Arkansas Forecast

Hogs win nine; and this time, Aggies go down

Bret Bielema will earn his first victory against Texas A&M as the Arkansas Razorbacks' coach, according to the 2017 Arkansas forecast.
Bret Bielema will earn his first victory against Texas A&M as the Arkansas Razorbacks' coach, according to the 2017 Arkansas forecast.

FAYETTEVILLE -- The Forecast started 2016 with a dominating 8-2 run in predicting the outcomes of Arkansas Razorbacks games, including 3-0 on the tricky trio of at Auburn, and home against Florida and LSU, which wrapped up the first 10 games.

Then the crystal ball went cloudy. The Forecast missed the Hogs' road victory at Mississippi State, picked the Razorbacks to beat Missouri 27-15, then projected a bowl victory over Texas Tech in Houston. So yeah, that's an 0-3 finish to an 8-5 season for the picker.

An 8-5 record represented the third tier in the SEC in 2016, so we're aiming to pick it up a notch with the vision for 2017.

The most accurate predictions from last year: 52-6 over Alcorn State (actual score 52-10); 30-27 over Ole Miss (in OT) with an actual score of 34-30; and 45-9 over Texas State (42-3).

Worst misses: a 21-17 loss at Auburn (56-3); a 17-13 loss to Alabama (49-30); and a 32-31 loss at Mississippi State (a 58-42 victory).

The Forecast does need to look deep in the glass and ask itself: Are we going to keep projecting victories over Texas A&M? Because that hasn't worked out so well. Read ahead to see what comes of that.

What follows is a fanciful forecast of how 2017 will play out for the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville.

Aug. 31

Arkansas 51, Florida A&M 3

Devwah Whaley rushes for 141 yards and 2 touchdowns while Jared Cornelius, Austin Cantrell, Jordan Jones and Deon Edwards catch scoring passes in the Razorback' romp at War Memorial Stadium.

The Razorbacks hold Florida A&M, coached by former Arkansas passing game coordinator Alex Wood, off the board until the fourth quarter.

De'Jon Harris, Santos Ramirez and Karl Roesler all notch takeaways for the Hogs, while Randy Ramsey posts a pair of sacks.

Sept. 9

TCU 32, Arkansas 31

FAYETTEVILLE -- The Horned Frogs get some payback for last year's double-overtime victory by the Hogs in Fort Worth, notching their first victory at Reynolds Razorback Stadium since Oct. 6, 1984.

Kenny Hill rushes for a couple of touchdowns, the last with 45 seconds remaining. He instinctively raises his finger to his neck after the score as if to start a throat-slash gesture, but he thinks better of it and instead falls backward, laughing as he's mobbed by teammates. The Hogs fall to 0-2 in return games against former Southwest Conference rivals in the past three years after beating them on the road the previous season.

Devwah Whaley runs for 85 yards, and Chase Hayden has a 45-yard touchdown jaunt as part of a breakout game with 80 rushing yards.

Sept. 23

Arkansas 30, Texas A&M 27 (OT)

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Austin Allen rolls right and throws a pop pass to uncovered tight end Cheyenne O'Grady in overtime to help Arkansas snap its five-game losing streak against its former Southwest Conference rival.

Josh Liddell stops Trayveon Williams at the Hogs' 2 on the Aggies' overtime possession, forcing a field goal. It is the third game between the rivals to go an extra period in the past four years.

Jonathan Nance, Devwah Whaley and Chase Hayden score the Hogs' other touchdowns, and Dre Greenlaw recovers a fumble on a strip-sack.

The Razorbacks improve to 13-6 in overtime games and 4-3 under Coach Bret Bielema, who beats his buddy Kevin Sumlin for the first time.

Sept. 30

Arkansas 47, New Mexico State 12

FAYETTEVILLE -- McTelvin Agim runs a fumble back 50 yards for a touchdown to highlight a five-takeaway day for the Razorbacks.

De'Andre Coley forces a pair of fumbles, recovered by Dwayne Eugene and Agim, and the trio of Ryan Pulley, Kevin Richardson and Randy Ramsey notches interceptions.

La'Michael Pettway catches 5 passes for 116 yards for his first 100-yard game, and Austin Allen passes for 305 yards and has touchdown strikes to Jared Cornelius, T.J. Hammonds and Brandon Martin.

Oct. 7

Arkansas 24, South Carolina 14

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- David Williams rushes for a career-best 115 yards and two touchdowns as the Razorbacks improve to 4-1 overall and 6-6 at Williams-Brice Stadium.

Henre Toliver's 61-yard punt return sets up one score, and a fumble recovery by Austin Capps precedes Austin Allen's touchdown strike to Deon Stewart. The Razorbacks move up to No. 18 in the AP poll.

Williams, the former Gamecock, beats his previous career-high of 110 rushing yards against Furman in 2014.

Oct. 14

Alabama 34, Arkansas 17

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- The No. 1 Crimson Tide extend their winning streak to 11 consecutive games in the series as Jalen Hurts passes for two touchdowns and runs for another in the victory over No. 18 Arkansas.

A large animatronics outfit agrees on a $2 million annual deal to create a motion-capture 3-D hologram likeness of Nick Saban's statue, which claps and paces and has sayings such as, "Now that's what I call an a** chewing!" and "No suspension, the discipline will be handled internally" and "Has Arkansas beaten me?" and "Trust the process and the process will give you positive self gratification, a-ight?"

Austin Allen passes for 315 yards and Jared Cornelius has 6 catches for 109 yards and a touchdown to highlight the Hogs' offense.

Oct. 21

Auburn 27 , Arkansas 24

FAYETTEVILLE -- Jordan Jones scores on an 80-yard end around on the first offensive snap of the game, but it is not enough for the No. 24 Razorbacks against No. 12 Auburn.

Auburn Coach Gus Malzahn appears to perform a couple of over-exaggerated "booms!" on the visitor's sideline as he wins his second game at Reynolds Razorback Stadium in three chances.

Oct. 28

Arkansas 33, Ole Miss 31

OXFORD, Miss. -- Arkansas linebacker Hayden Henry scoops up an Ole Miss fumble late in the game, draws the Rebels offense over to the Rebels' sideline during the return, then lofts a long lateral to Grant Morgan, who runs around end to the Ole Miss 11 in the final minute.

Two snaps later, Austin Allen rifles a 9-yard scoring pass to T.J. Hammonds for the winning touchdown.

Arkansas rolls up 235 rushing yards, led by 95 from David Williams and 88 from Devwah Whaley.

Members of the Arkansas golf teams, dressed in band uniforms, rush onto the field at halftime and re-create the original "Henry Heave," with Mason Overstreet playing the coveted role of Alex Collins to complete the miraculous fourth-and-25 conversion in overtime that helped the Hogs topple Ole Miss 53-52 here in 2015.

Nov. 4

Arkansas 45, Coastal Carolina 17

FAYETTEVILLE -- Austin Allen throws for 315 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Razorbacks in their nonconference finale.

Arkansas sets a record with three touchdowns scored by different players named Jackson, on Kendrick Jackson's 1-yard run, Koilan Jackson's 21-yard catch and Colton Jackson's fumble recovery in the end zone.

Austin Cantrell and Jonathan Nance also catch scoring passes from Austin Allen, and Hayden Johnson plows in for a 2-yard touchdown run.

Nov. 11

No. 9 LSU 17, Arkansas 14

BATON ROUGE -- LSU Coach Ed Orgeron declares it "no-talk week" and shuts down all media interviews prior to the game.

Jared Cornelius scores on an end around, and Louisiana natives Henre Toliver, De'Jon Harris and Briston Guidry combine for an interception and two sacks.

Nov. 18

Arkansas 54, Mississippi State 46

FAYETTEVILLE -- Santos Ramirez drags down Mississippi State quarterback Nick Fitzgerald at the 1 on the final play of regulation as Arkansas holds off the Bulldogs.

The SEC West rivals combine for 100 or more points for the third consecutive year.

Fitzgerald, who pitches to Aeris Williams around right end on the final play from the Arkansas 20, peels around left end, catches the pass from Williams and appears headed for the end zone before Ramirez makes the touchdown-saving tackle.

Austin Allen passes for 315 yards and three touchdowns -- to Jordan Jones, Brandon Martin and Jonathan Nance -- while Devwah Whaley and Chase Hayden rush for 100 yards each.

No. 24

Arkansas 31, Missouri 24

FAYETTEVILLE -- Ryan Pulley picks off a tipped pass and returns it 85 yards for a touchdown with 25 seconds left to cap a thrilling fourth quarter to help Arkansas improve to 2-2 in the Battle Line rivalry.

The Tigers have possession at the Arkansas 25 with the clock winding down in a tie game, but Drew Lock's third-down pass, hurried by Armon Watts, glances off Damarea Crockett's shoulder pads and into Pulley's arms.

Missouri linebacker Eric Beisel, who calls the Razorbacks "little piglets" and bets his beard on a victory earlier in the week, stops a fourth-and-1 dive play at the Tigers' 33 with two minutes remaining, but he yells, "Valhalla, I give you my ginger beard!" as he falls to the turf on the game-winning return by Pulley.

Arkansas 34, Texas Tech 31

HOUSTON -- La'Michael Pettway catches a tipped reverse pass from T.J. Hammonds on the final play of the game as the Razorbacks cap a nine-victory season with their second Texas Bowl victory in four years.

Hammonds, lined up in the slot, takes a pitch from Devwah Whaley to present the Red Raiders some misdirection, but a couple of defenders confront Hammonds, who scrambles in the backfield and throws for the end zone as the horn sounds. Double-teamed Cheyenne O'Grady tips the ball behind him, and Pettway corrals the ball at the back line and gets one foot down before falling out of bounds.

"In the world of college football, that play was live and off the charts!" Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema says. "It was borderline psychotic! I'm going to go hop on Kliff Kingsbury, I mean talk to Kliff Kingsbury, and bury the hatchet."

The Razorbacks finish No. 21 in the final AP poll, ranking No. 29 in total offense and No. 49 in total defense.

Sports on 08/27/2017

Upcoming Events