The tingly feeling Arkansas' road upset of #2 Auburn gave to its fans on Saturday will last through the month of October. With three utterly winnable games lined up against the likes of Southeast Missouri State, Ole Miss and Louisana-Monroe, it's hard to imagine the Hogs being anything less than 7-1 headed into the month of October. Already up by two full games in the SEC West race, the Razorbacks have seen a season of uncertainty rapidly develop into one of unbridled optimism.
And yet, there's one major side effect that accompanies Arkansas' new piece of real estate (#17 in the AP, #23 in the Coaches) in the Top 25 polls: raised expectations. A loss on the road against South Carolina in early November is no longer acceptable. A loss to Tennessee at home on the 11th of November may not be either. This is what happens when you win big games . . . People just expect more out of you.
Even with the weight of increased expectations in play, there are clearly many things to be excited about in terms of this year's young Razorback football team. With Darren McFadden emerging as the most dominant tailback in the SEC, with Felix Jones proving to be a phenomenal change of pace runner, with an offensive line that just dominated the second-ranked Tigers, with a talented young receiving corps starting to find its way, with a true feshman quarterback who's learning on the job what it takes to pilot the ship of a winning SEC team, with a Gus Malzahn playbook that's only just beginning to open up---there's no doubt that this team has barely scratched the surface offensively. And that bodes awfully scary for the remaining opponents on Arkansas' schedule.
Houston Nutt survived all of the September negativity and very well may prove to have the last laugh with this team. In addition to the improving offense, the defense has come a long way in a short amount of time, with the front four of Keith Jackson, Marcus Harrison, Jamaal Anderson and Antwain Robinson finally gelling as a unit and getting consistent pressure on opposing backfields. The linebacking corps is thin, for sure, but it's filled with steady tacklers in Sam Olajubutu, Weston Dacus and converted safety Matt Hewitt. And the secondary has plenty of speed, though it'd be nice to see the cover guys turn their heads to see the football on a few more plays.
What does it all boil down to? Arkansas is in a commanding position, solely in the driver's seat of the SEC West. Sweep the highly sweepable slate in October, take three of four from South Carolina, Tennessee, Mississippi State and LSU in November (plausible at the least) and you'll get the chance to take your best shot at Florida in the SEC Championship game first week of December in Atlanta.
Win that one and you will be playing in a BCS game. Some would call it unrealistic dreaming, I call it a now distinct possibility. Arkansas just might end up the best team in the 2006 Southeastern Conference when all is said and done.
How would you feel about those apples, Razorback nation?
-JAB
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