The Arkansas Razorbacks don’t enter 2016 with the same expectations that they had coming into 2015 and that may be a good thing. Arkansas was seen as a dark horse to win the SEC West, but after three straight losses after a season opening win, those thoughts completely disappeared. This season Arkansas will start off with a tough out-of-conference opponent in the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs in College Football Week 1 action.
The contest in Week 1 of the regular season will go down Saturday, September 3, 2016, at 4 p.m. ET at Razorback Stadium. This game will be broadcast on the SEC Network.
College Football Odds at BookMaker.eu
Louisiana Tech +26
Arkansas -26
Over/Under 53.5
Odds Analysis
Both the total and the spread have moved quite a bit from the original openers. Arkansas opened as a 22-point favorite, but that quickly rose to 26 and has remained there for the last two weeks. The total hasn’t seen quite as much action, but opened at 55.5 and was bet down to 53.5 within a week.
Player to Watch
Louisiana Tech will have to replace a lot off of last season’s team, but does get a huge benefit with the return of First Team Conference USA selection Trent Taylor. He emerged as one of the country’s top possession receivers in 2015 and put himself on the map with a big game against Kansas State that almost ended up with a Bulldogs upset. He is small and nimble and able to squeeze into tight spaces in order to catch balls that move the chains.
Taylor has the potential to have a pretty good game against the Razorbacks if Ryan Higgins proves to be effective at quarterback. Arkansas allowed opponents to complete over 64 percent of their passes against them last season and that’s something that Bret Bielema has had his defense work on in the offseason. If the Razorbacks decide to play a lot of zone, he can find the holes and have a nice game.
Look-ahead Situation
Bielema’s teams have underwhelmed against the minnows of out-of-conference play and seem to frequently look past teams. Last season, the Razorbacks fell to both Toledo and Texas Tech before entering conference play and this season Arkansas might be looking ahead to its next game against TCU.
The Horned Frogs are the only decent team the Razorbacks play out-of-conference this season and Arkansas will be ready to go in that one. The only question is how much of its hand will it show against Louisiana Tech with TCU on deck the following week.
Free ATS Pick
The Razorbacks return nine starters from last year’s defense and it should be a much better unit than the one that had mixed results in 2015. Arkansas was pretty stout against the run, but got killed through the air last season and that latter part will be what Louisiana Tech attempts to exploit.
This is a rough time for Louisiana Tech’s defense to face a power side like Arkansas. The Bulldogs only return three starters from last year’s side and lose eight of the top nine tacklers from last season as well. Other than Deldrick Canty, Louisiana Tech’s defensive ends are all extremely light and Arkansas’ large offensive linemen are going to maul this unit.
Bielema has a history of trying to run up the score on certain types of offenses and might do that here. The Razorbacks have the ability to run, run, and run some more against this Louisiana Tech defense and should do just that while breaking in new quarterback Austin Allen. Arkansas is going to have a young, but huge, offensive line this season and Bielema loves to see the big boys run block. He might push this game over the total himself if he gets carried away.
College Football Odds: Razorbacks 45, Bulldogs 14
BookMaker offers play-by-play betting odds for live sporting events every day! The user-friendly wagering interface on your smartphone provides an easy way to place bets on the go. Mobile betting lines are updated by the minute, so click here to start gambling on thrilling live action at BookMaker Sportsbook!
