Ahead of the Arkansas our Christian Clemente chatted with Andrew Hutchinson of HawgBeat.com. Dive in for his assessment of the Tigers-Razorbacks matchup and how he sees the action shaking out Saturday.
CC: Where does Arkansas excel offensively?
AH: Arkansas has quietly been one of the top offenses in the country during the first half of the season. Take out the shutout against Georgia, which looks like it has an all-time great defense, and the Razorbacks are a top-15 offense in the FBS. It all starts with the run game. Arkansas is the only team in the FBS with three 300-yard rushers - KJ Jefferson, Trelon Smith and Rocket Sanders - and that doesn't even include Dominique Johnson and AJ Green, who have been very good on limited touches. Once they get the run game established, they like to take deep shots. Treylon Burks is one of the best receivers in the country and Warren Thompson and Tyson Morris have shown glimpses of being deep threats, too.
CC: How are the Hogs going to look to win on Saturday offensively? Run-first attack, pass-heavy?
AH: As I mentioned above, the Razorbacks would really like to run the ball. They feel good about their top four running backs and Jefferson is a true dual-threat quarterback, who - at 245 pounds - is not easy to bring down. Also, the Arkansas offensive line is one of the best run-blocking units in the country. In fact, Pro Football Focus has the Razorbacks first in the SEC and eighth nationally in that category. If they can establish the run game, it would set up what they want to do through the air.
CC: Defensively, where is Arkansas strong and where do they struggle?
AH: If you asked this question after the first four games of the season, I would have told you the entire unit is solid and the strength of the team. However, Arkansas' defense has looked downright terrible the last two weeks. Part of that could be because it was going up against the best team in the country in Georgia, which was just simply bigger and stronger, and one of the best and most explosive offenses in the country in Ole Miss. That can't be blamed for all of the struggles, though. Arkansas has not tackled well - which is scary against a guy like Tank Bigsby - and the secondary, despite being Arkansas' most talented position on paper, has had a tendency to get beat deep. When they were playing well early in the season, the Razorbacks were rallying to the ball and making gang tackles, while playing sound, fundamental defense. It sounds like they may be shifting from a 3-man front to a 4-man front this week, which you'd think would help against Auburn's talented running backs, but I worry about Bo Nix's playmaking ability when he gets out of the pocket.
CC: Who's an X-Factor on offense or defense that can swing the game for Arkansas?
AH: KJ Jefferson. I mentioned him earlier, but the redshirt sophomore has evolved into a bonafide star quarterback in his first season as the full-time starter. He struggles with accuracy on short and intermediate throws at times, but he throws one of the best deep balls in the country. Throw in what he can do with his legs and he's a guy who can almost single-handedly beat a team - as he nearly did last week at Ole Miss.
CC: Game prediction? Who wins and why?
AH: I'm leaning toward Arkansas in this game. Despite an 11 a.m. kickoff, I expect the crowd to be loud and involved in the game. Sam Pittman has made multiple pleas to students and fans to show up early and make an impact. Just like the Texas game, it's a sellout and I felt like the team fed off the energy of the crowd in their blowout win over the Longhorns. The defense's performance the last two weeks gives me some pause, but I think it does just enough to help out the offense and Arkansas wins.
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