FAYETTEVILLE -- The curtain goes up on SEC play for the 17th-ranked Arkansas Razorbacks Saturday against No. 10 Texas A&M, and Arkansas' offensive line will face one of the nation's top defensive fronts, bracketed by ends Myles Garrett and Daeshon Hall.
Arkansas' coaches used last Saturday's 42-3 blasting of Texas State as one final opportunity to finetune its offensive line in preparation for the Aggies.
Juniors Frank Ragnow and Jake Raulerson swapped places in the starting lineup last Saturday, with Ragnow working at right guard and Raulerson playing center. Additionally, redshirt sophomore Brian Wallace split playing time at right tackle with redshirt freshman Colton Jackson, and sophomore Zach Rogers picked up substantial snaps at center.
Coach Bret Bielema and offensive coordinator Dan Enos deemed the tinkering a success.
"The more guys we can play up there, the better that is for our team," Enos said. "We were very, very pleased. There's obviously things we need to do better, but I thought they played with tremendous effort."
Ragnow, 6-5, 319 pounds, appeared to thrive at right guard, where he started all 13 games last season. Ragnow was named SEC offensive lineman of the week for his performance against Texas State.
Ragnow graded out at 92 percent on a night when the Razorbacks rushed for a season-high 226 yards.
Bielema said the coaching staff determined that Ragnow could help best playing between center and right tackle to help both of those players with communication and assignments.
"You put him at center, you've got a guard and tackle who haven't played a lot and need a little bit of guidance," Bielema said. "You put him at guard ... that might be best suited for Frank, because a lot of times teams will try to match up the guards with their best pass rushers. Sometimes we like to do that defensively and a lot of teams try to do it against us.
"But Frank is probably one of our more efficient pass-pro guys, if not our best. And then to be quite honest, he's a good puller. He can communicate with the center ... [and] the tackle."
Wallace, 6-6, 335, graded at 90 percent in his 27 snaps, his biggest workload to date. Jackson started his third consecutive game at right tackle and got in 39 snaps.
Wallace was listed first on Monday's depth chart, though he was paired as an "or" with Jackson.
"Really, that was probably a toss-up," Bielema said. "I think Brian probably graded out a little bit higher.
"Both of them played very well. Both of them did a lot of good things, so really they're basically even. We'll see how they practice this week. I wouldn't read too much into who's listed first or second there."
Enos said the coaching staff challenged the offensive line backups like Wallace to earn playing time with their practice last week.
"He did that," Enos said. "I thought he played really physical, really fast. He's tremendously talented. ... He's got great feet, great size, strength, power. It's just been a matter of him putting it all together."
Arkansas' tackles will face their toughest competition yet in Garrett and Hall.
Garrett, the SEC leader in 2015 with 12.5 sacks and 19.5 tackles for loss, has three sacks this season. Hall had seven sacks and 14.5 tackles for loss last season.
SEC analyst David Pollack, a former Georgia All-American, called Garrett and Hall the nation's best defensive end duo.
Texas A&M ranks second in the SEC and ninth in the country with four sacks per game, and the Aggies lead the SEC and rank seventh nationally with 10 tackles for loss per game.
Arkansas senior left tackle Dan Skipper will line up primarily against Garrett. Wallace and Jackson will take most of their snaps against Hall.
"I think what you try to do is neutralize them by going at them and being physical," said Bielema, noting that Hogs on the edges -- especially tight end Jeremy Sprinkle and Skipper -- have to play well. "I challenged them a little bit last night when I saw them at the training table."
Bielema said the Arkansas players who have NFL aspirations can enhance their highlight tapes by playing well against teams like the Aggies.
"When you're going against people of this caliber, this is when you truly define who you are," Bielema said. "It's not just another day at the office. You've got to ratchet it up a little bit."
Sports on 09/20/2016