Arkansas Football Prediction: Game-By-Game Predictions for the Razorbacks in 2020

I loved the Chad Morris hire. He did marvelous work rebuilding SMU and would lead a slow, methodical rebuild at Arkansas. Whoops…

The lowest-ranked Power Five team in the HERO Sports Preseason College Football Rankings, Arkansas has eight total wins since 2017, the program's lowest three-year total since World War II and tied with Oregon State for the third-fewest in the Power Five over that time. And they're hoping Sam Pittman, a first-time FBS head coach, master recruiter, and former beloved Razorbacks' assistant, can return respectability to a storied program. 

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Pittman and an impressive staff, headlined by offensive coordinator Kendal Briles and defensive coordinator Barry Odom, inherit a team that sucked at everything in 2019. Offensively, they weren't explosive (5.1 yards per play, 0.328 points per play), converted 33 percent of third-down chances, failed to score any points on 22 percent of their red-zone possessions, and committed nearly two turnovers per game. Briles and transfer quarterback Feleipe Franks will bring immediate improvement but the two-deep needs several recruiting cycles, as does a defense that returns defensive end Dorian Gerald from injury but still ranks among the worst in the Power Five at every level.

The Razorbacks aren't ready to handle an SEC schedule, nor are they ready to handle a high-level FCS schedule, and they won't beat a Power Five team in 2020…for the third straight season. Predicting a win over a superior Nevada team in the opener might be generous but another two-win season felt pathetic.