Score Predictions: Arkansas vs Kent State

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The Arkansas Razorbacks and Kent State Golden Flashes are set to face off Saturday at 3 p.m. CT at Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville.

Saturday will mark the first-ever matchup between the two programs. Kent State is led by first-year head coach Kenni Burns, who has a team a ton of new faces on it.

Arkansas is a -38.5 favorite over the Golden Flashes (BetSaracen). The Razorbacks haven't lost a home opener in Fayetteville against a non-conference opponent since falling to USC, 50-14, in 2006.

Here is how the HawgBeat staff is predicting Saturday's game, which will be broadcast on the SEC Network

For the second week in a row, I'm going to keep this short and sweet. No Rocket Sanders, no problem for the Razorbacks. While the junior running back will be out with a knee injury, his teammates should have no issue dismantling a Kent State program that could make a legit case for the worst FBS team in the country. We should get to see the reserves for a good bit in this one again.

Arkansas 52, Kent State 10

Kent State is technically a level up in competition, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Arkansas had a better overall performance against the Golden Flashes in Week 2.

With an offensive line that’s only compiled two total starts going into the season, Kent State will have a lot of issues against a veteran Arkansas defensive line.

The Hogs will flex their muscles in the run game and force Golden Flashes’ quarterback Michael Alaimo into some untimely turnovers in the final tuneup game before BYU.

Arkansas 59, Kent State 10

After a convincing win over Western Carolina last Saturday, the Hogs get a reeling Kent State team that got blown out by UCF 56-6 last Thursday.

Arkansas’ run game was suspect last weekend, but I don’t expect that to be the case again this week. Even without Rocket Sanders, I think the Hogs are able to get more push from the offensive line, helped mainly by the return of Brady Latham.

Defensively, I think we’ll see similar results as last week. Kent State tried a lot of deep passes against UCF, but their quarterback was pretty inaccurate and at the end of the day, I think the Hogs force a good amount of turnovers.

The Golden Flashes have some great uniform combinations, but not a great football team. Arkansas rolls to 2-0.

Arkansas 56, Kent State 17

Kent State is completely outmatched and outclassed against Arkansas. Even without Rocket Sanders, the Razorbacks should take care of business handily yet again to get to 2-0.

Look for Sam Pittman and Dan Enos to try and shore up the run game and clean up some penalties, while also getting some more playing time for younger guys.

Arkansas 45, Kent State 3

A wise coach once told me, “the measure of a team is how much they improve from Week 1 to Week 2.”

I’ve always remembered that quote and it applies to the Arkansas Razorbacks this week as they take on Kent State for the first time in school history.

The Golden Flashes program has produced NFL talent like Jack Lambert, Julian Edelman and Josh Cribbs. Unfortunately they’re in rebuilding mode as evident by their 50-point loss to UCF last week and they are now a 38.5-point underdog in Fayetteville.

The Hogs need to take care of business and improve in a few areas, most importantly the running game. After barely breaking the century mark against FCS Western Carolina, I expect a renewed focus on the rushing attack this week.

KJ Jefferson was his normal efficient self last week completing his first 12 passes with his first seven going to different receivers. I loved seeing the over routes in the middle of the field last week, something that was missing under the previous offensive coordinator. The play action pass game looked good but will look even better when the run game starts clicking.

The running back depth will be on center stage Saturday with Rocket Sanders out and I expect AJ Green, Rashod Dubinion and the boys to rush for at least 200 yards.

The defense looked better last week. I’d like to see more blitzes from the second level. The secondary is vastly improved and will only get better. We will find out the potential of this team on Saturday. The Hogs take care of business in their true home opener.

Arkansas 52, Kent State 13

Mason Choate: 1-0 overall, 1-0 ATS

Riley McFerran: 1-0 overall, 1-0 ATS

Daniel Fair: 1-0 overall, 1-0 ATS

Jackson Collier: 1-0 overall, 1-0 ATS

Kevin Bohannon: 1-0 overall, 1-0 ATS

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