Arkansas Razorbacks: Five reasons why Hogs win the SEC

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Nov 15, 2014; Fayetteville, AR, USA; Arkansas Razorbacks teammates celebrate after winning the game over the LSU Tigers at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium. The Arkansas Razorbacks defeat the LSU Tigers 17-0. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

Arkansas made a huge step forward in the rebuilding process last season, but can the Razorbacks make the leap and win the SEC in 2015? believe the hype. The Hogs are for real.

After finally winning an SEC game with a 17-0 victory over LSU, dominating a top ten Ole Miss squad 30-0, and beating Texas 31-7 in a bowl game, there is a great deal of excitement surrounding the Arkansas football program heading into the 2015 season.

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The Hogs may seem like a flash in the pan – after all, they lost each of the first 13 Southeastern Conference games Bret Bielema coached, plus the last three of the disastrous John L. Smith era. And two SEC wins don’t exactly make anyone a title threat. Kentucky won two conference games last season. Florida won four.

Under head coach Bret Bielema, Arkansas subscribes to an old-school philosophy that a team should win the time of possession battle to win the game – a game that’s played in a phone booth, not in space. It’s a style that relies on tight ends and the rare, nearly extinct species known as the fullback. A style that makes five-star quarterback and wide receiver recruits yawn.

But Bielema has won big before, and he can win big again.

Do you remember Bielema’s Wisconsin teams in 2010 and 2011? The Badgers won 11 games each of those seasons and averaged an impressive 41.5 and 44.1 points per game, respectively, using the same old-school approach on offense.

As expected, Wisconsin pounded the football into its opponents to the tune of 246 rushing yards per game in 2010 and 236 in 2011, but the Badgers excelled throwing the football as well. In 2010, the Badgers averaged in 199 yards per game through the air. In 2011, that average jumped to 234. Just as impressively, Wisconsin quarterbacks completed 73.2 percent of their passes in 2010 and maintained a 71 percent success rate the following season.

Sure, Bielema had Russell Wilson pulling the strings in 2011, but Scott Tolzien also led the Badgers to the Rose Bowl and helped the team put up similar numbers the year before the future Super Bowl winning signal caller arrived in Madison. The Badgers won conference games 83-20 and 70-23 with Tolzien under center for crying out loud.

Interestingly enough, the 2015 Arkansas Razorbacks have a lot in common with those 2010 and 2011 Wisconsin squads. Oh and by the way, Wisconsin won the Big Ten in both 2010 and 2011 (and once more in 2012 for good measure).

Arkansas isn’t the favorite to win the SEC, and the road the Razorbacks must travel in the league is tougher than the one Bielema conquered at Wisconsin. But there are five specific reasons why Arkansas can win the SEC in 2015.

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Arkansas Razorbacks: Five reasons why Hogs can win the SEC

By Nicholas Ian Allen | Aug 5, 2015

Arkansas made a huge step forward in the rebuilding process last season, but can the Razorbacks make the leap and win the SEC in 2015? believe the hype. The Hogs are for real.