Preview 2019: Previewing 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
– Recruiting Class Analysis | Schedule Analysis
– Arkansas Previews 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015
2018 Record: 2-10 overall, 0-8 in SEC
Head Coach: Chad Morris, 2nd season, 2-10
– CFN Preview 2019: All The Team Previews
5. WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE ARKANSAS OFFENSE
– It’s going to be better. Head coach Chad Morris knows how to get a passing game going, but last year’s offense couldn’t seem to do much of anything right, averaging just 336 yards per game and averaging an SEC-low 21.7 points per game. In one offseason, the machine got several new key parts with an upgraded quarterback situation to go along with a whole bunch of terrific-looking new receivers from the recruiting class.
– Gone is starting quarterback Ty Storey to WKU, and arriving through the transfer portal are Ben Hicks from SMU and Nick Starkel from Texas A&M to battle for the job. Redshirt freshman Connor Noland has the skill and upside to be the main man at some point, but the addition of the two veterans changed the outlook. It’s likely going to be Hicks’ job to lose – he played for Morris at SMU and was around for spring ball – but Starkel has the skill to take over once he arrives for fall camp. Helping the cause …
– The receiving corps is going to be amazing … next year. It’s still going to take a little while to figure out where all the parts fit, but there’s a whole lot of young talent to play around with. Leading yardage receiver La’Michael Pettway left for Iowa State, but senior TE Cheyenne O’Grady is back after tying for the team lead with 30 catches for 400 yards and six scores.
Sophomore Michael Woods is the leading returning receiver with 206 yards on 18 grabs, and four of the top five producers are back, but the focus is all on what’s next. The recruiting class of 6-3 Treylon Burks, 6-5, Trey Knox, 6-4, TQ Jackson and 6-3 Shamar Nash should be too good to keep off the field.
– The running backs are good … if healthy. Leading rusher Rakeem Boyd averaged six yards per carry with 734 yards and two scores, but he missed time this offseason with a shoulder problem, and senior Devwah Whaley missed a bulk of last year with ankle injuries and had a back injury this offseason. Losing Maleek Williams to FIU hurts, but getting TJ Hammonds back after he left the team for a bit helps.
– The offensive line had a nightmare of a time keeping defenses out of the backfield, and now it only gets back two starters in OT Colton Jackson and C Ty Clary. There are more options to test out this year, but it’s going to take all of August to come up with the right starting five, helped out by the addition of a few JUCO transfers.
NEXT: What You Need To Know About the Defense, Top Players, Keys to the Season, What Will Happen
4. WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE ARKANSAS DEFENSE
– The run defense struggled, there weren’t enough stops, there weren’t enough takeaways, and the pass defense struggled, but the pass rush was solid and there’s hope to be night-and-day better under defensive coordinator John Chavis. The back seven is going to be a work in progress – there’s a youth movement happening, but …
– The line has options and experience, and it’s about to become fantastic. McTelvin Agim is the leading returning playmaker in the backfield at one end spot, and 6-3, 304-pound TJ Smith is back at tackle after coming up with 26 stops. A few starters have to be replaced, but overall, the line was terrific in spring ball and should be far more active.
– Leading tackler De’Jon Harris returns to his spot in the middle of the linebacking corps after coming up with 118 tackles, but he has to return from a broken foot. The amazingly-named Bumper Pool will get a job on the outside, and Hayden Henry returns to another outside spot once he gets over a shoulder problem, but this is one of the team’s thinner positions without a whole lot of instant help coming from the recruiting class. However …
– The new guys will play big roles right away in the secondary. This will be a young group that needs freshmen Greg Brooks and Devin Bush to be ready to immediately add some depth at corner. Sophomore Jarques McClellion is okay on one side and there will be a good fight for Ryan Pulley’s old job on the other, starting with sophomore Montaric Brown.
Junior Kamren Curl is a keeper at one safety spot – he’ll once again be one of the team’s leading tacklers after coming up with 53 stops – and now it’s up to a slew of young parts to fill in the other parts.
NEXT: Top Players, Keys To the Season, What Will Happen
3. TOP ARKANSAS PLAYERS
Best Arkansas Offensive Player
RB Rakeem Boyd, Jr.
Okay, okay, okay … the best player is almost certainly going to be freshman WR Trey Knox sooner than later. It would be a plus if one of the transfer quarterbacks stepped up and became a star, and there are more young receivers who’ll push Knox and the incumbents for time, but once healthy, Boyd is going to be the back to work around.
The 6-0, 200-pounder is coming off of shoulder surgery, but when he’s right, he has home run hitting ability, and he can catch. He ran for a team-high 734 yards and two scores, averaging six yards per pop, and he did most of it in spurts with three 100-yard games in a four-week span. If he can handle 200 carries, he’s a 1,000-yard back.
2. QB Ben Hicks, Jr.
3. QB Nick Starkel, Jr.
4. WR Trey Knox, Fr.
5. RB Devwah Whaley, Sr.
Best Arkansas Defensive Player
LB De’Jon Harris, Sr.
The all-star in the middle of the Arkansas defense led the team with 118 tackles with two sacks, nine tackles for loss, and five broken up passes coming off a 115-tackle sophomore season. The 6-0, 245-pounder has good-enough range and a burst to potentially get into the backfield more often. He’s not going to win too many races, but he’ll bring the pop when he gets there.
2. DE McTelvin Agim, Sr.
3. S Kamren Curl, Jr.
4. DT TJ Smith, Sr.
5. CB Jaques McClellion, Soph.
NEXT: Keys to the Season, Prediction & What Will Happen
2. KEYS TO THE SEASON
Biggest Key To The Arkansas Offense
How about start by not screwing up? There’s plenty of talent to get excited about, but it’s young, several parts are being thrown together, and the offense has a whole needs to be more consistent. But first, the O has to move the chains, and second, it has to stop giving up the ball.
The Hogs were dead last in the SEC by a mile in third down conversions, coming through a pathetic 31% of the time. The offense only past 35% four times.
The turnovers, though, were what turned games into ugly routs, with the O giving the ball away 26 times on the season and two times or more in ten games. The fumbles were bad, but the interceptions were worse. More on that in a moment.
Biggest Key To The Arkansas Defense
The back seven needs the depth and the rotation to emerge in a hurry. It was a great spring for the D under coordinator John Chavis, but there are still positions to be solidified and a rotation needing to be found at most of the spots. Fortunately, the starting group should be good out of the gate – and the secondary has to immediately play well.
The Hogs only came up with five picks on the year and got bombed on late, giving up 16 touchdown passes with just two interceptions over the final seven games. Worse yet, the D allowed over eight yards per pass, with only Tulsa and North Texas failing to hit the 63% completion mark.
Key Player To A Successful Season
QB Ben Hicks, Sr.
Or Texas A&M transfer Nick Starkel, or Connor Noland. To be fair to 2018 leading passer Ty Storey, he wasn’t exactly throwing to Antonio Brown and DeAndre Hopkins, but it was still a rough season with ten interceptions and not enough third down plays. Cole Kelley wasn’t much better, hitting just 52% of his throws with five interceptions.
Hicks was okay last year at SMU without Chad Morris at the helm, but he lost his star receivers from the 2017 team. Two seasons ago, he threw for 3,569 yards and 33 touchdowns, but he gave up 12 picks.
Starkel is a bigger option, but he doesn’t know the O quite as well. He was good as a freshman at Texas A&M – throwing for close to 1,800 yards and 14 touchdowns – but Jimbo Fisher came in and went with Kellen Mond.
No matter how this shakes out – likely Hicks for this year and Starkel next season – the position needs to be a plus.
Key Game To The Arkansas Season
at Ole Miss, Sept. 7
It’s the cliché early statement game. The Hogs should beat Portland State to start, and yes, they should beat Colorado State after last year’s debacle of a loss. They should also get by San Jose State, so a win in the SEC opener over Ole Miss will almost certainly mean a 4-0 start with a winnable game against WKU down the road.
The Hogs had a four-game winning streak over the Rebels before last season’s 37-33 loss. Lose this one, and the program will be on a 12-game SEC losing streak with the last win coming in 2017 … at Ole Miss.
– Arkansas Schedule Breakdown & Analysis
2018 Arkansas Fun Stats
– 4th Quarter Scoring: Opponents 113 – Arkansas 66
– Red Zone TDs: Opponents 35-of-57 (61%) – Arkansas 16-of-37 (43%)
– Average Yards Per Interception: Opponents 11.3 (on 18) – Arkansas 1.1 (on 5)
NEXT: What Will Happen
1. ARKANSAS WIN TOTAL PREDICTION: WHAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN
Let’s try this again.
The 2018 Hogs under first year head coach Chad Morris were supposed to be fun-bad.
There was going to be a rebuilding job, and it was going to be ugly at times, but at least the offense was going to work and the fireworks would be impressive.
Instead, Arkansas was just … bad.
The defense was lousy, the offense was worse, and the team went 2-10 against a relatively manageable schedule that should’ve assured a bowl appearance.
It’s still going to take a little while to get up to speed under Morris, but he’s getting the parts in place. This year, the quarterback situation is far stronger, and the young stars are rolling in from a fantastic recruiting class.
Now, this really might be the team that can hang 30+ points per game on the board without working too hard. At the very least, it should be the team with an offensive system that can come up with a scare or two against the big boys in the SEC West.
Set The Regular Season Win Total At … 6
There will be times when it gets ugly and the machine doesn’t work – the Hogs have to go to Alabama, LSU, and play Texas A&M in Arlington – but there’s enough in place to beat Portland State, Colorado State, San Jose State and WKU at home.
Lsat year’s team might have been awful, but it gave A&M, Ole Miss and LSU a major push, losing all three games by a touchdown or less. This version will win two of those types of games.
This year, Arkansas should be fun-good just enough to go bowling.
After the last few seasons, the fan base needs it.
– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– Recruiting Class Analysis | Schedule Analysis
