LITTLE ROCK — With the release of The Associated Press poll, all the major polls are out, and all will become secondary when the first Bowl Championship Series rankings come out in October.
The Arkansas Razorbacks are in a very good spot at No. 10 in the AP poll.
Granted, there are four SEC teams in front of them, but the Hogs play three of those so they definitely have some say in where they’ll end up.
The AP poll was the last one to be released and there was a major difference. It had Southern Cal taking No. 1 while LSU came in third, and that has everything to do with the Tigers losing defensive back Tyrann “Honey Badger” Mathieu, a Heisman Trophy finalist last season.
Mathieu has checked into rehab in Houston, which may be the smartest thing he’s ever done. But it does seem there are times when college football should qualify for a group rate at a rehab center.
Anyway, 10th seems about right for the Hogs. There doesn’t seem to be any doubt they are going to score points, maybe at a school-record pace.
Last season, without Knile Davis, the Razorbacks scored 478 points, second only to the 2007 team that scored 485.
By all accounts Paul Petrino, offensive coordinator, and John L. Smith, interim head coach, have kept in place last year’s offensive scheme.
There will be some tinkering. The Razorbacks have to find ways to get Ronnie Wingo on the field. He’s got great speed and hands and makes the wheel route seem like it should be renamed the Wingo route.
The offensive line will be improved and a little deeper. Just to make sure everyone is totally focused, some of last year’s starters have been issued a challenge by taking snaps with the second or third team.
The offense has never been the concern.
Last season, it was the top-ranked offense in the SEC, 29th in the nation, and lost to Alabama and LSU, the No. 1 and No. 2 defenses in the country, by 24 points each time.
It is no coincidence then that South Carolina, No. 3 in defense last season, and Georgia, which ranked No. 5 nationally, are ahead of Arkansas in the first AP poll. Georgia is sixth, South Carolina is ninth and Arkansas is 10th. To further illustrate how good defense is in the SEC, Florida comes in at No. 23 in the AP poll, one of six SEC teams to be ranked, and that can be attributed almost entirely to its defense, which was No. 8 nationally a year ago.
The Crimson Tide have set the standard in the conference and nationally for stingy D, and even though the Tide lost several key players on that side of the ball, it seems Nick Saban is in a position to just yell “Next,” and another four- or five-star recruit steps in.
It does appear the Razorbacks will be improved and have more depth in the defensive line.
If the defensive ends weren’t ready, Tenarius Wright couldn’t have moved to middle linebacker, or maybe there was great concern about replacing four-year starter Jerry Franklin.
Wright got banged up early hitting Davis; Alonzo Highsmith, who was a pleasant surprise last year, also has been slowed.
Highsmith tore a pectoral muscle in the spring and while he looks 100 percent physically, it sometimes takes contact to get over the mental issue.
It is just time for some of the defensive backs to step up.
The Hogs ranked 47th in total defense last season and to have a shot at an SEC championship that has to jump at least 20 spots, and could.
The defense has new eyes and ears in defensive coordinator Paul Haynes, who coached in six BCS games at Ohio State, and assistant head coach Taver Johnson, who helped the Buckeyes to five of those BCS games.
Plus, John L. Smith’s forte is defense and last week he helped himself by adding Nick Holt as recruiting coordinator — a former defensive coordinator who isn’t allowed to coach on the field but can watch film until he has raccoon eyes.
A ranking of No. 10, with four SEC teams ahead of them, leaves a challenge, especially for the defense.
Sports, Pages 21 on 08/19/2012