Athleticism
Arkansas coach Sam Pittman said in the preseason that his team looks like an SEC team.
By that, Pittman meant the Razorbacks have the size and speed along the front lines comparable to the teams they play most weeks. That was not the case when Pittman was hired after the 2019 season.
The change in Arkansas physically is noticeable in its games. It wasn’t long ago that the Razorbacks were being manhandled along the lines of scrimmage and chasing speed in games against Auburn. The roles reversed last week as Arkansas built a 25-point lead in the fourth quarter.
The Razorbacks held their own against South Carolina and Texas A&M, and would have fared much better at Mississippi State if not for their quarterback and several defensive backs sitting out. Alabama had superior athletes, but that’s the case for almost any Crimson Tide opponent.
Where we have seen Arkansas’ improved athleticism on display most has been during its nonconference games, especially offensively.
The Razorbacks’ two best offensive games of the year came against BYU and Missouri State. The Razorbacks had 644 yards at BYU — ninth most in program history — and would have had 600 yards against Missouri State if not for an end-of-game kneel down that dropped the total to 595.
The Razorbacks had 447 yards in their other non-conference game against Cincinnati, a playoff participant last year that has a top-25 defense this season.
Arkansas is averaging 40.3 points in its non-conference games this season, a far cry from yesteryear when it failed to hang with North Texas and Western Kentucky.
You either have speed or you are chasing it, and non-SEC defenses — and many within the league — are chasing the Razorbacks. It will likely be the same for Liberty, whose coach, Hugh Freeze, referred to Arkansas as “deeper and stronger and more talented” this week.
The Razorbacks’ offense appears to be hitting its stride of late with 103 points and 1,164 yards over the past two games. Quarterback KJ Jefferson has played well since returning from an October injury, running back Raheim Sanders is playing well and is rotating with other capable backs, and receiver Matt Landers has emerged as a big-play threat alongside Jadon Haselwood. Arkansas’ offensive line is one of the best in the game.
The Flames have likely not seen a team as athletic as the Razorbacks this season. Liberty’s strength of schedule is ranked 128th out of 131 teams by WarrenNolan.com.
Wake Forest is the only Power 5 team to play Liberty this season. The Flames’ other games have been against independents, Group of Five teams and a team from the Football Championship Subdivision.
Can Liberty hang with the Razorbacks in a high-scoring game? That might be what it will take to win on the road.
Home Crowd
Liberty has not played in front of a crowd as large — or loud — as the one it will see Saturday in Fayetteville.
Not even close.
The Flames’ highest attendance for a game this season was 32,891 for a 37-36 loss at Wake Forest on Sept. 17. An announced crowd of 24,012 — a Liberty home record — was on hand for the Flames’ victory over BYU two weeks ago.
Attendance for most of Liberty’s games has been under 20,000.
Arkansas is averaging 74,225 tickets sold for its home games this season. A game against Liberty likely won’t fill all of those seats, but the combination of the Razorbacks’ time away from home and the university’s homecoming weekend should make for a well-attended game.
Freeze said his team prepared for noise this week the same way his Ole Miss teams prepared ahead of SEC road trips.
“We had the Arkansas fight song, crowd noise and the ‘Woo Pig Sooie’ — everything as loud as we could get it going in our indoor, and then our outdoor field, too,” Freeze said. I think we’re prepared for the noise. We’ll see, obviously, but we have certainly put them in that environment for them hopefully to handle it.”
Visiting teams have appeared to struggle with crowd noise at Arkansas this year with 11 false-star penalties and three delays of game.
Liberty QB
The crowd might play more of a factor because of Liberty’s quarterback troubles during the week.
Redshirt freshman Nate Hampton took the majority of the Flames’ snaps in practice because the team’s top two quarterbacks, Johnathan Bennett and Charlie Brewer, were out or limited. Bennett missed practice Wednesday and Thursday with the flu, and Brewer’s throwing hand swelled up after Tuesday’s practice. Brewer recently returned to practice from a broken hand that was suffered during the season opener.
Hampton has thrown eight passes this season and was Liberty’s fourth-team quarterback when the season began.
Quarterback Kaidon Salter, who started twice after Brewer’s injury, underwent groin surgery last month.
“Unfortunately we continue to have one of those years where it seems to be one thing after another,” Freeze said.
Freeze said he is not ruling out Bennett for the game, but is concerned about whether the quarterback will have needed stamina.
“I think we’ll be able to catch him up on the understanding,” Freeze said of the game plan, “but it’s nothing like getting the live reps.”
Brewer, who played previously at Baylor and Utah, is struggling “to get his mobility in his hand back,” Freeze said.
“He tried it and just said, ‘I don’t feel like I can hold the ball sufficiently to function,’” Freeze said. “I thought he had a pretty good Tuesday, and then it seemed like it kind of swelled back up on him again and tightened up.
“Will it go down between now and Saturday enough for him to feel like he could not hurt us if he’s in the game? We’ll see.”
Don’t Play the Jersey
After a pair of solid offensive performances against Cincinnati and South Carolina to begin the season, most everyone anticipated Arkansas to roll over Missouri State and push the Bears around up front. That did not happen early on.
The Razorbacks, with their stout running game and offensive line, were not able to gain traction in the first quarter against their FCS opponent. They rushed for just 21 first-quarter yards on seven carries.
Sanders, one of the most impressive running backs in the nation, did not have a run longer than four yards until the second quarter. It was fairly evident in the game’s opening minutes that Arkansas believed it could simply show up and overpower Missouri State.
The Razorbacks cannot carry that mentality into Saturday’s game against Liberty, a superior team in most every way than the Bears and, quite frankly, some of the other teams on Arkansas’ schedule this season.
In the same way teams can get psyched out just by seeing the Alabama and Georgia logo, those same teams can take a look at a lower-level team across from them and not play with the same force they might on any other Saturday.
Underestimate the Flames and get burned.
“You’ve got to prepare for each team the same way, by working hard, watching film,” Arkansas left tackle Luke Jones said. “And we’re preparing the same way. We’re going to go out there and get it done.”
Liberty has not faced near the competition Arkansas has this season, but it does boast the nation’s No. 35 run defense, allowing 123.3 yards per game. The Razorbacks, against one of the toughest schedules in the sport, are putting up 244.5 yards per outing.
Arkansas can and should impose its will at the line of scrimmage offensively. On the other side of the ball, SEC speed and strength should come to the forefront.
The Razorbacks finished with six tackles for loss at Auburn and three at BYU. They need to create havoc-type plays in the backfield and set the tone, letting the Flames know they are in for a long day.
Pittman, in his two-plus seasons at Arkansas, has done a quality job preparing his teams to play to his standard. Liberty is not a traditional late-season non-conference game. Pittman is well aware of that.
Take no one lightly and take care of business has to be the Razorbacks’ motto this weekend. Bowl eligibility is up for grabs.
“They’re really explosive,” Arkansas defensive back Hudson Clark said. “They can run the ball, they can pass the ball. They’re pretty balanced. I think they have really good receivers who can catch really well, so if you’re not prepared, if you’re not locked in every play, they can really do a number on you.
“We have to take that mentality to the game.”
Dae Dae Hunter
Much like Arkansas, Liberty has a bell-cow running back that it likes to feed a healthy amount of carries. Hunter, a sophomore from Denver, leads the Flames in rushing by a wide margin.
He comes into the weekend with 825 yards — 6.8 yards per carry — and 8 touchdowns in 8 games. He has scored at least once on the ground each week since the season opener against Southern Miss, and he torched BYU’s defense two weeks ago.
In the 41-14 victory for the Flames, Hunter raced to a 213-yard, 1-touchdown day on 23 touches. His rushing total against the Cougars surpassed his numbers from his entire freshman season spent at Hawaii.
And the 213 yards made for Liberty’s first 200-plus-yard performance by a back since 2008.
“Obviously he’s a really good back,” Arkansas linebacker Drew Sanders said. “Liberty’s a really good team. They’ve competed in every single game. They barely lost to Wake Forest. They’re a solid team and it’ll be a good contest.
“Their back, I think, is one of their better players on offense and it’ll be a good test for us.”
Hunter ran for 93 yards and a touchdown at Wake Forest in the team’s lone loss. He has surpassed 100 yards in two other games, as well, and is someone Arkansas has to eye at all times.
That also includes when he turns into a pass catcher. Hunter has 17 receptions for 147 yards and 1 touchdown. He has two games this season with at least four grabs, another with 60 yards, and he averages seven yards per touch offensively.
“He could have played for me in my days at Ole Miss,” Freeze said. “We didn’t have maybe the greatest running backs in the conference at that time. He would have played for me there. Dae Dae’s got some stiffness that probably is why he did not sign with Power 5s, but physically he’s really, really strong and has enough burst.
“He’s not a blazer, but he’s got enough burst to make explosive runs. There were some weeks (at Ole Miss) that we would have loved to have had him. I think he’s right on the borderline probably (of being an SEC back).”
Hunter might have an added workload this week. Freeze said the team’s No. 2 back, Shedro Louis, might miss the game following the death of his father Wednesday. Louis has rushed for 350 yards and 7 touchdowns on 79 carries.
Chris Paul
Not often is a back-up linebacker considered a key figure in a football game. But the play of the Razorbacks’ most-counted-on reserve at the second level could loom large.
Paul, who goes by the nickname “Pooh,” will be a defensive player to keep an eye on for Arkansas because his role is growing under linebackers coach Michael Scherer and defensive coordinator Barry Odom. At Auburn last week, he played more snaps (35) than Bumper Pool (32).
Pittman noted this week that the Razorbacks’ staff is pushing to decrease Pool’s in-game reps whenever possible to preserve his body for the stretch run of the schedule. Paul is ready and waiting, and he has taken advantage of his opportunities to this point.
Against the Tigers, Paul finished with 5 tackles, 1 sack and 1 quarterback hurry. It was his second full sack of the season in 22 pass-rush snaps, according to Pro Football Focus.
“I said as I’m watching the tape on Pooh’s sack that there’d be a lot of teams in the SEC that’d take him off of that play because he was fluid, fast, violent on the hit,” Pittman said. “He’s got a lot of those left in his career for us.
“The more he plays, I think the better he’ll get.”
Paul has missed only three tackles this season, and two since the season opener against Cincinnati. His tackle grade is fourth best among Razorbacks defenders who have played more than 100 snaps.
“Pooh keeps getting better and better, and he keeps pushing all of us and we keep pushing him,” Drew Sanders said. “It’s a great system we’ve got going.”
Bowl Eligibility
Freeze and Liberty are slotted inside the Associated Press Top 25 for the first time since the end of the 2020 season. AP voters placed them at No. 23 this week, but they were unranked by the College Football Playoff committee.
The Flames will be the fourth team the Razorbacks have faced this season ranked 23rd in the AP poll. Arkansas defeated Cincinnati at home in the season opener, and fell to Texas A&M in Arlington, Texas, and Mississippi State in Starkville, Miss.
While it is a bit of an oddity for a team to play four teams ranked in the same place in the poll, the more important number for the Razorbacks is six, as in victories. Arkansas enters the weekend one win shy of bowl eligibility.
“It, obviously, would be a big deal to be bowl eligible,” Drew Sanders said. “We’re going to take it one game at a time. Our goal isn’t just to win six games. Our goal is to win more, but winning Saturday would be big for our team.
“Being bowl eligible, not every team gets to do that, so it’d be a big deal for us and be a good accomplishment for the season.”
Should Arkansas reach the six-win mark Saturday, it would come one day shy of the one-year anniversary of becoming bowl eligible last season. The Razorbacks celebrated the feat in 2021 after a home win over Mississippi State on Nov. 6.
“We put ourselves in position to go 1-0 every week,” Arkansas receiver Ketron Jackson said. “We’re practicing hard every day just to make sure we go 1-0 every week.”