Arkansas Razorbacks 2019 College Football Preview

College Football Predictions – Arkansas Razorbacks 2019 College Football Preview

2018 Recap

Record – 2-10

ATS – 6-6

WHAT IN THE SAM HILL is going on?

It’s been a pretty rotten two-year run for the Razorbacks. Last year they lost ten games for the first time in program history and only managed to bag wins over Tulsa and something called Eastern Illinois. They are just 1-15 (!) in SEC competition over the past two years and appear to be EONS away from being competitive in their division.

Let’s see if HC Chad Morris can get these guys playing a better brand of football in his second season in Fayetteville.

2019 MEGALOCKS Opening Power Rating

West Division – #6

SEC – #12

Arkansas Razorbacks 2019 Outlook

OFFENSE

Arkansas couldn’t do much of anything on offense last year as they finished DEAD LAST in the SEC in scoring offense (21.7 PPG) and next-to-last in total offense (336 YPG). The QB play was dismal (17-17 TD to INT) but things look promising this year. SMU transfer Ben Hicks is an experienced and quality passer who also happens to be the Mustangs’ career leader in passing yards, and former SMU HC Chad Morris knows him well. They also bagged another juicy transfer in former Texas A&M product Nick Starkel. We expect much improved play at the QB position. The WR unit is a bit of an unknown as they seriously underperformed last year and their leader in receiving yards (LaMichael Pettway) transferred to Iowa St. We LOVE the look of their TE group as Cheyenne O’Grady is one of the better receiving TEs in the SEC and they add highly-recruited specimen Hudson Henry.

The RB room is CHOCK FULL of talent as they return their top-three runners from a season ago. Two of those men are on the Doak Walker Award Watch List (Rakeem Boyd, Devwah Whaley) and that should mean an improved rushing attack. The offensive line is our primary concern with the offense as they only return a pair of starters and have questionable depth. They’ve allowed 30+ sacks in each of the past three years and they will have to clean that up to give QB Ben Hicks a fair chance to MATRICULATE the ball down the field in the passing game.

The Razorbacks will score more points this year but it’s hard to know how much better they will be until we see how the offensive line looks in the first month of the season.

DEFENSE

The Razorbacks have yielded over 30 PPG in each of the past three seasons (34.8 LY) and have to get this side of the ball in order if they have plans of winning many games in the SEC. Ace DC John Chavis has six returning starters to work with and hopefully we’ll see improvement in year two of his tutelage. The run defense was better a season ago and we like the look of the DL, particularly on the interior where they return their fine DT McTelvin Agim (10 TFL LY). We are also pleased to see the return of senior LB, leading tackler and 2nd Team SEC honoree De’jon Harris. The pass defense needs to get a lot better as they allowed 63% completions a season ago and only picked off 5 (!) passes. It would also help to get more PENETRATION as they haven’t notched 30+ sacks since 2012.

We project a decrease in PPG allowed this year but the magnitude of their improvement won’t be impressive unless they improve the pass defense and create more negative plays.

SPECIAL TEAMS

The FG department looks good with solid PK Connor Limpert returning for duty (19/24 FG LY) and the return units have continuity after performing well in 2018. Hopefully Reid Bauer can do a better job punting (34.1 yard net LY) and help out the field position battle.

Schedule Analysis

Overall – It looks good. The out-of-conference schedule should provide plenty of opportunities for wins (Portland St, San Jose St, etc..) and they avoid Georgia and Florida out of the SEC East. Bowl eligibility may come down to the final game of the year when they play Missouri in Little Rock.

Potential ATS Trouble Spot – WKU (November 9th)

This game comes after a brutal and physical three-game stretch (Auburn, at ROLL TIDE, Mississippi St) and the Hilltoppers will be better this year.

Season Win Total

Over 5.5 +135

Under 5.5 -155

MEGALOCKS says:

Lean to the ‘over’. The schedule should provide a decent floor for their win total.

MEGAmazing Tidbit

Our pal LOU HOLTZ led the Razorbacks through a 10–1 regular season in 1977, losing only to #2 Texas. Then they opened up a can of WHOOPASS on the Sooners in the Orange Bowl defeating them by a score of 31-6. Late in the game, future Arkansas HC Houston Nutt played QB for the Hogs. Impress the RANDOM HOTTIES with that trivia nugget next time you take in the Vegas nightclub scene.

MEGALOCKS ATS Outlook: Positive

The Hogs look poised for improvement. The offense will be able to function now that they have a legitimate QB and we trust that DC John Chavis can get better play out of the stop unit. When they aren’t doing battle in the SEC West they should be able to rattle off more than a few wins. Whether or not they make a bowl game will come down to how many victories they can steal from their SEC West rivals.

Arkansas hasn’t had a winning season ATS since 2015 when your boy Bret Bielema was in town. We think the recipe is here for the Razorbacks to be an overall money-maker this year. An under-the-radar outfit combined with more talent.

WOO PIG SOOIE!

Want more Arkansas football ?

WEBSITE

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

FORUM

http://www.hogville.net/yabbse/index.php?board=1.0

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

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

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

https://247sports.com/college/arkansas/Board/Hawg-Lounge-102335/

https://arkansas.forums.rivals.com/forums/the-razors-edge.6/

NEWS