2018 Football Preview – SEC – Razorbacks
Looking for 2018 Arkansas Razorbacks predictions? The Razorbacks are turning the page on the Bret Bielema era and heading in a new direction. Chad Morris will step in as the new head coach of the Razorbacks and while he isn’t the biggest name he will bring a different kind of ball that Razorbacks haven’t seen since potentially Bobby Petrino.
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2018-19 College Football Preview – Arkansas Razorbacks
Head Coach: Chad Morris
2017 Record: 4-8
Arkansas Razorbacks Odds to win the 2018 FBS Championship:
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The results may or may not be there like Petrino – time will tell on that – but Morris does bring an exciting offense to the table and one that is different from the rest of the SEC teams.
With Bielema, Arkansas was trying to be Alabama and while trying to replicate Alabama’s success is one thing; being the store brand version of them is another.
2018 Arkansas Razorbacks Predictions: Team Strengths
Packing The Back: This is a team that may not pound the ball fifty times a game, but if they ever need to, well, they have the talent to do it.
Junior Devwah Whaley is slated to be the starter yet again after finishing strong last year. Whaley scored a touchdown and averaged 5.61 yards per rush over the final four games.
Chase Hayden showed plenty of burst last year, but, unfortunately, his season was cut short due to a leg fracture. Hayden showed versatility out of the backfield that should thrive in Chad Morris’ system.
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Same can be said about T.J. Hammonds who didn’t get many touches last year, but he doesn’t need it as he can take it to the house at anytime.
Hammonds rushed for 8.19 yards per pop with his highlight games coming against Ole Miss where he ran for 84 yards on 7.64 yards per rush and against Coastal Carolina where he ran for 119 yards on 17.00 yards per pop and a touchdown.
Also, don’t sleep on Rakeem Boyd. He’s a junior college transfer who ran for over 1,200 yards and 14 rushing touchdowns last year.
2018 Arkansas Razorbacks Predictions: Team Weaknesses
The Trenches: Games are won and lost on the line and Arkansas found that out the hard way last year. They had a weak offensive line and their defensive line was dreadful.
Their offensive line allowed a whopping 35 sacks and in seven of their games they averaged less than 4.3 yards per rush. For a team that was supposed to play a ground-and-pound game they didn’t have much pounding on the ground.
Arkansas’ defensive line was even worse. They couldn’t stop the rush and they put virtually zero pressure on the quarterback. Arkansas allowed 196 yards per game on the ground – and that’s with them padding their stats against Florida A&M and New Mexico State – who rushed for 80 and 11 yards, respectively.
Their next lowest total was 131 and that was against Coastal Carolina. The other nine teams rushed for at least 159 yards. Four teams rushed for over 200 and two teams rushed for over 300.
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Arkansas only had 19 sacks on the season and again their highest mark came against Florida A&M and they did close out the season with three against Missouri. Other than that it was two or less.
When your defense sees over 800 plays in a season sacking the quarterback 19 times just isn’t going to get the job done.
With the coaching staff shakeup and with a little bit of growth during the offseason they should get better. It’s still a significant weakness on this team, but they can’t be any worse than they were last year.
Arkansas Razorbacks Prediction: 8-4
This is a pretty soft schedule for Arkansas. Seven of their games are in the state of Arkansas and their biggest road trip is going to Colorado to play Colorado State. At worse, they should be bowl eligible this year.
Arkansas won four games last year and I think it’s safe to say they’ll win at least four games this year, as well. They should start off the year 3-0 and grab a win over Tulsa in October.
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Instead of getting Georgia or South Carolina or Florida; they get Vanderbilt this year. Plus, it’s a home game for them so they should win that.
Also, when you look deeper into the schedule who does Texas A&M have to play the week before they play Arkansas? Alabama. And it’s a neutral site game in Arlington.
Who does LSU have to play before playing Arkansas? Alabama. Not only that, but Arkansas will have an extra week to prepare and it’s a home game to boot.
Who does Mississippi State have to play the week before they play Arkansas? Yep, Alabama.
As I said, this is such a cake schedule that Arkansas should be bowl eligible with no problems at all. They have enough talent and the schedule broke in such a way that I think they’ll win six to eight games.
You might have an argument that they could win nine games, but I won’t go that far. I’m picking them to win eight games with the potential to go nine in the bowl game.
2018 Arkansas Razorbacks Football Schedule
- 9/1/17 TBD EIU
- 9/8/17 TBD @CSU
- 9/15/17 TBD UNT
- 9/22/17 TBD @AUB
- 9/29/17 TBD @TAMU
- 10/6/17 TBD BAMA
- 10/13/17 TBD MISS
- 10/20/17 TBD TU
- 10/27/17 TBD VAND
- 11/10/17 TBD LSU
- 11/17/17 TBD @MSU
- 11/24/17 TBD @MIZ
What do you think about our 2018 Arkansas Razorbacks predictions? Please leave us a comment below telling us how you think they’ll do in 2018!
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