Jacksonville State at No. 10 Arkansas
Kickoff: Saturday, 7 p.m. ET (pay-per-view)
Spread: No line
Watchability: Arkansas RB Knile Davis missed all of last season with a broken ankle, and coaches didn’t let their star play in a full-contact scrimmage until last Friday. Reports from the closed practice were positive, but now fans get a chance to see for themselves.
Shining stars: Arkansas: QB Tyler Wilson. The Heisman candidate is a near-lock to lead the SEC in passing yards again after throwing for 3,638 yards and 24 TDs last season, against six INTs. Wilson, who completed 62 percent of his throws, has a bunch of imposing targets in 6-foot-3 WR Cobi Hamilton, 6-3 TE Chris Gragg and 6-4 WR Brandon Mitchell. Jacksonville State: RB Washaun Ealey. Remember him? He led Georgia in rushing for two seasons but got suspended twice and was granted his release. In 10 games last season for JSU, Ealey ran for 1,082 yards and nine TDs while averaging 6.1 yards a carry.
Who could steal the show: Arkansas. WR Brandon Mitchell. The converted QB only started playing wideout in June. But at 6-4, 235 pounds with great hands, Mitchell has been impossible to cover in fall camp. Hamilton calls him “freakishly athletic.” Look for Mitchell in the red zone and also watch him seal the edge on outside runs. Jacksonville State: QB Marques Ivory. The redshirt senior is itching to play after missing most of last season with a broken leg. Starting all 12 games as a junior, he threw for a league-high 18 TDs and ranked third in total offense per game (196.6).
You going? Ranking the road trip: The visit to Fayetteville is worth it just for the “Woo, Pig Sooie!” chants. Plus, Razorback Stadium just got a $4.6 million HD video scoreboard.
Magic number for Arkansas: 11. Arkansas won 11 straight home games, the fifth-longest active streak in the nation.
Magic number for Jacksonville State: 4. The Gamecocks are a very respectable 4-14 against FBS teams, including a 49-48 double overtime win at Ole Miss in 2010. But they have played only one ranked FBS team, No. 15 Georgia Tech in 2009. Jacksonville State lost 37-17.
The game comes down to: Arkansas has way too much firepower for the defending Ohio Valley Conference champs, so there’s not much drama. But it will be fun watching Bobby Petrino’s replacement, the entertaining John L. Smith, make his debut. He’s opposed by Jack Crowe, who went 9-15 as Arkansas head coach in the early 1990s.
Prediction: Arkansas 52, Jacksonville State 7
For more up-to-the minute news and analysis from SEC bloggers Larry Hartstein and Daniel Lewis, follow @CBSSportsSEC.
