Rex Nelson: Arkansas College Football Picks Week 2

It’s good to have the college football season under way, isn’t it?

Even if you’re still treating that sunburn from last Saturday afternoon at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville.

It’s yet another Saturday afternoon game this week for the University of Arkansas, but the weather should be delightful at Little Rock’s War Memorial Stadium with highs in the 70s.

Some notes following Arkansas’ season-opening 48-13 victory over UTEP:

— It was the ninth consecutive year for Arkansas to win its home opener.

— Arkansas is now 95-23-4 in season openers.

— Bret Bielema is now 35-2 as a head coach in nonconference games.

— Brandon Allen was 14 of 18 passing for a career-high 308 yards and four touchdowns.

— Keon Hatcher had six receptions for 106 yards and two touchdowns.

— Alex Collins rushed for 127 yards and a touchdown. It was his eighth career 100-yard game.

The other three NCAA Division I teams in the state — Arkansas State, UCA and UAPB — all lost. And all of them looked bad in the process.

In the Great American Conference of NCAA Division II, the league title has never left Arkadelphia since the GAC was formed. Ouachita has won it twice, and Henderson has won it twice. Both Ouachita and Henderson had to go on the road to Oklahoma in Week 1, and both teams won by seven points as their opponents drove into the red zone in the final minute of play.

We were 10-0 on the picks in Week 1. We won’t get cocky. Don’t expect that perfect record to survive Week 2. But here goes:

Arkansas 51, Toledo 21 — We understand there will be a scrimmage at War Memorial Stadium on Saturday afternoon as a warm-up for a Brad Paisley concert. Arkansas stayed at No. 18 in The Associated Press poll and moved up two spots to No. 18 in the USA Today coaches’ poll. Toledo shouldn’t provide much more of a challenge than UTEP did. The goals remain the same for the Razorbacks: Get the starters quality reps, put points on the board early so lots of people can play in the second half and don’t get anyone hurt.

Missouri 47, Arkansas State 24 — A Southeastern Conference team comes to Jonesboro. How about that? Missouri athletic department officials were truly surprised when ASU turned down the big bucks the school was offered to play this game at a “neutral” location in St. Louis. Good for the Jonesboro restaurants and hotels, which stand to make a lot of money this weekend. ASU fell 55-6 in its opener to USC in Los Angeles. At least the $1.3 million check didn’t bounce. The Trojans led 28-0 at halftime and never looked back. Missouri opened with a 34-3 win over Southeast Missouri State as Maty Mauk passed for 181 yards and two touchdowns. ASU should be a bit more of a challenge … but just a bit.

Oklahoma State 40, UCA 23 — The Bears were awful in their opener, falling 45-16 to Samford in Birmingham. The home team had five scoring drives of five plays or less in its first game under a new head coach, Chris Hatcher. It gets even more difficult this week for UCA as the Bears travel to Stillwater, Okla., to take on Oklahoma State at T. Boone Pickens Stadium. The Cowboys were less than impressive last Thursday night in a 24-13 win over Central Michigan. This isn’t a vintage OSU team, but it doesn’t seem to be a vintage UCA team, either.

For Rex’s complete Arkansas College Football Picks this week, click here.