- Arkansas faces off against #1 Mississippi State in the Razorbacks’ fifth consecutive SEC game against a Top 10 opponent. It is the first time in FBS history that a team has played five straight conference games against Top 10 foes. Northwestern played four straight conference games against Top 10 teams in 1958.
- Arkansas is 4-16 all-time against teams ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press poll. Three of the four wins came against Texas while the most recent victory was in 2007 when the Razorbacks upset No. 1 LSU in a triple-overtime thriller, 50-48.
- Bret Bielema is 1-2 vs. No. 1 ranked opponents as a head coach. The victory came when then-No. 18 ranked Wisconsin defeated Ohio State 31-18 in 2010. As an assistant coach, Bielema is 1-1 vs. the top-ranked team. As the defensive coordinator at Kansas State, the 13th-ranked Wildcats beat No. 1 Oklahoma in the 2003 Big 12 Championship Game, 35-7.
- Arkansas is the only team in the nation with two RBs to gain 700-plus yards rushing. Junior Jonathan Williams ranks third in the SEC with 830 yards while sophomore Alex Collins ranks sixth with 747 rushing yards.
- Arkansas features one of the best rushing attacks in the SEC. The Razorbacks rank fourth in the league, averaging 258.9 rushing yards per game. The mark is good for 15th nationally.
- Senior DE Trey Flowers is third in school history with 40.0 TFL. He needs just seven more to move into second place all time.
- Jonathan Williams (10) and Alex Collins (9) rank first and fourth, respectively, in the SEC in rushing touchdowns
- Including the Mississippi State game, five of Arkansas’ nine opponents will have been ranked in the Top 10 at the time of the game.
- Arkansas will play the toughest schedule in the nation in 2014 according to the NCAA, with its opponents combining for a 103-54 (.656) record in 2013.
6:09 p.m. — We’re just a few minutes away from kickoff. Looks like we’ll get it off on time at 6:15, as the game leading in, Nebraska and Purdue, has ended.
I’m sure a lot of Hog fans are shaking their heads wondering how the Georgia team we saw two weeks ago could go into the World’s Largest Cocktail party and lose big to Florida. That’s just the unpredictable nature of college football. Maybe Georgia didn’t need an open date after two rip-roaring performances on defense at Missouri and the first half against Arkansas leading into a game against a Florida team for whom clearly weren’t as emotionally excited. Or, better put, the emotion Georgia exhibited in the first half did not match Florida’s by a long shot.
That also tells me that all these folks who claim to know that Will Muschamp has already been told he’s been fired are just making up crap out of whole cloth. That’s not a coaching that was mailing it in thinking they were out the door today. Great preparation for Georgia.
Now, let’s see if Arkansas’ braintrust has been able to adequately prepare the Hogs for Mississippi State. In terms of raw talent, there shouldn’t be that big a discrepancy. Obviously MSU has the best quarterback not only today but probably every day it takes the field in an SEC game. Arkansas should be able to find some seams to throw the ball today, if Brandon Allen can measure up.
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