Arkansas Razorbacks 2016 NCAA Football Preview

ARKANSAS RAZORBACKS

Southeastern Conference – West Division

2015 Record – 8.-5

ATS – 8-4-1

2016 MEGALOCKS Opening Power Rating Rank

West Division #5 (Tie)

Conference #8 (Tie)

2015 Recap

There just isn’t enough time to go over all the crazy games that Arkansas was involved in last season but we have to mention a couple of highlights out of respect. A crazy fourth down and 25 conversion led to a 53-52 upset of Ole Miss in Oxford. They beat Auburn in a crazy 4 OT slugfest. They defeated Tennessee AND the LSU Tigers on the road. They also lost to Toledo as huge favorites and fell in OT for the second straight year vs Texas A&M. If that wasn’t enough they lost a 51-50 game to Mississippi St late in the season. They finished up with a demolition of Kansas St in the Liberty Bowl and sent off one of our favorites QB Brandon Allen (3,440 yards 30 TDs) in proper fashion.

2016 Preview

OFFENSE

This looks to be a challenging year for the Razorbacks on offense. QB Brandon Allen was very underrated and departs along with star RB Alex Collins (1500+ yards, 20 TDs). We think the biggest loss might be John Mackey Award winner TE Hunter Henry who had over 700 yards receiving and was an absolute rock for Arkansas (2^nd round NFL draft pick). WR Drew Morgan was a 2^nd team SEC performer in 2015 and he highlights a very deep WR core. However, it is always a concern to us when it appears to be the strongest unit of the offense.

DEFENSE

Arkansas fared pretty well last season against teams with more conventional offenses. The run defense was very good. The problems started when they faced mobile QBs and good passing attacks. They held LSU and Alabama to 14 and 27 points respectively but got destroyed through the air. They ranked last in the SEC in passing yards allowed (275 yards per game) and only had 11 interceptions to go along with 20 sacks. The defense looks to be better in 2016 with 9 starters returning but they do need to find a way to get to the QB more consistently. They will get tested early with TCU and Texas A&M on the docket in September.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Arkansas is going to need a lot of improvement in this area. PK Cole Hedlund was only 9/15 in FG attempts last season and they really had no bright spots to speak of anywhere on special teams other than ranking 15^th in the NCAA in punt return average. All the starting personnel returns so in theory they should improve but sometimes it is easier said than done.

MEGALOCKS ATS Value Rating (10) 3.5

MEGALOCKS says:

The good news is that Arkansas has Louisiana Tech, Texas St and Alcorn St (for real) on the schedule in the first five weeks of the season. After that it gets flat out nasty until late November. The defense looks to be better on paper but there is just no way of knowing how new QB Austin Allen will perform in his first year as the starting QB. Even if he is the brother of Brandon Allen.

Overall, we give the RAZORBACKS a 3.5 ATS Value Rating (Below Average) this season. The defense is going to be pretty good. After that, there are just too many questions for us to give them a higher rating. Arkansas has been a big-time money maker the last two seasons ATS (18-7-1, 72%) but we see regression coming vs the number in 2016.

Want more Arkansas football?

Website

http://www.arkansasrazorbacks.com/sport/m-footbl/

Forum

http://www.hogville.net/yabbse/

http://arkansas.247sports.com/Board/Hawg-Heaven-59414

http://www.scout.com/college/arkansas/forums/2344-hi-insider-board

https://arkansas.forums.rivals.com/forums/the-hill.8/

http://www.secrant.com/rant/arkansas-sports/

News

http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/teams/arkansas-razorbacks

http://bleacherreport.com/arkansas-razorbacks-football