Introduction

We’re beautifully close to football season, and even though last year was the worst year of all time, there’s actually some reason to be hopeful. For that reason, we’re breaking down each game we’ll play this year, and exploring a little bit about each opponent. Ultimately we’ll make some levels of predictions about our chances, for better or for worse. Be sure to follow us on Twitter @ArkansasFight to keep up with all the latest posts, and don’t forget to sign up to be a pollster for our site!

Week 3- September 14, 2019

Opponent:

Colorado State

Where:

DWR Razorback Stadium in beautiful Fayetteville, AR. Kickoff is at 3pm CT on the SEC Network.

Their Coach:

Mike Bobo is entering his fifth year as the head coach for the Rams. Prior to the move to Fort Collins, Bobo was a Georgia Bulldog lifer. He played quarterback in the mid-nineties for the Dawgs and coached alongside Mark Richt for all but the last year of Richt’s fifteen-year tenure in Athens.

After taking over Colorado State, Bobo led his first three teams to 7-6 records and bowl appearances. The bottom dropped out in 2018, and the Rams spiraled to a 3-9 season, with almost no highlights to speak of.

Our Record Against Them:

Last September 8th in Fort Collins was so close to being a perfect day. Thousands of Razorback fans made the trip to the deeply underrated town in northern Colorado to watch the Hogs presumably paste a lower quality team from the Mountain West Conference.

For three quarters, a rout wasn’t on, but victory seemed to be in hand. Then, inexplicably, the Hogs seemed ready to get back closer to sea level and they nosedived straight to the bottom. The 2018 season went right along with them.

The Razorbacks maintain a 3-1 record against the Rams, having won the previous three matchups in War Memorial. 2019 will be Colorado State’s first in Fayetteville.

Key Players:

Collin Hill, QB: The quarterback that ate the Hogs up in the second half of the game last year, KJ Carta-Samuels, pretty much peaked that day. He was eventually replaced in October by Collin Hill. Hill didn’t have a great year, but ended his season completing 62% and throwing almost 600 yards in the final two games against Utah State and Air Force. He is expected to build on that late season flourish.

Ryan Stonehouse, P: The Rams’ lone All-MWC preseason selection, Stonehouse certainly earns that distinction. Razorback fans may remember his 68 and 70 yard punts last year against the Hogs. Altitude helped, but man. The guy still legged it all year, averaging 48.3 yards. Hopefully, we can really savor his talent this year and just enjoy all the Colorado State punts coming our way!

A Very Short Recap of Their Last Season:

Opening their gorgeous new stadium, the Rams were certainly hoping for more in 2018. The only bright spot came against Arkansas. Their other two wins were against the Mountain West teams that finished even lower than Colorado State, New Mexico and San Jose State (can’t wait to meet you guys!). The Rams even managed an ignominious feat that the Hogs avoided: they lost badly to their FCS opponent, Illinois State.

How We Feel About Our Chances:

Whatever happened last year, be it altitude’s effect or a tightening up from players and coaches, won’t happen this year. Colorado State isn’t going to be much better (if any better) than they were last year. Arkansas should be much improved, across just about every aspect. Winning by twenty and washing the taste of last year out of everyone’s mouths should be the goal. Please.

Thanks for checking out the third part of our series on Arkansas’ 2019 Football Season, be sure to sign up for our SB Nation poll, and follow @ArkansasFight on Twitter. For Hog reactions and daily devotionals to Slim’s, follow @lukecdavis.