FAYETTEVILLE -- The one media member who predicted the Arkansas Razorbacks would win the 2017 SEC championship has not come forward publicly.
If so, he or she would have some explaining to do to back up that projection.
The University of Arkansas, Fayetteville is looking for its first SEC championship this fall in its 26th season in the conference, and the Razorbacks have plenty of questions to answer on both sides of the ball.
Then, there is the matter of how the Razorbacks' 2016 season ended with a whimper.
Instead of winning their final two games to finish with a 9-4 record, which it had a chance to do, Arkansas was outscored 66-0 in the second half of its final two games -- at Missouri and in the Belk Bowl against Virginia Tech -- to finish 7-6.
Bielema, who has taken pride in producing teams that finish well, said the late-season collapses led to a series of self-critiques, which led to the decision to switch defensive schemes and embark on a tougher winter conditioning regimen for the squad.
"Our kids have been great," Bielema said. "They've owned and embraced what we didn't do well at the end of the year, focused on what we can do well.
"We're going to focus on winning games in the second half, not losing them, putting our best personnel on the field, no matter how that comes about, and then really trying to play and understand what it means to be at Arkansas and have that come through."
Bielema left a good gig at Wisconsin in 2012 for the challenge of competing in the SEC, and said he understands the SEC West is not for the faint of heart. The division, often cited as the toughest in college football, has the stats to back it up.
The SEC West has produced 6 national champions, 2 more teams that lost in the national championship game and 1 that lost in a national semifinal over the past 10 years. The only time an SEC West team did not challenge for the national championship, it was the SEC East Florida Gators who won it all.
This is where the Razorbacks dwell. Alabama, Auburn, LSU, Texas A&M, Ole Miss and Mississippi State are on the docket every season and Arkansas is fighting to reverse negative trends against two of those division rivals. Alabama has won 10 consecutive games in the series against Arkansas and Texas A&M has won five in a row.
The Razorbacks face plenty of challenges entering Year 5 under Beliema.
Defensively, the Hogs are changing to a 3-4 base set under new coordinator Paul Rhoads with a roster mostly fitted for a 4-3 front.
"Any time you're transitioning from a four-man front to a three-man front or vice versa, there are recruiting pieces that ... take a little time," Rhoads said. "You're not built for a 3-4 if you were a four-man front.
"That's the piece we're building for in the future. Right now it's about training the guys that we have on the current roster to do what we're asking them to do the best they can do it. And by the way, there's a game here in a few weeks."
The coaching staff believes the new scheme will allow defenders to line up faster, make quicker pre-snap and in-game adjustments and contend better with up-tempo Spread offenses that have attacked Arkansas' edges.
Defensive backs Santos Ramirez, Kevin Richardson, Josh Liddell and Ryan Pulley and end McTelvin "Sosa" Agim have become the emotional leaders for a unit that knows it didn't defend the run well last season.
"It's not just two or three guys talking," Agim said. "You've got everybody trying to lead and show the guys the way. That's why I feel like this year is going to be a great year."
Junior linebacker Dre Greenlaw said he thinks the Razorbacks will adapt quickly to the new scheme.
"I feel like the 3-4 will be to my advantage," Greenlaw said. "I'll be able to play side to side, because a lot of teams like to attack the edges when they run. I think with my athleticism, I'll be a good fit for that."
The offense features an experienced quarterback, fifth-year senior Austin Allen, but an almost exclusively new group of receivers. To make matters more uncertain, senior Jared Cornelius (back) and sophomore T.J. Hammonds (knee), the two most experienced receivers, had to come off the 105-man roster during camp due to injuries.
Allen is back for a second year as the starter after leading the SEC with 3,430 passing yards and ranking second with 25 touchdown passes. His possesses the savvy to turn potentially bad plays into good ones, and maintain a calm presence in the face of adversity.
Allen worked extensively in the summer with a group of receivers that has virtually no past performance.
Cornelius (32-515 receiving, 4 TDs) hasn't participated in camp because of a back issue, leaving sophomores Deon Stewart (2-34 receiving) and La'Michael Pettway (1-10 receiving) as the only receivers with catches on their resume.
Newcomers like Jordan Jones and transfers Brandon Martin and Jonathan Nance have flashed talent in practice.
"It's getting a lot better," offensive coordinator Dan Enos said midway through camp. "It's been really good the last five practices or so. They're getting on the same page.
"Obviously we've had a lot of chances to practice and walk through and rep things, so I think everybody's getting very comfortable where they're supposed to be and what they're doing. I would have to say I'm very pleased with where we're at right now, especially compared to the spring."
The Razorbacks bring back four starters from their offensive line: senior center Frank Ragnow, juniors Hjalte Froholdt and Johnny Gibson at guard and junior Brian Wallace at right tackle. Sophomore Colton Jackson has moved back to left tackle after backing up Wallace most of 2016.
Allen said he has seen vast improvement from a unit that is following Ragnow's lead.
"They were in here doing extra film work, getting extra field work," Allen said of the summer routine for the linemen. "Having a guy like Frank come back and rub off on all those other guys is a really good thing for us. And it's great for those young guys being able to learn from a guy like Frank."
Ragnow returned for his senior season to make a final run with his friends. He has emphasized that the 35 sacks allowed by the Razorbacks last season, 34 against Allen, cannot be repeated.
"It's honestly embarrassing and unacceptable what happened last year, and I don't want it to happen again," Ragnow said. "That's one thing ... I've really tried to emphasize during the offseason is that it's not acceptable for him to get hit. It's not acceptable for him to have pressure in his face. We should hold ourselves to the standard where he's never getting touched and if he is touched it's on very, very rare occurrences."
The Arkansas running game, which produced a 1,360-yard rusher in sophomore Rawleigh Williams III, ranked 11th in the SEC with 164.2 yards per game and averaged 4.1 yards per carry.
The Razorbacks believe they can improve their run production between the tackles despite losing Williams to a career-ending neck injury in the spring.
Arkansas wants to be able to run when it wants to run, and Devwah Whaley, David Williams and Chase Hayden are the primary ball carriers, with fullbacks Kendrick Jackson and Hayden Johnson doing the blocking.
"We want to be a run-the-football team," Enos said. "That's our goal. We want to ... establish the run and be a physical, tough football team that can create explosive plays through the play-action game and then go from there."
Whaley is the leading returning rusher with 602 yards, and he's been pushed in camp by the graduate transfer Williams and by Hayden, whose speed, cutting and tackle-breaking ability have been evident throughout camp.
Austin Cantrell is the returning player with the most experience at tight end. Cantrell is seen as a plus blocker, while Cheyenne O'Grady has made the most athletic catches at the position. Holdovers Jack Kraus, Grayson Gunter and Will Gragg will compete with highly regarded junior-college transfer Jeremy Patton to hit the field in the Hogs' multiple tight end sets.
Cole Hedlund and Blake Mazza are competing for the top place-kicker job, while Blake Johnson appears to be the heir apparent to Toby Baker at punter.
Two of the Razorbacks' top potential return specialists, Cornelius and Hammonds, were slowed in camp, so the return game, which has not been super productive under Bielema, will get an injection from younger players like Stewart, Jarrod Barnes, Chevin Calloway and possibly Jordan Jones.
Bielema said he likes the way the schedule sets up, but there are some quirks in it. The Razorbacks have their open date in Week 3, before their SEC opener against Texas A&M after opening against Florida A&M and TCU. The Hogs play only one conference home game, against Auburn on Oct. 21, before hosting Mississippi State and Missouri to end the regular season.
Sports on 08/27/2017