BAMANEWSBOT
Staff
Why Arkansas will -- or won't -- win 10 games
A year after an unflattering start to his SEC career, Arkansas coach Bret Bielema turned the Razorbacks into a formidable foe in 2014.
Arkansas finished last season winning three of its last four games, including a dominating bowl win against Texas, but 2015 brings much higher expectations. Seven wins last season was great for a program that had hit an ugly snag, but that won't be acceptable in Year 3 of the Bielema era.
He knows it, and his fans know it.
Why Arkansas will win 10 games:
A year after an unflattering start to his SEC career, Arkansas coach Bret Bielema turned the Razorbacks into a formidable foe in 2014.
Arkansas finished last season winning three of its last four games, including a dominating bowl win against Texas, but 2015 brings much higher expectations. Seven wins last season was great for a program that had hit an ugly snag, but that won't be acceptable in Year 3 of the Bielema era.
He knows it, and his fans know it.
Why Arkansas will win 10 games:
- Dynamic rushing duo: Arkansas was the only FBS team to sport two 1,000-yard rushers from last season. Jonathan Williams (1,190 yards) and Alex Collins (1,100) return, and both are good enough to start for just about any other SEC team. Both had 12 rushing touchdowns last season and averaged a little more than 5 yards per carry. The perfect complements at running back, these two can slice up defenses or pound them. They averaged a combined 136.9 yards per game in conference play and 4.5 yards per carry.
- Defensive bite: After years of average to below average defensive play, Arkansas made a giant turnaround in 2014. After ranking 13th in the SEC in total defense vs. SEC opponents (475.3 yards per game) in 2013, Arkansas finished last season allowing 381.5 yards per SEC game, but ranked second overall in the SEC in total defense (323.4 yards per game). Though the Hogs lost some valuable guys from their front seven, this defense should still be strong, especially with a deeper -- and maybe more athletic -- defensive line. Linemen JaMichael Winston and Taiwan Johnson had great springs, and the secondary finally returns both talent and experience.
- More comfortable quarterback: One thing Arkansas would have liked a little more of last season was a passing game. Brandon Allen returns for his third year as the starter and had a tremendous spring in Dan Enos' new offense. Though Allen wasn't the most decorated passer last season, he did throw 20 touchdowns to just five interceptions. He wasn't asked to chuck the ball around a lot last season, but that could change with him being very comfortable in Enos' more wide-open scheme. Allen wants to go down field more, and he's admitted to feeling much more comfortable doing that now. Allen will definitely throw for more than just 175.8 yards per game in 2015.
- Killer road games: Winning SEC road games has been a problem for Arkansas in recent years. The Hogs' haven't done so since defeating Auburn 24-7 on Oct. 6 of 2012. Since then, Arkansas has lost 10 straight conference road games by a combined 348-168. This fall, Arkansas travels to Tennessee (7-6 last season) and Alabama (12-2) in back-to-back weeks, then kicks off November with back-to-back trips to Ole Miss (9-4) and LSU (8-5), two teams Arkansas shut out late last season. If you couple those road games with the simple fact that the Hogs play in the SEC West, getting to 10 victories will be a chore if Arkansas can't win on the road.
- No game-breaking receiver: Even with Allen appearing to have improved his passing capabilities this spring, he still doesn't have that game-changer at wide receiver to rely on. Without that, the Hogs lack a very important element to their offense. Even with how good Williams and Collins were last season, neither hit the 280-yard mark in the month of November. Arkansas won two games, but it was clear that fatigue set in for the Hogs' bodacious backs. If Arkansas wants true offensive balance for its treacherous November slate, it has to find someone who can catch more than 40 passes and have more than 500 receiving yards -- a lot more. Outside of Keon Hatcher, no wide receiver hit the 20-catch mark, so either a youngster like Jojo Robinson steps up, or the Hogs need to push JUCO signee Dominique Reed even harder in camp.
