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You really don't need to hear it from me to know it, but Arkansas has the injury bug. And it's got it bad. Cody Hollister and Jared Cornelius will miss what I presume to be an extended amount of time with a broken foot and broken left arm, respectively. That's following the Keon Hatcher injury against Toledo. The Razorbacks are scratching for options at receiver. Heck, even Kendrick Edwards, who has a pair of career catches, is being looked to as a viable option. Injuries have played a role in derailing Arkansas' expectations and hopes three weeks in. Here, I take a look at other SEC programs who have dealt with injuries to its stars in the past.
No one could have predicted in the preseason that three games into the year fans and followers of the program would be calling for Bret Bielema's job and the season taking a turn for the worst before conference play even began. But that's where Arkansas is. Longtime Razorback columnist Nate Allen says this season could look a lot like the 1974 Arkansas team, which, obviously, I loved watching.
The Misery Index is not a place Arkansas wants to be. But it has made its way on the list for a second consecutive week. USA Today's Dan Wolken pretty much rips Bielema and Arkansas to shreds, saying the Razorbacks "generated endless offseason hype and publicity based on a coach's fake swagger." Obviously the team has a long way to go. But Texas A&M is looking down at Arkansas right hoping to send the Hogs to this list for a third time.
Here's more from SB Nation on the Kliff Kingsbury-Bielema situation. Everyone's #TeamKliff.
Arkansas is already hitting the reset button. Remember back when the Razorbacks were the No. 18 team in the nation? Seems like an eon ago, doesn't it? There's no time to hang your head if you're Arkansas. A murderer's row of games outside the state are coming before a bye week and a matchup against Auburn, which could determine who finishes last in the SEC West.
#HotTake of the Week
Dan Wolken alluded to it a bit in his Misery Index column. Last season, Arkansas' two wins in SEC play, while they looked great on the surface because it had never happened under Bielema before, were against teams on the decline. Bo Wallace looked like a hot mess late in the season after losing his go-to guy in Laquon Treadwell. LSU didn't have a quarterback capable of winning on the road, and Leonard Fournette, for some reason had five carries in the game.
Also – and people may not like this – Arkansas would not have had as much "momentum" as it did if it had won its bowl game over anyone not named Texas, a program the Razorbacks are historically inferior to. The Longhorns were also a dumpster fire at the end of the season. Arkansas fed on the walking dead at the end of the season and lost to the only team not crippled by quarterback play or injuries.
We were duped.
Tweet of the Week
This made me lol. I'm immature. pic.twitter.com/6CBJICqLXl
— Michael Borkey (@MichaelBorkey) September 17, 2015