Power ranking the SEC after week 5: #11 - Arkansas
Arkansas has risen in my estimation this week. I came into the weekend thinking their run defense, which had put up some impressive numbers, was a bit of a paper tiger; however, they acquitted themselves well against one of the best rushing offenses in the country. They folded in the fourth quarter, but you could see just how well-coached this unit was.
Concerns remain, however, about the Arkansas offensive line. When Green doesn’t have time to throw, you can tell he gets pretty uncomfortable out there. He looked like he wanted to quit in the middle of the second quarter against the Aggies, as A&M’s relentless pressure began to get home.
The Hogs’ rush game ran into one of the best ground-game defenses they’ll see this year, and they were mostly shut down apart from a couple of explosives (helped by a 25-yard run from Green and a big run on a fake punt). Even so, they were able to capitalize on some big plays to score, which makes them a dangerous team.
A&M would have been a much worse matchup for the Hogs had Conner Weigman been available, and they will run into a similarly poor matchup this week against Tennessee at home. An upset here would do nothing short of saving the Sam Pittman tenure, but I’m afraid that doesn’t seem very likely for the Hogs.