Read this to understand what the glorious HLSTNHT25-PE actually is. Then read in awe and call out to your loved one the glorious analysis below…

Sure, their fan-base is litigious and insane (not to mention the coach’s wife), and their head coach seemed hell bent on running a flag-football style offense, making up plays in the dirt as they went along, but they did have a season in which they clinched the SEC West title, and no matter how stupid/weird their coach might get, they’ve got 2 things going for them: Darren “Oh Christ Where Is He” McFadden and Felix “Crap. I Forgot About Him” Jones. You’ll
recall that McFadden finished #2 in Heisman voting last year. You may also recall thinking to yourself, “I thought McFadden was the best player at Arkansas, but…,” after watching Felix Jones run a kickoff back.

The hogs lost 4 games last year - to #1 Florida, #3 LSU, #4 Southern Cal, and #7 Wisconsin. Good Grief. And this year they no longer have to deal with Mitch Mustain and his, uh, difficult mother, or Mitch Mustain’s former high school head coach roaming the sidelines, wondering who took his clipboard and headset.

Offense: Scary. And we’re juts talking about the offensive sets where they stop bothering with the pretense of a QB and just direct snap the ball to McFadden. Heck, McFadden even threw for 3 TDs last year. Not to mention that their QB, Casey Dick, is not half bad. He’s gone 4-5, but 4 of his 5 losses have been to ranked teams, and we get the feeling that might stop now that the QB soap opera has settled a bit. And it’ll definitely be better if Dick can stay healthy and upright. [I am so juvenile. I hate me.]

Defense: Serviceable. They’ve lost a few key players to the NFL on the D-Line and in the secondary, but they’ve also got a fair number of players back and in their 3rd year of the 4-3 system.

Special Teams: Felix Jones was #2 in Kick Returns last year, averaging 31.9 yards per. So kick away from him, right? To Darren McFadden who was averaging a measly 29.0. Good luck in that field position game.

Facts:

• The Hogs return 6 starters on each side of the ball this year.
• They’ve lead the SEC in rushing for 4 of the last 5 years. It’s about to be 5 of the last 6, unless…
• The Hogs must find a way to replace a 1st Team SEC Right Tackle, a 3rd Team AA Left Tackle, and a 2nd Team SEC Left Guard.
• Houston Nutt is 20-2 in games played in Little Rock.
• QB Robert Johnson was moved to Wide Receiver last year, thus destroying the blogosphere’s favorite QB battle: Robert Johnson vs. Casey Dick.
• Mitch Mustain, his Mother, and Pete Carroll are all reportedly doing just fine in Southern California these days.

HLS Top 25 Meta:

• Highest spot on a HLS Ballot: 15
• Lowest spot on a HLS Ballot: Not Ranked
• Average ranking on HLS Ballots: 23.25

Why Alex Trebek Loves Them:

• Pete Carroll (a girl’s name! Ha!) spent the 1977 season as an assistant in charge of the Arkansas secondary under Lou Holtz. (source)

Around the Web:

• Arkansas on Rivals
• Razorback Sports Net
• Razorhack

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