2017 Arkansas Football Preview

Jonathan Johnson
Aug 24, 2017 · 4 min read
Photo via Athlon Sports

SEC football is just days away. Before toe meets pigskin on August 31st, The Wheelhouse crew has compiled our preseason SEC power rankings and a preview of each team. As we release our team previews, we’ll release them in order of which each team is ranked in our preseason rankings to help the days until kickoff go by quicker.

The Razorbacks check in at №. 9 in our preseason SEC power rankings.

2016 season recap:

The Razorbacks started the season off on the right foot with three straight wins out of the gate, including a nice win over TCU. But, as has been common for some Bret Beleima teams, they began to drop off after that. If it hadn’t been for a close win against Ole Miss in mid-October, the Razorbacks would have started 0–4 in SEC play. The run-defense was exposed in a 56–3 beatdown at the hands of Auburn which truly highlighted the weakness of the team.

The last month of the season was a mixed bag of results, as Arkansas did pick up two nice wins against Florida and Mississippi State. However, they compounded that with another beatdown at the hands of LSU along with an embarrassing loss to SEC bottom-dweller Missouri. They ended the season on another down note by losing to Virginia Tech in the Belk Bowl.

Offensive Preview:

Offense is where the Razorbacks hung their hats last season. Austin Allen returns to the starting position after throwing for 25 touchdowns a season ago. He’ll have to take care of the ball more, as he threw 15 interceptions last season. Consistency is a key thing with Allen. He started the season pretty hot last year, but cooled off in a big way towards the latter part. The Razorbacks were dealt a blow in the offseason as one of their top two running backs Rawleigh Williams retired from football due to injuries.

Sophomore Devwah Whaley was slated to share carries with Williams, so he will have to take on a bigger role in the backfield. Arkansas will need to find someone to compliment Whaley and lighten the load on him. Four starters return on the offensive line who were able to run block pretty well last year. However, part of Allen’s drop-off may have been due to the fact he was sacked 35 times last season. Pass protection will be key for the Razorbacks. Jared Cornelius returns at the wide receiver position. After him, there is a lot of inexperience, but also some potential with guys like Brandon Martin and Deon Stewart.

Defensive Preview:

It was a record-breaking season for Arkansas on the defensive side of the ball last year, in a bad way. The Razorbacks gave up an FBS-worst and school-record 39 rushing touchdowns. New defensive coordinator Paul Rhodes has switched to a 3–4 defense after the front seven was repeatedly gashed in the run game. Bijhon Jackson returns at nose guard, but the defensive end position outside of him is still inexperienced. Arkansas has also struggled with depth at linebacker and now things will get harder there since they are adding another player at the position. Dee Greenlaw is expected to man the inside, while Randy Ramsey and Karl Rosseler will take up positions outside of him. The Razorbacks plan right now is to fill the outside positions with defensive ends. The secondary is the solid part of the defense with six returning guys with experience.

Special Teams Preview:

Junior Cole Hedlund is expected to have a leg up on the kicker position, but Connor Limpert and Jon Fagg will be set to challenge. Blake Johnson is set to take over for Toby Baker at punter. Cornelius has shown he can be dangerous as a punt returner. Expect Whaley to get a look at kick returner as well.

Newcomer to Watch:

Austin Allen needs someone else to step up at the wide receiver position. He has Jared Cornelius out there, but he needs another target to rely on. Junior college transfer Brandon Martin could very well be that guy. The four-star receiver out of Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College was the No. 1 receiver coming out of junior college. At 6-foot-4, he will provide another big target for Allen to target.

Season Breakdown:

The Razorbacks play both LSU and Alabama on the road in what will be two tough games to get wins in. They will again matchup with TCU, but this time on home turf. The biggest game of the Arkansas season is the home contest against Auburn on October 21st. The Tigers destroyed the Razorbacks last year by 53 points, and it will be interesting to see the motivation factor for Arkansas in that game.

Keys to the Season:

  1. Stop the run. It’s pretty simple, but it is something that Arkansas has to do in order to be successful this season. A repeat of last year and things won’t be good.
  2. Protect Austin Allen. Allen dropped off later in the season and some of that may have been due to the fact he was constantly under pressure. The offensive line will need to pass protect as well as run block better.
  3. Don’t lose the game that they shouldn’t lose. The loss to Missouri last year for the Razorbacks was the one that got way. It put a damper on a pretty solid season for a young team that was so bad on defense.

Final Say:

I do believe the Razorbacks will be a bit better on defense under Paul Rhodes. It remains to be seen just actually how much they will improve though. The Razorbacks will improve by one game this season and finish 8–4. The losses will come at the hands of TCU, Auburn, Alabama and LSU.

)
Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade