UMass Lowell
Vermont
11:00 am, March 11
#25 Missouri
#4 Alabama
1:00 pm, March 11
Ohio State
#5 Purdue
1:00 pm, March 11
Norfolk State
Howard
1:00 pm, March 11
Saint Louis
VCU
1:00 pm, March 11
Cincinnati
#1 Houston
3:00 pm, March 11
Vanderbilt
#18 Texas A&M
3:30 pm, March 11
Penn State
#19 Indiana
3:30 pm, March 11
Fordham
Dayton
3:30 pm, March 11
Texas Southern
Grambling
5:30 pm, March 11
Tulane
Memphis
5:30 pm, March 11
#7 Texas
#3 Kansas
6:00 pm, March 11
Utah State
#20 San Diego State
6:00 pm, March 11
#15 Xavier
#6 Marquette
6:30 pm, March 11
Kent State
Toledo
7:30 pm, March 11
Marist
Iona
7:30 pm, March 11
#21 Duke
#13 Virginia
8:30 pm, March 11
UAB
Florida Atlantic
8:30 pm, March 11
Cal State Fullerton
UC Santa Barbara
9:30 pm, March 11
#8 Arizona
#2 UCLA
10:30 pm, March 11
Grand Canyon
Southern Utah
11:30 pm, March 11

2019 Arkansas Razorbacks Team Preview

Year one under Chad Morris was a bit of a disaster for Arkansas as the Razorbacks went 2-10, one of their worst results in recent history. Granted, Morris was revamping the entire offense while playing in the SEC West, but it was a tough start for the former Clemson coordinator. On the bright side, Arkansas has punched way above their weight class in recruiting in his first two years, so I’m bullish about the future for Arkansas.

Offense

SMU grad transfer Ben Hicks will take over the offense at the QB spot. Hicks was Morris’ starter when Morris coached at SMU before taking the job at Arkansas. Texas A&M transfer Nick Starkel also joins the team, but Hicks has to be seen as the favorite.

Last year’s top back, Texas A&M transfer Rakeem Boyd, returns after averaging 6.0 YPC as a sophomore last year, and five of the top six return in the receiving game along with the addition of three highly touted freshmen: Treylon Burks, Trey Knox, and tight end Hudson Henry. The line sees some pretty big turnover with just two starters back, but the Razorbacks add in JUCO transfer Myron Cunningham and Notre Dame transfer Luke Jones. With Morris now having had two seasons to implement his scheme, I expect big things from this offense in 2019.

Defense

The defense returns six starters from last year’s team, mostly in the front seven, led by all-conference MLB De’Jon “Scoota” Harris, who led the team in tackles and also brought in two sacks, seven TFL, and five PBUs last year. DT McTelvin Agim added 4.5 sacks and 5.5 TFL of his own, and corner Jarques McClellion had seven PBUs as a true freshman.

A few new faces may be asked to step up, like end Mataio Soli and nickel Jalen Catalon, both of whom are expected to be great players, but with Morris’ recent recruiting success, this defense is built for the future, with plenty of underclassmen expected to get significant experience in the two-deep. I expect the group to improve in year two under the new 4-3 scheme.

2019 Outlook

Morris didn’t have the most exciting year one, but it is hard not to be excited about the future for Arkansas. The schedule is about as light as it could be considering they have six top-25 opponents baked into the schedule by default, and there is enough young talent on this team that I don’t think a bowl bid is an unrealistic goal.

Schedule

DateOpponentOPp. rankProj. Margin
31-Augportland stateNRn/a
7-Sepat ole miss48-6.4
14-Sepcolorado state1038.3
21-Sepsan jose state11615.0
28-sepvs. texas A&M (arlington, tx)11-13.1
12-Octat kentucky36-7.7
19-Octauburn12-9.8
26-octat alabama1-35.8
2-Novmississippi state13-8.8
9-Novwestern kentucky 1059.5
23-Novat lsu4-22.6
29-Novmissouri16-5.9

Average Projected Record: 5.0 wins, 7.0 losses (1.5 wins, 6.5 losses)