Following last week’s loss to the BYU Cougars, the Razorbacks have found themselves in a rather frustrating position. They’ve suffered their first loss of the season just three games in, their offensive line is in shambles, and we’ve yet to see a consistent rushing attack. This week, the Hog’s start making their way through “the gauntlet”, arguably the hardest 5 game stretch in the country this season.
Considering their next opponent, the LSU Tigers, the Hogs have a lot of ground to cover if they want to compete. Despite sharing the same record, the Tigers have a much more formidable strength-of-record compared to the Hogs. Their only loss comes at the hands of #4 ranked Florida State.
Let’s take a look at what we can expect for this week’s matchup, as well as one dream and disaster scenario for the Hogs.
Week 4 Expectations
Arkansas
Right off the bat, this matchup has been circled on the calendars of Razorback fans since their 13-10 loss in Fayetteville last year on November 12th. The fans aren’t the only ones either. In his time with the Hogs, QB KJ Jefferson has seen “The Boot” change hands twice already in his tenure. Interestingly enough, in his very first year on campus in 2019, KJ made his first start for the Razorbacks against LSU.
In the Hogs first three games, their defensive front 7 have been their biggest strength. Composed of a majority of Juniors and Seniors, the squad has maintained consistent pressure on opposing backfields and has wreaked havoc on the ground. Their presence has forced 7 turnovers already this season, 2 of which were defensive touchdowns.
In terms of special teams, the Hogs have found their star return man. Isaiah Sategna has shown the ability to turn any return into a weapon for the Razorbacks, and we saw that on display as he took one to the house last week. His 154 punt return yards rank 1st in the SEC and 2nd in the nation, while his 137 Kick Return yards rank him 4th in the SEC.
On the offensive side of the ball, things are not so pretty. The same team that found their identity in the ground game a year ago seems nowhere to be found this year. Over the last two competitions, the Hogs have fared better than they did in their opener, averaging 174.5 yards and 4.5 yards per carry. It is worth noting though that they were one breakaway touchdown on the opening drive away from those numbers being 122 yards on 3.2 yards per carry.
On the bright side, their passing game saw the emergence of freshman tight end Luke Hasz in a big way. Hasz caught 4 balls for 78 yards and a touchdown. He was outdone only by transfer wideout Andrew Armstrong, who caught 9 balls for 98 yards.
LSU
The Tigers took a chance in a tough week 1 matchup against the Florida State Seminoles and lost for the second year in a row. Despite getting beat down, the team has bounced back and played well. They come into this game after a 41-14 rout of Mississippi State last week.
Their biggest weapon has been the connection between QB Jaydon Daniels and Malik Nabors. The duo paired up for 239 yards and 2 touchdowns, something we haven’t seen from them since Joe Burrow was throwing to Ja’Marr Chase and Justin Jefferson. If they get it going against this Arkansas secondary this week, it could spell trouble for the Hogs.
On the other side of the ball, the LSU front line has proven to be a tough matchup for opposing offenses. They have found ways to get to the quarterback, and their play style has led to an impressive number of sacks and deflected passes. Even more impressive has been their run defense, allowing just 130 yards per game on the ground.
Dream Scenario
Hogs O-Line shows up big
After questionable performances from the offensive line the first two weeks, the squad only got worse in week 3. Unfortunately, this week presents them with an even more difficult challenge. The LSU front seven on defense are led by pre-season Heisman Candidate Harold Perkins. For anybody who remembers the Hogs matchup against the Tigers last year, Perkins lit up the Arkansas offense for 8 tackles and 3 sacks.
While Perkins’ numbers aren’t as outstanding as a year ago, his presence is felt in this defense, and if this Hogs O-Line wants any chance of stopping him, they’re going to need to show up.
Aside from a few standout plays, the line looked lost last week. A spattering of penalties were mostly made up of holding and false starts. Now, it’s easy to look at that and think, “well, this is a very young offensive line. That’s to be expected.” It’s worth noting that 5th-year senior Brady Latham led the team in penalties, though. Head Coach Sam Pittman spoke favorably of his team captain in response to Latham’s performance last week.
If the Razorbacks can get consistent play and leadership from Latham and fellow 5th-year senior Beaux Limmer on the offensive line, the Hogs stand in a much better position. A clean pocket for KJ to throw could be vital in a game where every down matters, and an established run game gives this team a whole new confidence. That will start in the trenches.
Disaster Scenario
The penalty bug bites the Hogs for another week
In week 3 alone, the team earned 14 penalties for a whopping 125 yards. Those marks were their worst recorded in a game since 2011 and 2010, respectively. Could it have been a fluke? Possibly, but it’s something that cost the Razorbacks dearly in a close loss.
While many fans argue the referees decisions through the last couple games, many of the Razorbacks’ penalties were self-inflicted, with a number of them being false starts and the like. What that displays from the Hogs is a lack of self-discipline. Some might even argue that the team’s conditioning is not as good as previously thought, considering that 7 of their penalties came on the last drive alone.
The penalties last week looked like they came from an effort of desperation from a team that was beaten and tired. If we’ve learned anything from Pittman’s last 3 years, he’ll hit hard on those mistakes during practice through the week and be prepared going into Death Valley. If he can’t, then we may just witness the Hogs spiral even further.
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