Razorbacks’ schedule for 2020 released … and it won’t be easy

FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas’ football schedule is set for the 2020 season with the full schedule released on Wednesday by the SEC and in looking at it, Paul Finebaum said on the SEC Network he wanted a season ticket next year.

The Razorbacks will host seven games inside Razorback Stadium, including four SEC games.

The 2020 season begins with Kent State on Sept. 5. The match-up with the Golden Flashes will be the first between the two schools on the gridiron. Kent State is the first of three new opponents for the Razorbacks on the football field.

A two-game road swing followed by the Hogs’ annual game against Texas A&M at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas wraps up September.

The Razorbacks will travel to Notre Dame on Sept. 12 for the first game of a home-and-home series with the Irish. Notre Dame is scheduled to travel to Fayetteville in 2025.

It is the first-ever matchup between the two schools.

Arkansas travels to Mississippi State for the first SEC contest of the season on Sept. 19.

The Razorbacks return to Fayetteville on Oct. 3 for the first of four straight home games on The Hill with the first-ever meeting against Charleston Southern. The Hogs host Alabama (Oct. 10) and LSU (Oct. 17) in back-to-back weeks before hitting the open date on Oct. 24.

Following the open date, the Razorbacks host Tennessee (Oct. 31) for the first time since 2011. Arkansas last met the Volunteers on the football field in 2015 in Knoxville.

Arkansas returns to the road the following week with a trip to Auburn (Nov. 7) before returning to Fayetteville for the final two home games of the season.

Ole Miss makes the trek to Northwest Arkansas on Nov. 14 for the teams’ annual showdown and familiar foe Louisiana-Monroe visits on Nov. 21 to finish off the home schedule for the Razorbacks.

Arkansas travels to Missouri for the Shelter Insurance Battle Line Rivalry on Nov. 28 in the regular season finale.

2020 Arkansas Football Schedule
Sept. 5 — Kent State
Sept. 12 — at Notre Dame
Sept. 19 — at Mississippi State
Sept. 26 — Texas A&M (Arlington, Texas)
Oct. 3 — Charleston Southern
Oct. 10 — Alabama
Oct. 17 — LSU
Oct. 24 — OPEN
Oct. 31 — Tennessee
Nov. 7 — at Auburn
Nov. 14 — Ole Miss
Nov. 21 — UL-Monroe
Nov. 28 — at Missouri

Information from Razorback Sports Communications is included in this story.

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Isn’t defense being ahead right now what should be happening?

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Too many folks appear to be caught up in the fact that Arkansas’ defense is ahead of the offense after four fall practices which, of course, probably is wrong on a couple of fronts.

First of all, it’s exactly four practices of more than 20 before the season opener August 31 in Razorback Stadium against Portland State. That’s not enough time to be deciding the fate of the season.

The next question is, when the offense catches up (and the guess here is it will in a couple of weeks), is the complaint going to be about yet another weak defense?

At times you wonder exactly what some fans want or even remember what to expect from a good team four practices into fall camp.

“Defensively right now we’re playing at a speed we haven’t played at since we got here,” Chad Morris said after Tuesday’s practice.

That should be an eye-opener to anyone who’s paid the least amount of attention over the past few seasons with the Razorbacks.

“I love where this team is right now,” was how Morris opened his press conference Tuesday.

He wasn’t saying that last year. Then everything was, “we’ve got a long ways to go.”

Morris hasn’t said that this year, but to compete at the top of college football’s toughest division, there going to have to be better than even where they are now.

As you might guess, the improvement of the defensive line is creating problems with the offense.

“Offensively, we’re not as consistent as we need to be, but we’re much better,” Morris said. “We’ve got a stout defensive line and they are very disruptive. We’re going to continue to push each other and get better.”

We’ve heard the defense has been dominating in these first four practices, much like they did in the spring. If you can learn to stop the simple plays on defense first, then you can worry about coaching against the big ones.

Try and do it in reverse and the opposing offenses aren’t going to try for the big plays … they won’t have to.

My guess is the offense will be okay. The scheme last year wasn’t the problem, it was simply a lack of players with the combination of skill and work ethic to make much of anything work very well.

You can look in the rearview mirror and see last year’s wreck coming a couple of years back down the road.

Now there appears to be some players.

Freshman wide receiver Treylon Burks made a big-time play in practice Tuesday. At least that’s what the media was told because we didn’t see it.

“Treylon Burks made a one-handed catch out here today that I don’t know if I’ve seen a kid make,” Morris said. “It was unbelievable.”

The folks in Warren pretty much yawned hearing that. They saw similar catches on a regular basis with the Lumberjacks over the several years.

“He’s just powerful,” Morris said. “He’s very much attention to detail and that comes with being a young guy and coming out making plays.”

Burks is not the only one of a talented group of freshmen receivers making plays. Trey Knox, Shamar Nash and TQ Jackson have shown flashes of ability and it’s elevated the play of returning receivers like Jordan Jones, Deion Stewart and De’Vion Warrn.

“The stage is not too big for these guys we brought in here,” Morris said.

And, as Morris has said, the play of the newcomers at several positions on offense has made the returning guys pick up their play dramatically.

Which is why you shouldn’t be worrying about the offense being a little behind right now.

Wait a couple of weeks.

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