Page 17 - 2018 Arkansas Football

Sunday, August 26, 2018
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
17K
Sept. 1
Sept. 8 Sept. 15 Sept. 22 Sept. 29 Oct. 6 Oct. 13 Oct. 20 Oct. 27 Nov. 10 Nov. 17
SCHEDULE
at Arkansas
at Illinois State Indiana State Tennessee State at Tennessee Tech Murray State
at Jacksonville (Ala.) State Tennessee-Martin
at Eastern Kentucky Austin Peay
at Southeast Missouri State GAME 2
Colorado State
DATE Sept. 15
PLACE Reynolds Razorback Stadium, Fayetteville 2017 RECORD 9-5, 7-1 Conference USA
COACH Seth Littrell (14-13 in two seasons at North Texas)
RETURNING STARTERS 7 offense, 7 defense
KEY PLAYERS QB Mason Fine, WR Michael Law- rence, OT Elex Woodworth, DE Roderick Young.
OUTLOOK North Texas
should have a high-pow-
ered offense led by ju-
nior quarterback Mason
Fine, the Conference
USA Offensive Player of
the Year in 2017 when
he completed 324 of
Sept. 1 Sept. 8 Sept. 15 Sept. 22 Sept. 29 Oct. 6 Oct. 13 Oct. 20 Nov. 3 Nov. 10 Nov. 17 Nov. 24 *at Atlanta
SCHEDULE
vs. Washington* Alabama State
LSU
Arkansas
Southern Miss
at Mississippi State Tennessee
at Ole Miss Texas A&M at Georgia Liberty
at Alabama GAME 5
Texas A&M
GAME 1
reers at Power 5 schools, including quarterback K.J. Carta-Samuels (Washington), offensive tackle T.J. Roundtree (Louisville) and wide receiver Preston Williams (Tennessee).
COACH Gus Malzahn (45-22 in five seasons at Au- burn, 54-25 in six seasons overall)
RETURNING STARTERS 6 offense, 7 defense
KEY PLAYERS QB Jarrett Stidham, WR Ryan Davis, LB Deshaun Davis, DL Dontavius Russell
OUTLOOK The Tigers have the talent and ex- perience to again win the SEC West, and they shouldn’t be lacking in motivation after ending last season with losses to Georgia in the SEC Championship Game
and to Central Florida in the Peach Bowl. Junior quar- terback Jarrett Stidham passed for 3,158 yards and 31 touchdowns in his first season with the Tigers, and he should be more comfortable running the offense. Auburn has some holes to fill on offense, but Coach Gus Malzahn said the defense — especially the front seven — may be as good as the Tigers have had in his nine seasons in the program, including three years as offensive coordinator from 2009-2011. Arkansas made a run at hiring Malzahn after firing Bret Bielema, but Auburn kept him with a seven-year, $49 million contract.
is 12-0 against his former assistants. Fisher was LSU’s offensive coordinator when Saban coached the Tigers.
SCHEDULE
vs. Arkansas*
GAME 6
Alabama
PLACE Reynolds Razorback Stadium, Fayetteville
2017 RECORD 13-1, 7-1 SEC
COACH Nick Saban (132-20 in 11 seasons at Ala- bama, 223-62-1 in 22 seasons overall)
RETURNING STARTERS 7 offense, 3 defense
KEY PLAYERS QB Jalen Hurts, QB Tua Tagovailoa, RB Damien Harris, LB Anfernee Jennings
OUTLOOK Other SEC programs received bad news before the start of fall camp when Al- abama announced it was extending Coach Nick Saban’s contract to 2025. At 66, the man who has won six
national championships — including five at Alabama since 2009 — is showing no signs of slowing down and no interest in retiring. Despite the annual loss of talent to the NFL that included four first-round picks after last season, the Crimson Tide again are load- ed thanks to the top-rated recruiting classes Saban stacks on top of each other. The big question for Alabama is who will be the starting quarterback — Jalen Hurts or Tua Tagovailoa — but whoever wins the job, expect the Tide to keep rolling. Arkansas is 0-11 against Alabama since Saban was hired. SCHEDULE
Eastern Illinois
PLACE Reynolds Razorback Stadium, Fayetteville
DATE Sept. 1
2017 RECORD 6-5, 5-3 Ohio Valley Conference
Aug. 30
Sept. 8
Sept. 15
Sept. 22
Sept. 29
Oct. 6
Oct. 13
Oct. 27
Nov. 3
Nov. 10
Nov. 17
Nov. 24
*at Arlington, Texas
COACH Kim Dameron (24-22 in four seasons at Eastern Illinois)
RETURNING STARTERS 6 offense, 6 defense
KEY PLAYERS WR Alexander Hollins, RB Isaiah Johnson, DE Josh Price, DB Mark Williams
OUTLOOK Playing at Arkansas will be a homecoming for Eastern Illinois Coach Kim Dameron, who played wide receiver and defensive back for the Razorbacks from 1979-1982 and was
a member of four bowl teams. Dameron, who is from Rogers, has recruited Arkansas well for the Panthers. His roster this season includes seven players from Arkansas, including defensive backs Iziah Gulley and Cornelius Page, who both played at Camden Fairview. Gulley, a sophomore, had 45 tackles last season. Page, a junior, had 27 tackles last season. Dameron coached against the Razor- backs in 2005 and 2006 as Louisiana-Monroe’s defensive coordinator, and as Ole Miss’ safeties coach from 2008-2010.
Aug. 25 Aug. 31 Sept. 8 Sept. 15 Sept. 22 Oct. 6
Oct. 13 Oct. 19 Oct. 26 Nov. 10 Nov. 17 Nov. 22 *at Denver
SCHEDULE
Hawaii
vs. Colorado* Arkansas
at Florida
Illinois State
at San Jose State New Mexico
at Boise State Wyoming
at Nevada
Utah State
at Air Force
GAME 3
North Texas
Northwestern (La.) State Clemson Louisiana-Monroe
at Alabama
DATE Sept. 8
PLACE Canvas Stadium, Fort Collins, Colo.
2017 RECORD 7-6, 5-3 Mountain West Conference COACH Mike Bobo (21-18 in three seasons at Col- orado State)
RETURNING STARTERS 4 offense, 4 defense
KEY PLAYERS QB K.J. Carta-Samuels, RB Izzy Mat- thews, WR Preston Williams, LB Josh Watson
OUTLOOK Colorado State — which replaced Michigan on the Razor- backs’ schedule after the Wolverines bought out their contract with Arkansas to schedule Notre Dame — has fin- ished 7-6 in each of the
past three seasons under Coach Mike Bobo, a former Georgia offensive coordinator. The Razorbacks are 3-0 against the Rams, but all of the teams’ previous games were in Little Rock. The Rams have been picked to finish from third to fifth in the Mountain West Conference in various preseason polls. They have some transfers who began their college ca-
yards and 31 touchdowns with 15 interceptions. Against SMU, which was coached by new Arkansas Coach Chad Morris, Fine completed 32 of 47 passes for 424 yards and 3 touchdowns, though the Mus- tangs won 54-32. Fine has four receivers back who had at least 30 catches last season, led by junior Mi- chael Lawrence, who had 62 receptions for 819 yards. Mean Green Coach Seth Littrell, who played running back at Oklahoma, was an assistant at Texas Tech, Arizona, Indiana and North Carolina before coming to North Texas in 2016.
DATE Sept. 29
PLACE AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas
2017 RECORD 7-6, 4-4 SEC
COACH Jimbo Fisher (first season at Texas A&M, 83-23 in eight seasons at Texas A&M)
RETURNING STARTERS 7 offense, 8 defense
KEY PLAYERS RB Trayveon Williams, WR Jhamon Austin, LB Tyrel Dodson, DE Landis Durham
OUTLOOK Texas A&M gave new Coach Jim- bo Fisher a 10-year, $75-million contract to do the same thing for the Aggies he did at Florida State — win a national champion- ship. Fisher led the
Seminoles to the national title in 2013 when they beat Auburn 34-31. He takes over an Aggies team with some talent, including two quarterbacks with starting experience in sophomores Nick Starkel and Kellen Mond, but the Aggies don’t look to have the firepower to beat Alabama or Auburn this season. Texas A&M will try to extend its winning streak against Arkansas to seven years. Fisher will attempt to become the first of Alabama Coach Nick Saban’s former assistants to beat him. Saban
Arkansas opponent capsules By Bob Holt
Sept. 1 Sept. 8 Sept. 15 Sept. 22 Sept. 29 Oct. 6 Oct. 13 Oct. 20 Oct. 27 Nov. 10 Nov. 15 Nov. 24
SCHEDULE
SMU
Incarnate Word
at Arkansas
at Liberty
Louisiana Tech
at UTEP
Southern Miss
at Alabama-Birmingham Rice
at Old Dominion
Florida Atlantic
at Texas-San Antonio
GAME 4
Auburn
Sept. 1
Sept. 8
Sept. 15
Sept. 22
Sept. 29
Oct. 6
Oct. 13
Oct. 20
Nov. 3
Nov. 10
Nov. 17
Nov. 24
*at Orlando, Fla.
vs. Louisville*
Arkansas State
at Ole Miss
Texas A&M Louisiana-Lafayette at Arkansas Missouri
at Tennessee
at LSU
Mississippi State The Citadel
Auburn
GAME 7
NORTH TEXAS MEAN GREEN
DATE Sept. 22
PLACE Jordan-Hare Stadium, Auburn, Ala. 2017 RECORD 10-4, 7-1 SEC
LAST SEASON 10-4, 7-1 in SEC West
Ole Miss DATE Oct. 13
PLACE War Memorial Stadium, Little Rock 2017 RECORD 6-6, 3-5 SEC
v Continued on next page
511 passes for 4,052
DATE Oct. 6
Kentucky
at South Carolina
at Mississippi State at Auburn
Ole Miss Alabama-Birmingham LSU