Arkansas Football Betting Preview

2015

Arkansas

College Football

Betting Preview

Schedule – Odds

Of all the teams in the SEC West that have seen improvement over the last couple years, Arkansas should top that list. Just two years ago the Razorbacks finished with three total wins and zero in Conference play. They followed that up with a bowl win over Texas last year, with Four of their six losses coming by seven points or less. And now, Arkansas is projected to be yet another Top 25 team out of the West.

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Arkansas lost its offensive coordinator Jim Chaney, but replaced him with Dan Enos, formerly of Michigan State and Central Michigan. Even with that change, the offense should take a step forward from last year’s group that was never really a threat to throw the ball. They return Four offensive linemen as well as Jonathan Williams (211 carries, 1,190 yards, 12 TDs) and Alex Collins (204 carries, 1,100 yards, 12 TDs) out of the backfield. They will still lean heavily on the run, there’s no doubt about that, but it’ll be up to senior quarterback Brandon Allen to lead this offense even further. He gets his top two targets back in Keon Hatcher and Hunter Henry, so the pieces are there. If Allen can improve just a little, this offense could silently be one of the better ones in the conference.

In addition to that, the Razorbacks became a top defense last season with DC Robb Smith leading the way. They completely clamped down late in the season, shutting out LSU and Ole Miss in back-to-back weeks, and even held Miss. State and Missouri to 38 total points in two losses.

They lose their top players from the line and inside linebacker Martrell Spaight, though, and that will be tough to replace. Those will be obvious problems, and while the group isn’t set to have standout guys like that, they will have some depth which goes a long way, especially in the SEC. Brooks Ellis should become the leader at inside linebacker and he has enough experience, while the line features multiple guys that can get the job done.

The Razorbacks have a friendly Schedule early on, which should help the offense gel together and for the defense to get in a rhythm with some new guys. They could easily start 4-0 with their opening SEC Game coming at home against Texas A&M. Things pick up a little bit with back-to-back road Games at Tennessee and Alabama, but after a bye week Arkansas will have a huge Game against Auburn. That midseason battle could decide if they finish in the top or bottom half of the division. If they can win the Auburn Game, that should give them confidence for another road back-to-back against Ole Miss and LSU. A difficult Schedule doesn’t help, but with a better offense in 2015, the Razorbacks should be able to win a couple of those close Games in which they lost a year ago.