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28 NWA College Football Preview 2019 Sunday, August 25, 2019 PLACE Reynolds Razorback Stadium, Fay- etteville 2018 RECORD 8-5, 3-5 SEC COACH Gus Malzahn (53-27 in six seasons at Auburn, 62-30 overall in seven seasons) RETURNING STARTERS 6 offense, 7 de- fense KEY PLAYERS DT Derrick Brown, DE Nick Coe, OT Prince Tega Wanogho, RB JaTarvi- ous Whitlow 2019 SCHEDULE Aug. 31 ............. vs. Oregon (Arlington, Texas) Sept. 7 ................................................... Tulane Sept. 14 ...........................................Kent State Sept. 21 ..................................... at Texas A&M Sept. 28 ................................ Mississippi State Oct. 5 ................................................ at Florida Oct. 19 .......................................... at Arkansas Oct. 26 .................................................. at LSU Nov. 2 ................................................ Ole Miss Nov. 16 ................................................Georgia Nov. 23 ............................................... Samford Nov. 30 .............................................. Alabama OUTLOOK Gus Malzahn is on most coaching hot-seat lists, but his teams have a history of bouncing back from disappointing seasons. Malzahn led the Tigers to a 12-2 record and the SEC championship in 2013 after Auburn was 3-9 in 2012. In 2017, the Tigers went 10-4 and won the SEC West when Malzahn also was on the hot seat after seasons of 8-5, 7-6 and 8-5. The Tigers should be tough and physical on defense as usual, led by tackle Derrick Brown, and ends Nick Coe and Mar- lon Davidson. They also have all five starters back on the offensive line, led by tackle Prince Tega Wanogho. The key to the season likely will be finding a reliable starting quarterback. The top candidates are redshirt freshman Joey Gatewood and true freshman Bo Nix, an ear- ly enrollee who went through spring practice. The SEC schedule is tough as always, but the Tigers at least get Georgia and Alabama at home. They have an open date before their road trip to Arkansas. A victory over Oregon in the season opener at AT&T Stadium in Ar- lington, Texas, could lift the Tigers into the top 10 nationally. GAME 8 ALABAMA DATE Oct. 26 PLACE Bryant-Denny Stadium, Tuscaloosa, Ala. 2018 RECORD 14-1, 8-0 SEC COACH Nick Saban (146-21 in 12 seasons at Alabama, 232-63-1 overall in 23 seasons) RETURNING STARTERS 6 offense, 6 de- fense KEY PLAYERS QB Tua Tagovailoa, WR Jerry Jeudy, RB Najee Harris, LB Dylan Moses 2019 SCHEDULE Aug. 31 ................................vs. Duke (Atlanta) Sept. 7 ................................New Mexico State Sept. 14 ............................... at South Carolina Sept. 21 ..........................Southern Mississippi Sept. 28 ............................................. Ole Miss Oct. 12 ....................................... at Texas A&M Oct. 19 ............................................Tennessee Oct. 26 .............................................. Arkansas Nov. 9 ........................................................LSU Nov. 16 ............................. at Mississippi State Nov. 23 ................................ Western Carolina Nov. 30 ............................................. at Auburn OUTLOOK Only Alabama could win an SEC championship, reach the College Football Playoff for the fifth consecutive year, win the Orange Bowl and consider it a disappointing season. The disappointment after a 14-0 start came in a shocking 44-16 loss to Clemson in the national title game. That loss gave Crimson Tide Coach Nick Saban plenty of material to use as motivation as he goes for his seventh national championship. The Tide lost a lot of talent to the NFL as usual, but they always reload thanks to top-rated recruiting classes. Junior quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is back after finishing runner-up in the Heisman Trophy vot- ing. He passed for 3,996 yards and 43 touch- downs last season with just 6 interceptions. Junior Najee Harris, who rushed for 783 yards last season, leads a talented group of running backs. Junior Jerry Jeudy had 68 catches for 1,315 yards and 14 touchdowns a year ago. Junior linebacker Dylan Moses (86 tackles last season) leads the defense. Alabama will be going for its 13th consecutive victory over Arkansas, which last beat the Tide 24-23 in double overtime in 2006. GAME 9 MISSISSIPPI STATE DATE Nov. 2 PLACE Reynolds Razorback Stadium, Fay- etteville 2018 RECORD 8-5, 4-4 SEC COACH Joe Moorhead (8-5 in one season at Mississippi State) RETURNING STARTERS 6 offense, 3 de- fense KEY PLAYERS RB Kylin Hill, C Darryl Wil- liams, LB Erroll Thompson, CB Cameron Dantzler 2019 SCHEDULE Aug. 31 ......... vs. La.-Lafayette (New Orleans) Sept. 7 ......................................Southern Miss Sept. 14 ......................................Kansas State Sept. 21 .............................................Kentucky Sept. 28 ............................................ at Auburn Oct. 12 ........................................at Tennessee Oct. 19 .......................................................LSU Oct. 26 ....................................... at Texas A&M Nov. 2 ........................................... at Arkansas Nov. 16 .............................................. Alabama Nov. 23 .................................Abilene Christian Nov. 28 .............................................. Ole Miss OUTLOOK Joe Moorhead came to Missis- sippi State after an impressive run as Penn State's offensive coordinator, but it was the defense that carried the Bulldogs last season while they struggled offensively in SEC play before blowing out Arkansas 52-6 and Ole Miss 35-3. Mississippi State lost eight start- ers on defense, so for the Bulldogs to reach a bowl game for the ninth consecutive year, they'll likely need to get more production on offense. With the loss of Nick Fitzgerald, Moorhead needs to decide on his starting quarterback between junior Keytaon Thomp- son and Tommy Stevens, a graduate transfer from Penn State. Thompson passed for 458 yards and 6 touchdowns last season, and rushed for 226 yards and 4 touchdowns, so he has some experience. Junior running back Kylin Hill gained 734 yards on 117 carries — a 6.3 average — last season when he was slowed by a hamstring injury. Defensively, the Bulldogs will be led by junior linebacker Erroll Thompson, who had 87 tackles and 2 inter- ceptions last season. GAME 10 WESTERN KENTUCKY DATE Nov. 9 PLACE Reynolds Razorback Stadium, Fay- etteville 2018 RECORD 3-9, 2-6 Conference USA COACH Tyson Helton (first season) RETURNING STARTERS 10 offense, 6 de- fense KEY PLAYERS QB Ty Storey, WR Jacquez Sloan, WR Lucky Jackson, DE DeAngelo Malone 2019 SCHEDULE Aug. 29 .................................Central Arkansas Sept. 7 .........................at Florida International Sept. 14 ..........vs. Louisville (Nashville, Tenn.) Sept. 28 ........................Alabama-Birmingham Oct. 5 ..................................... at Old Dominion Oct. 12 ..................................................... Army Oct. 19 ......................North Carolina-Charlotte Oct. 26 ............................................at Marshall Nov. 2 ...................................... Florida Atlantic Opponents v Continued from Page 27 AP File Photo Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa works through drills in Alabama's fall camp fan-day scrimmage on Aug. 3 at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Ala. v Continued on next page