Arkansas will be one of our easiest games

[Notorious B.E.N]

This is a ridiculous thread

 

[BearCat204]

This is a ridiculous thread

It's every year

 

[RDU VOL#14]

And our offense will just lay down or we suck on offense against them or what?

Our offense is gonna roll over them big time!

Do you not see it?

No, this game is all about tempo. You can best believe Debord's going to dial it up early to get them on their heels. Who ever dictates tempo early will have a great advantage. I think both are capable of imposing their will on the other. We need Josh Dobbs to be at his best this particular game, he will be throwing a lot IMO, not by necessity, but by design. We win 31-27.

 

[livefaith]

It's either them or North Texas I been thinkin'. Both will be easy ... to find the stadium.

 

[Zues1]

Can't stand their badger coach. I hope we roast them pigs.

 

[UTVOLKeith]

No, this game is all about tempo. You can best believe Debord's going to dial it up early to get them on their heels. Who ever dictates tempo early will have a great advantage. I think both are capable of imposing their will on the other. We need Josh Dobbs to be at his best this particular game, he will be throwing a lot IMO, not by necessity, but by design. We win 31-27.

Well I disagree.

I don't see them being able to impose their will on us at all.

Not even close. We have too much on the Dline and If we go in a true 4-3 set we have the advantage. We will not be blown off the ball.

 

[photovol]

Where have you been the last 9 years?

 

[fade route]

Arkansas's running game is the talk of college football right now and deservedly so.
They're offense converted 5 yards per rush last year with 2,800 yards on the ground for 31 td's.

And they might have the best TE in the nation in Hunter Henry.

Hunter Henry's dad is the pastor of my church and the Henry's are family friends. Hunter is a great young man and will most likely play on Sundays.

 

[KBVol]

Western Carolina....North Texas...Bowling Green....Vanderbilt....Kentucky.....each of these will be "one of our easiest games this year". Not an Arkansas team that many services have predicted to be ranked higher than us, that many media outlets have ranked higher in their power rankings than us, that Vegas has as only a 1.5 underdog to us on our homefield where the home team normally gets 3-4 points.


They have an outstanding running game, perhaps the best tightend in the conference, an underrated senior qb and a defense that will likely be better than many believe.

 

[RDU VOL#14]

Well I disagree.

I don't see them being able to impose their will on us at all.

Not even close. We have too much on the Dline and If we go in a true 4-3 set we have the advantage. We will not be blown off the ball.

I hope you're right, but it's what they do. It's what they did last year against the SEC West. I think they will be a formidable opponent. I honestly think they could've beaten anyone in the country the last 3 weeks of the season last year.

 

[UTVOLKeith]

and a defense that will likely be better than many believe.

Seriously?

I don't believe it not for a second.

 

[o3marine52]

And our offense will just lay down or we suck on offense against them or what?

Our offense is gonna roll over them big time!

Do you not see it?

So your asking me if I see things that have not happened? No.. No I do not see it, as it has not happened yet.

Your questions about my post do not match what I said at all. So i would ask that you take your time when you read it this time, and reply with an informed response.

I wont repeat what I said. So my last statement still stands.

 

[turambar85]

I don't at all buy OP's claim that Arkansas will be one of our easiest games this year. But, I also think that people are overrating them a bit. Keith is right that their losses will severely affect their defense. And, Keith is right that the most important aspect of their team (or, most impressive) was their defense. But, they still have a very good team, and one that can make some noise in the SEC. However, what is being overlooked is that their running game is less dominating than many give them credit for.

Williams and Collins both ran for over 1,000 yards, but that seemed to be more a product of them staying healthy and their team being focused on the running game. Neither had particularly impressive years. Here are all of the SEC running backs who had at 150 carries and had more, as many, or close to as many, YPC as Collins and Williams:

Chubb: 7.06
J. Robinson: 6.33
Derrick Henry: 5.76
Jonathon Williams: 5.64
Leonard Fournette: 5.53
Alex Collins: 5.39
Cam. Artis-Payne: 5.31
R. Hansbrough: 5.29
M. Murphy: 5.22
N. Marshall: 5.22

They were very good, but only a bit above average in YPC for the SEC. They are your average "very good, but not outstanding" SEC starting RBs.

Moreover, both got a large chunk of their yards against three of the worst run defenses in football.

Williams had 5.6 YPC and 1190 yards. But take away Texas Tech (124th/128 in FBS on run defense), Nicholls State, and UAB, and he had 4.4 YPC and 748 rushing yards. That massive change occurs simply by removing three games.

Collins has 1100 yards and 5.4 per carry. But he had 410 of those against Texas Tech, Nicholls State, and UAB. Without those three games he ran for 4.5 per carry and 670 yards.

Both of their backs were solid-to-good against SEC caliber teams, and fantastic against garbage teams. Against our run defense, I would be surprised to see them average 4.4/4.5 per carry. Hardly a dominating tandem, though they are very good, to be sure.

Not to forget, even with this tandem, Arkansas was 5th in the SEC in rushing yards per game, and 5th in rushing YPC.

Add in a solid though not outstanding QB who is no threat to run and whom we can pin our ears back against on passing downs, add in the fact that they lost a decent bit of their defense, and add in that it is in Knoxville and I am pretty confident that we win this game.

Moreover...mentioning the Alabama game plays into the claims made by Keith. They kept it close by being dominant on defense. They only ran for 2.3 YPC, and Allen had a solid, but not very good, day throwing the football. We put up a significantly better offensive performance against Alabama. If their defense truly drops off as much as their losses indicate it could, then they are losing their best attribute, and the part of their team that let them hang with, and beat, the big dogs.

Reminder: I think that Arkansas is a very good team, and will likely be in the top 30-35 range at the end of the season. I just don't think, however, that they will be playing with teams like Auburn or Alabama, and that they will likely finish in the 4-5 range in the SEC West. They will be a tough game, but, barring injury, I think that we have a very good shot at pulling out the win.

 

[ajvol01]

Seriously?

I don't believe it not for a second.

Nice work Keith - you trolling like Three Billy Goats Gruff tonight

 

[o3marine52]

Stop the run and we got 'em. I think we have the horses now to stop their run game. I see a 28-10 type game with us on top.

This,

I do agree that at least on paper we have the horses to stop the run, it is just a matter of it actually happening. I think it will be a very good match up.

 

[MyAll]

No turnovers and ball control is key for us. If arkansas starts gashing, we're in trouble.

 

[o3marine52]

No turnovers and ball control is key for us. If arkansas starts gashing, we're in trouble.

That was their strong side last year, they had the ability to control the clock, at least in the games where they were successful.

Bret Bielema has recruited a very strong O line and a smash mouth running game.

I think we have this one, but I dont see it as a blow out.

 

[Kristy*]

Very good post turambar85.

 

[BudBarry]

Why?

Hypothetically if we played them the first game of the season we embarrass them.

Or...they embarrass the Vols. So much put into future games like OK, AR, GA, FL yet overlooking a MAC team like BGSU can sometimes be dangerous.

 

[Face]

They only return like five starters on defense.
Their Dline is gonna suck.

Do people really think we can't stop their running game?

Is that that it?

I think they're a solid team and coach BB is good at developing players.

However, I can't say I disagree with your main point. Arkansas doesn't recruit well, and they lost a lot of very experienced players last year. I guess we'll see if they develop players as well as mizzou. But it's not like they're some juggernaut

 

[ainge10heisman]

I believe Arkansas will be a pretty average team. I don't think this game will be a toss up. I think it's a win for the Vols all the way. They lost a lot on D, and we should match up pretty well with them. I see a 10 point victory for our beloved Vols.

 

[jimallvol]

Arkansas will be a dog fight. Make no mistake about it.

I agree. Anyone who watched them play last season would know that they were in some tight games last year that could have very easily ended up with a W for the hogs. Plus there's no easy games in the SEC east or west. This is one of the most important games this season. With us and the Hogs being 2 of the teams that's up and coming this season a loss in this game could be a big set back as far as momentum goes on the recruiting trail. Belima like Butch has got the Hogs hungry and ready to compete at a high level. A few people might disagree with me on here but I think Belima is a hell of a coach that has been running his pro power style offense with success for a while. He's proved he can recruit by having some pretty good classes at Wisconsin. I personally don't think he will be at Arkansas long before he gets a better offer. All & all I think this game is going to be a dog fight in the trenches. GO VOLS!

 

[ManchesterV]

I'm all positivity and optimism. I think we can win 9-10 games this year if things work out. But there are only 4 guaranteed wins on the schedule and Arky ain't one of them. I'm scared the first sign of trouble my phone is going to burn my hand because this board is on fire.

 

[hawgball]

So how many points would you say they score?

Will they score at will?

Can we not gamble with the secondary and blitzers we have and put them in passing downs?

I would love to coach with this defense against any one dimensional team.

I highly recommend you coach this game; otherwise, you might beat us, but you're players are going to feel this game going into the next one.

 

[ChattaTNVol]

My perception like many others is that Arkansas is a very physical team but I think their defense even last year invites a closer look. In total defense last year against SEC teams they ranked #7 giving up 381.5 ypg. We ranked #8 against SEC teams, giving up 385.1 ypg. Arkansas was the no. 1 ranked total defense in the SEC last year against out of conference competition which included Nicholls St., Northern ILL, UAB, Texas Tech, & Texas. Texas Tech was the 3rd best offense in the B12 but Texas ranked next to last, one notch above Kansas. Given that they lost some key guys from that defense and we mostly didn't and given that we have blown them away in recruiting the last couple years, I'm pretty optimistic that our defense will leap frog theirs in the rankings against other SEC teams this year.

We have a lot of room to improve on defense and I think the consensus is that we will but we should also improve on offense. Even with the debacle of our first half of the season last year we still finished the season against SEC teams ranked #8 with Arky coming in at #10 in total offense. On a more apples to apples comparison we managed 383 yards against Bama, Arky gained 335. We had 401 against GA, Arky had 422. We had 191 against OM, Arky had 311, We had 279 against MO, Arky had 288.

It's possible some may have outsized fear of Arky's rushing attack and I agree stopping their run is a vital key to the game. In fact, if we are hugely successful stopping their run, then while it may not be the easiest, it could turn out to be an easy game. I do not think they will stop our offense this year. jmo.