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26 NWA Democrat-Gazette College Football Preview Sunday, August 27, 2017 Nine wins projected for the Hogs AUG. 31 ARKANSAS 51, FLORIDA A&M 3 LITTLE ROCK — Devwah Whaley rushes for 141 yards and 2 touchdowns while Jared Cornelius, Austin Cantrell, Jordan Jones and Deon Edwards catch scoring passes in the Razorback' romp at War Memorial Stadium. The Razorbacks hold Florida A&M, coached by former Arkansas passing game coordina- tor Alex Wood, off the board until the fourth quarter. De'Jon Harris, Santos Ramirez and Karl Roesler all notch takeaways for the Hogs, while Randy Ramsey posts a pair of sacks. SEPT. 9 TCU 32, ARKANSAS 31 FAYETTEVILLE — The Horned Frogs get some payback for last year's double overtime victory by the Hogs in Fort Worth, notching their first win at Reynolds Razorback Stadium since Oct. 6, 1984. Kenny Hill rushes for a couple of touchdowns, the last with 45 seconds remaining. He in- stinctively raises his finger to his neck after the score as if to start a throat-slash gesture, but he thinks better of it and instead falls backward, laughing as he's mobbed by team- mates. The Hogs fall to 0-2 in return games against former Southwest Conference rivals in the last three years after beating them on the road the previous season. TCU Coach Gary Patterson does not bring up ass kicking. Devwah Whaley runs for 85 yards, and Chase Hayden has a 45-yard touchdown jaunt as part of a breakout game with 80 rushing yards. SEPT. 23 ARKANSAS 30, TEXAS A&M 27 (OT) ARLINGTON, Texas — Austin Allen rolls right and throws a pop pass to uncovered tight end Cheyenne O'Grady in overtime to help Arkan- sas snap its five-game losing streak against its former Southwest Conference rival. Josh Liddell stops Trayveon Williams at the Hogs' 2-yard line in the Aggies' overtime pos- session, forcing a field goal. It is the third game between the rivals to go an extra period in the last four years. Jonathan Nance, Devwah Whaley and Chase Hayden score the Hogs' other touchdowns, and Dre Greenlaw recovers a fumble on a sack-strip. The Razorbacks improve to 13-6 in overtime games and 4-3 under Coach Bret Bielema, who beats his buddy Kevin Sumlin for the first time. SEPT. 30 ARKANSAS 47, NEW MEXICO STATE 12 FAYETTEVILLE — McTelvin Agim runs a fum- ble back 50 yards for a touchdown to highlight a five-takeaway day for the Razorbacks. De'Andre Coley forces a pair of fumbles, re- covered by Dwayne Eugene and Agim, and the trio of Ryan Pulley, Kevin Richardson and Randy Ramsey notches interceptions. La'Michael Pettway catches five passes for 116 yards for his first 100-yard game, and Austin Allen passes for 305 yards and has touchdown strikes to Jared Cornelius, T.J. Hammonds and Brandon Martin. OCT. 7 ARKANSAS 24, SOUTH CAROLINA 14 COLUMBIA, S.C. — David Williams rushes for a career-best 115 yards and two touchdowns as the Razorbacks improve to 4-1 overall and 6-6 at Williams-Brice Stadium. Henre' Toliver's 61-yard punt return sets up one score and a fumble recovery by Austin Capps precedes Austin Allen's touchdown strike to Deon Stewart. The Razorbacks move up to No. 18 in the AP poll. Williams, the former Gamecock, beats his pre- vious career-high of 110 rushing yards against Furman in 2014. OCT. 14 ALABAMA 34, ARKANSAS 17 TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The No. 1 Crimson Tide extends its winning streak to 11 consecu- tive games in the series as Jalen Hurts passes for two touchdowns and runs for another in the victory over No. 18 Arkansas. A large animatronics outfit agrees on a $2 million annual deal to create a motion-capture 3-D hologram likeness of Nick Saban's statue, which claps and paces and has sayings like T H E F O R E C A S T FAYETTEVILLE — The Forecast started 2016 with a dominating 8-2 run in predicting the outcomes of Arkansas Razorbacks games, including 3-0 on the tricky trio of at Auburn, then home against Florida and LSU which wrapped up the first 10 games. Then the crystal ball went cloudy. The Forecast missed the Hogs' road victory at Mississippi State, picked the Razorbacks to beat Missouri 27-15, then pro- jected a bowl victory over Texas Tech in Houston. So yeah, that's an 0-3 finish to an 8-5 season for the picker. An 8-5 record represented the third tier in the SEC in 2016, so we're aiming to pick it up a notch with the vision for 2017. The most accurate predictions from last year: 52-6 over Alcorn State (actual score 52-10); 30-27 over Ole Miss (in OT) with an actual score of 34-30; and 45-9 over Texas State (42-3). Worst misses: a 21-17 loss at Auburn (56-3), a 17-13 loss to Alabama (49-30) and a 32-31 loss at Mississippi State (a 58-42 victory). The Forecast does need to look deep in the glass and ask itself: Are we going to keep projecting victories over Texas A&M? Because that hasn't been working out so well. Read ahead to see what comes of that. What follows is a fanciful forecast of how 2017 will play out for the Razorbacks, though the outcome pre- dictions are seriously for real, no kidding. TOM MURPHY ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE HAWGS ILLUSTRATED JASON IVESTER Arkansas quarterback Austin Allen tries to get into the end zone against Texas A&M on Sept. 24 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Arkansas Razorbacks 2017 Schedule DATE OPPONENT Aug. 31 (Thurs.) .................. vs. Florida A&M# Sept. 9 ..................................................... TCU Sept. 23 ................................vs. Texas A&M*$ Sept. 30 ............................. New Mexico State Oct. 7 ................................. at South Carolina* Oct. 14 ......................................... at Alabama* Oct. 21 ................................................Auburn* Oct. 28 ......................................... at Ole Miss* Nov. 4 ................................... Coastal Carolina Nov. 11 ................................................ at LSU* Nov. 18................................ Mississippi State* Nov. 24 (Fri.) .....................................Missouri* * — Denotes Southeastern Conference game # — War Memorial Stadium, Little Rock $ — AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas 2016 Results OPPONENT RESULT Louisiana Tech .................................. W 21-20 at TCU ....................................W 41-38 (2 OT) Texas State .......................................... W 42-3 Texas A&M* ........................................ L 24-15 Alcorn State ....................................... W 52-10 Alabama* ............................................ L 49-30 Ole Miss* ........................................... W 34-30 at Auburn* ............................................ L 56-3 Florida* .............................................. W 31-10 LSU* ....................................................L 38-10 at Mississippi State* .......................... W 58-42 at Missouri* ......................................... L28-24 Va. Tech# ............................................ L 35-24 * — SEC game # — Belk Bowl v Continued on next page