Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

Each week during the football season, the ArkansasSports360.com’s staff of Chris Bahn and moderator Jim Harris conducts a no-holds-barred “pressbox roundtable” with selected experts/guest columnists for AS360.com, including former Razorback All-America defensive end Bruce James and radio personalities from around the state.

This week, we discuss the Razorbacks 9-1 season to this point going into the Mississippi State game Saturday in Little Rock. Also, we look at where the Heisman Trophy race stands, and whether Arkansas should or will be a factor in the SEC championship or the BCS championship. Lastly, we look at the Dallas Cowboys' fortunes after their impressive win against Buffalo and whether anybody stops the Green Bay Packers.

Join in the conversation in the comments section below.

Jim Harris: Arkansas appears to be on a roll; or is it that the competition is that weak? What's your assessment of the 9-1 Hogs after the win over Tennessee?

Bruce James: As a player or coach, you play the schedule you have. You can’t help what level your competition is at. Arkansas has adjusted quite well in the games against South Carolina and Tennessee. They are playing excellent football right now. Watching what they have done with their schemes, offensively and defensively, they are hitting stride at the appropriate time. Yes, the SEC and even the out-of-conference competition is not what we expected, but it’s still the SEC and it’s who we’re playing and we’re playing every well against it right now.

Chris Bahn: Honestly, the only awful teams during this six-game win streak have been Tennessee and Ole Miss. So I find it hard to dismiss what the Razorbacks have done, particularly with the way they’ve played the last two weeks. Arkansas seems to have figured out how to get big plays and touchdown in all three phases (today's column topic, in fact) and is improving by the week. It seems to be how they operate under Petrino.

Brent Birch, CEO of Flex360 and former Razorback baseball player: Hogs are playing good football but a couple of factors helped that out quite a bit. Playing in Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium and against two teams without their starting QB and best offensive weapons (RB Marcus Lattimore for SC and WR Justin Hunter for Tennessee). The injury bug seems to be biting everyone in the league. Don't want to diminish the Hog wins too much, though. The Razorbacks did what they were supposed to and seem to be hitting their stride in November. Still not sure the offense has totally clicked for a majority of a game ... and that is scary. The running game was solid against Tennessee, but I think the Vols laid down in the fourth quarter. Having DE Tank Wright back is going to pay off down the stretch. Tyler Wilson needs to clean up those fundamentals on the footwork to improve his accuracy. Seems to be on roller skates sometimes. He's probably gun shy from all those hits he took early in the year. Missed some throws he shouldn't and the offense can't afford those against the improved defenses they will see from here on out.

Justin Acri, program director of KABZ-FM 103.7 The Buzz: This team sure likes its home cooking after a tough road stretch. Opponents aren't at full strength, to be sure, but this team appears to be peaking at the right time. If they blow out MSU, I will commit to that sentiment.

TJ Carpenter, Fayetteville radio talk show host: They're 9-1. I could be mistaken, I don't believe I am, but haven't both South Carolina AND Tennessee allegedly recruited much better than the Razorbacks over the past four or five years? So they allegedly have the athletes. South Carolina at least allegedly has the coaching. Both allegedly have better resources. And yet, we should view these teams as weak? South Carolina and Tennessee waste most of their opportunity and resources. Arkansas does not. Arkansas wins games. Arkansas is a better football team, but lets not pretend as though it has been beating up on the Sisters of the Poor. These are teams and programs which, on paper, should beat the Razorbacks every season. Unfortunately for the projected East champs, South Carolina, and one of the more storied programs in the SEC, Tennessee, the game is played on the field. And on the field, Arkansas is firing on all cylinders.

Mark Carter, AS360 predictions guru: The Hogs finally seem to be passing the "eye test." When LSU and ’Bama beat Tennessee, nobody suggested the competition was weak. When Auburn pulled out miracles against less-than-Top 20 teams last year, it didn't seem to matter. If I'm LSU, my focus is on building a 40-point halftime lead, because these Hogs generally don't mess around in the second half.