SEC PREVIEW: Arkansas
What an Arkansas Fan Thinks: “Let’s just say that Phil Steele likes us. I don’t know we might be okay. We are taking a wait and see approach. Let’s just worry about beating Southern Cal, we have a little payback for that raping we got last year. If I have to put something done, I’ll say nine wins.”
What a LSU Fan Thinks: “Come on the Piggies aren’t going to do squat. They have a high school coach running their offense and a Nutt coaching them. I don’t care what Phil Steele says, they win eight, no more.”
What Do I Think?: When a guy like Phil Steele touts you as the one of his surprise teams, you tend to poke your head above the murky water that is the ocean of the SEC. Consider me a skeptic. Ask yourself this question, other than the most returning starters in the conference (from a team that went 4-7 last year, no less) what has anyone leaning towards Arkansas other than Phil Steele’s prediction? Could they be good? Sure. Houston Nutt is known for getting a lot out of his players, but a look at the history makes one wonder a little bit. Prior to Matt Jones’ arrival at Arkansas, Nutt’s teams (three years) had a winning percentage of 0.638. With Matt Jones’ at quarterback, the winning percentage was 0.789. Jones’ was a special talent and continually caused problems for teams when they played Arkansas. In fact, Texas reminded me of a much more talented Arkansas team last year. Both teams featured an offensive attack with a dynamic quarterback that caused defenses to really focus on him and thus allowed a lot of open space for the tailbacks.
This year seems to be a little different. Don’t get me wrong, Arkansas will be incredible on the line and with McFadden, the running game will be dynamite. I just have some questions about the ability of a high school coach to make a big jump straight to college. I will allow that Malzahn is new and different offensive ideas tend to produce results in the SEC (see Spurrier and, to a much lesser degree, Borges), a conference heavily weighted towards the defensive side of the ball.
Speaking of defense, I like what the Razorbacks have. They really should be pretty solid upfront with mammoth tackles Harrison and Jackson. The advantage of the entire defense is experience. There is only one sophomore projected to start. The rest are juniors and seniors and nine are returning starters.
Overall, I’m in a holding pattern on Arkansas. I like what they have on paper, but I have questions on their ability to jump to the level of an Auburn or LSU. They really are a mystery and if it wasn’t for Mr. Steele’s prediction, then the Razorbacks might truly be a surprise team. I’ll say nine wins with a caveat that I want to see them play for a few weeks.
Easily Win: Southeast Missouri State and Louisiana-Monore
Should Win: Utah State, Vanderbilt, Alabama, Ole Miss, and Mississippi State
Coin Toss: Southern California, Tennessee, LSU
Might Lose: Auburn and South Carolina
Will Lose: None
Arkansas Factoid You May Not Have Known: The most widely implemented automated mail sorting equipment in the world - the Wide Area Bar Code Reader - was developed by researchers in the University of Arkansas College of Engineering. A $50,000 grant from the U.S. Postal Service to Professors Dwight F. Mix and J.E. Bass in 1989 began the research and development effort. By 1999, more than 15,000 University of Arkansas bar code readers were located in every major USPS facility, increasing the efficiency of processing 20 billion pieces of mail a year at a savings of $200 million. This R&D effort has spawned four additional electronic systems to help the USPS "read the mail."
What a LSU Fan Thinks: “Come on the Piggies aren’t going to do squat. They have a high school coach running their offense and a Nutt coaching them. I don’t care what Phil Steele says, they win eight, no more.”
What Do I Think?: When a guy like Phil Steele touts you as the one of his surprise teams, you tend to poke your head above the murky water that is the ocean of the SEC. Consider me a skeptic. Ask yourself this question, other than the most returning starters in the conference (from a team that went 4-7 last year, no less) what has anyone leaning towards Arkansas other than Phil Steele’s prediction? Could they be good? Sure. Houston Nutt is known for getting a lot out of his players, but a look at the history makes one wonder a little bit. Prior to Matt Jones’ arrival at Arkansas, Nutt’s teams (three years) had a winning percentage of 0.638. With Matt Jones’ at quarterback, the winning percentage was 0.789. Jones’ was a special talent and continually caused problems for teams when they played Arkansas. In fact, Texas reminded me of a much more talented Arkansas team last year. Both teams featured an offensive attack with a dynamic quarterback that caused defenses to really focus on him and thus allowed a lot of open space for the tailbacks.
This year seems to be a little different. Don’t get me wrong, Arkansas will be incredible on the line and with McFadden, the running game will be dynamite. I just have some questions about the ability of a high school coach to make a big jump straight to college. I will allow that Malzahn is new and different offensive ideas tend to produce results in the SEC (see Spurrier and, to a much lesser degree, Borges), a conference heavily weighted towards the defensive side of the ball.
Speaking of defense, I like what the Razorbacks have. They really should be pretty solid upfront with mammoth tackles Harrison and Jackson. The advantage of the entire defense is experience. There is only one sophomore projected to start. The rest are juniors and seniors and nine are returning starters.
Overall, I’m in a holding pattern on Arkansas. I like what they have on paper, but I have questions on their ability to jump to the level of an Auburn or LSU. They really are a mystery and if it wasn’t for Mr. Steele’s prediction, then the Razorbacks might truly be a surprise team. I’ll say nine wins with a caveat that I want to see them play for a few weeks.
Easily Win: Southeast Missouri State and Louisiana-Monore
Should Win: Utah State, Vanderbilt, Alabama, Ole Miss, and Mississippi State
Coin Toss: Southern California, Tennessee, LSU
Might Lose: Auburn and South Carolina
Will Lose: None
Arkansas Factoid You May Not Have Known: The most widely implemented automated mail sorting equipment in the world - the Wide Area Bar Code Reader - was developed by researchers in the University of Arkansas College of Engineering. A $50,000 grant from the U.S. Postal Service to Professors Dwight F. Mix and J.E. Bass in 1989 began the research and development effort. By 1999, more than 15,000 University of Arkansas bar code readers were located in every major USPS facility, increasing the efficiency of processing 20 billion pieces of mail a year at a savings of $200 million. This R&D effort has spawned four additional electronic systems to help the USPS "read the mail."
posted by Buford T. Justice at 1:10 PM
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