Arkansas seeks 2-0 start and a fine-tuning of its offense as Kent State visits for campus opener

2023-09-08 01:22

Arkansas looks to start 2-0 for the third straight year when Kent State visits in Week 2 for the Razorbacks' first game on campus

Kent State (0-1) at Arkansas (1-0), Saturday, 4 p.m. ET (SEC Network)

Line: Arkansas by 38 1/2, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.

Series record: First meeting.

WHAT’S AT STAKE?

Arkansas found itself on the cusp of the Top 25 after beating Western Carolina 56-13 in Week 1. A win against Kent State, combined with some teams near the bottom of the poll being upset could see the Razorbacks crack the rankings for the first time in nearly a year. The Golden Flashes lost to Central Florida by 50 points last Saturday.

KEY MATCHUP

Arkansas RB Raheim Sanders vs. Kent State defensive front. Sanders, a second-team preseason All-American, didn’t have the start to his season he preferred. Western Carolina limited him to 42 yards rushing a season after he averaged 111 yards per game. Western Carolina had some success selling out against the run, and the Kent State front seven could, too.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Kent State: Linebacker Devin Nicholson had 11 tackles, including two for loss, both team highs, against UCF. Throw in that he has an SEC background - he transferred from Missouri in the offseason - and he could disrupt some of the Razorbacks’ offensive game plan.

Arkansas: Wide receiver Tyrone Broden, whose coach wants to get him more involved. The 6-foot-6 wide receiver led Bowling Green with seven touchdowns last season. The idea upon his arrival in Fayetteville was he could at least be the team’s No. 3 receiver, but he had just one catch against Western Carolina.

FACTS & FIGURES

Arkansas coach Sam Pittman recruited Kent State coach Kenni Burns when Burns was in high school in Springfield, Illinois. Pittman was offensive line coach at Northern Illinois — a Mid-American Conference member like Kent State — from 2003 to 2006. … The last time Arkansas played a MAC school was in 2015 when the Razorbacks lost to Toledo 16-12 in the second game of the season. … Kent State has not beaten a team from a Power Five conference since defeating Rutgers in 2012, though the Scarlet Knights were in the Big East at the time. Before that, it was Kansas in 1987 in the now-defunct Big Eight.

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More AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll