Arkansas coach Bret Bielema said it was a "major statement" that the SEC had 10 teams in the AP Top 25 entering Week 2. Well, his team won't be in the AP poll when it's next unveiled on Sunday.
Arkansas' offense struggled to get anything going on Saturday at home against Toledo and fell 16-10. The Hogs had a lengthy drive in the fourth quarter with a chance to take the lead. But quarterback Brandon Allen's passes on third and fourth down went out of the back of the end zone. OK, the third down pass did. The fourth down pass hit the crossbar.
The turnover on downs gave Toledo the ball back with less than two minutes remaining. Arkansas forced a three-and-out, and got the ball back with under a minute remaining and no timeouts after Toledo conceded a safety to kill time and gain field position. Allen got two shots at the end zone from inside the 20 in the final six seconds. Both of those passes also flew out of the end zone.
Arkansas was considered by many to be a team on the rise entering 2015. And while the Hogs would have to survive a seemingly tough SEC West to stay in the top 25, it's now out of the poll before conference play begins thanks to a loss to a MAC team. It's hard to take talk about the toughness of a conference schedule (and the softness of another team's conference slate) seriously when a team can't get through its non-conference schedule unscathed.
And given what we saw on Sunday, it's hard to take Arkansas seriously as a possible SEC West champion. The Hogs' ground game was ineffective; the team averaged just over three yards per carry. That meant Allen was forced to shoulder a lot of the offensive load. And just like last year, when the recipe included a lot of Allen passes it didn't turn out well.
Allen threw 32-of-53 passing for 416 yards with an interception. Not the worst stats in the world. But as evidenced by the Hogs' 10 points, he couldn't turn the drives into touchdowns.
Arkansas has Texas Tech next week before it starts conference play with Texas A&M, Alabama and Tennessee. The Razorbacks' SEC hopes aren't dead; Missouri won the SEC East in 2014 after losing to Indiana. But if the SEC West and the conference as a whole is as tough as Bielema said it is, his team looks more likely to play the role of spoiler than of title contender.
For more Arkansas news, visit HawgSports.com.
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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!