Underhogs
There’s an uneasy feeling among some Arkansas faithful as the Razorbacks travel to Tuscaloosa for an early season SEC Western Division showdown with Alabama.
Though the Razorbacks (1-0) are ranked 16th in the poll off the strength of a 10-4 showing in 2006, some have little faith that the Hogs are truly an SEC contender and not a mid-September pretender.
The oddsmakers and college football analyst are asking the same questions as the fans following the Razorbacks’ less-than-spectacular season-opening victory over Troy. Arkansas’ offense spit and sputtered to 46 points, but the passing game appeared no better than it did late last season when the Hogs couldn’t complete the passes needed to defeat LSU on their home turf in Little Rock.
Defensively, a realigned secondary struggled and the Hogs’ defensive front failed to dominate the line of scrimmage, yielding 26 points and over 400 yards of offense to last year’s Sun Belt champion.
Combine that with an apparently improved Crimson Tide squad (2-0) playing under the tutelage of first-year coach Nick Saban and his $4-million dollar contract and the Razorbacks will be a 3-point underdog when they arrive Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium for their 5:45 p.m. ESPN-televised date with Alabama.
Might not be a bad thing, seeing as how the Hogs tend to do better when they’re the underdogs.
At least, that’s my simple observation. Statistically, I’m probably wrong though …