ARKANSAS PREVIEW: Taste test coming up

Arkansas’ defense is salty, offense light on seasoning

Arkansas coach Bret Bielema talks to players prior to the Razorbacks' game against Kansas State on Saturday, Jan. 2, 2016, at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis, Tenn.
Arkansas coach Bret Bielema talks to players prior to the Razorbacks' game against Kansas State on Saturday, Jan. 2, 2016, at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis, Tenn.

FAYETTEVILLE — Bret Bielema has had several opportunities this summer to project how his fourth team at Arkansas will fare this fall.

At SEC media days in mid July, he summarized the Razorbacks’ three SEC losses last year — in overtime to Texas A&M, on a blocked field goal in the final minute against Mississippi State, and “led Alabama at half and couldn’t close it out” — before concluding, “I realized we’re getting really close to where we want to be.”

Later in the day at Hoover, Ala., he drew an analogy without making a prediction.

“At Arkansas we’re not built very sexy, we’re just kind of a work in progress,” he said. “We need a lot of time in the bathroom to get ready and come out and look great.

“But when we do, we’ll stop time. And at some point we’ll get to where we want to be. And when we get there, it just means a little bit more.”

The Razorbacks were picked fifth in the SEC West at media days, and Bielema was asked about it at the Northwest Arkansas Razorback Club golf outing in Bella Vista in late July.

“What they say in preseason polls has nothing more to do with it than what they say in barber shops and restaurants and chat rooms and all that stuff,” Bielema said. “What we say: The end of the season is what matters. … All I know is we’ve improved every year and I continue to say it.”

Then at Arkansas’ media day on Aug. 7, when asked if he thought the Razorbacks were on track to contend this season, he said “I feel good about where we’re at. When I say I know my team, that makes me feel better. But on the same account, we’re in the SEC West.”

Translation: Bielema’s not making a prediction.

Not with the Razorbacks undergoing a huge overhaul on offense. Not with Arkansas trying to catch up to Alabama and others in the ultracompetitive SEC West.

These Hogs are difficult to get a handle on.

Noted analyst Phil Steele says his computer models spit out everything between 6-2 and 2-6 for the Razorbacks in SEC games.

Arkansas’ SEC home schedule is an all-timer, with defending College Football Playoff champion Alabama, LSU, Ole Miss and defending SEC East champion Florida. Those teams are ranked Nos. 1, 6, 12 and 25, respectively in the preseason USA Today coaches poll.

The Hogs’ road schedule begins with a trip to preseason No. 14 TCU and includes games against Auburn, Mississippi State and Missouri, and the Southwest Classic against Texas A&M in Arlington, Texas.

The Razorbacks have lost four consecutive to both Mississippi State and Texas A&M, are 2-2 against Auburn and 1-1 with Missouri since it became the Hogs’ cross-division rival.

But Arkansas has trended up since Bielema came aboard after the 4-8 implosion of 2012 to rebuild Razorbacks football from the rubble of the Bobby Petrino-John L. Smith years.

The Razorbacks have improved each of the past two seasons after Bielema went 3-9 in his first season, 2013, when the Hogs went 0-8 in the SEC.

The Razorbacks went 7-6 in 2014 and 8-5 in 2015, improving their SEC record from 2-6 to 5-3, and won bowl games in back-to-back seasons for the first time.

If Bielema’s club is going to extend that run, it’ll have to do it with the program’s most significant losses on offense since Darren McFadden, Felix Jones, Peyton Hillis and Marcus Monk wrapped up their college careers in 2007.

Arkansas lost a 3,000-yard passer and three-year starter in Brandon Allen, a 1,577-yard rusher in Alex Collins, Mackey Award-winning tight end Hunter Henry and offensive line starters Denver Kirkland, Mitch Smothers and Sebastian Tretola. The Razorbacks return 36 percent of their total offense, which ranks second to last in the SEC and No. 117 in the country, based on Steele’s computations.

But Hogs starting quarterback Austin Allen will have one of college football’s most experienced group of receivers at his side.

Keon Hatcher has 20 career starts and had 13 catches for 198 yards and 2 touchdowns before suffering a broken foot in Week 2 last year. Drew Morgan capitalized on his opportunity and produced 63 receptions for 843 yards and 10 touchdowns last season.

Jared Cornelius, Dominique Reed and Cody Hollister all have considerable playing experience, and tight end Jeremy Sprinkle projects as one of the nation’s top tight ends after leading SEC tight ends with six touchdowns last season.

Sorting out the best five on the offensive line is a work in progress. Dan Skipper and Frank Ragnow are the only returning starters, and the coaching staff tinkered with most of the spots on the front throughout training camp.

Sixth-year senior Kody Walker, whose career has been checkered with injuries, leads a group of mostly untested players at running back. Rawleigh Williams saw action behind Collins before suffering a displaced disc in his neck that required surgery on Oct. 22. Damon Mitchell was a receiver last season. Freshman Devwah Whaley showed promise in camp, but he’s never been tested in SEC competition.

Defensively, the Razorbacks return players who accounted for 86.8 percent of last season’s tackles, which ranks second in the country, per Steele. Arkansas has a deep and flexible defensive front and could improve its run defense after ranking second in the SEC to Alabama the past two seasons.

End Deatrich Wise Jr. had eight sacks in SEC games last season, tops in the conference. He’s joined by a large group of experienced, including linemen Taiwan Johnson, Jeremiah Ledbetter and JaMichael Winston, linebacker Brooks Ellis, and defensive backs Jared Collins and D.J. Dean.

Cornelius, Reed and Hatcher, and others, give the Razorbacks the potential for a dynamic return game. Punter Toby Baker is back after averaging 41.2 yards on 43 attempts, with 23 of those downed inside the 20.

The Hogs suffered four blocked place kicks in 2015 from a combination of poor protection, low-trajectory kicks from Cole Hedlund and a bad snap and hold. Hedlund has moved his placement back a yard to give more space for creating lift.

Just because Bielema won’t predict where his team will finish in the standings doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a handle on the team’s capabilities. He said he does more than at any time in his three seasons. Plus, the return of coordinators Dan Enos and Robb Smith leads Bielema to believe Arkansas has the ability to handle any bumps in the road.

“Coach [Hayden] Fry used to call them plowing up snakes,” Bielema said. “You see these things that are lying under the ground that you don’t really see and all of a sudden they pop up and they’re a really big deal. I think we’ve minimized those over the course of the last four years and we’re excited about the opportunity. But we really will take it one game at a time. We have a lot of fun with these guys and that part I enjoy.”

Arkansas Razorbacks 2-Deep

WR

Keon Hatcher

Cody Hollister

SLOT

Jared Cornelius

Deon Stewart

LT

Dan Skipper

Brian Wallace

LG

Hjalte Froholdt

Johnny Gibson

C

Frank Ragnow

Zach Rogers

RG

Jake Raulerson

Deion Malone

RT

Colton Jackson

Jalen Merrick

QB

Austin Allen

Ty Storey

RB

Kody Walker

Rawleigh Williams III/Devwah Whaley

FB

Kendrick Jackson

Hayden Johnson

TE

Jeremy Sprinkle

Austin Cantrell

WR

Drew Morgan

Dominique Reed

PK

Cole Hedlund

Adam McFain

DEFENSE

‘E’ END

Deatrich Wise Jr.

JaMichael Winston

NG

Taiwan Johnson

Austin Capps

DT

Jeremiah Ledbetter

Bijhon Jackson

‘R’ END

Karl Roesler

McTelvin Agim

*Tevin Beanum

SLB

Khalia Hackett

Josh Wiliams

MLB

Brooks Ellis

De’Jon Harris

WLB

Dre Greenlaw

Dwayne Eugene

CB

Jared Collins

Ryan Pulley

NB

Kevin Richardson

Henre’ Toliver

FS

Josh Liddell

Reid Miller

SS

Santos Ramirez

De’Andre Coley

CB

Henre’ Toliver

Kevin Richardson

P

Toby Baker

Blake Johnson

*Beanum is a projected starter who missed the start of camp for personal reasons

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