The No. 20 Arkansas Razorbacks (3-1, 0-0 SEC) took care of business down the stretch in a 91-72 win over the Pacific Tigers (3-3, 0-0 WCC) on Monday night.
The final score doesn’t necessarily indicate how close the game was. With just under 13 minutes to go in the game, the Razorbacks were in the middle of a dogfight and only up 59-57 after Pacific had scored five straight points.
Arkansas’ defense was able to suffocate the Tigers down the stretch though, as Pacific only made two of its last 16 field goals in the game and the Hogs were able to pull away with the win.
Here’s some of HawgBeat’s takeaways from what ended up being a much tighter contest than expected on Monday night…
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas is in the same position it was last year. Sam Pittman opted not to bring in anyone of note to supplement the existing receivers on the roster. Monte Harrison and Jordan Anthony, the two biggest offseason acquisitions have a combined 140 yards on the season.
Despite Arkansas ranking fifth in the SEC in passing yards (2,780), it is part of a larger mirage for the offense running up the score against subpar FBS defenses.
Wide Receiver Jordan Anthony (11) lines up for a route against the Texas Longhorns. Texas won 20-10 / Nilsen Roman – Hogs on SI
Perhaps even more concerning, Arkansas has left one of the best receivers in the country on an island to fend for himself. Andrew Armstrong ranks second in the SEC in both yards (931) and catches (61). Both also rank top-25 nationally.
Armstrong accounts for 33.5% of Arkansas’ receiving yards, the most of any SEC schools for a single receiver other than Dane Key of the Kentucky Wildcats. The Wildcats have just 1,834 passing yards as a team.
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Arkansas Razorbacks wide receiver Andrew Armstrong celebrating a touchdown against the LSU Tigers on Saturday night in Fayetteville, Ark. / Nilsen Roman-Hogs on SI Images
Isaiah Sategna, currently second on the Hogs in receiving, falls short of half of Armstrong’s production at 431 yards. Isaac TeSlaa just reached exactly half of his catch total from last year (17) with his lone catch for 7 yards against the Texas Longhorns.
Even tight end Luke Hasz has been held to just 278 yards through 10 games after putting up 253 yards as a true freshman in four games plus a drive before suffering a season-ending injury. Only one other tight end on the team has 25 yards receiving and he’s not even on the team anymore (Ty Washington).
Tyrone Broden, a breakout star in camp, lags even further behind at just 15 catches for 197 yards.
Pittman believes the poor wide receiver play is starting to have spillover effects for Taylen Green and his decision making with the football.
“We had a couple of missed routes that Taylen had to hold the football because we weren’t running the right route,” Pittman said. “Then we got whipped on the edge a couple times.”
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Arkansas will look for just its second 100-yard performance from a receiver not named Armstrong of the season against Louisiana Tech. TeSlaa had 120 yards against Texas A&M, 75 of which came on one catch early in the game.
Kickoff between the Razorbacks and Louisiana Tech is scheduled for 3 p.m. Saturday. The game will be streamed on SEC+.
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JONESBORO, Ark. (KAIT) – While the national average trickled down, Arkansas gas prices tumbled dramatically last week.
GasBuddy.com reported Monday that average prices in the Natural State fell 6.8 cents a gallon to $2.61.
That’s 21.4 cents a gallon less than a month ago and 24.4 cents lower than last year.
Meanwhile, the national average price of gasoline fell just 0.7 cents a gallon last week to $3.02.
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“Several states saw gas prices jump or ‘cycle’ last week, a behavior in which gas prices climb significantly after falling below a station’s replacement price,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. “This led the national average to see little meaningful change from last week, with many states experiencing a slow decline, offsetting the few states that did see big jumps.”
However, he said those states that saw large jumps at the pumps should see huge declines this week.
De Haan expects the national average to fall below $3 per gallon just in time for Thanksgiving.
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BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Razorbacks -24.5; over/under is 148
BOTTOM LINE: Pacific faces No. 18 Arkansas after Elias Ralph scored 23 points in Pacific’s 60-57 loss to the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks.
Arkansas finished 16-17 overall with an 11-6 record at home during the 2023-24 season. The Razorbacks averaged 77.8 points per game while shooting 45.3% from the field and 31.8% from behind the arc last season.
The Tigers are 0-1 on the road. Pacific ranks fourth in the WCC with 16.8 assists per game led by Lamar Washington averaging 8.2.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
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