After a miserable 43-20 loss to the Georgia Bulldogs, the Florida Gators (5-3, 3-2 SEC) have the opportunity to clinch bowl eligibility with a win against the Arkansas Razorbacks (2-6, 0-5 SEC) Saturday at home.
The Razorbacks enter Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in the midst of a nightmarish season. Arkansas has lost six games in a row and recently fired offensive coordinator Dan Enos in an effort to combat its offensive struggles.
However, the losing record doesn’t paint the picture of their entire season.
“Although their record doesn't reflect it, they've been in every football game,” UF head coach Billy Napier said Monday. “This is a team that's lost a lot of close games.”
The Razorbacks have lost by a combined 13 total points to three top 15 teams in the AP Poll — No. 8 Alabama, No. 11 Ole Miss and No. 13 Louisiana State.
Arkansas’ offense has shown its struggles, but with new offensive coordinator Kenny Guiton and a stout defense, there’s potential for a looming upset.
“I do think they’ve played really good defense,” Napier said. “This will be a challenge.”
The Razorbacks are the No. 32-ranked defense in the FBS based on yards per game. Led by junior defensive lineman Landon Jackson, Arkansas’ interior line has exasperated opposing quarterbacks and produced 22 sacks, the 24th-most in college football.
Jackson has been the main focal point upfront. He leads the team with 10.5 tackles-for-loss, and 5.5 sacks. In addition to the junior defensive lineman, redshirt junior linebacker Jaheim Thomas has been equally as important for the Razorbacks defense.
Thomas is second on the team in sacks and tackles-for-loss. He has 74 total tackles, which is 25 more than the next player on Arkansas’ defense, and two pass-break-ups.
Seemingly, the only weakness of the Razorbacks defense is the amount of yards it allows per completion. Arkansas surrenders 13.31 passing yards each completion, which could open up the opportunity for redshirt junior quarterback Graham Mertz to throw the deep-ball to targets like senior wideout Ricky Pearsall or true freshman receiver Eugene “Tre” Wilson III.
Last week, Wilson set the Florida freshman record for the most receptions in a game with 11. He finished the contest with 75 receiving yards and a score.
The biggest challenge that will come on the opposite side of the field is containing Razorbacks quarterback K.J. Jefferson. Jefferson, a dual-threat quarterback, has thrown for 1547 passing yards and 14 touchdowns as well as rushed for 200 yards.
He has been doomed by a weak offensive line, though, that has surrendered 24 sacks in its last five contests.
The Gators’ defense, which has struggled with producing sacks all season, will have to make do without redshirt sophomore linebacker Shemar James, who went down with a season-ending knee injury against Georgia.
Florida might also be without edge rusher Tyreak Sapp and defensive lineman Cam Jackson, who are both listed as questionable.
Young defensive linemen like sophomore Jack Pyburn, sophomore Chris McClellan and freshman Kelby Collins will have to step up if UF can apply similar pressure its presented in previous contests.
Florida’s best opportunity to become bowl eligible is noon Saturday. The Gators will wrap up their season and face three top 15 opponents — No. 13 LSU, No. 14 Missouri and No. 5 Florida State — the final three weeks of the season.
The Gators and Arkansas will face off noon Saturday at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2.
Contact Luke Adragna at ladragna@alligator.org. Follow him on Twitter @lukeadrag.
Luke Adragna is a third-year journalism student and the Florida Gators football reporter at The Alligator. He is a cat ethusiast and completes the NYT Daily Mini in less than a minute each day.
