Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Razorbacks embrace bit of down time before bowl
FAYETTEVILLE — The Arkansas Razorbacks, riding the program’s best six-game stretch in four years, took a breather this week in advance of today’s bowl announcements.
The Razorbacks (7-5, 5-3 SEC) improved by one victory over last season’s 6- 6 regular season, sparked by a successful second half of the season.
Arkansas improved by three games in the conference race, going from a seventh-place finish in the West at 2-6 to a tie for third.
The only thing separating Arkansas from going 6-0 after its bye week was a 51-50 loss to Mississippi State in which the Razorbacks drove into position for a 29-yard field goal in the final minute.
Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema said the Razorbacks rebounded nicely in their regular-season finale after Arkansas’ 28-3 victory over Missouri on Nov. 27, the week after the loss to Mississippi State.
“I thought our guys turned the page from last Saturday night’s gut-wrencher as well as you could,” Bielema said.
Back-to-back road victories over Ole Miss and LSU, both ranked in the College Football Playoff top 10 at the time, highlighted the Razorbacks’ revival from their 2-4 start.
“We’ve been clicking as a team,” said junior tailback Alex Collins, whose 130 rushing yards against Missouri marked his ninth 100-yard game of the season. “That’s a good feeling to have. To be able to pull off what we have shows the growth of this team and how good we’ve been doing.”
Arkansas’ 5-1 finish is the program’s best six- game stretch since the 2011 team wrapped up an 11-2 season by winning eight of its last nine games with a 29-16 victory over Kansas State in the Cotton Bowl.
Senior quarterback Brandon Allen, a Manning Award
finalist who threw 19 of his 29 touchdown passes in the second half of the season, said the team will savor the time leading up to a bowl.
“Bowl games are always fun,” Allen said. “That’s kind of the best thing about them. Practices, they’re spread out a little more so it’s not as much of a grind, and we get to travel somewhere, play somewhere cool.
“I think we deserve one, and we’re really excited for it.”
The Liberty Bowl has courted Arkansas over the final month of the season, but the Razorbacks could wind up in any of the “group of six” bowls affiliated with the SEC.
The group of six — which follows the College Football Playoff, the Sugar Bowl and the Citrus Bowl in prestige, as far as money that goes into the SEC bowl kitty, is led by the Outback Bowl, which pays $3.5 million per team.
The Texas Bowl, where Arkansas defeated Texas 31-7 last season, pays $3 million, followed by the TaxSlayer and Music City bowls, which pay $2.75 million each.
The Belk Bowl ($1.7 million) and Liberty Bowl ($1.44 million) round out the group of six, with the Birmingham Bowl ($1.1 million) and Independence Bowl ($1.2 million) the final SEC affiliated bowls.
ESPN.com’s Brett McMurphy projects the Razorbacks to play in the Music City Bowl in Nashville, Tenn., on Dec. 30 against Big Ten member Nebraska, which has a 5-7 record but sits atop the NCAA-approved teams, based on Academic Progress Rate scores, who can play in the postseason if not enough teams reach the six-victory level.
ESPN.com’s Mark Schlabach projects Arkansas into the Jan. 2 Liberty Bowl against Big 12 member Kansas State, which improved to 6-6 following its 24-23 victory over West Virginia on Saturday.
Arkansas’ 7-5 record trails division winners Alabama and Florida, as well as Ole Miss, Georgia, LSU, Tennessee, Mississippi State and Texas A&M in the SEC, but the Razorbacks’ 5-3 conference record is behind only Alabama, Florida and Ole Miss, and is tied with Georgia, LSU and Tennessee.
The Razorbacks own victories over three teams — Ole Miss, LSU and Tennessee — with better overall records, which might come into play during the bowl selection process.
No matter where Arkansas winds up in the bowl selection process, its players are thankful to have earned a little down time.
“It’s going to feel good to have a weekend off and just get to relax and watch some football,” linebacker Brooks Ellis said. “It’s been a long year and we’ve done a lot of good things.
“I’m proud of how we kept pushing hard and kept working to get those wins. We know how to handle adversity.”