Hogs expect test, not treat

Snarling band of Huskies difficult to digest

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Northern Illinois at Arkansas Hogtoon illustration.
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Northern Illinois at Arkansas Hogtoon illustration.

FAYETTEVILLE -- The Arkansas coaching staff had a message this week for any Razorback who might be overly impressed by their dominating victory at Texas Tech last week.

Northern Illinois is coming.

Northern Illinois at Arkansas

WHEN 6 p.m.

WHERE Reynolds Razorback Stadium, Fayetteville

RECORDS Northern Illinois 3-0; Arkansas 2-1

RANKINGS Neither team is ranked

BETTING LINE Arkansas by 13 1/2

COACHES Rod Carey (15-3 in second year at Northern Illinois and overall); Bret Bielema (5-10 in second year at Arkansas, 73-34 in ninth year overall)

SERIES Arkansas leads 1-0

TV ESPNU

RADIO Razorbacks Sports Network, including KABZ-FM103.7, in Little Rock; and KQSM-FM, 92.1, KEZA-FM, 107.9, KUOA-AM, 1290 and KUOA-FM, 105.3, in Fayetteville. XM-Radio 205, Sirius 126

The Razorbacks (2-1) won their first road game since Oct. 6, 2012, last week in Lubbock, Texas. Northern Illinois hasn't lost on the road since Oct. 1, 2011, at Central Michigan.

"I think one of the greatest roles we have as coaches is a humbler," Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema said. "We'll make them very humble."

The Huskies (3-0) bring a 17-game road winning streak into today's 6 p.m. game at Reynolds Razorback Stadium.

"They're an extremely confident group," Bielema said of the Huskies. "Not to steal Pat Hill's Fresno State philosophy, but any time, any place, anywhere. I think they really buy into that."

Arkansas is a two-touchdown favorite in the program's second game against Northern Illinois. The Razorbacks, guided by quarterback Barry Lunney Jr., who is now the Razorbacks' tight ends coach, defeated the Huskies 30-27 Nov. 12, 1994.

Arkansas offensive line coach Sam Pittman served two stints at Northern Illinois and was with the program for a 19-16 victory at Alabama in 2003.

"I know about the kids they have at Northern Illinois," Pittman said. "They're tough, they're smart, they're well-coached and they believe they can come in here and win, so we'll have a fight on our hands."

Northern Illinois, a member of the Mid-American Conference, has won 49 of 59 games the past four seasons and trails only Oregon in victories over that span. The Huskies have as many BCS appearances as Arkansas (1) and made it more recently, losing 31-10 to Florida State in the 2013 Orange Bowl.

The NIU Foundation took out an ad in Chicago papers last week after the Huskies' 23-15 victory at Northwestern that took shots at Illinois and Northwestern in their tussle for in-state supremacy. The Huskies have been dominant in recent seasons, but they haven't played an SEC team since a loss at Tennessee in 2008.

"I just want to see the SEC atmosphere," tailback Cameron Stingily said. "We've seen the Big Ten, the ACC and ... this is our first SEC game and I'm really excited for it."

The game pits two of the nation's most rugged running attacks.

Arkansas, which has run for 400-plus yards in its past two games, ranks second nationally behind Navy with 362 rushing yards per game.

"They know who they are and they understand how their team feeds off that," second-year Northern Illinois Coach Rod Carey said.

Northern Illinois is sixth nationally with an average of 325.3 rushing yards per game.

Quarterback Jordan Lynch, the face of the Northern Illinois program the past couple of years and a Heisman Trophy finalist in 2013, is gone and the Huskies have used three players behind center this season, most notably sophomore Drew Hare, who has completed 63 percent of his passes for 494 yards, 6 touchdowns and no interceptions.

The Huskies run a Spread attack at multiple tempos, so there are similarities to the Auburn offense.

"It's a chance to see if we've made some growth and can improve," Arkansas defensive coordinator Robb Smith said. "Their rushing stats really jump out at you, but they move several people around in that receiving corps we've got to be aware of. ... We've got to make sure we're committed to the run, but at the same time take away the play-action pass and their vertical passing game."

Linebacker Martrell Spaight and other Arkansas personnel noted how strongly the Huskies stick to fundamentals.

"You can tell they go out there and play hard and they have a chip on their shoulder," Spaight said. "We've just got to go out there with that same mentality."

Northern Illinois will combat Arkansas' offense with a defense that ranks No. 36 overall, allowing 340 yards per game.

"They have very few flaws schematically in what they do," Arkansas offensive coordinator Jim Chaney said. "They understand who they are. They understand their defensive scheme and they take away things before you think about getting to them.

"I'm very impressed with what they do."

Sports on 09/20/2014

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