As Arkansas and Western Carolina prepare to face off this Saturday at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock, HawgBeat decided to take a look at how the two teams stack up based on stats from the 2022 season and size for the starters.
On paper, the Razorbacks have a massive talent advantage over the Catamounts, who come from the FCS ranks. Arkansas has one former five-star and eight former four-star recruits compared to none for Western Carolina. The Hogs also have 11 players who were at least a three-star prospect compared to zero for the Catamounts.
In total, Western Carolina has six players who were rated by Rivals out of high school — all of whom were two-star prospects.
Highlighting the Western Carolina squad is running back Desmond Reid, who was rated as a two-star in the 2022 class out of Miramar, Florida. As a freshman last season, Reid ran the ball 117 times for 824 yards and four touchdowns. Going into 2023, he was selected by the league’s coaches as preseason First Team All-Southern Conference.
The average weight of Arkansas' 22 starters is 250.64 pounds, compared to Western Carolina's average weight of 234.77 pounds. The Razorbacks outweigh the Catamounts by nearly 26 pounds on the defensive line and nine pounds on the offensive line.
Here's a look at how both teams stack up based on stats last season, plus weight and height entering this season.
2022 Stat Comparison - Western Carolina | Arkansas
Offense (Western Carolina | Arkansas)
Scoring: 31.9 PPG | 32.5 PPG
Total yards: 485.4 | 471.4
Passing: 301.1 | 234.7
Rushing: 184.3 | 236.7
Third downs: 40.7% | 45.9%
Sacks allowed: 21 | 31
Turnovers: 26 | 18
Defense (Western Carolina | Arkansas)
Scoring: 31.9 PPG | 30.6 PPG
Total yards: 390.5 | 405.1
Passing: 207.7 | 294.7
Rushing: 182.7 | 170.5
Third downs: 45.5% | 45.0%
Sacks: 32 | 42
Turnovers: 10 | 18
