Paws Up Preview – FIU Football vs Arkansas

FAYETTEVILLE, AR – Things aren’t going well for FIU Football at the moment.

They’ve been an unstable team on the field, losing five out of their last six games. But through it all, they’re only two wins away from a bowl game appearance with two games remaining on the schedule.

Surely it gets easier… right?

Wrong.

Don’t get it twisted. The Arkansas Razorbacks may be 3-7 right now. But even the worst team in the SEC can give the best G5 schools in the country a run for their money.

So when FIU matches up against Arkansas this Saturday at 7:30pm, things might get ugly for the Panthers. Just a warning.

What We Learned from Middle Tennessee

If you weren’t finding reasons to be frustrated with this FIU team before last Saturday’s game against the Blue Raiders, you probably found some afterward.

In one of the most important road games in recent FIU memory with a realistic shot of a bowl game on the line, they laid an egg – not even scoring a touchdown for the first time this season in a 40-6 blowout.

Stats-wise, both FIU and MTSU matched up well on paper, but the field belonged to the Blue Raiders all night long. Their pass-oriented offense found a rhythm against the Panthers’ secondary all night long with 275 yards and four touchdowns from the air.

In addition, the Panthers’ offense was almost nonexistent, going for seven punts, a scoop and score, and a safety. They were in the red zone four times, settling for two field goal,s and…that’s it.

This may have been the worst overall performance by either the offense or defense all season, and it couldn’t have come at a worse time.

In addition, their starting center John Bock II has been recently suspended a full year after taking a banned supplement by the NCAA.

On To The Arkansas Razorbacks

Fayetteville is home to the Arkansas Razorbacks, who have been playing college ball since 1894 and have been a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) since ’91.

You probably know how dominant that conference is in this sport. Members like Georgia, Alabama, and LSU have all recently won national championships.

You may be confused why FIU is playing an SEC school right now Well, six other SEC schools are also playing non-conference opponents this week, such as Alabama taking on… Chattanooga.

Moving on. Arkansas is 3-7, and their only conference win was against the Florida Gators in an overtime thriller. Still, only two of their losses were by multiple possessions. Their losses against ranked opponents such as LSU, Ole Mis,s and Alabama were only by either a field goal or a touchdown.

For what it’s worth, the last time both Arkansas and FIU met in football was in 2007 when the Razorbacks dropped 58 points.

Don’t get it twisted – this is a dangerous Arkansas offense that features… a dual-threat quarterback in KJ Jefferson. In 10 games of work, he’s put up 1,918 yards and 16 touchdowns in the air as well as 342 yards and 2 TDs on the ground.

Jefferson, by the way, is only one passing touchdown from a school record in a season (64 currently) and 44 passing yards from an all-time school record. (7,722 currently)

Jefferson’s favorite weapon looks to be Andrew Armstrong who currently has 48 receptions for 657 yards and four touchdowns.

Arkansas also has a very deadly defense, which has recorded four defensive touchdowns this season – the most in all of FBS. Keyone Jenkins has done a good job not throwing picks as of late, but this will be heavily tested tomorrow.

Jake’s Prediction

Let’s not waste too much time here.

Best of luck to the Panthers. but with a battered offensive line and a defense coming off their worst performance, this is honestly a nightmare matchup.

Arkansas might be a disappointing SEC team, but they’re still a great football team, and I think a few leagues above FIU at the moment.

I don’t think they’ll cover it, though.

ARKANSAS – 42

FIU – 17