Arkansas Football: Razorbacks must bottle up North Texas passing attack
Arkansas football is fresh off a loss to Colorado State in Week 2 and will look to get back on track against the potent North Texas offense.
Arkansas is in for another Group of Five test against one of the better teams in North Texas.
The Razorbacks seemed fine for most of their contest last week against the Colorado State Rams until their defense allowed 22 unanswered points between the third and fourth quarters to hand the Rams their first win of their season.
A bright spot for the Razorbacks in the loss was Devwah Whaley who took off for 165 yards and a score on the ground giving Arkansas a rushing threat that they so lacked in Week 1.
A down spot for Chad Morris’ offense is the lack of clarity on offense after Ty Storey followed up his three-touchdown performance against Eastern Illinois by going 5-for-13 with two interceptions against a team that allowed the opposing quarterback to go 12-for-12 with three touchdowns to begin the game a week prior.
Can Morris find a solution on either side of the ball? Or will they fall short against a Group of Five team yet again?
North Texas’ offense will finish the year as a top-five unit in the passing game so long as their wealth of talent stays healthy. Quarterback Mason Fine threw for more than 4,000 yards last season and has over 800 yards through the air in his first two games. The Mean Green offensive machine returns their two best receivers from last season in Michael Lawrence and Notre Dame-transfer Jalen Guyton and seems to have a new offensive threat in Rico Bussey Jr. who currently leads the offense in receptions.
The North Texas defensive unit is currently giving up less than 300 total yards per game and less than 20 points per game to opposing offenses. Their turnover numbers look solid with four total forced turnovers and allow a third down conversion on 24 percent of attempts. Given they haven’t played an offense as (using this term loosely) good as Arkansas’ in their first two games.
Can the Mean Green make a big statement going into conference play? Or Will the Razorbacks achieve the redemption they so desperately need after losing to Colorado State?
Date: Saturday, Sept. 15
Time: 4:00 p.m. ET
Location: Fayetteville, Ark.
TV: Razorback Stadium
TV: SEC Network
Live Stream: WatchESPN or FuboTV
Players to Watch
North Texas
- QB, Mason Fine
- WRs, Rico Bussey Jr. and Jalen Guyton
- LBs, EJ Ejiya and Brandon Garner
Arkansas
- QBs, Ty Storey and Cole Kelley
- RB, Devwah Whaley
- WR, La’Michael Pettway
- LB, De’Jon Harris
- DB, Santos Ramirez
Keys to Victory
North Texas’ offense is really, really good. Mason Fine ages like a fine wine and only seems to be improving the more he plays in this offense. Arkansas has allowed 54 points and 788 yards of offense in their first two games and neither Eastern Illinois nor Colorado State has an offensive unit as good as North Texas’.
If North Texas hopes to win, they need to score as often as possible and make Ty Storey look like Week 2 Storey should Morris decide to roll him out against the Mean Green.
Arkansas needs to do the opposite of what they did in the fourth quarter of last week. Get something going offensively early on and don’t abandon it to get the other quarterback snaps. Also, make some space for Devwah Whaley in case the passing game can’t get going early on. Defensively, the Hogs need to make stops and not break down in crunch time again. If the defense holds up late a week ago, then the Razorbacks win 27-12 and have a good feeling about this game.
It’s also worth noting, Chad Morris has been able to beat Seth Littrell in back-to-back seasons at SMU with lesser talent than he has now.
Betting Odds
Points Spread: Arkansas -7
Over/Under: 69
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Prediction
I would love to take North Texas here. This one is going to go down to the bitter end and might just come down to the final possession. Ultimately, I trust Morris to have his players in the right mindset going into their second game against a Group of Five opponent after a definite wake-up call. Arkansas finds a way to win and improve to 2-1 before going on the road to face the No. 7 Auburn Tigers.
Final Score: Arkansas 34, North Texas 28