Where is the Hogs’ Defense?

While there is no question Bobby Petrino’s Arkansas Razorbacks posess a potent offense, the real question prior to the start of the 2010 football season is: Where is the Hogs’ defense?

There is no doubt that Petrino is placing a lot of emphasis on defense, because he knows to compete for an SEC West title defense is essential.

Whether Arkansas’ defense has improved enough to make it a contender in the SEC was written about often during Spring practice.

Today, John Adams of the Knoxville News joins the fray and offers some additional insight in the article, “Adams: Defense could put Arkansas over the top.”

Read it here.

Facts About the SEC Championship

Tony Barnhart of the AJC provides some good information about the SEC championship game which will be played this weekend.

Here’s an excerpt:

Only one running back this season—Dennis Johnson of Arkansas—has rushed for over 100 yards against the Florida defense. Florida is No. 8 nationally in rushing defense, giving up only 89.2 yards per game and 2.9 yards per rush. Florida has held four straight opponents to under 100 yards rushing. Alabama is No. 2 nationally in rushing defense, allowing only 77.08 yards per game and 2.62 yards per attempt. No running back has gone over 100 yards against Alabama’s defense this season.

Read all of Barnhart’s post here.

TSN Picks Hogs Over LSU

This is from The Sports Network (TSN). Writer Jeff Frank is picking Arkansas over LSU on Saturday:

The most underrated team in college football

By Jeff Frank, Contributing Editor

Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) – Go through the AP Top 25 and you will not be able to locate a certain SEC club that has a chance to finish in a second- place tie in its division. This particular team is also surprisingly absent from the top 38, if you count the “others receiving votes” portion of the poll.

The Arkansas Razorbacks are the only team in the country to not only stay within single digits of Florida but to have a fourth-quarter lead against the undisputed number one team in the country. The Hogs could have very easily won that contest in Gainesville, or at the very least sent it to overtime, if Alex Tejada hadn’t missed a pair of makeable field goals in the second half.

Bobby Petrino’s club, perhaps emotionally drained from its fantastic effort that Saturday, failed to capitalize the following week at Ole Miss, a game the Rebels owned from start to finish. However, since that contest, the Razorbacks are 4-0, outscoring their opponents 194-84, and quarterback Ryan Mallet has been on fire, completing 78-of-107 passes for 1,295 yards with 13 touchdowns over that span.

Arkansas is having an extremely similar season to the one that transpired in Oxford last year. The Ole Miss Rebels not only gave Florida a tussle in ’08, they beat the Gators, and just like this year’s Razorbacks, lost two straight games in October.

Ole Miss then reeled off five more wins to end the regular season at 8-4. If the Hogs can defeat LSU this Saturday, they’ll be 8-4 as well.

Speaking of LSU, the Tigers were abused at home last November by Ole Miss, 31-13, rushing for just 37 yards. It’s doubtful they’ll be held to that low a number against a weaker Arkansas defense, but they’re now down to their fourth- string tailback with the latest injury to Keiland Williams. The senior is out for the year after getting hurt in last week’s incredible game against the Rebels, a loss that could carry over into this week’s game.

Arkansas will certainly not be scared of LSU. The Hogs have fared very well against the Tigers lately, winning the previous two meetings.

Last year, the Razorbacks prevailed, 31-30, holding Jordan Jefferson to just nine completions in his first career start. They also shut down the Tigers’ running game, limiting Charles Scott and Keiland Williams to a combined 74 yards.

Two years ago in Baton Rouge, Arkansas won in triple overtime over the eventual national champions, and back in ’05, lost by only two as 16.5-point underdogs.

After finishing with only five victories a year ago, the Razorbacks have a chance to win eight games in Petrino’s second season and they’ll do just that with the upset win over LSU.

Take Arkansas plus the points.

(NOTE: Arkansas-LSU graphic from the Fayetteville Flyer. Check out their Arkansas-LSU game article here).

What a Win!

Well, it appears the Razorbacks aren’t the only team that’s down this year and searching for the right offensive and defensive combination to win in the SEC. Let’s place Auburn in that category too after Saturday. The problem is that the Hogs are a team that are slowing putting the pieces together to be competitive in the intense SEC, whereas, Auburn seems to be slowly losing its way.

Arkansas definitely showed some heart and a glimpse of the future in the gutsy win at Auburn. What is important to note is that Coach Petrino is using what he had when he arrived in Fayetteville and using it to compete successfully.

I actually had Arkansas losing to Auburn this season, who this is pleasant surprise. I have Arkansas beating Kentucky next week, so this should be interesting.

Check out the recap of the Auburn game at http://www.ArkansasRazorbacks.com here.