The Arkansas Razorbacks went seventeen games without a conference win over the course of three seasons so you can only imagine the jubilation they felt when they finally got an SEC win last November and against the 17th ranked LSU Tigers at home no less. The Razorbacks exercised some demons in that 17-0 victory because the following week they shut out the 8th ranked Ole Miss Rebels and finished the season on a 4-2 run after a very convincing victory over the Texas Longhorns. Many believe that momentum can carry over into 2015 but the SEC schedule makers had a little something to say about that.
Arkansas begins the season at home against the UTEP Miners who finished the 2014 season 6-6 followed by a home
game in Little Rock against the Toledo Rockets who finished last season 9-4 and almost played for the MAC title. Week three brings the Texas Tech to Fayetteville, Arkansas, and last year the Razorbacks went out to Lubbock and put a good old-fashioned woodshed whooping on the Red Raiders to the tune of 49-28. Texas Tech went on to finish the season 4-8 making the Red Raiders the worst team Arkansas will face all season long. Arkansas finishes out the month of September with their conference opener against the Texas A&M Aggies in Arlington, Texas, at AT&T Stadium, aka Jerry World. The Aggies were able to put 21 points on the board in the 4th quarter and overtime to barely get by the Razorbacks. Historically, this series has been a fun one to watch over the years and is truly an asset to the SEC for the years to come.
The fun and games end when October begins as Arkansas opens the month with road games at Tennessee and Alabama. The Volunteers are the SEC East version of the Razorbacks in that they finished the 2014 season strong and are poised to have a breakout 2015 season. The Crimson Tide are the Crimson Tide and even though they lost thirteen starters from last season are still loaded at every position and ranked in the top five. Arkansas gets a bye week on the 17th followed by a home game against the Auburn Tigers. The Razorbacks had the reigning conference champions at the time on the ropes at 21-21 at halftime but were unable to score any points in the second half. I’m sure head coach Brett Bielema will remind his team of how they finished that game in 2014. Arkansas closes out the month of October against FCS opponent UT-Martin. The Skyhawks finished the season 6-6 but 5-3 in the Ohio Valley Conference, good enough for third.
November is much like October for the Razorbacks minus the FCS opponent and the bye week. The month begins with a road game at Ole Miss who surely hasn’t forgotten the thumping they received at the hooves of the Razorbacks in 2014. Arkansas stays on the road the following week when they travel down to Baton Rouge to take on the LSU Tigers in the 61st overall meeting and the 20th for the Golden Boot Trophy. Arkansas finishes the season with back-to-back home games against Mississippi State & Missouri on Friday the 27th. A 69-yard broken play touchdown in the fourth quarter is all that kept the Razorbacks from upsetting the number one ranked Bulldogs last November. Arkansas was able to force three turnovers but just couldn’t finish the game with a win. It was the same ole song against Missouri last season as well when the Razorbacks held a 14-6 lead but allowed 15 fourth quarter points before losing 21-14 in Columbia.
The Arkansas Razorbacks will be a much better, deeper & more resilient team in 2015. Will it show in the record? That remains to be seen. This schedule would be daunting to any team much less a team still technically in a rebuilding mode. The Razorbacks were in a lot of ball games in 2014, now let’s see if they can close those games out and convert those late game losses into wins in 2015.
Arkansas 2015 Schedule
Sept 5th v. UTEP
Sept 12th v. Toledo (In Little Rock)
Sept 19th v. Texas Tech
Sept 26th v. Texas A&M (In Arlington)
Oct 3rd at Tennessee
Oct 10th at Alabama
Oct 17th BYE WEEK
Oct 24th v. Auburn
Oct 31st v. UT-Martin
Nov 7th at Ole Miss
Nov 14th at LSU
Nov 21st v. Mississippi State
Nov 27th v. Missouri (Friday)
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