HawgBeat - Toughest road game for Arkansas football in 2023?
HawgBeat makes an argument for three of Arkansas' road matchups in the 2023 season.
arkansas.rivals.com
The Arkansas football team has one of the toughest four-game stretches in the nation this year and it's part of a grueling road schedule in the SEC for the Hogs in 2023.
Led by fourth-year head coach Sam Pittman, the Razorbacks will begin their season on Saturday, Sept. 2 against Western Carolina at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock. Two games against Kent State and BYU will follow the Western Carolina game and then comes the dreaded four-game stretch away from home.
Arkansas will hit the road to face LSU on Sept. 23, then it will travel to Arlington, Texas, to play Texas A&M at AT&T Stadium. The Hogs then have back-to-back road games against Ole Miss and Alabama before finally returning to Fayetteville for the SEC home-opener on Oct. 21 against Mississippi State.
The last road game of the season will follow a bye week and it will be a trip to Gainesville, Florida, to face the Florida Gators. Arkansas will round out the schedule with three home games against Auburn, Florida International and Missouri.
HawgBeat decided to make the argument for three different road games that could end up being the toughest test away from home for the Razorbacks this fall.
at LSU - Saturday, Sept. 23
An argument could be made that Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is the toughest place to play in all of college football. Nicknamed "Death Valley," the stadium holds 102,321 fans and it's sure to have that many for an early season matchup with the Golden Boot trophy on the line.
The trip to LSU on Sept. 23 is the earliest the Razorbacks have ever played the Tigers and the first time since 1936 that the teams have met before the month of November.
Prior to that matchup, the Hogs will have faced Western Carolina at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock and then they will have a pair of games against Kent State and BYU at Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville.
There's two ways to look at facing LSU that early. First, you can take the route of not being beat up for a late season matchup, like the Razorbacks normally are come November. Second, you can say it's tough to face a talented team like the Tigers so early in the season before really finding a good stride and learning what works best.
Coming off an SEC West title campaign under first-year head coach Brian Kelly in 2022, LSU doesn't seem to be slowing down anytime soon.
Quarterback Jayden Daniels is considered by some as the best starting quarterback in the SEC entering the 2023 season. He will play behind an offensive line that returns all five starters and he'll also have two starting receivers — Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas Jr. — back along with talented tight end Mason Taylor.
Defensively, there's just one name that will send shivers down Arkansas fans' spines: Harold Perkins Jr., who recorded three sacks and forced two fumbles as a freshman against the Hogs last year.
The Tigers brought in talented transfers on defense like Denver Harris from Texas A&M and JK Johnson from Ohio State. Returners such as former Razorback Greg Brooks Jr. and Major Burns will be part of another solid LSU defense.
Arkansas earned the win last time it played in Baton Rouge with a 16-13 overtime win in 2021, but that was against an LSU team that was counting down the days until former head coach Ed Orgeron's time was done. This year's contest is going to be an extremely tough challenge.
- Mason Choate, HawgBeat Publisher
at Alabama - Saturday, Oct. 14
Since 2008, the second year of Nick Saban’s tenure at Alabama, only five teams have gone into Bryant-Denny Stadium and walked out victorious. Arkansas’ hardest road game on the 2023 schedule comes against Alabama for that reason.
Even if the game were in Fayetteville, it would still likely be the hardest on the schedule, but being on the road only magnifies the difficulty with this game.
The game also comes at the end of a brutal road stretch for Sam Pittman’s team. Starting off with a road game against LSU, then heading to Arlington, Texas, to play Texas A&M, then once again traveling to Oxford, Mississippi, to play Ole Miss before matching up with Alabama in Tuscaloosa. The attrition is going to set in at the tail end of that road stretch and make things even more difficult.
Sure, there’s questions at the quarterback spot with the departure of Bryce Young, but the Crimson Tide reload every year, and 2023 is no different.
In 2021, Arkansas came dangerously close to a win in Tuscaloosa, as it lost by just seven points. But this game is going to look completely different. Last season, Jalen Milroe was ineffective against Arkansas through the air, but he pulverized the defense with his legs.
If the Hogs want to break the 16-year streak of losing to Alabama, this will be the last time to do it for a while, as Arkansas and Alabama aren’t set to match up again until at least 2025.
- Daniel Fair, Recruiting Analyst
at Florida - Saturday, Nov. 4
Going into his second season as Florida head coach, Billy Napier is looking to lead the Gators to a more successful 2023 season after only winning six games in 2022. The Razorbacks will have a tall task in front of them when they walk into "The Swamp" on November 4th.
After losing starting quarterback Anthony Richardson to the NFL draft, Florida added Wisconsin transfer quarterback Graham Mertz from the transfer portal. Mertz has thrown 5,405 passing yards and 38 touchdowns in his career, and his experience will make him dangerous against an Arkansas secondary looking to prove themselves.
Graham Mertz wasn’t the only offensive portal addition the Gators made over the offseason. Florida added multiple offensive linemen, including Alabama transfer Damieon George and Kentucky transfer Kiyaunta Goodwin. The Gators also brought in Tulane running back transfer Cam Caroll, who has run for 1,638 yards with 19 touchdowns in his career.
Defensively, Florida added safeties RJ Moten (Michigan) and Mannie Nunnery (Houston). Memphis defensive lineman Cam’Ron Jackson also made the decision to transfer to Gainesville. These three players, along with the others that were added via the portal, make up one of the better portal classes in the SEC.
Returning for Florida are wide receivers Ricky Pearsall, Xzavier Henderson and Justin Shorter. They combined for 1,648 receiving yards and nine touchdowns and will give Graham Mertz solid weapons to throw to. Florida also added the 13th overall 2023 recruiting class according to Rivals, which includes highly-ranked defensive end Kelby Collins.
Florida is 10-2 against Arkansas all-time and the most recent game was a 63-35 win for the Gators during the Covid-shortened season in 2020. The most recent Arkansas win was in 2016 under former head coach Bret Bielema. Starting quarterback Austin Allen led the Hogs to a 30-10 victory in what was a marquee win that season. History does not bode well for the Razorbacks this season, though, as Arkansas has never beaten Florida in Gainesville.
With their highly ranked portal class and high school recruiting class, the Gators will be tough to beat in an environment that has notoriously been tough for the Hogs to compete in. While I do think Florida isn’t the same Florida of the past, there’s no doubt that this will be one of, if not the toughest, road game for Sam Pittman and company.
- Riley McFerran, Recruiting Contributor
