The Razorbacks look to breakthrough the SEC West in 2016, but they have 3 major questions heading into the season.
Arkansas football has yet to live up to expectations in the Bret Bielema era. They’ve managed to pull off an upset here and there, but they have never been able to get over the proverbial hump. If they were in the SEC East, I firmly believe they could have had the same stretch as Missouri. However, they are in the SEC West and they have had to watch Mississippi State and Ole Miss enjoy the success Razorbacks fans have been yearning for in recent years.
Entering 2016, Bret Bielema hopes to capitalize on his past 3 years of bringing in top 30 recruiting classes. Assuming top 30 talent should make you a top 30 team, the expectations of having a good season seem to be justified. However, while they rank in the top 30 in the nation, they haven’t finished with a recruiting class ranked higher than 9th in the SEC. It makes it really hard to crack the top 25 in the nation when you’re top 30 recruiting class can’t be ranked higher than 9th in a 14-team conference.
Of course, if Arkansas can take that next step, this will bring huge credit to Bret Bielema. When a team seems to outperform their talents, coaches get the majority of the credit, and rightfully so in my opinion. With hopes of trying to improve on their 2015 8-5 record, the 2016 Arkansas football team faces 3 big questions heading into 2016.
Can Austin Allen play?
If Austin Allen can play, he hasn’t shown it at the college level. In fairness, that very well could be because he hasn’t had much of a chance. Through the first 2 years of his career, he has appeared in 6 games and completed 9 of his 19 passes for 1 touchdown and 1 interception. Arkansas hasn’t exactly been blowing people out in recent years and using their 2nd string, so these numbers shouldn’t be too alarming.
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Coming in as a
recruit, he has spent his time on the bench behind his older brother
who is now with the Jacksonville Jaguars. If Arkansas is going to improve on their 8-5 record, Austin Allen will have to match the play of his older brother from 2015. Considering that Brandon Allen finished with a completion percentage of almost 65 percent and a total of almost 3500 passing yards, that may be asking a bit too much of the younger Allen.
Austin Allen is coming to the starting quarterback position having had time to learn, and as a higher ranked recruit than his older brother. Fayetteville seems to be excited about Austin Allen, and maybe Allen’s 2 years of learning the offense can make the transition to little brother as painless as possible.
Who replaces running back Alex Collins?
Betsided
Amidst the likes of Derrick Henry, Leonard Fournette, and Nick Chubb, it is easy to forget about the amazing season
had last year. Collins compiled over 1500 rushing yards and 20 rushing touchdowns, which was good enough to put him in the Arkansas football record books with
.
So, who replaces Alex Collins? In a word…
Everybody.
Kody Walker, Rawleigh Williams III, and Devwah Whaley are all said to be competing for the starting job, but barring some unforeseen burst onto the scene performance, the Razorbacks are expected to take a team approach to the backfield. Unlike the quarterback position, there is no solid answer to feel good about other than Bret Bielema has a great history with offensive lines, and that can help average running backs look like good running backs.
Can the defense improve?
Auburn is the only team in the SEC West that was ranked behind Arkansas in total defense, and without a solid defense, you don’t stand a chance in the SEC West. They had their moments in 2015 that make us believe good things could come from the 2016 Arkansas defense.
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Besides talent, the thing that helps defenses the most is experience playing together. This is huge when playing in a conference recruiting at a higher level than you. Being able to recognize what offenses are trying to do and being able to communicate with each other on the field are two things a team defense can only do with time spent together as a unit. The Razorbacks will be returning 8 starters, and LB Brooks Willis looks to anchor a much improved Razorbacks defense. Yes, this defense can and will improve.