Five biggest questions for Hogs ahead of Missouri State game
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- After a strong showing last week in a 44-30 win over South Carolina to open up SEC play, the No. 10 Arkansas Razorbacks (2-0) will welcome former head coach Bobby Petrino to Razorback Stadium with a matchup against the Missouri State Bears (2-0) on Saturday.
Both teams come into the game undefeated, with Arkansas beating Cincinnati and South Carolina, and Missouri State defeating Central Arkansas and Tennessee-Martin. Here are the five biggest questions ahead of the matchup:
1. Can the Hogs clean up the penalty problems?
Coming into last weeks game, the Hogs looked to have mostly cleaned up the penalty issues they had at the beginning of the 2021 season. The problem seemed to return, however, against South Carolina.
After committing seven penalties for 63 yards against Cincinnati, things went south last week, when the Hogs committed 10 penalties for a whopping 122 yards. They were able to overcome the poorly-timed holds and false starts, but things will need to get better fast ahead of a brutal stretch after this weeks game.
Head coach Sam Pittman said Monday the penalties have to get addressed in practice.
"The No. 1 thing is our penalties," Pittman said. "We've got to figure out how to get those cleaned up. Most of those if not all of them on defense happened on third down, and they were all five for 15, you know 75 yards. It just can't happen. We've got to really emphasize it. We've got good coaches. They'll help with that, and we've got to get it fixed because it's going to come back and bite us if we don't."
2. Can the beat up Razorback secondary stop the Missouri State passing attack?
In two games this season, Missouri State quarterback Jason Shelley has thrown for 563 yards and six touchdowns. While the competition the Bears have played isn't SEC level, Shelley has shown he has the ability to make plays when things seem broken down, and the Hogs will need to have an answer for him.
With the depth in the Arkansas secondary already a question mark, the real question here is if they'll be able to keep the receivers in front of them. If Shelley is able to hit open receivers — unlike Ben Bryant for Cincinnati and Spencer Rattler for South Carolina — this game may be closer than fans hope.
3. Will the Missouri State defense be able to stop Arkansas' rushing attack?
Last week, the Arkansas backfield ran Hog wild over South Carolina's defense, rushing for 295 yards and finding the end zone five times between Raheim Sanders, AJ Green, Rashod Dubinion and KJ Jefferson. The group also touts the SEC's leading rusher in Sanders, who has 273 yards and two touchdowns this season.
Pittman said Sanders is progressing well in the backfield in his second season as a running back after playing mostly wide receiver in high school.
"I think the line’s playing pretty good, you know," Pittman said. "And I think that helps him. He’s making decisions faster. A running back, he’s got to find the right hole in there, and he’s finding it faster. He’s attacking the line of scrimmage better than he did last year. Certainly running through arm tackles is something that he’s doing really well."
Tennessee-Martin rushed for just 85 yards last week against Missouri State, but most of that was likely due to the fact that they had to throw the ball constantly as they found themselves down quickly. Arkansas will go to the run early and often, so Missouri State will need to find an answer or it could get ugly.
4. Can the Razorback defense continue to get pressure on the quarterback?
After finishing the 2021 season second to last in sacks in the SEC, ahead of just Vanderbilt, the Razorback defense now finds itself with the third-most in college football. Between blitz packages and multiple fronts, they have forced nine sacks in two contests, six of those coming against South Carolina.
The Hogs have yet to play against a team with a true dual-threat quarterback, though, something that Missouri State's Shelley is. In the two games they've played, Shelley has been sacked nine times, but has also shown he can escape pressure and make plays when they break down. The Hogs will need to keep him under wraps to maintain control of the game.
5. Will Myles Slusher return?
The Arkansas secondary took a big hit last week, when it was announced that senior safety Jalen Catalon will miss the rest of the season due to reconstructive shoulder surgery.
The Razorbacks were also thin during last week's game with nickel Myles Slusher gone due to an undisclosed injury he sustained in the Cincinnati game.
While the widespread belief is that Arkansas wins this game comfortably, the question of Slusher's health looms ahead of a big matchup with Texas A&M on Sept. 24. Pittman said Wednesday that Slusher is day-to-day, likely making him a game-time decision on Saturday.