AU FOOTBALL 2009 OPPONENT PREVIEWS: No overlooking Hogs this year

Editor’s Note: This is the sixth in a series previewing Auburn’s 2009 football opponents. This week: Arkansas (Oct. 10). The series will run weekly.

With Auburn entrenched in turmoil just days following Tony Franklin’s firing, Arkansas came to Jordan-Hare Stadium in 2008 and played like a legitimate team on the rise.

This season, Auburn won’t need to be knee deep in a muddy situation to realize it will, in fact, be facing a regrouped Arkansas squad when the Tigers travel to Razorback Stadium.

“I think we played faster than last year,” coach Bobby Petrino told USA Today following the Razorbacks’ spring practice. “When you know what you are doing, you get to execute and play with more speed.“

In Petrino’s second year, the Razorbacks are reloaded at the skill positions and on defense. Quarterback is a bit of a different story, but the Razorbacks have one of the most experienced candidates to replace Casey Dick in Michigan transfer Ryan Mallett.

Though it’s not Mallett’s job yet.

As of now, Mallett is the guy, as the 6-foot-7, 248-pounder excelled during the spring. But redshirt freshman Tyler Wilson, who played in Arkansas’ first two games of 2008 before earning a medical redshirt, lurks closely behind.

Mallett threw for 892 yards and seven touchdowns and five interceptions in 2007 for the Wolverines.

“(Mallett) is capable of making a lot of throws we couldn’t make before, and that gives us a chance,” Arkansas offensive coordinator Paul Petrino told the Sporting News. “The competition will go into the summer.”

The real reason for optimism lies in whoever gets the job’s targets.

Wide receivers Joe Adams, Lucas Miller and London Crawford combined for 88 catches last year. The Hogs are also loaded with a number of potential incoming threats and players returning from injury.

But first-team All-SEC tight end D.J. Williams is the biggest threat, as the returning senior caught 61 passes for 723 yards and three touchdowns. Nearly half of Williams’ catches resulted in a first down.

Auburn fans shouldn’t have a tough time remembering tailback Michael Smith.

Smith’s 222 all-purpose yards, largely padded by his 63-yard, backbreaking run in the fourth quarter, helped push the underdog Hogs past a reeling Auburn squad. Smith, the throne-filler of Darren McFadden and Felix Jones, finished the year with 1,072 rushing yards, thanks to a blistering 5.2 yard-per-carry average, and eight touchdowns.

The reason why Auburn was actually favored heading into its matchup with Arkansas last season was largely attributed to the Hogs’ woeful defense. Even with no real offensive coordinator, the Tigers could top the Hogs, right?

Well, no, but it was a pretty pathetic showing for that group in 2008. The Hogs finished last in the SEC in total defense (375. 2 yards per game) and scoring defense (31.2 points per game).

Arkansas returns nine starters from that group. The hope is that they’ve learned from what went wrong.

The entire front seven is back and defensive coordinator Willy Robinson has one tough year under his belt to reinvigorate a unit that is obviously the weak link on a team that could show significant strides in 2009.

“I expect us to make huge strides,” Bobby Petrino told Athlon Sports. “Last year, every day was a new day...I expect a lot of improvement.”

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