, the Hogs' hand may be forced.

And this is the weakness that the Alabama defense must successfully attack to limit the Arkansas offense. The performance of our defensive backfield has been solid but not spectacular to date -- the overall statistics look good, but safety play has been shaky and highly inconsistent, Kareem Jackson has been hit or miss, and Marquis Johnson had a key penalty against Virginia Tech -- but the simple truth of the matter is that if Ryan Mallett consistently has the time to throw, it's going to be a very long day for the Tide. The Arkansas wide receiver corps is too good and Ryan Mallett has too much arm strength and accuracy to expect to be able to consistently stop the Arkanas offense if we cannot get pressure on Mallett.

Fortunately for the Tide, however, you have to like how we match against the Arkansas offensive line. Marcel Dareus is having a breakout year, Lorenzo Washington is playing better than ever, and we've gotten great pressure from the linebacker corps with Rolando McClain, Dont'a Hightower, and Eryk Anders. Moreover, on obvious passing downs, we have been moving the defensive ends inside in a four man front, and then putting Hightower and Anders at end. The results have been very good, to put it mildly, and we have consistently harassed passers all year long. Given the struggles Arkansas has had at the tackle positions, all signs point towards the Tide having some success getting to Mallett.

Even with that said, though, expect the Arkansas offense to have a reasonable amount of success against the Tide regardless. The running game has the potential to be a very good one -- you mix a bunch of big, strong offensive linemen with a group of highly talented tailbacks, and that is usually what you get -- and unless the Arkansas coaching staff is blowing smoke, they plan to use the rushing attack more prominently this weekend. It could have some success, and realistically no matter how well you can pressure Mallett, all of the outstanding components of the Arkansas passing game will guarantee that the Hogs hit more than a few plays in the passing game. These guys are going to score points, period.

Putting It All Together

All in all, I don't think there is much questioning the notion that Alabama is the better team here. We have more top-end talent, more quality depth, and probably a tad bit more experience as well. As long as Greg McElroy continues to play like he has to date, you have to imagine that Alabama will score more than their fair share of points tomorrow, and we should come away with the victory. Nevertheless, this game is far from a given, and it is likely to be a closely fought contest that goes into the fourth quarter. Arkansas is at worst a solid SEC team, and the difference between the two teams is far from gaping.

While it seems like we should be able to take full advantage of the Arkansas defense, truth be told we are probably going to have to do just that in order to win this game. Bamagrad has talked about these spread passing teams before, and I think he makes a good point: You can have a good defense and play well, but at the end of the day they are still good enough offensively to put up 24-28 points on the board. That could very well happen to us on Saturday, and if our special teams breakdowns continue, we could very easily be needing to score 31-35+ points in order to be able to get the victory. Arkansas is an improved team over last year, and they pulled off some pretty big upsets even then -- another victory over LSU, and came within a hair of knocking off Ole Miss as well. Rest assured, the Hogs will collect some more scalps this year, and it won't be a shock if they head back to Fayetteville with a crimson scalp in their possession.

Hope for the best.

ATVSSECOSPPOW: Week 3

Richard Pittman — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 11:19:21 -0000

We could have gone a few different directions again this week with the And The Valley Shook SEC Offensive Speed Position Player of the Week. Derrick Locke of Kentucky had almost 200 yards in kickoff returns, including a 100 yard touchdown, plus 142 yards from scrimmage as a rusher and receiver. Anthony Dixon of Mississippi State had a 5.9 yard average per rush against Vandy, and rushed for 123 yards. And Auburn keeps putting up PlayStation numbers as Chris Todd had almost 300 yards passing, plus 4 touchdowns. Receiver Darvin Adams reeled in 3 of those touchdown passes.

But the last SEC game of the week was an offensive bonanza for two quarterbacks and a number of receivers, and Georgia quarterback Joe Cox and receiver A. J. Green ended up outdueling Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett and receivers Greg Childs and Jarius Wright. Actually Mallett and his targetshad the better numbers. He was 21 for 39 for 408 yards, 5 touchdowns, and 0 interceptions. He struggled down the stretch though, as Georgia outscored Arkansas 17-6 from the last 5 minutes of the 3rd quarter to the end of the game.

In the end, it has to come down to the Georgia boys, and here today we start trying to correct the inherent bias for taking quarterbacks over receivers. We're picking A. J. Green as our ATVSSECOSPPOW for Week 3. Green, widely considered one of the very best receivers in all of college football, reeled in 7 catches for 137 yards and 2 touchdowns, including a 2nd quarter touchdown to give Georgia its first lead, and a 4th quarter touchdown that expanded Georgia's lead to 11 points and virtually sealed the game for the Bulldogs. He also caught a 2-point conversion pass, and ESPN's play-by-play summary claims he caught every ball thrown his way. When you consider that he caught about 40% of Joe Cox's completions, and that Cox was apparently 11 for 19 on balls not thrown to A. J. Green, I think it's obvious that Green is the right choice between the two.

Georgia Bulldogs 52, Arkansas Razorbacks 41

T Kyle King — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 02:24:05 -0000

I know I am arriving a little late to the party---ESPN and the Griffin District of the United Methodist Church did not get their schedules straight when the former lined up three straight night games for the Georgia Bulldogs on the very same weekends on which the latter arranged for me to attend my lay speaking recertification course for four hours every Sunday---but I appreciate the way everyone has kept the conversation going in the comments and in the fanposts.

Permit me to add a few observations, but please bear in mind that I haven’t had the time to check out any other weblogs or the game day open comment thread, so some of what follows may be repetitive, or redundant, or repetitive:

As the first quarter came to an end, I was very nearly ready to flush the 2009 season and get the guy most likely to start under center next autumn out onto the field to get some playing experience. Needless to say, Joe Cox answered any remaining doubts about his competence in the remaining three quarters. He hooked up on 18 of 26 attempts for 375 yards, a record-tying five touchdowns, and one interception. Although undeniably aided by the amazing abilities of A.J. Green (seven catches for 137 yards and two scores), Cox did a much better job of hitting his receivers in stride. This may be damning him with faint praise, but Cox didn’t throw long and incomplete any more often than Matthew Stafford would have.

I was a bit surprised at how surprised everyone seemed to be at the supposed "emergence" of Michael Moore. When was Michael Moore not clearly the Bulldogs’ second-best receiver following the departure of Mohamed Massaquoi? Why did everyone seem so shocked that Moore caught six passes for 91 yards against the Arkansas Razorbacks when he ended last season by catching six passes for 97 yards against the Michigan St. Spartans in last year’s Capital One Bowl? Who didn’t know already the dude was good?

I have always admired Mark Richt’s willingness to give a player an immediate shot at redemption after he makes a mistake. After Branden Smith’s gaffe in the return game against South Carolina, he was given the opportunity to make up for his miscue on the reverse. Coach Richt’s charges respond well to his confidence in them and usually make the most of their second chances. Tavarres King had a couple of potentially game-changing mistakes in Fayetteville, which were addressed by giving him the chance to haul in a 50-yard touchdown pass. He made good on that opportunity. Kudos to the coaches for letting the young man atone for his error and kudos to King for justifying his coaches’ faith in him.

Lisa Loeb. Tina Fey. Sarah Palin. Now Erin Andrews. I don’t know what it is about librarian-style glasses on good-looking women, but, holy smoking barbecue in a wire basket, that’s a look that works for me. Yowzers!

Although his play-calling sometimes seems strangely streaky, Mike Bobo is better at his job than he generally is given credit for being, and he managed a surprisingly balanced ballgame. The ‘Dawgs ran the ball 36 times and threw the ball 26 times. That demonstrates an admirable commitment to the ground game on a night when your quarterback is hitting almost 70 per cent of his passes. Three Bulldogs averaged four or more yards per carry, Richard Samuel rushed for 104 yards on 16 attempts, and Georgia scored on an 80-yard touchdown run. When that happens at the same time your signal caller is airing it out for a career night, you’re sticking with the running game.

The Bulldogs’ growing pains this year will pay big dividends next year. Ere anyone criticizes Brandon Boykin for a few miscues in the secondary, I have two words for you: Bruce Thornton. In his first year in the defensive backfield, he looked hopelessly lost and was picked on mercilessly by opposing quarterbacks. By the final year of his varsity career, Thornton was as good a defensive back as the Bulldogs had. Boykin shows great promise, on which he will deliver. Be patient.

As hopeful as I am for the future, though, I am worried that we’re going to go through this whole thing all over again a year from now if no quarterback other than Cox gets to run the offense for at least a couple or three series per game. As matters presently stand, Cox’s successor is going to come into the job in 2010 with less live game experience than Cox had coming into 2009, which is nothing short of downright scary.

There was a lot to like out of the Georgia offense last night. The ‘Dawgs answered the Hogs score for score, hung half a hundred on an opponent for the first time since last year’s LSU game, and did it without needing a special teams or defensive score to boost the stats. The Red and Black’s nine scoring drives covered 57, 26, 85, 75, 34, 65, 62, 73, and 17 yards, respectively. Other than the first-quarter drive following the Ryan Mallett fumble and the fourth-quarter game-clincher after the poor punt from the home team’s two yard line, the ‘Dawgs were moving the ball well over long distances.

The defense gave up a pair of one-play drives in the first quarter. A 50-yard Cobi Hamilton kickoff return set up a 48-yard touchdown pass to Jarius Wright and Samuel’s fumble was followed by a 30-yard touchdown pass to Greg Childs. I realize that the special teams and the offense put the defense in bad situations in those instances, but the Bulldogs have to do better on potentially momentum-changing drives. No single aspect of this game makes me more fearful for the future than this indication that the Classic City Canines’ inability to adapt to sudden changes in circumstances is one of the ugly holdovers from last year’s meltdown.

Georgia returned the ball well and kicked field goals well. The Bulldogs turned the ball over too often and drew too many penalties. This is a recording.

I truly have no clue what to make of our defense. Georgia gave up 21 points before the break and 20 points after intermission; so much for Willie Martinez’s ability to duplicate Brian VanGorder’s trademark second-half shutdowns (and, oftentimes, shutouts). Last week’s excuses do not apply; Mallett isn’t half as elusive as Stephen Garcia, and the Bulldog D wasn’t overworked against the Razorbacks, who ran 63 plays to the Red and Black’s 62. Georgia held the ball for almost 32 minutes of clock time, so fatigue should never have been a factor. The Classic City Canines gave up next to nothing on the ground (77 yards on 24 carries) while surrendering 408 yards and five touchdowns through the air, without so much as a single pick. On third down, though, the ‘Dawgs permitted the Hogs to convert just over 20 per cent of the time (3 of 14). What gives?

What makes the Georgia defensive numbers appear even weirder is the fact that Mallett was on fire, then, all of a sudden, he was ice-cold. The Arkansas quarterback completed eight of his first nine attempts in the second half, connecting on a pair of 40-yarders and one 30-yarder that was hauled in by Childs for a first down at the visitors’ eight yard line with fewer than five minutes remaining in the third period. At that point, a false start penalty cost the Razorbacks five yards, and, suddenly, Mallett couldn’t hit water if he fell out of a boat. Starting with the very next snap after the flag (one of eleven against the Hogs, who lost a football field’s worth of yardage to yellow laundry), Mallett went three for 14 the rest of the way. His last 14 attempts picked up a total of 36 yards, Mallett was sacked once, and he did not lead a touchdown drive. Maybe something changed that I was missing, but it didn’t look like the ‘Dawgs were getting a good deal more pressure on Mallett than they had before, yet his aim went from lethally accurate to absolutely off-target for no reason I was able to discern at first glance. Maybe Mallett was feeling the heat more than he had been before, but it didn’t seem like the ‘Dawgs were getting to him so much faster that he should have gone from looking like an NFL starter to looking like Jonathan Crompton so swiftly.

In the course of Coach Martinez’s tenure as Georgia’s defensive coordinator, the Bulldogs have surrendered single-game point tallies of 31 and 38 in 2005; 51 in 2006; 35, 30, and 34 in 2007; 41, 38, 49, 38, and 45 in 2008; and 37 and 41 in 2009. Seven of the last twelve opponents the Red and Black have faced have scored at least 37 points on Georgia. That is all.

The enduring value of Mark Richt’s consistent calm was on full display in Fayetteville. Down 21-10 after fifteen minutes of play, Georgia could have come unglued, yet the Bulldogs remained poised and continued to play their game without panic or desperation. There are a lot of problems which persist from last year, but there are a lot of positives that remain present, as well. What is worrisome is the reality that the ‘Dawgs had to come back and hang on to beat mid-tier league challengers in their first couple of conference outings. What will the Red and Black do when facing a ranked opponent whose SEC pedigree dates back before the early 1990s?

Those are my thoughts, and y’all have done an excellent job of sharing yours. (If I happen to have echoed sentiments I have not yet read, well, I guess great minds think alike.) Keep up the good work, and, as always, don’t forget to savor the win while spotting the flaws. Optimism may be overly extreme, but enjoyment and hope are entirely appropriate.

Go ‘Dawgs!

UK vs. Arkansas: For the 'Cats, as "must win" as it gets

Ken Howlett — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 09:38:17 -0000

With Arkansas riding high off of their 25-22 upset road win over Auburn, UK is once again catching an opponent feeling good about themselves (South Carolina had just won in Oxford). Victories like that tend to build confidence and team unity, especially in a team as young as Arkansas. Will Bobby Petrino's squad continue to improve, or was the Auburn victory more of a showcase for all that is wrong on the plains of Tubber-ville? I know that Bobby Petrino will have his group ready to play, so UK better bring the good stuff if they harbor any hopes at all of reaching six or seven wins.

Razorback Personnel

Quarterback Casey Dick: 6'2", 215 lb senior -- On the year Dick is 115-197 through the air for 1,411 yards, five touchdowns and seven interceptions. He has started all six Arkansas games. Last year Dick started all 13 games and was 150-262 for 1,695 yards, with 18 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.

Running back Michael Smith: 5'7", 173 lb junior -- Smith has 109 rushes for 599 yards, which is good for a 5.5 yards per carry average. He leads the SEC with 119.8 yards per game and he has ran for four touchdowns. Of course last year Smith played behind Darren McFadden and Felix Jones (both future NFL superstars), so he only garnered 46 carries for 303 yards (6.6 yards per carry) and three touchdowns.

Tight end D.J. Williams: 6'2", 250 lb sophomore -- Williams has made 28 catches for 315 yards (11.2 yards per catch) and two touchdowns (all three totals lead the team). He was selected to the All-SEC Freshman first team last year after making five catches for 94 yards.

Wide receiver Joe Adams: 6'0", 175 lb freshman -- The true freshman is second on the team with 22 receptions for 285 yards (13.0 yards per catch) and one touchdown. The multi-talented athlete is a converted cornerback. He was ranked the #12 best cornerback prospect in the country by Rivals, and the #2 overall prospect in the state of Arkansas. He's started in five of six games this year.

Wide receiver London Crawford: 6'2", 200 lb junior -- Smith has 15 catches for 163 yards (10.9 yards per catch). Last year he started the first six games at split end, making eight catches for 147 yards and a touchdown. He missed the rest of the season with a knee injury.

Wide receiver Greg Childs: 6'4", 205 lb freshman -- Childs has made 12 catches for 171 yards (14.2 yards per catch) and one touchdown. Another true freshman, the receiver was the #9 ranked recruit in Arkansas, and was the #72 rated receiver prospect nationally.

Defensive end Adrian Davis: 6'4", 238 lb junior -- Davis is second on the team with 35 tackles. He has also recorded three sacks (all versus Auburn), five tackles for loss and one interception. In '07 Davis made 65 tackles (10 tackles for loss), two interceptions and three sacks.

Linebacker Jerry Franklin: 6'2", 229 lb redshirt freshman -- Franklin leads the Hogs with 48 tackles. He also has 2.5 tackles for loss, and one interception. Franklin is another conversion; he was the #38 rated safety prospect according to Rivals and the overall #8 prospect in Arkansas.

Cornerback Jamar Love: 6'1", 197 lb senior -- Love has recorded seven pass-breakups, which is impressive considering the Hogs have only had to face 161 thrown passes by their opponents. He is experienced, having played in all 13 games last year ( 22 tackles and four pass break-ups).

Arkansas Related Statistics

Arkansas scores only 18.7 points per game, while giving up 35.3.
Arkansas averages 3.8 yards per rush, while giving up 4.8 yards per carry.
Arkansas has turned the ball over 14 times (five fumbles and nine interceptions), compared to only six takeaways (five interceptions and one fumble recovery). The 'Backs have had 10 opportunities to recover fumbles but gathered in only the one.
Arkansas quarterbacks have been sacked 21 times.
Arkansas has been outscored 48-3 in the fourth quarter.
Arkansas averages 362.8 total yards per game, but they give up 355.5 yards per game.
Arkansas is 13-16 (11 touchdowns) in red zone scoring opportunities. Their opponents are 18-22 (14 touchdowns) in the red zone.
Opponents are converting 41% of their third downs against Arkansas.
Arkansas opponents are averaging 183 yards rushing versus the Razorbacks.
Alabama running back Glen Coffee ran for 162 yards versus Arkansas ('Bama had 328 total rushing yards). By way of comparison, Coffee ran for 218 yards on 25 carries versus UK, and Alabama had 282 total rushing yards.
The University of Texas recorded seven sacks versus the Razorbacks.

The Razorback Schedule

Arkansas has defeated Division I-AA Western Illinois 28-24, Sun Belt member La.-Monroe 28-27, and Auburn 25-22. They've lost to #9 Alabama 49-14, #7 Texas 52-10, and #12 Florida 38-7.

Which one of these doesn't belong? Think Sesame Street.

Never have I been so surprised than to see Arkansas beat Auburn, on the road. Their other five games are rather uneventful; the 'Backs were soundly defeated by the big boys, and they beat a couple of teams that they should have, but sticking out like P Pat's new coif is the Auburn game. We all know that the Tigers have had trouble scoring, so much so, that they ('they' being Tommy Tuberville) fired new offensive coordinator Tony Franklin after only five games. To say that things are in disarray in Dixie would be an understatement.

A closer look at the Arkansas vs. Auburn game revealed a few revelations of note:

Auburn couldn't run the ball -- The Tigers ran for only 56 yards, which was good for only a 1.7 yards per carry average.
Arkansas could run the ball -- Tailback Michael Smith had a career day; rushing 35 time for 176 yards and a score. As a team the Razorbacks ran for 188 yards (4.3 yards per carry).
Since Auburn couldn't run the ball, Arkansas controlled the clock -- The Razorbacks won the time of possession battle 35:02 to 24:58.
Auburn quarterbacks Kodi Burns and Chris Todd were atrocious -- The two combined to go 10-28 for 137 and three interceptions.
Auburn had their chances to put the game away, but failed to deliver -- The Tigers were only two of five in the red zone. In the three unsuccessful trips they threw an interception, turned the ball over on downs (they had the ball 1st and Goal from the five yard line), and missed a field goal.
Arkansas converted their third downs -- The 'Backs were 8-17 on their attempts, while Auburn, unable to run or throw, converted only 4-15.
Both teams turned the ball over three times.
Total offense=total domination -- Arkansas 416 yards, Auburn 193 yards.
Casey Dick was serviceable -- The Razorback signal-caller was 17-32 for 222 yards and two interceptions. Well, on second thought, 'serviceable,' is being kind.

UK and Arkansas -- An SEC Stat Comparison

Scoring -- UK averages 26.2 points per game (6th in the SEC), Arkansas averages 18.7 (10th).
Scoring Defense -- UK allows 10.5 points per game (1st), Arkansas gives up 35.3 points per game (12th).
Total offense -- UK gains 317 yards per game (8th), Arkansas gains 362.8 (6th).
Total defense -- UK holds opponents to 274.2 yards per game (5th), Arkansas gives up 355.5 yards per game (12th).
Rush offense -- UK averages 129.2 yards per game (8th), Arkansas averages 115.2 (11th).
Rush defense -- UK gives up 108.2 yards per game (6th), Arkansas gives up 183.0 yards per game (12th).
Pass offense -- UK throws for 187.8 yards per game (7th), Arkansas throws for 247.7 yards per game (2nd).
Pass defense -- UK gives up 166.0 yards through the air (4th), Arkansas gives up 172.7 yards per game (5th).
Kick-off returns -- UK averages 29.4 yards per return (1st), Arkansas averages 21.9 yards per return (8th).
Punt returns -- UK averages 11.5 on punt returns, Arkansas averages 5.7 yards per return (11th).
Kick-off coverage -- UK nets 46.4 yards per kick-off (2nd), Arkansas nets 36.8 yards per kick-off (12th).
Sacks against -- UK has allowed four sacks (1st), Arkansas has allowed 21 sacks (11th).
Opponents third down conversions -- UK allows a 29.3% conversion rate (4th), Arkansas allows a 41.0% conversion rate (11th).
Third down conversions -- UK converts 30.1% of their third downs (11th), Arkansas converts 39.8% of their third downs (7th).
Turnover margin -- UK is +7 (t2nd), Arkansas is - 8 (12th).

What Must Happen Offensively

Kentucky has to win this game. They just have to. But how ...

In order for UK to come out victorious Saturday night they must run the ball better than they have all year. With Tony Dixon out with an injury, Derrick Locke and Alfonso Smith will be receiving the bulk of the carries. Locke will also be on the receiving end of his fair share of passes, considering the loss of Dicky Lyons leaves him the leading receiver on the team (22 catches for 189 yards and one touchdown). But, the game-plan needs to be run, run, run. Because what happened last week can't happen again ...

Last week versus South Carolina, UK threw the ball twice as much as they ran the ball (44 passes, 22 rushes). That's a ratio designed for failure, and it has to change, pronto. I realize Brooks can't run if they aren't gaining positive yards, so Locke, Smith and Moncell Allen have to find what it is they have been looking for all year, and that might be ...

With the addition of Randall Cobb to the starting lineup (he'll play wide receiver), one can at least hope for a more productive vertical game (actually, the mere existence of a vertical game would be news we can use). His athleticism and evade-ability make him a very dangerous weapon when healthy. UK fans will be watching every cut and catch, waiting for him to break a long one for six. But if he doesn't, always remember this ...

Simply Cobb's presence on an every-down basis will quite possibly loosen up the defenses UK faces, because now the defense has a definite play-maker they must keep one eye on at all times. The offensive possibilities are limitless when a coach possesses a talent like Cobb, lets hope we witness a healthy number of those possibilities versus Arkansas. He's not only talented, he's a good teammate ...

Classy move; the freshman displayed real leadership with his decision to wear Dicky Lyons' #12 Saturday. Dicky, we all wish you well, and only the best.

Here's a quick look at the remaining UK receivers and their numbers:

Derrick Locke -- 22 catches for 189 yards, one touchdown.
Randall Cobb -- 11 catches for 84 yards.
T.C. Drake -- 8 catches for 121 yards.
Kyrus Lanxter (will not play versus Ark.) -- 7 catches for 89 yards.
Maurice Grinter (questionable) -- 7 catches for 76 yards, one touchdown.
E.J. Adams -- 6 catches for 59 yards.
Aaron Boyd (he may start versus Arkansas) -- 4 catches for 30 yards, and ZERO DROPS.
Eric Ademyemi -- 4 catches for 24 yards.
Gene McCaskill -- 3 catches for 27 yards.
DeMoreo Ford -- 1 catch for 48 yards and a touchdown.
Matt Roark -- 1 catch for 6 yards.

In case you're counting, that's six freshman (and only three touchdowns).

What Must Happen Defensively

UK cannot allow running back Michael Smith to have a big day on the ground. The 'Cats have already fallen victim to running backs Glen Coffee ('Bama) and Bobby Rainey (WKU). Smith going for more than a-buck-twenty-five will lesson UK's chances at winning this game, and as we all know this is a "must win" for the boys in blue. At only 5'7", perhaps a brain-rattling hit from Micah Johnson is what our Mr. Smith needs to readjust his goals for the day. How they do it is of no consequence to me (that sounds harsh), as long as UK doesn't allow Smith to do his best Barry Sanders impression.

Razorback quarterback Casey Dick is only average. If Kentucky can get pressure on him, the likelihood is high that somebody will make a play on the ball (if he throws Lindley's way I'll be surprised). He's apt to throw picks, and UK's secondary is one of the best he'll face this year. UK must capitalize.

This is a tough one to predict, but since it's a "must win" I'll go with UK - 23 Arkansas - 14.

Thanks for reading, and Go 'Cats, beat the Hogs!