College Football News Preview 2020: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead to the Arkansas Razorbacks season with what you need to know.
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– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Schedule Analysis
– Arkansas Previews 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015
2019 Record: 2-10 overall, 0-8 in SEC
Head Coach: Sam Pittman, 1st year
2019 CFN Final Opinion Ranking: 96
2019 CFN Final Season Formula Ranking: 121
2019 CFN Preview Ranking: 61
No one knows what’s going to happen to the 2020 college football season. We’ll take a general look at where each team stands – doing it without spring ball to go by – while crossing our fingers that we’ll all have some well-deserved fun this fall. Hoping you and yours are safe and healthy.
5. College Football News Preview 2020: Arkansas Razorbacks Offense 3 Things To Know
– The Hogs brought in a head coach who was supposed to be all about cranking up the offense, and Chad Morris could never make it happen in his two years. Now he’s the offensive coordinator at Auburn.
Enter Sam Pittman, a career assistant who mostly dealt with offensive lines in his 16 previous gigs, including at Arkansas under in the mid-2010s. He might not have any head coaching experience outside of the high school and community college level, but he brought in a few coordinators to help make up for that.
CFN in 60 Video: Arkansas Razorbacks Preview
In comes Kendal Briles, who couldn’t get the offense rolling at Florida State last year as the OC, but will try to up the tempo and create something that can compete with the rest of the high-powered attacks in the SEC West.
Improving the nation’s 111th best offense that averaged 340 yards and 21 points per game – and failed to score more than 24 points ten times in 12 games – starts with getting more out of the passing game. Five different quarterbacks combined to miss more than half of their throws, connect on just 5.7 yards per pass, and threw 14 touchdown passes with 15 interceptions.
Fortunately, this could be a big plus area with Florida’s Feleipe Franks transferring in after throwing for 4,593 yards and 38 touchdowns with 17 picks and eight rushing scores before suffering a broken leg last year. He’s expected to be fine for the season, but redshirt freshman KJ Jefferson is another promising option who struggled as a freshman, but has the skills to grow into something dangerous.
– The rest of the skill parts are at least experienced. Rakeem Boyd was a bright spot with a team-high 1,133 rushing yards and eight scores, and Arizona State transfer Trelon Smith should be ready to go as a speedy all-around option in the mix.
The top seven wide receivers are expected back along with high-end tight end prospect Hudson Henry. Trelon Burks is a huge 6-3, 231-pound target who led the way with 475 receiving yards on his 29 catches, but he failed to score.
Mike Woods tied for the team lead with 33 catches and four touchdowns, and Trey Knox is a 6-5, 203-pound potential matchup problem who made plenty of plays – this is a very big, very young group that could blow up fast.
– Considering Pittman’s talent as an offensive line coach, there’s no reason to not be decent up front right away. This was a relative positive last season, with the line doing a decent job in pass protection while paving the way for Boyd. This group could be far more consistent and stronger, but four starters are back – only losing left guard Austin Capps – along with most of the key backups.
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Arkansas Razorbacks Defense 3 Things To Know
4. College Football News Preview 2020: Arkansas Razorbacks Defense 3 Things To Know
– It all tied together – the offense was really bad and got off the field in a hurry. The defense really couldn’t get off the field, made the other side press, and it all turned into a symphony of awful.
But head coach Sam Pittman made one fantastic move right out of the gate – he hired former Missouri head coach Barry Odom has his defensive coordinator.
He loses leading tackler De’Jon Harris from the linebacking corps, and not having McTelvin Agim on the defensive front hurts, but just about everyone else is back. Give the former coaching staff credit for at least cranking up a youth movement with the hopes of a big payoff starting this season.
– The linebacking corps should be an early plus. Along with the great name, Bumper Pool has the game – finishing second on the team with 94 stops – working from his spot on the outside. Grant Morgan might take over for Harris in the middle but can work anywhere. Start with those two, throw in senior Hayden Henry and Oklahoma transfer Levi Draper somewhere in the mix, and the Hogs should be solid here.
The line will be the interesting part early on depending on what Odom wants to change up and do. Three starters are gone from a line that stunk against the run and didn’t generate a pass rush, but other than that, things were great.
There actually is promise on the ends, starting with the addition of Clemson transfer Xavier Kelly. Matalo Soli and Zack Williams are underclassmen who can move, and 6-3, 265-pound former JUCO transfer Dorian Gerald should find a home after getting injured right out of the gate last year.
The problem is the lack of bulk on the inside – the Hogs are more about quickness than 330-pound masses of humanity. 6-3, 309-pound senior Jonathan Marshall has to be an anchor if it’s not 6-5, 300-pound redshirt freshman Marcus Miller.
– No pass rush meant few interceptions and not enough stops, from the defensive backs – they allowed way too many big plays, allowed over eight yards per pass in seven of the 11 games against FBS teams, and only intercepted six passes.
On the plus side, it was a really, really young group that returns everyone of not by S Kamren Curl, who left early and was drafted by Washington in the seventh round.
There’s going to be a ton of moving around of the versatile parts, with third-leading tackler Joe Foucha finding a spot somewhere among the safeties, and corner Montaric Brown also seeing time at some job with his all-around skills.
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Top Arkansas Razorbacks Players
College Football News Preview 2020: Top Arkansas Razorbacks Players
Best Arkansas Razorbacks Offensive Player
RB Rakeem Boyd, Sr.
The offense really, really needs either Feleipe Franks or KJ Jefferson to be a difference-maker at quarterback, but having Boyd around doing what he does helps everyone.
The 6-0, 215-pound former JUCO transfer has averaged over six yards per pop in his two seasons, can catch, and last year he ripped off 100 yards or more five times. Too often, the team got down so big early that it had to abandon the running game, but he’s effective whenever he gets his chances.
2. QB Feleipe Franks, Sr.
3. WR Mike Woods, Jr.
4. TE Hudson Henry, RFr.
5. QB KJ Jefferson, RFr.
Best Arkansas Razorbacks Defensive Player
LB Bumper Pool, Jr.
The 6-2, 225-pound outside linebacker will get behind the line from time to time, work on special teams, and he’ll show off the range to hit everything.
Second on the team with 94 tackles with 6.5 tackles for loss and five broken up passes, he gets all over the field – he’s always around the ball. He should be an even bigger statistical superstar under new defensive coordinator Barry Odom.
2. S Joe Foucha, Jr.
3. CB Montaric Brown, Jr.
4. LB Grant Morgan, Sr.
5. DE Xavier Kelly, Jr.
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Arkansas Razorbacks Keys To The Season
College Football News Preview 2020: Arkansas Razorbacks Keys To The Season
Biggest Key To The Arkansas Razorbacks Offense
If you’re going to run the high-powered, up-tempo passing game, it had better keep the chains moving.
The time of possession stat doesn’t matter all that much when you’re moving at a quick pace, keeping a defense on its heels, and scoring in a hurry. But when you go three-and-out, or when drives stall way too quickly, that equals disaster.
The Hogs were 13th in the SEC and 111th in the nation in time of possession – only having the ball for 27:47 a game – because the passing game just couldn’t connect. The quarterbacks combined to hit just 49.6% of their passes, and worse yet, there wasn’t anything happening whatsoever deep.
The Hogs failed to hit the 50% completion mark in each of the last seven games, and that was with throwing a whole lot of short-to-midrange passes. There just weren’t enough long drives, failing to covert more than 35% on third downs in each of the last six games.
Biggest Key To The Arkansas Razorbacks Defense
Stop the run. The SEC’s worst defense has to start somewhere, and it needs to begin with being a whole lot stronger against everyone’s ground game.
The secondary needs to come up with more stops and big plays, and the D as a whole needs to be a whole lot stronger in the red zone, but up front, allowing 222 yards per game on the ground – Vanderbilt was second-worst in the SEC, allowing 209 per game, and no one else allowed more than 158 – is the gut punch the team can’t get past.
Mostly, when teams didn’t run well, it was because they were too busy throwing it all over the yard. However, there was a brutal run of five SEC games in six when the D allowed 260 rushing yards or more – and the one outlier was against Alabama, who took target practice through the air.
Arkansas has allowed 200 rushing yards or more in 11 of its last 19 games – it went 1-10.
Key Arkansas Razorbacks Player To A Successful Season
QB Feleipe Franks, Sr.
Nick Starkel, Ben Hicks, Jack Linsey, John Stephen Jones, Ty Storey, Cole Kelley, Connor Noland, KJ Jefferson.
Eight players attempted at least 26 passes for the Hogs over the last two seasons.
For the good of the program over the next several years, it would be a bigger plus if Jefferson could rise up and become the quarterback to work around, but Franks – assuming his leg is healthy – would be what the program needs just to start being more competitive.
Franks was always maddening for Florida. He has all the skills and talent in world, but he couldn’t seem to put it all together on a consistent basis. He’s an SEC starting quarterback, though, and it’s been a while since Arkansas has had one who could shine at a high level.
Key Game To The Arkansas Razorbacks Season
Kent State, Sept. 5
Just obliterate the Golden Flashes, Arkansas.
Kent State went to a bowl last year and won it. It’s a MAC program that should get rim-rocked by the Hogs talent-wise, but it has a funky “FlashFast” offense that might be able to scheme its way to a big opening day upset.
Arkansas has won just two games over FBS teams over the last two seasons. It lost to San Jose State last year, dropped the dates to Colorado State and North Texas in 2018, and it can’t take any win for granted.
Even the 2019 opening win against Portland State was a 20-13 fight.
With the next three games away from home against Notre Dame, Mississippi State, and Texas A&M, the Hogs need to blow out the MAC team, just to show that they can.
– Arkansas Razorbacks Schedule Breakdown & Analysis
2019 Arkansas Fun Stats
– 2nd Quarter Scoring: Opponents 154 – Arkansas 42
– Time of Possession: Opponents 32:13 – Arkansas 27:47
– Total Yards: Opponents 5,408 – Arkansas 4,081
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Arkansas Razorbacks Win Total Prediction, What Will Happen
1. College Football News Preview 2020: Arkansas Razorbacks Win Total Prediction, What Will Happen
CFN in 60 Video: Arkansas Razorbacks Preview
Ole Miss hired Lane Kiffin, and Mississippi State landed Mike Leach.
Nick, Coach O, Gus, Jimbo – the rest of the SEC West head coaches have national championships on the respective resumés, or at least an appearance in the case of Malzahn.
In terms of star power, Sam Pittman is the antithesis to the rest of the division’s head coaching personalities. For now, that’s just fine.
No one will expect anything out of an Arkansas program that went 0-for-the-Chad-Morris-era against the SEC, and has just five wins over FBS programs over the last three years.
But it’s a young team overall, Pittman nailed the coordinator hires with Kendal Briles for the offensive side and Barry Odom for the D, and for now, he’ll get the benefit of having no expectations whatsoever put on him.
However, in what’s going to be a weird year for everyone, this might just be the type of team that can come up with the right scheme and the right performance on the right day to royally screw up one of the big boys.
Set The Arkansas Razorbacks Regular Season Win Total At … 4
Bet at BetMGM Win Total Line: 3.5
Kent State, Charleston Southern, and ULM have to be wins. The other non-conference game is at Notre Dame, and the Hogs are going to be big underdogs against everyone in the SEC.
Can they beat Ole Miss at home? Can they catch Missouri in the regular season finale, or stun a Tennessee team coming off its date against Alabama?
Four wins with the schemes on both sides of the ball improving as the season goes on – that would be a strong first run for Pittman.
– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– Schedule Analysis
