There’s not much left to say about the Razorbacks.
Let me make this point since we make picks for all 10 of the NCAA Division I and Division II schools in the state: There’s a lot of good college football being played in Arkansas this year.
There are 10 non-Power 5 NCAA programs in the state. They have a combined record of 48-26 at this point in the season.
Five of the 10 are at least tied for the lead in their conferences.
Eight of the 10 have winning records.
You disgruntled Razorback fans really should try catching games in Jonesboro, Conway, Arkadelphia, Magnolia, Monticello, Pine Bluff, Searcy or Russellville. You might enjoy yourselves.
We were 8-1 on the picks last week, missing only on Henderson’s homecoming loss in Arkadelphia to an East Central Oklahoma team that came to town with a 1-6 record. The Reddies have the longest road winning streak in the country at 30 games. But they’ve lost their past five home games. It’s one of the craziest things I’ve ever seen in college football.
The record for the season is now 50-16.
On to the picks for Week 9:
Arkansas 29, Ole Miss 28 — These are two programs in disarray. I’ll probably regret picking the Hogs, but the Ole Miss problems seem even deeper that what Arkansas is experiencing at this time. The Rebels (3-4, 1-3) lost quarterback Shea Patterson in the 40-24 loss to LSU in Oxford last Saturday night. Patterson had come into the game leading the Southeastern Conference in passing yardage. The Tigers’ Derrius Guice gashed the Rebel defense for 276 rushing yards. Arkansas (2-5, 0-4) appeared listless in the second half of a 52-20 loss to Auburn in Fayetteville. The Razorbacks have now lost seven consecutive games to Power 5 opponents. Auburn scored on its first three possessions of the second half to turn a 17-6 halftime lead into a rout. Arkansas is 0-4 in the SEC for a fifth time since joining the league in 1992. Auburn had 629 yards of offense, topping 600 yards against Arkansas for a second consecutive year. With both Arkansas and Ole Miss struggling, this one is hard to pick. The Ole Miss wins have been by scores of 47-27 over South Alabama, 45-23 over Tennessee-Martin and 57-35 over Vanderbilt. In addition to last Saturday’s loss to LSU, there have been losses by scores of 27-16 to California, 66-3 to Alabama and 44-23 to Auburn.
Arkansas State 41, New Mexico State 30 — The Red Wolves are rolling. In the 47-3 win over Louisiana-Lafayette in Jonesboro on Thursday night, quarterback Justice Hansen had 396 yards of offense. He rushed for 121 yards and was 23 of 37 passing for 275 yards. The Red Wolves (4-2, 3-0) posted their largest margin of victory in Sun Belt Conference play since 2012. The Arkansas State defense scored for a second consecutive game. New Mexico State is 3-4 overall and 1-2 in conference play. In addition to the 42-24 loss to Arkansas, New Mexico State has lost 37-31 to Arizona State, 27-24 to Troy and 45-31 to Appalachian State. The three victories have come by scores of 30-28 over New Mexico, 41-14 over UTEP and 35-27 over Georgia Southern.
UCA 34, McNeese State 32 — It’s showdown time again in the Southland Conference. UCA is 6-1 overall and 5-0 in conference play. McNeese State comes to town with records of 6-1 overall and 4-1 in conference play. The Cowboys’ lone loss was to Nicholls State in the opener by a score of 37-35. The six consecutive victories since then have come by scores of 42-21 over Florida Tech, 34-27 over Alcorn State, 27-12 over Houston Baptist, 35-0 over Stephen F. Austin, 13-7 over Abilene Christian and 55-7 over Incarnate Word. The Bears already have had a huge home victory over Sam Houston State but must survive another strong challenge in Conway this Saturday night. UCA went on the road to Louisiana last Saturday night and waited out two lengthy weather delays before completing a 45-17 victory over Northwestern State. The game was tied 10-10 in the second quarter before the Bears pulled away. UCA quarterback Hayden Hildebrand was 12 of 20 passing for 306 yards and three touchdowns. Carlos Blackman rushed 23 times for 130 yards and three touchdowns for the Bears.
Southern 33, UAPB 12 — The Golden Lions (2-5, 1-2) have had two weeks to prepare for this Saturday afternoon’s game at Little Rock’s War Memorial Stadium, but it might not matter against a Southern University team that appears to have superior athletes. The Jaguars are 3-3 with victories of 14-8 over South Carolina State, 35-14 over Alabama A&M and 35-17 over Jackson State. The losses have come by scores of 45-0 to Southern Mississippi, 51-17 to Texas-San Antonio and 48-31 to Alcorn State.
Ouachita 45, UAM 43 — It’s questionable whether Ouachita can stop UAM’s passing attack. It’s equally questionable whether UAM can stop Ouachita’s rushing game. This should be a highly entertaining, high-scoring game at Cliff Harris Stadium in Arkadelphia on Saturday afternoon. Ouachita is tied for the conference lead at 6-2 with three other schools — Southern Arkansas, Arkansas Tech and Southeastern Oklahoma. UAM is right behind at 5-3. Ouachita rolled at home last Saturday afternoon in a 52-14 victory over 0-8 Oklahoma Baptist. The Tigers had six rushing touchdowns, an interception returned for a touchdown and 632 yards of offense in that game. In Monticello, meanwhile, UAM posted a 35-23 victory over 3-4 Southern Nazarene. Boll Weevil quarterback Cole Sears was eight of 14 passing for 127 yards and three touchdowns.
Southern Arkansas 24, Henderson 15 — The Reddies remain hard to figure out with their 30 consecutive road wins and their five consecutive home losses. Unfortunately for them, they’re back home in Arkadelphia this Saturday afternoon. The Reddies fell 24-16 to East Central Oklahoma after having trailed 24-3 at the half. In Magnolia last Saturday, SAU trounced the team that had been alone in first, Southeastern Oklahoma. The 49-19 defeat marked Southeastern’s second consecutive loss. The Savage Storm had been upset by Henderson in Durant the previous week. Mulerider quarterback Barrett Renner was 20 of 31 passing for 306 yards and three touchdowns. The Muleriders had 572 yards of offense and held Southeastern to 284 yards. The SAU ground game was paced by Michael Nunnery with 112 yards rushing and three touchdowns.
Arkansas Tech 40, East Central Oklahoma 26 — The Wonder Boys will attempt to hang onto their share of the GAC lead against East Central in Ada. Tech beat 3-5 Northwestern Oklahoma by a final score of 66-10 last Saturday in Russellville. It was the largest margin of victory for Tech since beating Ozarks (which dropped football later in the decade) 60-0 in 1960. Tech had 309 yards of rushing against Northwestern.
Harding 38, Southeastern Oklahoma 22 — The Bisons are playing better than anyone in the conference right now. They started 0-3, and then the youngsters grew up. The fifth consecutive victory came last Saturday by a score of 42-0 over 2-6 Southwestern Oklahoma. It was also the second consecutive shutout for Harding, which started the game with two safeties and a 4-0 lead. Harding outrushed Southwestern 272-87. This will be the third consecutive loss for Southeastern after having started the season 6-0.
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