It has been one of the crazier sports afternoons I can remember in Arkansas, and my involvement with sports in this state goes back a few decades.

I’m reminded of that Sunday before Labor Day in 1992 when I was the political editor of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and covering Bill Clinton’s presidential campaign rally in downtown Hot Springs.

It already was becoming clear that the next president of the United States would be a guy who grew up in Hot Springs, and here he was back in his old stomping grounds.

When I called the newsroom in Little Rock to see how much room I had for my story, I was told to “keep it short.”

“Keep it short?” I said. “How could there possibly be a bigger story in Arkansas today?”

The answer from the other end of the line: “Frank Broyles just fired Jack Crowe after one game.”

Oh.

I kept the story short.

This reminds me a lot of that day. It’s a day when I wish I were back in my old role as assistant sports editor at Capitol and Scott (but only for a day).

I was with Coach Broyles at lunch today. I should clarify that: There were several hundred of us who had lunch with Coach Broyles at the Peabody Hotel in downtown Little Rock. It was the day of the annual Broyles Award, the brilliant idea conceived by David Bazzel in 1996 that now draws national attention to the city.

David and the good folks at the Rotary Club of Little Rock did their usual fine job. We have seen a number of past winners — men such as David Cutcliffe, Ralph Friedgen, Mark Mangino, Randy Shannon, Gene Chizik and Gus Malzahn — go on to become head coaches.

In fact, several of those men have become head coaches and already been fired as head coaches in the crazy world of college football.

This year’s Broyles Award winner, Notre Dame defensive coordinator Bob Diaco, was an impressive speaker and is apparently among the finalists for the head coaching job at Boston College. He hails from New Jersey so knows how to relate to coaches and recruits in the Northeast.

I had just returned to my office when the news broke of Bret Bielema’s hiring at the University of Arkansas.

Within minutes of that, we learned that Gus Malzahn would be leaving Arkansas State University to be the head coach at Auburn University.

As I said, it has been a wild afternoon.

On paper, Bielema seems to be the real deal. He’s just 42 and is leaving his first head coaching job. When Barry Alvarez stepped down after the 2005 season, Wisconsin kept things in the family and promoted Bielema from defensive coordinator to head coach. He’s 68-24 as a head coach with four seasons of 10 or more victories.

There are, of course, those who will say: “That’s the slow, plodding Big Ten. This is the SEC, brother.”

My answer: “That guy Alabama hired from Michigan State has worked out pretty well, brother.”

I will grant you that Bielema (I’m still at the point where I have to double check my spelling when I type the name) likely doesn’t know much about those of us in the South. He played at Iowa. He was an assistant coach at Iowa and Kansas State before taking the coordinator’s job at Wisconsin.

He’s Midwestern all the way.

Come to think of it, Washington and Benton counties are more Midwestern than Southern these days (but that’s another post for another day, and I don’t want to be heckled when I address the Fayetteville Rotary Club on Thursday of next week).

Still, the Razorback program needs the support of people in all 75 Arkansas counties, from the Delta to the Gulf Coastal Plain to the Ozarks to the Ouachitas.

I think the first thing Mr. B (that’s easier to spell) should do to endear himself to fans statewide is to announce that we’re going back to traditional Arkansas uniforms for all 12 games.

Anthracite is out.

Traditional uniforms, good defense and a tough brand of football are in.

I can hear the cheers now.

My friend Kane Webb now lives in Kentucky but is a native Arkansan and understands Arkansans as well as anyone I know. Kane offers five other pieces of advice that would show Bielema is learning about this unique state and its traditions.

Not that Kane, the editor of Louisville magazine, really thinks all of these things will happen, but here goes:

1.  Announce that the Hogs will play at least one meaningful game a year in War Memorial Stadium and continue to play at least two games total there every year.

2. As soon as possible, revive the Texas series. The hell with nonconference cream puffs. This is tradition!

3. Schedule a barnstorming tour to every chamber banquet, Rotary Club meeting and diner from border to border.

4. Recruit like a maniac, especially in Texas and Louisiana.

5. Pray.

And how about poor ol’ Arkansas State?

Two head coaches stop by for a year each before heading off to the SEC. ASU actually has had three coaches do that. You might remember that Ray Perkins dropped by for a single season (and built a big fence around the practice field to make sure some spy from Grubbs didn’t look in).

I wouldn’t want to be around Gov. Mike Beebe this afternoon. He did so much to promote Malzahn and his program.

I’m hoping that Arkansas State will simply promote its defensive coordinator, John Thompson, to head coach. East Carolina didn’t give John long enough (two seasons) in his only previous stint as a head coach.

Thompson and I go way back. When I was the sports editor of the Arkadelphia newspaper in 1979, he came to Arkadelphia High School as the defensive coordinator (the late John Outlaw was the head coach). The Badgers won the state championship that first season.

Thompson has been the defensive coordinator at five SEC schools — Arkansas, LSU, South Carolina, Florida and Ole Miss. He has seen more than 40 players go on to the NFL.

He can coach. He can recruit.

He’s a Forrest City native who knows this state like the back of his hand and could recruit Arkansas high schools well. And after his many stops, he might just be ready to settle down in Jonesboro and make a long-term commitment to ASU.

The Red Wolves are on the football map thanks to Malzahn and Hugh Freeze. Now, they need continuity.

Keep John Thompson in Jonesboro rather than letting him follow Malzahn to Auburn in order to serve as the defensive coordinator at a sixth SEC school.

That’s what I hope will happen.

That’s enough for now. I need to catch my breath after this memorable sports afternoon in Arkansas.

Oh yeah, we’re still waiting for Arkansas Tech to hire a head coach.

This is the final week for college football picks on the Southern Fried blog this fall. I’ll likely jinx myself by mentioning this, but I’m 15-0 on picks for the past two weeks.

That makes the record 72-15 for the season.

It was yet another SEC loss in this bummer of a season for the Arkansas Razorbacks, this time by a count of 38-20 at South Carolina. That dropped the Hogs to 4-6 overall and 2-4 in conference play. The Gamecocks improved to 8-2 overall and 6-2 in the SEC.

Arkansas’ struggles have overshadowed the fact that this has been a very good year overall for college football in our state. Consider the fact that:

– Arkansas State went to 7-3 overall and 5-1 in the Sun Belt Conference last Thursday night with a 45-23 win over Louisiana-Monroe before a crowd of more than 30,000 in Jonesboro.

– UCA is 8-2 going into its final game of the regular season in Conway on Saturday. The Bears won a share of the Southland Conference championship and have secured a playoff spot.

– UAPB is also 8-2 going into its final game of the regular season in Pine Bluff on Saturday afternoon. The Golden Lions already have secured the championship of the Western Division of the SWAC and a spot in the SWAC championship game at Legion Field in Birmingham.

– Henderson finished the regular season 10-0 with a resounding victory in the Battle of the Ravine over 6-4 Ouachita. It’s the first undefeated, untied regular season in school history. The Reddies get a bye in the first round of the NCAA Division II playoffs and will host a second-round game in Arkadelphia on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

– Harding finished the regular season 9-1 and earned a berth in the Division II playoffs.

– Southern Arkansas finished the regular season 8-2.

– Seven of the 10 college programs in Arkansas will have winning records this year.

All in all, it’s as fine a year of college football as I can remember in this state.

On to the picks for Week 12:

Mississippi State 31, Arkansas 27 — At least there were three Razorbacks who set records in last week’s loss to South Carolina. Tyler Wilson completed 26 of 41 passes for 277 yards to give himself 539 career completions. That breaks the previous record of 528 completions set by Clint Stoerner from 1996-99. Cobi Hamilton now holds the season record for receiving yards, breaking a record set just last year by Jarius Wright. And Zach Hocker’s two field goals and two extra points against South Carolina gave him 285 points in his career, breaking the record of 280 points set by Steve Little from 1974-77. Arkansas has now allowed at least 30 points in six games. The only two times that happened before was 2007 and 2008. As you can see from the predicted score above, I expect the Hogs to give up at least 30 points again Saturday in Starkville. Still, this Bulldog team is vulnerable and doubting itself after three consecutive losses. LSU beat Mississippi State for the 13th consecutive time last Saturday as the resurgent Zach Mettenberger completed 19 of 30 passes for 273 yards against the 7-3 Bulldogs. Mississippi State had only 47 yards rushing against LSU.

Arkansas State 28, Troy 24 — The Red Wolves were impressive in their win last week over Louisiana-Monroe. Ryan Aplin was 26 of 34 passing for 334 yards and two touchdowns. This team is starting to learn the Malzahn system. ASU ran off 21 unanswered points after Louisiana-Monroe had come back to tie the score at 17-17 in the third quarter. David Oku had 22 carries for 131 yards and three touchdowns for the Red Wolves. It was the fifth consecutive win for the Red Wolves as representatives of the New Orleans Bowl and the Liberty Bowl looked on. Troy is 5-5 at this point, a bit down for this traditionally strong program. But the Trojans will provide a challenge. Their wins have come over UAB, North Texas, South Alabama, Florida International and Navy. The losses have been to Louisiana-Lafayette, Mississippi State, Western Kentucky, Florida Atlantic and Tennessee (by just seven points).

UCA 35, Eastern Illinois 30 — The Bears have had two weeks to prepare for this nonconference game, which could affect their playoff seeding. This is a good Eastern Illinois team. The Panthers bring a 7-3 record to Conway. The wins have been by scores of 49-28 over Southern Illinois, 50-49 over Murray State, 65-15 over Austin Peay, 31-28 over Jacksonville State, 24-7 over Eastern Kentucky, 31-24 over Tennessee Tech and 39-20 over Southeast Missouri. The losses have been by scores of 52-21 to Western Michigan, 54-51 to Illinois State and 51-37 to Tennessee-Martin. Eastern Illinois has won four consecutive games.

UAPB 17, Prairie View A&M 10 — Monte Coleman’s Golden Lions struggled a bit on the road last week, but they still managed to bring home a victory from Grambling. In this final game of the regular season, UAPB hosts a Prairie View team that is 3-7 overall and 3-5 in the SWAC. The Panther victories have come against Grambling, Alcorn State and Southern University. The losses have been to Texas Southern, Lamar, Alabama A&M, North Dakota State, Jackson State, Alabama State and Mississippi Valley State. Expect Prairie View to keep it close Saturday afternoon.

Harding 37, Northwest Missouri 35 — Harding brings its ground attack to the NCAA Division II playoffs. Unfortunately, the Bisons have to go on the road to take on a traditional Division II power. The Bisons wrapped up a 9-1 regular season with a 38-7 victory over Southwestern Oklahoma in Searcy last Saturday. Fifteen Harding players had carries in that game as the Bisons finished with 358 rushing yards. Northwest Missouri brings a 9-2 record into Saturday’s game.

OK, college football fans, you have no excuse.

Arkansas is on the road at South Carolina.

Arkansas State plays on a Thursday night.

UCA has an open date.

UAPB is on the road at Grambling.

If you’ve never seen a Battle of the Ravine, this is your chance. The 6-3 Tigers of Ouachita Baptist University and the 9-0 Reddies of Henderson State University kick off at 3 p.m. Saturday at Henderson’s Carpenter-Haygood Stadium in Arkadelphia.

You should be there if you like football, tradition and history.

There’s nothing else quite like it in college football. This game is to NCAA Division II what Alabama-Auburn is to Division I — a game that divides families; a game whose outcome is discussed 365 days a year.

Take last year’s contest as an example. After all the decades of play between the two Arkadelphia schools, the series was tied at 39-39-6. The ending of the 2011 Battle of the Ravine will be debated in coffee shops and at dinner tables in Clark County for decades.

Did Ouachita really score on that final play? The officials said no touchdown, and Henderson held on, 41-36, as tailback Chris Rycraw came up inches short.

Henderson had built a 41-17 lead midway through the third quarter, but Ouachita stormed back to score 19 unanswered points. The Tigers found themselves a yard away from the winning touchdown with less than a second remaining — a yard away from the most memorable comeback in school history.

So close yet so far.

Meanwhile, it was one of the most meaningful wins in Henderson history.

That’s the kind of game this is.

It’s the only college football game in America in which the visiting team walks to a road game. That’s right. The visitors don’t fly. They don’t take a bus. They dress at home and then wait for the state troopers to stop traffic on U.S. Highway 67 so they can cross.

This year it’s Ouachita’s turn to walk across the highway.

Ouachita is 6-3. The defending Great American Conference champions won their first six games before the many injuries caught up with them. They’ve since lost three straight and will come into Saturday afternoon’s contest as a heavy underdog.

Henderson, on the other hand, is 9-0 and ranked No. 8 nationally. Henderson is going for the first undefeated, untied season in school history. Henderson was 7-0-1 in 1927 and 8-0-1 in 1928, but there has never been an undefeated, untied season at the School With A Heart.

In 1975, probably the most talented Henderson team ever (the Reddies had lost to Texas A&I the previous season in the NAIA national championship game) came into the Battle of the Ravine with a 9-0 record. Henderson was ranked No. 2 nationally.

Ouachita was 8-1 and ranked No. 4. Trailing 20-14 with time running out, Ouachita converted a fourth-and-25 play by an inch. Two plays later, the Tigers scored, winning by a point, 21-20. To this day, it remains the greatest college football game I’ve ever witnessed.

The two Arkadelphia schools first played in 1895 with Ouachita winning by a score of 8-0. For years, they played on Thanksgiving Day. The series was ended following the 1951 game due to excessive vandalism and wasn’t renewed until 1963.

Last weekend generally was a good one for Arkansas schools.

UCA secured a playoff berth and at least a share of the Southland Conference title with a 35-14 victory over Northwestern State of Louisiana.

UAPB clinched the Western Division of the SWAC and a spot in the conference championship game at Legion Field in Birmingham with a 49-3 win over Texas Southern.

Arkansas won its homecoming game, 19-15, over Tulsa.

Arkansas State beat North Texas, 37-19, in Denton and is now in a tie for first place in the Sun Belt Conference.

We were 8-0 on the picks last week, making the record 65-15 for the season.

On to the picks for Week 11:

South Carolina 41, Arkansas 20 — Arkansas won against Tulsa to move to 4-5 on the season, but it wasn’t pretty. Looking on the bright side, Cobi Hamilton caught 11 passes for 177 yards to win the Crip Hall Award for best homecoming game by a senior. He will need another big day in Columbia on Saturday if Arkansas is to hang close. So will Dennis Johnson, who had 109 yards rushing and two touchdowns against Tulsa. I’m not expecting great things from the Hogs on Saturday, but you never know. Tyler Wilson suddenly could return to form. Paul Petrino suddenly could call some good plays. Paul Hanyes’ defense could show up. It’s too pretty a day outside not to think positive thoughts. But, as you see above, I’ll pick with my head, not my heart.

Arkansas State 31, Louisiana-Monroe 28 – It’s a huge game tonight for the Red Wolves as the national ESPNU audience looks on. Gus Malzahn’s first team at Arkansas State now finds itself in a tie for first place in the Sun Belt Conference thanks to Louisiana-Lafayette’s upset victory over Louisiana-Monroe last Saturday. In ASU’s win at North Texas, the Red Wolves had 476 yards of offense as their record improved to 6-3 overall and 4-1 in conference play. Louisiana-Monroe has identical records. Red Wolf quarterback Ryan Aplin was 25 of 32 passing in the North Texas game for 324 yards and two touchdowns.

UAPB 29, Grambling 9 — The Golden Lions are on a roll. Ben Anderson threw four touchdown passes and the UAPB defense returned two interceptions for touchdowns in the Golden Lions’ win over Texas Southern. It’s UAPB’s first Western Division title since 2006. At 7-2, the Golden Lions already have their most victories in the Monte Coleman era. The trip to north Louisiana on Saturday should make them 8-2. Grambling is bad this year. Its only victory was over a tiny program known as Virginia University of Lynchburg. The eight losses have come by scores of 22-21 to Alcorn State, 56-0 to TCU, 19-18 to Alabama State, 38-17 to Alabama A&M, 31-14 to Prairie View A&M, 45-21 to Mississippi Valley State, 23-20 to Texas Southern and 53-17 to Jackson State.

Henderson 51, Ouachita 30 — This is a Henderson team that has had two weeks to prepare for the Battle of the Ravine thanks to a late-season open date after running off nine consecutive victories. Last Saturday was Senior Day for Ouachita. Here’s how bad the injury situation is: Of the 12 seniors honored, only six were dressed out. The other half are out for the season. In losing its third consecutive game — a 44-28 defeat at the hands of Southern Arkansas — the Tigers gave up 336 yards through the air. That seems to indicate that Henderson’s sophomore sensation, Kevin Rodgers, will have a big day passing for the Reddies. Ouachita should score some points under the direction of quarterback Benson Jordan, who was 34 of 63 passing against Southern Arkansas for 372 yards.

Harding 40, Southwestern Oklahoma 19 — Harding is looking to finish the regular season 9-1 (with the only loss having come to Henderson) and earn a home playoff berth. The Bisons improved to 8-1 overall and 6-1 in conference play with a 31-9 win last Saturday at Southeastern Oklahoma. Southwestern Oklahoma comes to Searcy with records of 3-6 overall and 2-5 in the Great American Conference.

Southern Arkansas 49, Arkansas Tech 32 — It’s a shame that Southern Arkansas is probably going to finish the season 8-2 without earning a playoff berth. The Muleriders deserve to be in the playoffs. Southern Arkansas lost to Harding on a last-second field goal and played Henderson more closely than anyone else. Mulerider quarterback Tyler Sykora from Jessieville has had a wonderful season. He was 18 of 31 passing last Saturday in the win over Ouachita. Tech is trying to avoid its third consecutive losing season. The Wonder Boys are 5-5 overall and 3-4 in the GAC.

Northwestern Oklahoma 35, UAM 34 — The 1-9 Boll Weevils have a chance to end a nine-game losing streak against a Northwestern Oklahoma team that comes to Monticello with a 2-7 record. UAM lost 38-21 last Saturday at Southwestern Oklahoma.

I spoke to the Helena Rotary Club today.

In far east Arkansas — the land that produced Ken Hatfield, Dick Hatfield and so many other past Razorback greats; a land the university seems to be forgetting with all this talk about moving games out of Little Rock — nothing is more important for Razorback fans than beating Ole Miss.

You can imagine how frustrated those folks are this week.

At least the guy who wore the Ole Miss cap to the Rotary Club meeting was happy, as he should be since it seems that Hugh Freeze has at least put some life back into that previously moribund program.

The record had been good on our picks this year, but last week started badly (as far as the picks) and ended badly.

I picked Arkansas State to lose in a Tuesday night game against Louisiana-Lafayette.

I picked Arkansas to win against Ole Miss at War Memorial Stadium.

Then I made the long drive to Ada, Okla., on Saturday to watch my Ouachita Tigers lay an egg against East Central Oklahoma.

Oh well.

It was a college football weekend to forget.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m glad ASU beat Louisiana-Lafayette to start the week. It’s just that I wish I had picked it correctly. Playing their best game in the young Gus Malzahn era, the Red Wolves rolled to an impressive 50-28 victory in Lafayette with an ESPN2 national television audience looking on.

The ASU victory ended an eight-game losing streak for the school at Cajun Stadium as the Red Wolves improved to 5-3 overall and 3-1 in the Sun Belt Conference. The defense came up with four turnovers, and the offense turned those turnovers into 20 points.

It was the third consecutive victory for ASU as quarterback Ryan Aplin completed 21 of 31 passes for 269 yards and a touchdown. The Red Wolves finished with 526 yards of offense while scoring on their first six possessions.

Arkansas’ 30-27 loss to Ole Miss on that 31-yard Bryson Rose field goal as time expired is best forgotten.

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette headline the next morning said it best: “Adding to anguish.”

Remember Hog fans what I said back in September: This is not a season to savor. It is a season to survive.

You allowed yourselves to get excited again after big wins over Auburn and Kentucky, didn’t you? You forgot that those are two of the worst teams in college football this fall.

So now we’ll have four SEC schools — Arkansas, Auburn, Kentucky and Tennessee — looking for new head coaches at the end of the season.

Just to our southwest, Texas may also be looking for a new head coach.

It’s going to be an interesting December.

We were 5-3 on the picks last week, making the record 57-15 for the season.

Let’s get to the picks for Week 10:

Arkansas 31, Tulsa 30 — I’m not sure why I’m doing this. If Tulsa comes in and spoils the Arkansas homecoming, I won’t be the least bit surprised. Tulsa lost its first game at Iowa State, 38-23, and has since run off seven consecutive victories. The scores have been 45-10 over Tulane, 66-16 over Nicholls State, 27-26 over Fresno State, 49-42 over UAB, 45-38 over Marshall, 33-11 over UTEP and 28-24 over Rice. The game starts early, and there likely will be plenty of empty seats. At least the leaves should be pretty for those driving to Fayeteville.

Arkansas State 34, North Texas 28 — The Red Wolves must go on the road to battle North Texas, a team that has struggled to a 3-5 record but remains capable of beating anybody in the conference. The North Texas wins have come by scores of 34-7 over Texas Southern, 20-14 over Florida Atlantic and 30-23 over Louisiana-Lafayette. The losses have come by scores of 41-14 to LSU, 35-21 to Kansas State, 14-7 to Troy, 44-21 to Houston and 38-21 to Middle Tennessee State. It sure would be nice to see Malzahn run the table and make a bowl game in his first year as a head coach.

UCA 24, Northwestern State 21 — The Bears, who are 7-2 overall and 5-1 in the Southland Conference, can lock up the Southland’s automatic bid to the NCAA playoffs with a win. UCA has run off four consecutive victories against Nicholls State, McNeese State, Lamar and Louisiana-Lafayette. UCA is one of three one-loss teams in Southland play along with Sam Houston State and Southeastern Louisiana. The Bears are playing well, averaging 35.4 points and 391.9 yards of offense per game. Quarterback Wynrick Smothers is completing 67.1 percent of his passes. He has 2,292 yards passing and 23 touchdowns. Jesse Grandy has 44 receptions for 628 yards. The game is the Southland Conference television game of the week and can be seen in central Arkansas on KARZ-TV. Northwestern State is 4-4 overall and 2-2 in the Southland Conference with wins over UAM, Mississippi Valley State, Lamar and Nicholls State. The losses have come at the hands of Texas Tech, Nevada, McNeese State and Southeastern Louisiana.

UAPB 17, Texas Southern 10 — The Golden Lions appear on their way to the SWAC championship game at Legion Field in Birmingham. They still sit alone atop the conference’s Western Division following a 10-0 shutout of Mississippi Valley State last Saturday that gave the Golden Lions records of 6-2 overall and 5-1 in conference. Texas Southern is 2-6 overall and 2-4 in the SWAC. The wins have come by scores of 44-41 over Prairie View A&M and 23-20 over Grambling. The losses have been by scores of 34-7 to North Texas, 45-25 to Jackson State, 42-13 to Alabama A&M, 50-6 to Sam Houston State, 45-0 to Alabama State and 34-7 to Southern University.

Southern Arkansas 32, Ouachita 27 — This should be an excellent game between two 6-2 teams at Arkadelphia’s A.U. Williams Field. Ouachita started the season 6-0 and soared to No. 10 in the NCAA Division II rankings before the injuries took their toll and the Tigers ran out of gas. Back-to-back losses have come at the hands of Harding and East Central Oklahoma. Southern Arkansas lost earlier in the year on a last-second field goal to 7-1 Harding and played 9-0 Henderson closer last week than anyone has done so far. The Reddies hung on, 44-36. The Muleriders are led by talented quarterback Tyler Sykora, who completed 33 of 55 passes for 411 yards and three touchdowns against Henderson. SAU easily could be 8-0.

Harding 45, Southeastern Oklahoma 23 — Harding is trying to finish the regular season with a 9-1 record, earn a berth in the Division II playoffs and perhaps get a rematch against Henderson down the line. The Bisons destroyed Arkansas Tech last week, 76-23. Harding had 505 yards rushing in its homecoming victory at Searcy. Seven Bisons had rushing touchdowns while the Harding defense forced six turnovers and had five sacks. Southeastern Oklahoma is 4-4 overall and 2-4 in the Great American Conference.

East Central Oklahoma 38, Arkansas Tech 26 — East Central looked good in its 37-27 win over Ouachita, and Tech looked bad in its loss to Harding. We’ll go with the visitors from Oklahoma this week even though Tech has the better record. The Wonder Boys are 5-4 overall and 3-3 in GAC play. East Central is 4-5 overall and 2-4 in conference action but seems to have the hotter hand coming out of last weekend.

Southwestern Oklahoma 19, UAM 18 — This is a battle between the two teams at the bottom of the GAC standings. Southwestern Oklahoma is 2-6 overall and 1-5 in league play. UAM is 1-8 overall and and 0-7 in conference play. UAM fell 41-35 last week to Southeastern Oklahoma despite a season-high 237 rushing yards. We’ll give the slight edge to the home team in this one.

With the disappointment surrounding the University of Arkansas’ football season thus far, what has been ignored somewhat is what a great year of college football this has been overall for Arkansas teams.

For three consecutive weeks, no Arkansas team has lost to an out-of-state opponent. Teams from Arkansas are 15-0 against out-of-state foes during that period.

Of the 10 college programs in the state, eight have winning records as we move into late October. Only the Razorbacks and the University of Arkansas at Monticello Boll Weevils have losing records.

Four of the eight teams with winning records have a combined mark of 26-3 with the losses coming to each other.

Henderson is 8-0 for the first time since 1975 and ranked No. 9 in NCAA Division II.

Harding is 6-1 and ranked No. 19 in NCAA Division II.

Ouachita is 6-1 and ranked No. 20 in NCAA Division II.

Southern Arkansas is 6-1 and receiving votes in the NCAA Division II poll.

UCA is 6-2.

UAPB  is 5-2.

Yes, it’s a very good year. Too many Arkansans don’t know or appreciate that fact due to a media (print and broadcast) that’s now obsessed with every ingrown toenail at Fayetteville.

Believe me, I understand the place of the Razorbacks in the Arkansas culture and have written about it extensively. But the coverage of these minute details (for the television stations that brand their sportscasts Razorback Nation, do you not think we’re sophisticated enough here in Arkansas to follow multiple teams?) and the talk radio listeners who drone on and on about the Hogs are tiresome.

Whenever I head east, I prefer talk radio shows out of Memphis. At least you will get callers discussing multiple SEC teams and subjects such as Cardinal baseball.

I miss the days when Jim Bailey covered the old AIC for the Arkansas Gazette and his stories were run on the front of the sports section.

Oh well.

I’m a relic for keeping up with all 10 of this state’s college football programs. I suppose I should instead be trolling the message boards and reading every detail about that 17-year-old kid from Texas who might or might not sign a letter of intent with the Hogs.

We were 4-2 on the picks last week, making the record 52-12 for the season.

Let’s get to the picks for Week 9:

Louisiana-Lafayette 28, Arkansas State 25 — I hate the idea of a college football game on a Tuesday night. I just hate it, almost as much as I hate those new Razorback uniforms. Like I said, I’m a relic. I realize that the Sun Belt schools need the national television exposure. And this should be a pretty decent game tonight on ESPN2 (Joe Tessitore and Desmond Howard have the call). ASU is 4-3 overall and 2-1 in conference play. Louisiana-Lafayette is 4-2 overall and 2-1 in the Sun Belt. The Cajun wins have come by scores of 40-0 over Lamar, 37-24 over Troy, 48-20 over Florida International and 41-13 over Tulane. The losses have been by scores of 65-24 to Oklahoma State and 30-23 to North Texas. It’s Gus Malzahn’s biggest game to date in his first year as a college head coach. We’ll give the advantage to the home team in what should be a close game.

Arkansas 34, Ole Miss 31 — They’ll be having brunch on the War Memorial golf course Saturday morning with that early start. Arkansas has played much better the past two games, but Hugh Freeze also has the Rebels playing well. It should be a close, fun game between two mediocre college football teams. Ole Miss opened the season with wins of 49-27 over UCA and 28-10 over UTEP. Since then, the Rebels have lost 66-31 to Texas, won 39-0 against Tulane, lost 33-14 to Alabama, lost 30-27 to Texas A&M and routed Auburn by a score of 41-20.

UCA 30, Southeastern Louisiana 21 — The Bears are 6-2 overall and 4-1 in the Southland Conference after a somewhat lethargic performance in Conway that resulted in a 24-14 win over Lamar. Expect a better effort this week as the Bears play at Strawberry Stadium in Hammond, La. Southeastern Louisiana is 3-4 overall but has a 3-0 conference rercord with wins of 25-24 over McNeese State, 31-21 over Lamar and 27-22 over Northwestern State. The nonconference losses have been by scores of 62-10 to Missouri, 31-14 to South Dakota State, 23-6 to Tennessee-Martin and 52-3 to UAB.

UAPB 15, Mississippi Valley State 12 — The Golden Lions have a two-game lead in the Western Division of the SWAC following an impressive 50-21 victory over Southern University in Baton Rouge. UAPB scored 41 points in the first half, a school record for points scored in a half of football. Monte Coleman has his team playing well with records of 5-2 overall and 4-1 in the SWAC. Sophomore quarterback Ben Anderson was 15 of 20 passing against Southern for 296 yards while also rushing for 75 yards. UAPB had a season-high 510 yards of offense. Mississippi Valley State brings a 2-5 record to Pine Bluff on Saturday. The wins have been by scores of 6-0 over Southern University and 45-21 over Grambling. The losses have been by scores of 20-19 to Concordia, 29-7 to Alabama State, 45-14 to Northwestern State of Louisiana, 35-0 to Alabama A&M and 14-7 in two overtimes to Jackson State.

Henderson 44, Southern Arkansas 30 — It’s another huge game in the GAC after big games the previous two weekends between Henderson and Harding (won by Henderson) and Harding and Ouachita (won by Harding). Following Ouachita’s loss last Saturday, Henderson is the only undefeated team left in the state. The Reddies beat East Central Oklahoma by a score of 49-14 Saturday afternoon in Arkadelphia. Sophomore sensation Kevin Rodgers was 29 of 41 passing for 378 yards. He already has set a school record for career touchdown passes as a sophomore with 44. Henderson outgained East Central, 464 yards to 257 yards. Southern Arkansas’ only loss has been to Harding on a last-second field goal in the Boomtown Classic at El Dorado. The Muleriders improved to 6-1 last Saturday with a 47-14 win over Southern Nazarene. SAU also has a quality quarterback in Tyler Sykora. He was 25 of 44 passing for 337 yards and four touchdowns in last week’s game. The Muleriders will score some points at home but won’t be able to slow the Henderson offensive juggernaut, which I’m beginning to think has enough talent to win a national championship.

Ouachita 20, East Central Oklahoma 17 — Ouachita was 6-0 and ranked No. 10 nationally coming into its game against Harding but did not play well. Harding went 70 yards in 13 running plays to score on its first drive and never looked back. Nothing will come easy this Saturday for Ouachita. East Central is 3-5 but usually plays well at home in Ada.

Harding 35, Arkansas Tech 29 — Looking at the schedule, I think the Bisons will finish 9-1 and earn a spot in the NCAA Division II playoffs. They were most impressive in the win at Ouachita and get the Wonder Boys this week in Searcy. Tech started the season slowly but is now 5-3 after four consecutive victories.

Southeastern Oklahoma 28, UAM 21 — The Bolls Weevils are 1-7 and can’t catch a break this season. Quarterback Damon Wicker was going in for what would have been the winning touchdown last Saturday at Arkansas Tech with 15 seconds left in the game but fumbled the football just before reaching the end zone. Tech held on, 24-21. Southeastern Oklahoma brings a 3-4 record to Monticello.

It’s an open date for the University of Arkansas Razorbacks.

My suggestion for college football fans in Arkansas is this: Head to Arkadelphia on Saturday for a unique college football experience.

No. 10 Ouachita plays No. 25 Harding at 1 p.m. at A.U. Williams Field.

On the other side of U.S. Highway 67, No. 11 Henderson takes on East Central Oklahoma at 3 p.m.

You can attend the Ouachita-Harding game and then cross the street for the second half of the Henderson game.

Or you can attend the first half of the Ouachita-Harding game and see all of the Henderson game.

Either way, you will see three ranked college football teams in one afternoon. You can have dinner in Arkadelphia and still be on your way home by 7 p.m. The forecast looks perfect: Clear skies with temperatures in the 70s.

Parking won’t be a problem. Ticket prices are reasonable. The quality of football is good, the bands are first class, the cheerleaders are pretty and the atmosphere is fun.

Give it a try.

My friend Kane Webb, the former Arkansas newspaperman and magazine editor, shares my love of college football and thoroughbred racing. His love of racing is so great that he was pulled to Louisville, home of the Kentucky Derby, where he’s now the editor of Louisville magazine.

Before we get to the picks for Week 8, I must share the analogy he sent me after watching the first seven Razorback games of the 2012 season:

“Consider the highly touted young racehorse, precocious at 2, who may have been sold or, for whatever reason, experienced a trainer change during the winter. Either way, he finds himself in a new barn heading into his much-anticipated 3-year-old season. Despite the offseason shakeup, big things are expected. After all, we had all seen that impressive campaign the previous year. But perhaps he hasn’t developed the way many predicted he would; perhaps, like some flashy juveniles, he simply wasn’t as good as we thought.

“He wins an easy prep but then is upset when challenged late in a tough outing. His next race, against the stiffest of opposition in a stakes-caliber field, is a disaster. Unable to get the lead or compete early, he spits the bit and finishes far back. Another tough stakes race follows — and so does his demise. Not quite up to the caliber of competition and absent any lasting confidence, he eases when unable to stay with the leaders, again finishing well back.

“At long last, the once-promising star is dropped in class, placed in, say, an allowance race for non-winners of two. A decent enough field but not championship caliber. Against easier competition, he trounces the field. He faces similar talent in his next race and now, full of himself and finding his stride, he speeds to the lead and never looks back, winning with such ease that new trainer and old fans suddenly think he has realized his potential.

“Maybe. A step back up in class is inevitable, and here is where horse racing provides another valuable lesson. Horses, like all athletes, hold their best form for only a short amount of time. Lou Holtz had a saying that applies to any sport: You either get better or you get worse, but you don’t stay the same. The questions for our still-young runner and for this year’s Hogs are these: Have they now reached their peak form or are they continuing to improve? Were their embarrassing early-season defeats a case of too much, too soon or that of an average athlete up against superior competition and paying for it?

“Of course, there’s also the case of the horse that isn’t really as good as his competition but being so sharp and in such top form that he beats them anyway. It happens. That’s why they call them upsets.

“The Razorbacks went into a kind of paralytic shock when they lost so suddenly to Louisiana-Monroe. The devastation was so thorough and unexpected that all seemed lost. No surprise then that the shock lasted awhile, magnified by the six-quarter absence of the concussed Tyler Wilson. Not even his rusty return could shake the team from its collective fog. And the trainer/coach was no help. What Arkansas needed desperately was what it got: Lesser competition.

“Confidence now at least semi-restored — and that includes the confidence of the coaching staff as well as the players — Arkansas steps back up in class, a little, when it faces Ole Miss after a week’s break.

“The thinking here is that the Hogs will remain in good form — indeed, they may improve some thanks to the emergence of younger players like Jonathan Williams and a defense that seems to be less confused and thus much more aggressive. But their confidence remains fragile and a bad break here or there could restart the tailspin.

“They may be in the hands of a veteran trainer — to put it generously, the colorful old-schooler — but they’re used to the subtle manipulations of a contemporary master. Without that, this team is largely on its own, playing at the moment on raw talent, muscle memory and a sudden wave of renewed spirit. Typically, that’s not a formula for long-term success. But it’s fun for now and beats the hell out of the alternative we witnessed earlier in the season.”

Well said, Mr. Webb.

We were 6-1 on the picks last week, making the record 48-10 for the season.

On to the picks for Week 8. We’ll start with the two Arkadelphia games since that’s where you’re road tripping on Saturday, right?

Ouachita 24, Harding 23 — This should be a great football game. Ouachita has made its way into the Top 10 for the first time since the school moved from the NAIA to NCAA Division II. Harding dropped two spots to No. 25 after its 38-10 loss to the offensive juggernaut that is Henderson. Ouachita went to 6-0 overall and 4-0 in the Great American Conference with a 58-7 win over 1-6 UAM in Monticello last Saturday afternoon. Junior tailback Chris Rycraw from Bryant had 242 yards rushing on 22 carries in just three quarters of action for the Tigers. Overall, Ouachita had 396 rushing yards, two interceptions returned for touchdowns and a punt returned for a touchdown. Harding is 5-1 and still a force to be reckoned with in the GAC. These are the only two church-related schools in the conference, so I call this the Battle for the Old Wooden Collection Plate. Last year’s game in Searcy was memorable with Ouachita winning 31-27 en route to the first GAC championship.

Henderson 41, East Central Oklahoma 19 — The 7-0 Reddies went on the road to Searcy and held Harding to 269 yards of offense. That was 142 yards below the Bisons’ season average. Harding had been averaging 35.8 points per game before being held to just 10 points against Henderson. The Reddies’ sensational sophomore quarterback, Kevin Rodgers, was 30 of 44 passing for 466 yards and five touchdowns. Rodgers, after just seven games, has already broken the school record for touchdown passes in a season. He has 33. He will add more Saturday against an East Central team that was expected to compete for a conference crown but has been a disappointment so far with records of 3-4 overall and 1-3 in the GAC.

Arkansas Tech 35, UAM 20 — After a slow start, Tech is getting better by the week. The Wonder Boys went to 4-3 overall and 2-2 in the GAC with a 45-37 win at 1-5 Southwestern Oklahoma. Tech overcame a 17-point deficit as Tanner Marsh was 25 of 37 passing for 424 yards and four touchdowns. The senior added 30 yards rushing and even caught the go-ahead touchdown pass with less than four minutes remaining in the game.

Southern Arkansas 34, Southern Nazarene 0 — The Muleriders will have no problem at home against a Southern Nazarene team that is 1-6. Southern Arkansas improved to 5-1 overall and 4-1 in the GAC last Saturday with a 19-0 victory at East Central Oklahoma. East Central was limited to 123 yards of offense in that game. For the Muleriders, Mark Johnson had 132 yards rushing on 30 carries, and Tyler Sykora was 21 of 26 passing for 253 yards and a touchdown. Southern Arkansas, Harding, Henderson and Ouachita are all quality teams. Henderson and Ouachita still must play the Muleriders. The stretch run in the GAC should be fun to behold this season.

UCA 29, Lamar 12 — It was a victory to remember last Saturday for UCA in Lake Charles, La. McNeese State, which had never lost to the Bears in Lake Charles, led 26-17 with time running out. The Bears drove 72 yards, and Wynrick Smothers threw a 19-yard touchdown pass with 1:10 remaining. UCA then recovered a perfectly executed onside kick. Sophomore Eddie Camara booted a 47-yard field goal with 27 seconds left in the game, and the Bears escaped the Bayou State with a 27-26 victory. They are 5-2 overall and 3-1 in the Southland Conference. Smothers was 26 of 41 passing for 254 yards and three touchdowns. A 3-4 Lamar team comes to Conway this Saturday. The victories have come by scores of 31-0 over Prairie View A&M, 31-0 over Langston and 52-21 over McMurry. The losses have been by scores of 40-0 to Louisiana-Lafayette, 54-2 to Hawaii, 31-21 to Southeastern Louisiana and 30-23 to Northwestern State.

Southern University 21, UAPB 17 — The Golden Lions are 4-2 overall, 3-1 in conference play and leading their division of the SWAC. This week they must visit Baton Rouge to take on a Jaguar team that is 3-3 overall and 2-2 in the SWAC. Southern’s wins have come by scores of 28-21 over Jackson State, 21-14 over Florida A&M and 34-7 over Texas Southern. The losses have been by scores of 66-21 to New Mexico, 6-0 to Mississippi Valley State and 20-17 to Alcorn State. We’ll give a slight edge to the home team.

Paul Finebaum rolled into town Monday from Alabama to address the Little Rock Touchdown Club.

I’m not quoting him exactly, but here’s basically how he began his talk:

“I prepared this speech on Friday. I’ve come here to talk about a tradition-rich team that has fallen on hard times.

“I’ve come here to talk about a once-great college football program that was in a BCS game just two years ago.

“I’ve come here to talk about a program in a free fall, one that’s now a national laughingstock with a clown as the head coach.

“Yes, I’ve come here to talk about Gene Chizik and the Auburn Tigers.”

Rim shot, please.

Remember last week when we were talking about a weekend when all of the state’s Division I teams had lost?

This time around, everyone is coming off a win — Arkansas won, Arkansas State won, UCA won, UAPB won. Throw in Division II wins by Ouachita and Arkansas Tech against teams from Oklahoma, and Arkansas teams were 6-0 last week against out-of-state opponents.

Here’s what our trusty out-of-state correspondent has to say: “What struck me most about the Arkansas-Auburn game wasn’t the final score — I’d seen enough of Auburn to know that the Tigers were capable of losing big, and ugly, to anybody — but the step-back perspective of the sudden plight of these two teams in 2012.

“Consider the game two years ago on the Plains. Auburn and Arkansas both were highly ranked. Cam Newton vs. Ryan Mallett. Two programs on an upward arc. Auburn would go on to win the national championship that year. Arkansas would play in the Sugar Bowl. Even with the departures of Newton and Mallett, it was hard to imagine either program falling far. After all, we could see what Bobby Petrino was building at Arkansas. And didn’t Gene Chizik attract top recruiting classes year after year? He might lose a once-a-decade player like Newton, but he was clearly stockpiling talent.

“Fast forward to the Hogs’ return to Auburn last Saturday. We may have seen the two worst teams in the Southeastern Conference. In one offseason, Arkansas had lost its head coach and its way. Auburn had lost both of its coordinators, its star running back and its mojo. The coach who won a national title just 22 months ago is now on the hot seat, rumored to be run out of town at season’s end for the likes of, say, a Bobby Petrino.

“And all of this isn’t the least bit unusual. In the modern era, teams flip from good to bad regularly. The Alabamas and LSUs (sort of) and Oregons are the exceptions to the rule. Alabama stays on top because it has the best coach in college football, who has parlayed his NFL-ready defensive style and the Bama tradition into top recruiting classes and national championships. That cycle in Tuscaloosa can’t be broken until Nick Saban retires or dies.”

So what does that mean for Arkansas?

Our correspondent writes: “The point is that any and all hand wringing about the long-term negative implications the Petrino ousting and the blessedly brief John L. tenure will have on The Program is silly. A football program situated like Arkansas — that is, in the SEC with a solid tradition and track record, facilities that are good and getting better and a diehard fan base — can turn around quickly. All that’s needed are a great coach (preferably with an eye-catching offensive scheme), a very good quarterback, one or two exceptional recruiting classes that pan out (like Petrino’s first-year class) and some luck.

“In another two years, the Hogs may visit the Plains for a Top 10 battle. That is if Jeff Long makes the right hire — and Auburn finally manages to successfully woo Bobby Petrino.”

Finebaum made much the same point.

With the right hire, there’s no reason Arkansas cannot be back among the top tier of college football powers.

The wrong hire, on the heels of the current debacle, could set the program back years, Finebaum said.

No pressure there, Mr. Long.

We were 6-2 on the picks last week, making the record 42-9 for the season.

Let’s get to the picks for Week 7:

Arkansas 32, Kentucky 24 — Yes, we’ll pick Arkansas to win. But, yes, we think that point spread is a bit much. This is still a very fragile Razorback team. Kentucky, though, is just plain bad. The Joker will be out as coach at the end of this season. Who’s next? The Riddler? The only win of the season has been against Kent State. The five Kentucky losses have been by scores of 32-14 to Louisville, 32-31 to Western Kentucky, 38-0 to Florida, 38-17 to South Carolina and 27-14 to Mississippi State. Kentucky fans don’t care. That’s because basketball practice starts this week.

Arkansas State 40, South Alabama 25 — The Red Wolves went to 3-3 overall and 1-1 in the Sun Belt Conference with a 34-20 Thursday night victory at 1-5 Florida International. The Red Wolves had 421 yards of offense in that game. The Thursday game means that ASU has had nine days to get ready for a Saturday night contest in Jonesboro against the relatively new South Alabama program. The Jaguars are 1-4. The lone win was over a Nicholls State team that lost to UCA in Conway last Saturday. The losses have been by scores of 33-31 to Texas-San Antonio, 31-7 to North Carolina State, 30-10 to Mississippi State and 31-10 to Troy.

McNeese State 30, UCA 21 — Lake Charles isn’t an easy place to visit, but UCA must do just that this weekend for what’s known as the Red Beans & Rice Bowl. The Bears are 4-2 overall and 2-1 in the Southland Conference after their win over Nicholls State. UCA trailed by a point, 14-13, at halftime but shut out the Colonels in the second half. Wynrick Smothers was 31 of 43 passing for 289 yards. Senior wide receiver Jesse Grandy tied a school record with 13 catches for 111 yards. As usual, McNeese State has talent to spare. The Cowboys are 4-1. The only loss came by just a point to Southeastern Louisiana. The wins have come by scores of 27-21 over Middle Tennessee, 69-7 over McMurry, 35-21 over Weber State (they must miss John L. at Weber) and 30-22 over Northwestern State. We’ll go with the home team, which has had two weeks to prepare for this game.

Henderson 39, Harding 31 — It’s the season’s biggest game to date in the Great American Conference. Henderson is 6-0 and ranked No. 12 in NCAA Division II. Harding is 5-0 and ranked No. 23 in Division II. The game will be played before a packed house in Searcy, and the Reddies will be held to fewer than 50 points for the first time this season. Henderson beat 1-5 UAM by a score of 71-0 last Saturday, putting up 655 yards of offense. Kevin Rodgers passed for 326 yards and five touchdowns. In the Boomtown Classic at El Dorado, Harding’s John Gay hit a 44-yard field goal on the game’s final play to drop Southern Arkansas to 4-1. The Muleriders had tied the game with a touchdown with 1:17 left. Southern Arkansas, which had won its first four games for the first time since 1990, had led 13-0 at one point in the game.

Ouachita 37, UAM 20 — Ouachita is 5-0 and ranked No. 11 nationally despite starting its third-string quarterback the past two games. Sophomore Ty Towers, who started the season as a wide receiver, continues to turn in strong performances at quarterback. Ouachita outscored Southwestern Oklahoma 21-0 in the second half last Saturday to go to 3-0 in the GAC with a 33-12 win. Towers was 15 of 18 passing for 154 yards. Chris Rycraw added 151 yards on the ground. It’s UAM’s homecoming.

Southern Arkansas 19, East Central Oklahoma 17 — It will be interesting to see how the Muleriders respond to their first loss of the season. East Central was picked by many people in the preseason to finish near the top of the conference but has been a bit of a disappointment with records of 3-3 overall and 1-2 in the GAC. The game is in Ada, but we’ll give the Muleriders the edge due to quarterback Tyler Sykora.

Arkansas Tech 41, Southwestern Oklahoma 38 — The Wonder Boys are slowly improving. They’re 3-3 overall and 1-2 in the GAC following a 45-38 victory in Russellville last Saturday night over 1-4 Southeastern Oklahoma. Tanner Marsh was 16 of 31 passing for 213 yards and two touchdowns. With its loss to Ouachita, Southwestern Oklahoma fell to 1-4 overall and 1-3 in the GAC.

It’s much like what’s said about people with severe addiction problems: Sometimes you must hit rock bottom before you can start back up.

Which leads to this question: Just where is rock bottom for the 2012 edition of the University of Arkansas Razorback football team?

Surely we’re close.

Let’s consider some of the dubious milestones reached by this football team in its 58-10 loss last Saturday to Texas A&M:

– The 557 yards for the Aggie quarterback were the most yards ever put up by an individual against an Arkansas team. That performance shattered the previous record of 473 yards set by David Klingler of Houston in 1990. It was a Texas A&M school record and broke the Southeastern Conference record set by Archie Manning of Ole Miss in 1969 and tied by Rohan Davey of LSU in 2001.

– Texas A&M’s 498 passing yards came in just one yard shy of the most passing yards ever allowed by Arkansas. Kentucky gained 499 yards through the air against the Razorbacks in 1998.

– The last time Arkansas ended September without a victory over what would now be called an FBS opponent was 1967.

– It was the most points ever scored by Texas A&M against Arkansas in a series that dates back to 1903.

– This is only the seventh time Arkansas has started a season 1-4 or worse. The previous times were 1903, 1905, 1943, 1953, 1958 and 1992.

– Arkansas, whose meltdown was featured last Saturday morning on ESPN’s “College GameDay,” is the first team since Pittsburgh in 1984 to be ranked in the preseason Top 10 and then lose four games in September.

– Arkansas last lost four games in a row in 2004.

– Texas A&M finished the game with 716 yards of offense. The last team to gain more yards against a Razorback squad was USC in 2005 when the Trojans had 763 yards en route to a 70-17 victory.

– Arkansas has now been outscored 110-10 in two Southeastern Conference games and has given up 1,154 yards in those games.

Yes, I’m getting tired of going to the record book each Saturday as this team continues to see how low it can go.

We were 8-1 on the picks last week (missing only the UCA game; we had picked the Bears to win on the road), making us 36-7 for the year.

Let’s get to the picks for Week 6:

Auburn 30, Arkansas 28 — Auburn’s offense is bad. Arkansas’ defense is worse. Auburn might be joining Arkansas in the search for a new head coach soon, especially if the Razorbacks somehow come back from The Plains with a victory.

Arkansas State 35, Florida International 33 — It was not a good outing in Jonesboro last Saturday for a Red Wolf team that ended September with records of 2-3 overall and 0-1 in the Sun Belt Conference. Western Kentucky won 26-13 after trailing 13-0 at the half before a crowd of more than 25,000 people in Jonesboro. Ryan Aplin was 23 of 40 passing for 204 yards for the Red Wolves, but ASU had just 335 yards of total offense. Only 103 yards of that came in the second half when the Red Wolves were just one of seven on third down. Florida International is also struggling at 1-4. The lone win was by a score of 41-38 in overtime over Terry Bowden’s Akron Zips. The losses have come by scores of 46-26 to Duke, 33-20 to Central Florida, 28-21 to Louisville and 48-20 to Louisiana-Lafayette. ASU and Florida International hook up on a Thursday night on ESPNU in what could be a close game.

UCA 27, Nicholls State 20 — The Bears were coming off that huge home victory over Sam Houston State, but they struggled in the rain at Nacogdoches, Texas, losing 42-37 to Stephen F. Austin. UCA ended September with records of 3-2 overall and 1-1 in the Southland Conference. UCA was outgained 467-217 in the loss to SFA. The Bears were outscored 20-0 in the second quarter when they had just 16 yards of offense. Nicholls State, UCA Coach Clint Conque’s alma mater, comes to Conway for what’s shaping up to be another rainy Saturday. The Colonels played just three games in September, losing to South Alabama and Tulsa while posting a victory over tiny Evangel.

UAPB 14, Jackson State 12 — These two teams appear evenly matched. UAPB is 3-2 after a 40-13 loss to 5-0 Tennessee State last Saturday in Nashville. Jackson State is 2-3 with victories of 45-35 over Texas Southern and 34-13 over Prairie View A&M. The losses in September came by scores of 56-9 to Mississippi State, 38-12 to Tennessee State and 28-21 to Southern University. We’ll give the Golden Lions a slight advantage since they’re playing at home.

Ouachita 24, Southwestern Oklahoma 20 — Ouachita is 4-0 and ranked No. 11 in NCAA Division II despite being down to its third-string quarterback due to injuries. The Tigers survived on the road last Saturday, winning 27-24 over Southeastern Oklahoma in the rain at Durant. Sophomore Ty Towers of Star City, who started the season as a wide receiver, passed for 187 yards and rushed for another 103 yards. It’s homecoming at Ouachita, and Southwestern Oklahoma comes to Arkadelphia with records of 1-3 overall and 1-2 in the Great American Conference. We’ll pick Ouachita to again “win ugly” in the rain.

Henderson 52, UAM 31 – The 5-0 Reddies have been scoring more than 50 points per game so why not pick them to do so again even though it’s likely to be raining in Arkadelphia on Saturday afternoon? Henderson went on the road last Saturday for a 50-22 victory over Southwestern Oklahoma. Quarterback Kevin Rodgers was 19 of 31 passing for 241 yards and four touchdowns for the No. 14 Reddies. Henderson scored 35 consecutive points in the second and third quarters of that game. UAM fell to 1-4 with a 30-14 loss to 4-0 Southern Arkansas.

Harding 36, Southern Arkansas 25 — Two undefeated teams will battle Saturday in the Boomtown Classic at El Dorado. Southern Arkansas is 4-0 for the first time since 1997. The Muleriders scored the game’s final 23 points against UAM as Mark Johnson rushed for 203 yards and Tyler Sykora went 19 of 34 through the air for 354 yards. Harding, meanwhile, is 4-0 for the first time since 2002 after a 31-24 victory over East Cental Oklahoma in a game played at Searcy. The Bisons, who lead NCAA Division II in rushing, had 381 rushing yards in that game. Harding should move into the Division II Top 25 if it defeats Southern Arkansas.

Southeastern Oklahoma 32, Arkansas Tech 29 — Southeastern Oklahoma fell to 1-3 overall and 0-3 in Great American Conference play with its loss to Ouachita. Arkansas Tech snapped a three-game losing streak with a 41-20 win over Northwestern Oklahoma. Quarterback Tanner Marsh passed for 260 yards and rushed for 86 yards for the 2-3 Wonder Boys.