The Hogs have really taken a step forward in the last several seasons, but this off-season has been shrouded in controversy (not unlike many other scenarios in the world of college football). The lying and sex scandal that precipitated the firing of head coach Bobby Petrino should hopefully not affect the product on the field in Fayetteville in 2012, but who knows? At the very least, Arkansas could miss Petrino\u2019s aggressive play-calling. <\/p>\n
SEC 2012-13 Football Previews: Arkansas Razorbacks<\/strong>
\nCoach: <\/strong>John L. Smith
\n2011 Record: <\/strong>11-2
\nArkansas Gambling Odds from\u00a0<\/strong>Bovada.lv<\/a>\u00a0to win BCS: 22-1<\/strong>
\nArkansas Team Page \u2013 Players Stats \u2013 Roster \u2013 2012 Schedule \u2013><\/a><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\nThis is a team that is nearly as talented as divisional rivals LSU and Alabama, but can the Hogs put everything else behind them?<\/p>\n
The Razorbacks have grown a reputation for having a dangerous team, and for good reason. The offense has been deadly for several seasons now, with a high-octane vertical passing attack and good RBs. Even more notable is how the Hogs\u2019 defense has gradually improved to approach the proficiency of the offense.<\/p>\n
Petrino led much of this evolution into a powerhouse program; jerk though he is, Petrino has been so coveted in the past because he is a damn good football coach. In comes John L. Smith to hold the clipboard, who had a role as a co-ordinator at Arkansas and has head coaching experience at Michigan State and Louisville.<\/p>\n
At least Smith has pieces to work with. Starting pivot Tyler Wilson returns, he is the best QB in the SEC (with apologies to Georgia\u2019s Aaron Murray). Along with Wilson is an excellent RB duo in Knile Davis (back from a broken ankle last year) and leading returning rusher Dennis Johnson. Wilson also has a phenomenal target to throw to in 6\u201d3, 209-lb senior WR Cobi Hamilton. The Hogs\u2019 offensive line should be decent, if not spectacular. [soliloquy id=”82219″]<\/p>\n
On \u201cD\u201d, Arkansas has some legitimate players such as LB Alonzo Highsmith, DT Byran Jones and safety Eric Bennett. Nobody would confuse Arkansas\u2019 defense for Alabama\u2019s or LSU\u2019s, but they do enough to make Arkansas very dangerous, given the explosive offensive schemes. Kicker Zach Hocker and P Dylan Breeding should keep Arkansas special teams in good shape, as will the respectable team speed on the return and kick-off squads.<\/p>\n
2012-13 Arkansas Football Prediction: 10-3<\/strong><\/p>\n
This is kind of a difficult team to get a gauge on. With Petrino holding the clipboard and up to his usual hijinks, I think the Hogs had the horsepower to seriously challenge LSU or \u2019Bama. The problem is that Petrino was <\/em>up to his hijinks, it was just away from the football field. Consequently, Smith and his staff must hit the ground running with a talented team in an uncannily challenging division and conference.<\/p>\n
There is no doubt that Arkansas has the offense to score on any team in the nation; Wilson should have another great year and no one wants to play in Fayetteville, given how the fans have embraced this upstart team. However, an off-season of distractions and media scrutiny can always derail a promising team. If someone goes down to injury or if a player missteps, the pressure will only mount.<\/p>\n
Arkansas gets Alabama and LSU at home this season, and draws South Carolina out of the East division (which could be far worse). Still, I see this Razorbacks team not quite living up to expectations and \u2013 though they will be very impressive at times \u2013 finishing behind the top two teams in the West.<\/p>\n
2012 Schedule<\/h3>\n
9\/1\/12\t TBD\t JACST
\n9\/8\/12\t TBD\t @ULMON
\n9\/15\/12\t TBD\tALAB
\n9\/22\/12\t TBD\tRUTG
\n9\/29\/12\t TBD\t @TXAM
\n10\/6\/12\t TBD\t @AUB
\n10\/13\/12\t TBD\tKENTY
\n10\/27\/12\t TBD\tMISS
\n11\/3\/12\t TBD\tTULSA
\n11\/10\/12\t TBD\t @SOCAR
\n11\/17\/12\t TBD\t @MISST
\n11\/23\/12\t 2:30 PM ET\tLSU<\/p>\nGRAB OUR BEST Expert CFB Picks for 2012 NCAA FOOTBALL Betting! \u2014\u2013><\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
2012-13 Football Previews \u2013 (SEC) \u2013 Arkansas Razorbacks The Hogs have really taken a step forward in the last several seasons, but this off-season has been shrouded in controversy (not unlike many other scenarios in the world of college football). The lying and sex scandal that precipitated the firing of head coach Bobby Petrino should […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":24151,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[44530,55459,50303,50304,2958,50305,49957,50302,55480,31311,1121,15668],"class_list":["post-52351","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ncaa-football","tag-2012-bcs-lines","tag-2012-sec-football-previews","tag-arkansas-football-predictions","tag-arkansas-gambling-odds","tag-arkansas-razorbacks","tag-arkansas-schedule","tag-bcs-sportsbook-odds","tag-razorbacks-bcs-futures","tag-razorbacks-predictions","tag-sec-football-predictions","tag-sec-odds","tag-sec-picks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52351","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/127"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52351"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52351\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52540,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52351\/revisions\/52540"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24151"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}