2014 @RAZORBACKFB MEDIA GUIDE
2014 OUTLOOK
2014 OUTLOOK
THE SCHEDULE Arkansas opens the 121st year of Razorback football on Aug. 30 at Auburn on the SEC Network. The Razorbacks have won seven straight season-opening contests and 14 of their last 15. UA is 94-22-4 (.800) in season openers. Arkansas will again face one of the toughest schedules in the country in 2014, with its 12 opponents combining to post a 103-54 record (.656) in 2013, including nine with at least eight wins, and three opponents ranked in the top seven of the final 2013 AP poll. According to the NCAA’s strength of schedule formula, Arkansas enters 2014 with the toughest schedule in the nation. In 2013, the Razorbacks tied a school record by facing five teams during the regular season ranked in the top 15 at the time of the game. Arkansas opens the 2014 season at Auburn, marking the first time since joining the SEC the Razorbacks will open with a conference opponent. It also will be the first time since 1999, when Arkansas opened at SMU, that Arkansas with play its season opener on the road and the first time since a 1980 match-up at Texas that the Razorbacks will begin the season with a conference game on the road. The Razorbacks renew their series with former Southwest Conference rival Texas Tech on Sept. 13. Arkansas travels to Lubbock to face the Red Raiders for the first time since 1991. Arkansas leads the all-time series, which dates back to 1957, 28-7, including a 15-2 edge in Lubbock. This season marks a return of the Southwest Classic, with Arkansas and Texas A&M playing at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The teams played in Arlington from 2009-11, with Arkansas winning all three games, before moving to a home-and-home agreement when the Aggies joined the SEC prior to the 2012 season. Arkansas picks up a new permanent crossover opponent for the 2014 season as Missouri replaces South Carolina, which had been the Razorbacks’ permanent Eastern Division foe since both schools joined the
SEC in 1992. Arkansas and Missouri end the regular season in Columbia, Mo., meeting for the first time as conference opponents on Nov. 28. The date also marks the 17th time in the last 19 years Arkansas will play on the Friday after Thanksgiving.
THE STAFF Head coach Bret Bielema’s staff is a collection of renowned recruiters and highly respected teachers of the game with a combined 181 years of coaching experience. Head coach Bret Bielema and the nine assistant coaches have combined for four national championships, 29 conference championships, 210 all-conference honorees, 33 All-Americans, 27 major award winners and 157 NFL Draft selections, including 27 first-round picks. Once in the NFL, former players of the staff have continued to make an impact. Coach Bielema had four former players in Super Bowl XLVII, more than any other head coach in the nation. All four were team captains for Coach Bielema, including Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson.
THE TEAM Arkansas’ leaders in each of the following categories from the 2013 season are projected to return to the 2014 squad: touchdowns scored, total offense, all-purpose yards, rushing, rushing touchdowns, passing, passing touchdowns, receiving touchdowns, tackles, tackles for loss, interceptions, interception return yards, pass breakups, forced fumbles, fumble recoveries, blocked kicks, kick returns and punting. UA is set to return seven starters on offense and six on defense, while also bringing back its punter from 2013. The Razorbacks return 27 players who made at least one start in 2013, including 13 who made at least six starts last season.
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