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34 Arkansas Football Sunday, August 26, 2018 Nov. 17 ..................................... Florida Atlantic Nov. 24 .......................... at Texas-San Antonio OUTLOOK North Texas should have a high-powered offense led by junior quarter- back Mason Fine, the Conference USA offen- sive player of the year in 2017 when he com- pleted 324 of 511 passes for 4,052 yards and 31 touchdowns with 15 interceptions. Against SMU, which was coached by new Arkansas Coach Chad Morris, Fine completed 32 of 47 passes for 424 yards and 3 touchdowns, though the Mustangs won 54-32. Fine has four receivers back who had at least 30 catches last season, led by junior Michael Lawrence, who had 62 receptions for 819 yards. Mean Green Coach Seth Littrell, who played running back at Oklahoma, was an assistant at Texas Tech, Arizona, Indiana and North Carolina be- fore coming to North Texas in 2016. GAME 4 AUBURN DATE Sept. 22 PLACE Jordan-Hare Stadium, Auburn, Ala. 2017 RECORD 10-4, 7-1 SEC COACH LAST SEASON 10-4, 7-1 (tie 1st) in SEC West COACH Gus Malzahn (45-22 in five seasons at Auburn, 54-25 in six seasons overall) RETURNING STARTERS 6 offense, 7 de- fense KEY PLAYERS QB Jarrett Stidham, WR Ryan Davis, LB Deshaun Davis, DL Dontavius Rus- sell. 2018 SCHEDULE Sept. 1 ....................... vs Washington (Atlanta) Sept. 8 ......................................Alabama State Sept. 15 ..................................................... LSU Sept. 22 .............................................Arkansas Sept. 29 .................................... Southern Miss Oct. 6 .................................at Mississippi State Oct. 13 ............................................ Tennessee Oct. 20 ............................................at Ole Miss Nov. 3 .............................................Texas A&M Nov. 10 ............................................ at Georgia Nov. 17 .................................................. Liberty Nov. 24 ...........................................at Alabama OUTLOOK The Tigers have the talent and experience to again win the SEC West and they shouldn't be lacking in motivation after ending last season with losses to Georgia in the SEC Championship Game and to Central Florida in the Peach Bowl. Junior quarterback Jarrett Stidham passed for 3,158 yards and 31 touchdowns in his first season with the Tigers a year ago and should be more comfortable running the offense. Auburn has some holes to fill on offense, but Coach Gus Malzahn said the defense — especially the front seven — may be as good as the Tigers have had in his nine seasons in the program, including three years as offensive coordinator from 2009-2011. Arkansas made a run at hiring Malzahn after firing Bret Bielema, but Auburn kept him with a seven-year, $49 million contract. GAME 5 TEXAS A&M DATE Sept. 29 PLACE AT& Stadium, Arlington, Texas 2017 RECORD 7-6, 4-4 SEC COACH Jimbo Fisher (first season at Texas A&M, 83-23 in eight seasons at Texas A&M). RETURNING STARTERS 7 offense, 8 de- fense KEY RETURNING PLAYERS RB Trayveon Williams, WR Jhamon Austin, LB Tyrel Dod- son, DE Landis Durham. 2018 SCHEDULE Aug. 30 .....................Northwestern (La.) State Sept. 8 ................................................Clemson Sept. 15 ...............................Louisiana-Monroe Sept. 22 ..........................................at Alabama Sept. 29 ...........vs Arkansas (Arlington, Texas) Oct. 6 ................................................. Kentucky Oct. 13 ..................................at South Carolina Oct. 27 ...............................at Mississippi State Nov. 3 ............................................... at Auburn Nov. 10 ...............................................Ole Miss Nov. 17 ......................... Alabama-Birmingham Nov. 24 ...................................................... LSU OUTLOOK Texas A&M gave new Coach Jim- bo Fisher a 10-year, $75-million contract to do the same thing for the Aggies he did at Florida State — win a national championship. Fisher led the Seminoles to the national title in 2013 when they beat Auburn 34-31. He takes over an Aggies team with some talent, including two quarterbacks with starting experience in sophomores Nick Starkel and Kellen Mond, but the Aggies don't look to have the firepower to beat Alabama or Auburn this season. Texas A&M will be try to extend its winning streak against Arkansas to seven years. Fisher will attempt to become the first of Alabama Coach Nick Saban's former assistants to beat him. Saban is 12-0 against his former assistants. Fisher was LSU's offensive coordinator when Saban coached the Tigers. GAME 6 ALABAMA DATE Oct. 6 PLACE Reynolds Razorback Stadium, Fay- etteville 2017 RECORD 13-1, 7-1 SEC COACH Nick Saban (132-20 in 11 seasons at Alabama, 223-62-1 in 22 seasons overall) RETURNING STARTERS 7 offense, 3 de- fense KEY RETURNING PLAYERS QB Jalen Hurts, QB Tua Tagovailoa, RB Damien Harris, LB Anfernee Jennings 2018 SCHEDULE Sept. 1 ................. vs Louisville (Orlando, Fla.) Sept. 8 ..................................... Arkansas State Sept. 15 ..........................................at Ole Miss Sept. 22 ..........................................Texas A&M Sept. 29 ............................ Louisiana-Lafayette Oct. 6 .............................................at Arkansas Oct. 13 ................................................ Missouri Oct. 20 ........................................ at Tennessee Nov. 3 ....................................................at LSU Nov. 10 ..................................Mississippi State Nov. 17 .......................................... The Citadel Nov. 24 ................................................. Auburn OUTLOOK Other SEC programs got bad news before the start of fall camp when Ala- bama announced it was extending Coach Nick Saban's contract to 2025. At 66, the man who has won six national championships — includ- ing five at Alabama since 2009 — is showing no signs of slowing down and no interest in retiring. Despite the annual loss of talent to the NFL that included four first-round picks after last season, the Crimson Tide again are load- ed thanks to the top-rated recruiting classes Saban continues to stack on top of each other year after year. The big question for Alabama is who will be the starting quarterback — Ja- len Hurts or Tua Tagovailoa — but whoever wins the job, expect the Tide to keep rolling. Arkansas is 0-11 against Alabama since Sa- ban was hired. GAME 7 OLE MISS DATE Oct. 13 PLACE War Memorial Stadium, Little Rock 2017 RECORD 6-6, 3-5 SEC COACH Matt Luke (6-6 last season as Ole Miss interim coach) RETURNING STARTERS 8 offense, 7 de- fense KEY PLAYERS QB Jordan Ta'amu, WR A.J. Brown, OT Greg Little, DT Josiah Coatney. 2018 SCHEDULE Sept. 1 ...................... vs Texas Tech (Houston) Sept. 8 ....................................Southern Illinois Sept. 15 ..............................................Alabama Sept. 22 ........................................... Kent State Sept. 29 .................................................at LSU Oct. 6 ...................................Louisiana-Monroe Oct. 13 ...................... at Arkansas (Little Rock) Oct. 20 .................................................. Auburn Nov. 3 .......................................South Carolina Nov. 10 .......................................at Texas A&M Nov. 17 .........................................at Vanderbilt Nov. 22 .Mississippi State (Thanksgiving Day) OUTLOOK The Rebels' 31-28 victory at Mis- sissippi State to win the Egg Bowl last season clinched the Ole Miss coaching job for Matt Luke after he took over on an interim basis when Hugh Freeze was forced to resign. Hav- ing Luke's status solidified provides some sta- bility for the program, but the Rebels face a bowl ban for a second consecutive season. They have some star players, notably junior wide receiver A.J. Brown, who last season had Capsules v Continued from Page 33 AP File Photo Auburn quarterback Jarrett Stidham (left) gets past Alabama linebacker Dylan Moses to carry the ball in for a touchdown Nov. 25 during the second half of the Iron Bowl in Auburn, Ala. Auburn has high hopes for Stidham, who was one of the SEC's most efficient passers as a first-year starter. v Continued on next page