The first two weeks of the season are over for the Arkansas football team, and so is the easiest part of the schedule.
After a stellar all-around performance in a Week 1 56-13 victory against Western Carolina, the Hogs struggled to get going in a 28-6 defensive masterpiece versus Kent State in Week 2. Now, the Razorbacks welcome a more difficult opponent to Fayetteville on Saturday — the BYU Cougars.
Much like Arkansas, BYU's defense has been the calling card for the Cougars through the first two games of the season — a 14-0 win against Sam Houston State and a 41-16 victory over Southern Utah.
Despite the offensive woes, Razorbacks linebackers Chris Paul Jr. and Antonio Grier are not taking the matchup lightly.
"We treat every game like we're playing against ourselves," Paul said Tuesday. "We play the Arkansas standard in every game. BYU is a great team by the way. They have a history of winning as we can see. They have a great head coach. The running backs are good, No. 2 and 20 are two decent, good backs.
"They have a good tight end, No. 83. They also put No. 99 back there at tight end. He's a great run blocker. They usually use him for max protection and things like that. Overall, a great team. Highly competitive and well coached."
Another similarity between both team's offenses is the lack of a run game in the early goings of the season. The Cougars rank No. 118 in the country with 79.0 rushing yards per game while the Razorbacks come in at No. 82 in the nation with 138.5 rushing yards per game.
"Just watching film on those guys, like I said, they have a great team," Paul said. "Those guys, they take it day by day. I can tell just by watching the film. Also, they have a great offensive line and things like that. They've got some guys returning. They lost a few people, but they replaced them with some good competition up front. As long as we go out there and play to the standard, we should be fine."
BYU quarterback Kaden Slovis has picked up where the Cougar rushing attack has left off. Through two games, the former Pittsburgh and Southern California gunslinger has completed 64.6% of his passes for 493 yards and four touchdowns with just one interception.
"Just a great leader," Paul said. "You can tell the offense revolves around him and he’s really just a great overall guy. I can see everybody on the offense respects him and respects his game. He has good vision, a great arm by the way. He does a great job with selling out his fakes and things like that. So it’s going to be a challenge for us this week and we’re ready for it."
It's not just the offense that the Hogs have to prepare for, BYU has a quality defense that ranks No. 26 in the country while allowing just 265.5 yards per game. Arkansas offensive lineman Brady Latham spoke on the matchup Tuesday.
"Kind of like what the defensive guys were saying, BYU is a great team," Latham said. "They win every year. They have a great head coach. They’re a super disciplined team, and they play super, super hard. We have a lot of respect for them, and we’re preparing really hard to get ready for them."
Playing in Provo, Utah, last season, Arkansas and BYU threw up huge offensive numbers in a 52-35 Razorback victory. While the win was impressive, it's important that the current team doesn't underestimate the new-look Cougars.
"No, I don’t think there’s any concern that we’re going to underestimate BYU," Latham said. "We’re playing them again, but we have a really new team. We’ve got a lot of new guys up front, we’ve got new guys at almost every position. We’ve got guys who this is their first year being Razorbacks."
"We’ve got a lot of transfers. So this is a new team. They’re a new team. They’re a really good team. We’ve watched a lot of their film. They’ve won a lot of games. So we’re not underestimating them at all."
Even with some new faces, the BYU defense plays a similar brand of football to last year's team, according to running back AJ Green.
"Now they play more of a one-safety high look," Green said. "Their players fly around, they run to the ball. They’re really physical and we just got to match their intensity or even overmatch it, you know."
Not everything is the same, though. With new faces comes different schemes and looks, something Latham says the offense will have to prepare for to have success.
"Yeah, they have a really talented defensive line," Latham said. "They have some really good linebackers. They’re really smart and they play super hard. They give us some different looks, which we’re going to have to prepare for and be ready. We’re going to need to spend some extra time in the film room. Make sure we know the looks and we’re comfortable with them. It’ll be a good challenge and we’re up for it and we’re excited for Saturday."
The Razorbacks and Cougars will have their rematch this Saturday at Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville. The game is set to take place at 6:30 p.m. CT and will air on ESPN2.
