Arkansas-Tennessee
Saturday, Oct. 11
4:15 p.m. Eastern, 1:15 p.m. Pacific
SEC Network
The Tennessee Volunteers absorbed a tough overtime loss to Georgia in September, which reduces their margin for error this SEC season. Tennessee cannot realistically expect to make the College Football Playoff if it can’t beat the Arkansas Razorbacks in Week 7. The idea of Tennessee running the table through the SEC gauntlet for a month and a half just doesn’t seem realistic. This is a game the Vols have to win if they want to achieve all or even most of their goals this season.
What made the Georgia loss especially painful — as though overtime losses aren’t painful enough — is that Tennessee led for large portions of the game and had a late advantage, only to let Georgia march downfield and score when the Vols held the upper hand. Tennessee has to regain the belief that it will make the plays it needs to make at the right times.
Arkansas-Tennessee highlighted by Bobby Petrino
Former Arkansas head coach is back as the Boss Hog — how much trouble can he make for the Vols?
It’s a reality straight from the pages of The Onion … except it’s actually real. It is simply too preposterous to contemplate. Bobby Petrino — yeah, the same coach who interfered with Arkansas Athletic Department procedure and policy, and who improperly used a school-provided phone, to violate various school and state guidelines, all while conducting a wild and lavish affair with a former Arkansas volleyball player named Jessica Dorrell — is somehow back as Arkansas head coach. It’s hard to comprehend.
Arkansas installed Petrino as head coach after firing Sam Pittman. The idea that there was no one else Arkansas could have — or should have — chosen as head coach rings hollow. Yet, here we are, with Petrino leading Arkansas against Tennessee in a game filled with uncertainties for the Razorbacks.
Arkansas got clobbered by Notre Dame, the game which pushed Sam Pittman out the door. Nothing went right for the Razorbacks, whose defense has been a sieve this season. Petrino will want to control the ball so that Tennessee’s offense stays on the sidelines as long as possible. Can Arkansas be potent while also controlling the ball and the clock?
Arkansas Razorbacks-Tennessee Volunteers Odds
Hear TJ Rives and Jason Powers break down this game on the “3 Dog Thursday” Podcast by clicking Play below:
Spread: Arkansas +12.5 (-110), Tennessee -12.5 (-110)
Total: 68.5 (Over -110, Under -110)
Underdog moneyline: Arkansas +360
The Arkansas defense figures to get absolutely torched by the Tennessee offense. Joey Aguilar, the quarterback who went to Knoxville to play for the Vols after transferring from UCLA due to Nico Iamaleava’s arrival, has been very good in coach Josh Heupel’s offense. It is hard to see how Arkansas will be able to slow down the Vols in this game. Bobby Petrino knows his way around a chalkboard as an X-and-O play-caller and play designer, but he is highly unlikely to fix what’s wrong with the Arkansas defense in a short time. Tennessee should be able to score in the high 30s at minimum, probably in the 40s, which makes it hard to trust Arkansas at the given point spread. At 17.5 instead of 12.5, Arkansas would be worth a longer look, but Tennessee winning by two touchdowns seems like a very realistic outcome.