That sound you just heard was Arkansas passing Ole Miss in the SEC West Division. Now, and the future.
Next up: the rest of the big, bad SEC.
Go ahead and search the SEC, no team has a bigger upside right now than the team that, three weeks ago, hadn’t won a conference game in two seasons.
“We’ve got better every game,” Arkansas coach Bret Bielema said in the post-game broadcast on CBS. “I think we can play with anybody out there.”
The same guy who was laughed at when he arrived in the SEC from the Big Ten with his Maul Ball style now has a vise grip on the best conference in college football.
The same team that should have beaten No. 1 Alabama.
The same team that should have beaten No. 4 Mississippi State.
The same team that should have beaten Texas A&M.
Finally, after weeks of near misses, the shoulda and coulda have become did. The Hogs beat No. 17 LSU last week, and ambushed No. 8 Ole Miss on Saturday — and didn’t give up a point in either game.
After weeks of finding ways to lose, the Hogs are imposing their physical will on teams and punishing the best division in college football. They got bowl eligible with the win against Ole Miss, but it’s so much more than that.
What Arkansas did Saturday was serve notice to the rest of the SEC West: if you want to win the division in 2015, you better be able to line up and trade blows with the Hogs. They’re physical and fundamental and they don’t make mistakes, and they’ve embraced the very thing that every coach in the SEC worships: winning at the line of scrimmage.
On both sides of the ball.
That’s what should be concerning more than anything for the rest of the SEC heading into 2015. Arkansas not only has been controlling things on the offensive line of scrimmage, they’ve been dominating on the defensive side as well.
Alabama had 14 points. Mississippi State got 17. LSU and Ole Miss didn’t score.
The heavyweights in the best division in college football scored all of 31 points on the Arkansas defense. If that happens next year — with a majority of the starters returning on both sides of the ball — Arkansas won’t lose one of those games.
Bielema used his Maul Ball to reach three straight Rose Bowls at Wisconsin. Why would anyone think it couldn’t translate in the SEC?
Good scheme is good scheme. Smart ball is smart ball. Doesn’t matter where it’s played.
Arkansas is finally showing it on a weekly basis. And the rest of the SEC better be ready for it in 2015.