The Battle of the Ravine.

For those who really understand this college football rivalry, there’s little more that needs to be said.

I realize that I have an inherent bias. I grew up with the Battle of the Ravine as an important part of my life. In my family, the day when Ouachita played Henderson was about as big as Christmas and far bigger than New Year’s Day. We could walk to either stadium from our house, though the Henderson stadium was a bit more of a hike.

The two Arkadelphia schools first played each other in football in 1895. The series was suspended from 1951 until 1963 due to excessive vandalism.

Consider these facts:

— It’s the only college football game in America in which the visiting team walks to a road game. That’s because only U.S. Highway 67 separates Ouachita’s A.U. Williams Field from Henderson’s Carpenter-Haygood Stadium.

— They’ve played 83 times through the years, and the series is almost dead even. Ouachita has won 39 times. Henderson has won 38 times. There have been six ties.

— Of the 83 meetings between Henderson and Ouachita, the game has been decided by a touchdown or less 37 times with Ouachita holding a 19-12-6 advantage in those close games.

Ouachita won one of the greatest games in the history of the series two years ago at Carpenter-Haygood Stadium, 43-36. The Tigers came from 13 points down in the fourth quarter to end the season with five consecutive victories. Last year at A.U. Williams Field, Ouachita jumped out to a big lead early and held on to win, 35-28. As noted, those seven-point margins of the past two seasons are the norm rather than the exception.

And wouldn’t you know that Henderson and Ouachita come into Saturday’s game with the top two scoring offenses in the Gulf South Conference, which generally is recognized as the toughest conference in all of NCAA Division II. The game, which begins at 1 p.m. at Henderson’s stadium, has all the makings of another classic.

The weather forecast looks good. You really ought to consider going to Arkadelphia if, for nothing else, than to say you’ve experienced a Battle of the Ravine. There will be a giant tailgate party adjacent to the stadium beginning at 10 a.m. with free hot dogs. The 1 p.m. kickoff means the game will end about 4 p.m., giving those of you who live in the Little Rock area plenty of time to return home before the Hogs come on television at 6 p.m.

Here’s what Troy Mitchell, Henderson’s talented sports information director, wrote: “There’s the Battle for the Little Brown Jug (Michigan vs. Minnesota), the Egg Bowl (Mississippi State vs. Ole Miss) and the Iron Bowl (Alabama vs. Auburn). But the oldest rivalry in Division II football is the Coleman Dairy Battle of the Ravine. … It has been said so many times it is almost trite, but it still bears repeating one more time: For sheer excitement, for dramatic finishes and for almost unbearable tension, few things in sports can be compared to a Henderson State-Ouachita Baptist football game.”

When I lived in Washington, D.C., I missed the Battle of the Ravine from 1985-87. I flew back for the 1988 game and moved back to Arkansas just before the 1989 game. Other than those three years, I’ve been at every Battle of the Ravine since the series resumed in 1963 (I was 4 then). I’ve also had the pleasure of attending the Iron Bowl four times. Ask me the greatest rivalries in college football, and I’ll tell you it’s Ouachita vs. Henderson at the small college level and Alabama vs. Auburn at the major college level.

For many years, the Battle of the Ravine was played on Thanksgiving. That first game in 1895 was on Thanksgiving as Ouachita defeated what was then Arkadelphia Methodist College by a score of 8-0.

You want to hear about some of the classic games in the series?

How about 1914 when Ouachita beat both Arkansas and Ole Miss but could only manage a scoreless tie with Henderson?

How about 1926, at the new A.U. Williams Field, when Hardy Winburn broke loose for a 35-yard score in the rain to give Ouachita a 14-7 victory?

How about 1949, when Ouachita trailed with seven minutes left by a score of 14-0? The late Ike Sharp successfully executed three onside kicks for Ouachita in those final seven minutes and Otis Turner, known as the Magic Toe, kicked the field goal that gave the Tigers a 17-14 victory.

How about 1950 when more than 8,000 people turned out to watch the Reddies avenge the previous season’s loss with a 7-0 win over Ouachita? It would be 13 years before they would play again.

How about 1963 as the series resumed with a 28-13 Henderson win at Haygood Stadium, allowing the Reddies to claim a share of the Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference championship?

How about 1969 when the great Henderson quarterback Tommy Hart led the Reddies back from a 17-7 second-half deficit? The Reddies ended up winning 23-17 and captured the AIC title in the process.

How about 1972 when Ouachita used a 47-yard touchdown run by hometown freshman sensation Luther Guinn with 2:23 to play to pull within one point at 14-13? Legendary Ouachita Coach Buddy Benson decided to go for two, and it paid off as quarterback Mike Carroll hit Danny Jack Winston to give Ouachita a 15-14 victory.

How about 1975, which I will tell you is the greatest college football game I’ve ever seen at any level? Henderson was undefeated coming into the final game of the regular season. Ouachita was 8-1. Trailing 20-14 with time running out, Ouachita faced a fourth-and 25. Quarterback Bill Vining Jr., the son of the Ouachita head basketball coach and athletic director, completed a pass to Gary Reese for 25 yards. The chains came out, and Ouachita had the first down by an inch. Two plays later, Vining hit Ken Stuckey for the touchdown, and Russell Daniel kicked the extra point to give the Tigers a 21-20 win. Ouachita and Henderson tied for the AIC championship. Ouachita was one of four teams selected for the NAIA playoffs. Henderson went to the Bicentennial Bowl at War Memorial Stadium.

How about 1978 when Coach Benson decided to go for two late in the game, just as he had done in 1972 at Haygood Stadium? Ouachita trailed 7-6 with 1:21 remaining after a Neal Turner touchdown pass to Jimmy Cornwell. Turner threw a pass to William Miller on the two-point conversion attempt, but Ned Parette knocked the ball away. It was my first year to do Ouachita games on the radio. By the way, it was a pass interference that was never called (now my Ouachita bias is showing).

How about 1982 when Ouachita drove the length of the field for a late touchdown to win 19-18 and capture the AIC championship?

How about 1988 when the game was called off due to flooding (much of the field was under water) at halftime with the score tied at 3-3?

How about 2008 when Ouachita scored 27 fourth-quarter points to rally from a 29-16 deficit? In one of the greatest individual performances I’ve ever seen, Tiger receiver Julio Pruitt had 10 receptions for 250 yards and four touchdowns. One of his touchdown catches was shown on ESPN’s top plays of the day that evening.

The best three Battles of the Ravine I’ve seen are (in order from No. 1) the 1975, 1982 and 2008 games.

Sometimes, ESPN takes its “College GameDay” show to a smaller college.

One of these years, the network should do the show from Arkadelphia on the day of the Battle of the Ravine. People across the country need to know about this unique rivalry.

Hopefully, many of you will find your way to Carpenter-Haygood Stadium on Saturday. I promise that you will enjoy yourself.

It was a good weekend for college football fans across the state of Arkansas.

The University of Arkansas took care of Ole Miss, making Razorback fans happy while giving some additional emotional relief to the Nutt haters who still lurk among us.

The Arkansas State University Red Wolves got a much-needed win at home, scoring 28 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to overcome Florida Atlantic, 37-16.

The UCA Bears ended a three-game losing streak with a 24-point victory at Nicholls State.

The UAPB Golden Lions won a SWAC road game Thursday night on ESPU.

And my Ouachita Tigers shocked Terry Bowden’s North Alabama team, which had come to Arkadelphia with the best defense in NCAA Division II. Entering the contest, UNA had won 27 consecutive games against teams from Arkansas.

I went 6-2 on the week, making the record 45-18 for the year. I had the margin right on the Arkansas-Ole Miss game. I called it 48-34. It was 38-24.

I missed the UAPB game, while admitting in advance that I find it almost impossible to predict the outcome of SWAC battles.

And, yes, I missed the Ouachita game. Considering that North Alabama had given up only one touchdown in the previous 18 quarters and that the Lions had not given up a touchdown in the second half all season, there were those who said I was crazy for only picking Bowden’s team to win by a single point. I had a feeling Ouachita would play really well in front of a large homecoming crowd. Ouachita’s 24-23 overtime victory was what Gulf South Conference football is all about. It was truly one for the ages.

As for the Hogs, Bobby Petrino finally gets a victory over ol’ HDN, but the postgame handshake was just as cold as it had been the previous two years. Have you ever gotten the impression that Petrino doesn’t care much for his predecessor for whatever reason?

The Houston Nutt saga is one of our longest-running soap operas in this state, ranking right up there with “As The World Turns.” So I guess it was fitting that Saturday’s game was accompanied by thunder and lightning to add to the drama that always seems to surround HDN.

Hats off to Knile Davis for his career-best 176 yards and three touchdowns on 22 carries. I like the way he runs the football. He reminds me of Fred Talley.

Hats off to Joe Adams for breaking Ken Hatfield’s 47-year-old school record with that 97-yard punt return for a touchdown. It’s amazing the record stood for as long as it did. I’m sure Ken enjoyed being there to see his record broken. Coach Hatfield remains one of my favorite Arkansans — a class act.

And hats off to Zach Hocker for already having three fields goals of 46 yards or longer as a true freshman. It’s nice to know for a change that if you reach the opponent’s 30 or closer, you’re usually going to come away with points.

So we enter the final five games of the regular season with Ole Miss alone in the SEC West cellar and Arkansas tied with Mississippi State for fourth in the division. Given the problems on defense, I’m still thinking an 8-4 season with a berth in the Cotton Bowl for the Razorbacks. This is an Arkansas defense that gave up 512 yards (367 in the second half when good teams should put less talented opponents away). Ole Miss picked up 185 yards on the ground and 327 yards through the air. In addition to passing for those 327 yards (21 of 36), Jeremiah Masoli ran the ball 15 times for 98 yards for the Rebels.

Arkansas, meanwhile, rushed for 197 yards and passed for 267 yards. It was the first time this season Arkansas did not have at least 300 yards passing. And it was the first time this season that Ole Miss had more than 300 yards passing.

I guess we’ll be learning more about Ryan Mallett’s sore shoulder as the week goes along.

Let’s get to the picks for Week 9:

Arkansas 48, Vanderbilt 24 — It’s never a good sign when you change offensive coordinators in the middle of the season. The Commodores announced Monday that 32-year-old Des Kitchings will now call the plays. The previous offensive coordinator, Jimmy Kiser, will remain as the quarterbacks coach. Yes, Vanderbilt did give HDN a headache with that 28-14 win in Oxford back on Sept. 18. The only other victory has been over hapless Eastern Michigan. The five losses have come by scores of 23-21 to Northwestern, 27-3 to LSU, 40-21 to Connecticut, 43-0 to Georgia and 21-7 to South Carolina. Petrino strikes us as the kind of guy who won’t let a team look ahead. Arkansas rolls in Fayetteville on a chilly Saturday night.

Grambling 42, UAPB 30 — I’ve been to War Memorial Stadium for the Delta Classic, and it’s fun. Fitz Hill has brought a really nice event to our city. If you have the chance Saturday afternoon, you should go to the stadium and check it out. UAPB has a better team than the 5-5 version of 2009. The Golden Lions improved to 4-3 overall and 3-2 in the conference with their 39-35 win at Alcorn State. Josh Boudreaux was 13 of 26 passing for 132 yards. But Grambling is tough. The Tigers opened the season with a 20-6 loss to Louisiana Tech. They’ve since posted six consecutive victories — 28-21 over Jackson State, 34-17 over Prairie View A&M, 25-22 over Alabama A&M, 22-7 over Alabama State, 38-28 over Alcorn State and 35-14 over Mississippi Valley State. Saturday’s game should be worth the price of admission. If I were in Little Rock, I would attend. But I have some business known as the Battle of the Ravine to take care of in Arkadelphia on Saturday afternoon.

UCA 29, Southeastern Louisiana 20 — It was good to see the Bears go on the road and end that three-game losing streak. UCA is 4-3 overall and 1-2 in the Southland Conference after its 31-7 victory at Nicholls State. The Bear defense came through in a big way Saturday — a 98-yard interception return for a touchdown by redshirt freshman Jestin Love and a 10-yard fumble return for a touchdown by Seth Allison. Southeastern Louisiana comes it at 2-5. McNeese State kicker Josh Lewis hit a career-long 52-yard field goal as time expired Saturday to allow the Cowboys to ruin the Lions’ homecoming, 13-10. The other Southeastern Louisiana losses have been by scores of 57-7 to Sam Houston State, 21-20 to Louisiana-Monroe, 29-28 to Lamar and 27-21 to Tulane. As you can see, four of the five losses have been by six or fewer points. The wins were over Tennessee-Martin and Texas State. Expect the Bears to play well on homecoming.

Ouachita 37, Henderson 35 — My goodness, how do you pick a Battle of the Ravine when both teams are playing well? It is, quite simply, one of the great rivalries in all of college football at any level. This will be the 84th time the two Arkadelphia teams have played each other. This year the game is at Henderson’s Carpenter-Haygood Stadium. Kickoff is at 1 p.m. If you have never been to a Battle of the Ravine, do yourself a favor and attend. Ouachita is 5-2, coming off that victory over a North Alabama team that has almost 25 Division I transfers. North Alabama had come to Arkadelphia with a 6-1 record. Ouachita became the first team all season to score more than 10 points on the Lions. Henderson, meanwhile, went to 5-3 with its 33-28 victory over a decent Harding team. Harding scored with 3:53 left in the game to go ahead. The Reddies then responded with a six-play, 70-yard scoring drive. Nick Hardesty was 34 of 51 passing for Henderson for 448 yards and three touchdowns. The Reddies had three wide receivers with more than 100 yards receiving. Ouachita holds a 39-38-6 advantage, having won the two most recent Battles of the Ravine. Of the 83 meetings, the game has been decided by a touchdown or less 37 times. With two high-powered offenses, this year’s game should be entertaining. It’s amazing that only one game separates these two schools in a series that began in 1895. I’ll be honest: I don’t really have a clue who will win Saturday. Anyone who claims otherwise has not spent much time around this rivalry. I’ll stick with my alma mater.

Harding 31, UAM 27 — UAM was within seconds of knocking off the team now ranked No. 10 in NCAA Division II, Valdosta State. But Valdosta, now 6-1, scored with 33 seconds remaining to win at home, 21-17. UAM is 3-5 but is a different team with senior quarterback Scott Buisson back. Buisson was 27 of 42 passing for 329 yards and two touchdowns against a good Valdosta defense. Harding, meanwhile, is 3-4 with all four losses by a touchdown or less. Don’t let the records fool you (remember, they play in the GSC). These are two talented football teams.

Valdosta State 35, Arkansas Tech 25 — After the scare against UAM, Valdosta must go on the road to play Arkansas Tech. Steve Mullins, one of the best coaches in the Gulf South Conference, has a young team that’s now 3-5 following a 49-26 loss at West Alabama. Tech will be back in future years. The young Wonder Boys, however, will have to take their lumps this year. Saturday should be no exception.

West Alabama 42, Southern Arkansas 20 — The college team struggling the most in Arkansas this fall is Southern Arkansas. Unfortunately, the young Muleriders find themselves in the toughest conference in all of NCAA Division II, the Gulf South Conference. The Muleriders are 0-7. West Alabama is 6-2 with a tremendous offense.

It’s a football bonanza Saturday in Arkansas.

There are games in Fayetteville, Little Rock, Conway, Arkadelphia, Searcy, Russellville and Magnolia.

You have no excuse not to get out and see a college football game.

Let’s add some perspective to what has already been written about Auburn 65, Arkansas 43:

1. Those were perhaps the two worst defenses I’ve ever seen in a matchup of Top 12 teams. Schools normally don’t make it into the Top 12 without some semblance of a defense. Will Auburn come crashing down this Saturday against LSU? I don’t think so. That’s because LSU’s offense is so bad that it will make Auburn’s defense look much improved from the previous game. If Auburn wins Saturday, the Tigers could very well go into their game against Alabama on Thanksgiving weekend with an 11-0 record. And you can bet that I’ll be picking the Tide in the Iron Bowl. In fact, a 12-1 Alabama team might very well work its way into the national championship game.

2. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. No team will consistently be in the top tier of the Southeastern Conference while focusing only on offense. The Hogs don’t play in the Big East or Conference USA (although their uniforms look like it). When the university decided to pay its head coach almost $3 million annually, it sent a signal that it wishes to be a top-tier program. Why won’t they just go ahead at this point and pay a defensive coordinator $1 million annually in order to ensure that Arkansas has one of the nation’s best coordinators? Surely Bobby Petrino realizes he has a problem.

3. Arkansas is 4-2 at the halfway point of the season. I think the Razorbacks will go 4-2 in the second half, finishing with an 8-4 overall record, a 4-4 SEC record and a trip to the Cotton Bowl. That would mark steady progress in Petrino’s three years — from no bowl in his first season to the Liberty Bowl in his second season to the Cotton Bowl in his third season. The irony is that an 8-4 finish would leave many Razorback fans disappointed. I always thought that those calling the radio talk shows all summer to predict a 12-0, an 11-1 or even a 10-2 season were far too optimistic. That’s not where this program is. Recruiting will have to go to the next level for Arkansas to finish 10-2 or better on a consistent basis.

4. Let’s face it: Arkansas is a middle-of-the-pack SEC program right now. Granted, a middle-of-the-pack SEC program would be at the top of the pack of most other conferences. But let’s not pretend we’re something we’re not. And let’s quit whining about officials. It got old in the Southwest Conference. It has gotten old in the SEC. Yes, two calls went against the Hogs. But I also can remember a pass interference penalty against Auburn that should not have been called and a play on which Arkansas was given a first down (scoring a touchdown just afterward) when the replay seemed to show the Razorbacks were short. The calls tend to even out over time.

5. An interesting stat for you Nutt haters: Houston Nutt was 11-8 in his first 19 SEC games at Arkansas. Bobby Petrino is 6-13.

That said, I believe Arkansas will beat Ole Miss in Fayetteville on Saturday. I also thought the Hogs would beat an Auburn team that had been forced to come from behind week after week. There was no way to predict that both the Razorback defense and kicking game would melt down on the same Saturday.

I had by far my worst week of the year on picks, going 3-5. As already noted, I picked Arkansas. In picking against UAPB, I admitted that it’s almost impossible to call SWAC games. All of those teams are up and down. And we melted down when it came to picking Gulf South Conference games. To wit:

— I didn’t think injured UAM quarterback Scott Buisson would play against West Georgia. The Boll Weevils simply cannot win GSC games without their senior quarterback. But he returned sooner than expected and led his squad to a 31-24 homecoming victory.

— Harding had been close in all of its three losses. I knew the Bisons would upset someone along the way. I just didn’t think it would be last Saturday against No. 12 Delta State on the road. The Bisons had never won in Cleveland, Miss., prior to Saturday.

— Of the Henderson-West Alabama game, I wrote last week: “This could be the best game of the weekend in the Gulf South Conference. … Both have explosive offenses. The Reddies get the ball last Saturday and win.” Unfortunately, the Tigers of West Alabama got the ball last and won. And talk about controversy! Auburn-Arkansas had nothing on this game. Henderson seemed to have won the game when Benny Anderson blocked a punt and returned it 51 yards for a touchdown with just two minutes left. That gave the Reddies a 38-34 lead. However, West Alabama quarterback Deon Williams completed six of nine passes on the final drive. With time running out, Williams scrambled for a first down. The clock stopped to move the chains. The Tigers rushed to the line, and Williams spiked the ball. It appeared to everyone that time had expired. But the referee put one second back on the clock. Williams then threw a touchdown pass as time expired. Henderson gets hosed in Alabama.

We’re now 39-16 on the season. Let’s move to this week’s picks:

Arkansas 48, Ole Miss 34 — The Razorbacks will give up quite a few points to Masoli & Co. They’ll also score a lot of points. This is, after all, an offense that had the most first downs (30) in school history against Auburn. The previous record was 29 against TCU in 1980. Arkansas outgained Auburn 566-470. Tyler Wilson was most impressive in going 25 of 34 passing for 332 yards and four touchdowns. Joe Adams and Greg Childs had a combined 16 receptions for 251 yards and three touchdowns. This is without a doubt an offense that can score points. Now if only the defense and the kicking teams will show up.

Arkansas State 30, Florida Atlantic 24 — Just as it did last year at Iowa, ASU played well against a Big 10 team and lost a close one. The Red Wolves fell to 2-5 Saturday with their 36-34 loss at Indiana. The school’s only victory against a team from a BCS conference remains that season-opening win two years ago against Texas A&M. Red Wolf sophomore quarterback Ryan Aplin continues to improve. He was 33 of 44 passing at Indiana for 275 yards and two touchdowns, breaking the school record for completions. The previous record was 32 by Johnny Covington in 1995. Howard Schnellenberger’s Florida Atlantic team is 1-4. It defeated UAB to start the season and has since lost to Michigan State (we know how good the Spartans are), North Texas (not good), South Florida and Louisiana-Monroe. We’ll give the advantage to the Red Wolves since the game is in Jonesboro.

Alcorn State 21, UAPB 18 — Who knows? It’s the SWAC. UAPB evened its record last Saturday night at 3-3 overall and 2-2 in conference with a 21-14 victory over Alabama A&M. The winning play came on a 40-yard pass from Josh Boudreaux to Dezmond Beverly with 4:09 remaining. Boudreaux was 18 of 33 passing for 254 yards and two touchdowns. The Golden Lions must go on the road this week to take on a 3-3 Alcorn State team that won its first three games against Langston, Mississippi Valley State and Alabama State before losses to Mississippi State, Texas Southern and Grambling. We’ll go with the home team in a close one.

UCA 27, Nicholls State 25 — After starting 3-0, the Bears are hurting. They’ve lost to Tulsa, Northwestern State and Stephen F. Austin. The game at SFA was not pretty as UCA fell 30-7 in a televised contest. UCA’s defense allowed 452 yards. The 3-3 Bears had 411 yards of offense but were just five of 17 on third down and one of four in the red zone. Nathan Dick was 37 of 48 passing for 307 yards and one touchdown. Nicholls is 2-4. The season opened with losses to San Diego State, Western Michigan and South Alabama. There was a win over Bacone College that was followed by a loss to Sam Houston State. The Colonels beat Texas State in overtime Saturday. We’ll go out on a limb and say the Bears play much better this week.

Valdosta State 30, UAM 19 — As noted, Buisson makes a difference. The senior was 17 of 28 passing for 242 yards and two touchdowns in the win over West Georgia as the Weevils improved to 3-4. Valdosta, however, has the best defense in the Gulf South Conference. The Blazers shut out the team previously ranked No. 3 in NCAA Division II, North Alabama, on Thursday night of last week. Valdosta is 5-1 and now ranked No. 14 nationally. The Blazers’ lone loss was by four points to Delta State.

West Alabama 45, Arkansas Tech 28 — The Tigers shouldn’t need help from the officials this week. A young Tech team has struggled for most of the season in compiling records of 3-4 overall and 2-3 in the GSC. Tech did manage to beat 0-7 Southern Arkansas, 35-19, in Russellville on Saturday night. West Alabama is 5-2 overall and 3-1 in the conference. It’s hard to see the Tigers losing this game at home.

Henderson 42, Harding 38 — Henderson knows how to score. The Reddies’ losses have been by 17 points to North Alabama, four points to Delta State and two points to West Alabama. So they’re a couple of plays away from being 6-1 rather than 4-3. Meanwhile, the 3-3 Bisons have had losses of seven points to West Georgia, three points to Ouachita and five points to West Alabama. So with a break here and a break there, Harding could be 6-0. Henderson senior quarterback Nick Hardesty was 44 of 68 passing for 415 yards in the loss to West Alabama. Harding, meanwhile, beat Delta State when Josh Powell threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Watson with 28 seconds left. This should be an entertaining game Saturday afternoon in Arkadelphia.

North Alabama 29, Ouachita 28 — Ouachita has had two weeks to prepare for Terry Bowden’s Lions. A talented Ouachita team is 4-2. Its losses were by six points to UAM when Buisson was at his best and by two points to Valdosta State on the road. A Tiger squad that could be 6-0 should not be ruled out against the 6-1 Lions, who have 31 Division I transfers. In the fourth quarter, though, superior depth may make the difference for North Alabama as a big homecoming crowd in Arkadelphia roots for Ouachita.

We stated last week that it’s a shame the Arkansas Razorbacks don’t have more open dates.

After all, they jumped four spots in the AP poll when they didn’t play a game.

Last weekend, they played. They won. And they dropped a spot in the poll.

We can’t argue, though. This Razorback offense, for which expectations were so high coming into the season, is simply not clicking in the second halves of games (with the exception of that last drive against Georgia).

Arkansas scored on its first possession for a third consecutive game in the 24-17 victory over Texas A&M. But also for a third consecutive game, the Arkansas offense struggled in the fourth quarter. The Razorbacks are just two of 10 on third down in the fourth quarter during the past three games. That average won’t get it done at Auburn on Saturday. The defense, which was the leading area of concern coming into the season, played well at Cowboys Stadium. It recovered three fumbles and came up with one interception. Coming into the game, Arkansas had only recovered one fumble all season.

We were 6-2 on our picks last week. UAPB and UCA let us down. We had picked both to win. We’ll pick against both of them this week, which likely will ensure victories for the Golden Lions and the Bears.

Arkansas and Arkansas State came through with victories in the Metroplex, just as we had predicted they would. And we were perfect on our picks for the Gulf South Conference schools. The season record is 36-11.

Let’s move to this weekend’s games:

Arkansas 30, Auburn 28 — We’ll go with the Hogs on the road against a very good Auburn team, but there’s not a high degree of confidence in this pick. Arkansas’ offense must become more consistent in order to do better than 9-3 or 8-4 this season. The Razorbacks were penalized 13 times against Texas A&M for 108 yards. Arkansas had five false start penalties. In fact, every starting lineman except one was called for a false start. Yes, Ryan Mallett moved into sixth place on the school’s all-time total yardage list, passing Bill Montgomery and Brad Taylor. Yes, Mallett has now completed a pass of at least 50 yards in nine of the past 13 games. Yes, Mallett was 27 of 38 for 310 yards with three touchdowns. But he had just 81 yards passing in the second half. Arkansas was only six of 17 on third down. Why are we picking Arkansas? It just seems that Auburn is due for a loss after several close calls.

Indiana 35, Arkansas State 31 — This is the type of road game in which the Red Wolves normally play well. It’s homecoming in Bloomington for an Indiana team that opened the season with wins of 51-17 over Towson, 38-31 over Western Kentucky and 35-20 over Akron. That has been followed by Big 10 losses of 42-35 to Michigan and 38-10 to No. 1 Ohio State. The Red Wolves defeated North Texas, 24-19, in Denton last Saturday night to move to 2-4 on the season. Quarterback Ryan Aplin was 14 of 26 passing for 169 yards. He also rushed for 61 yards and had two touchdowns on the ground. The Red Wolves held North Texas to 74 yards of offense in the second half. If Aplin plays well, Arkansas State has a chance to keep this one close.

Alabama A&M 39, UAPB 27 — The Golden Lions received national television exposure at home last Thursday night on ESPNU but fell to 2-3 with a loss to Prairie View A&M. It’s another SWAC home game in Pine Bluff for the Golden Lions on Saturday as Alabama A&M comes to town. A&M is 2-4 with wins over Central State and Southern University. The losses have been to Tennessee State, Texas Southern, Grambling and Jackson State. Let’s make one thing clear: It’s easier to pick where the roulette wheel is going to stop in a Tunica casino than it is to pick the outcome of SWAC games.

Stephen F. Austin 24, UCA 20 — The Bears had a shocking home loss last weekend to a Northwestern State team that had gone 0-11 a year ago and was 1-4 coming into the game, its only win having come against a Division II opponent. The Bears fell to 3-2 overall and 0-1 in the Southland Conference with their second consecutive loss. This is a very good Stephen F. Austin team. After an opening loss at Texas A&M, SFA has posted victories over 59-14 over Albany, 22-20 over Northern Iowa, 71-3 over Lamar and 32-27 over McNeese State.

West Georgia 22, UAM 17 — As stated last week, UAM just isn’t the same team without senior quarterback Scott Buisson, who broke a finger in a loss to Arkansas Tech. The Weevils dropped their third consecutive game on Thursday night of last week to fall to 2-4 overall and 1-3 in the Gulf South Conference. They played pretty well, however, in a 34-20 loss to No. 12 Delta State, which is now 5-1. West Georgia is 2-2 in conference play and 3-3 overall. It’s a much improved West Georgia team from the one that had struggled so much in recent years.

Arkansas Tech 17, Southern Arkansas 15 — These two teams have struggled, especially on offense. Tech fell to 2-4 with a 28-7 loss to Ouachita at home. SAU fell to 0-6 with a 28-17 loss to Henderson at home. Tech had only 152 yards of offense against Ouachita (including just 10 yards rushing). We’ll go with the Wonder Boys, though, since they’re at home.

Delta State 29, Harding 21 — Harding fell to 2-3 last weekend with a 22-17 loss to 2-2 West Alabama in Searcy. All three of the Bisons’ losses (West Georgia, Ouachita and West Alabama) have been close games. West Alabama scored the winning touchdown with just more than a minute remaining. Expect the game in Cleveland, Miss., to also be close. It’s Delta State’s homecoming.

Henderson 48, West Alabama 45 — This could be the best game of the weekend in the Gulf South Conference. Both of these teams are 4-2 overall with only one conference loss each. Both have explosive offenses. The Reddies outgained Southern Arkansas 431-252 last Saturday in Magnolia. Reddie senior quarterback Nick Hardesty was 27 of 41 passing for 317 yards and two touchdowns. The Reddies get the ball last Saturday and win in Livingston.

It’s too bad the Razorbacks don’t have more open dates.

When you move up four places in the AP poll after a weekend when you didn’t play a game, that’s not bad. Not bad at all. Two more open dates and the Hogs would have been in a BCS bowl.

But they actually have to play the games for the next eight weekends.

Certainly, Alabama’s thrashing of Florida in Tuscaloosa on Saturday night made the Razorbacks look good by comparison. It’s difficult, however, to compare one game to the next. Each contest is unique, which is why college football captivates millions of people.

The Texas A&M schedule offered no tests the first three weeks of the season as the Aggies defeated Stephen F. Austin, Louisiana Tech and Florida International by scores of 48-7, 48-16 and 27-20 respectively.

The conventional wisdom in Arkansas was that Oklahoma State would destroy the Aggies last Thursday night in Stillwater. It didn’t happen. The Cowboys were fortunate to escape with a 38-35 victory.

This isn’t a bad A&M team that Arkansas will face Saturday afternoon in Arlington. Arkansas should win. But the Razorbacks will have to do more than simply show up.

We were 6-1 on the picks last week. That makes the record 30-9 through the first five weeks of the season.

Let’s get to this week’s selections:

Arkansas 41, Texas A&M 30 — With a convincing victory in front of the ABC cameras Saturday afternoon, the Razorbacks could move back into the Top 10 and Ryan Mallett could move back into the Heisman Trophy race. A huge challenge awaits the following weekend with the trip to Auburn. As noted, however, the Razorbacks had best not look ahead. I liked what Jeff Long, the UA athletic director, told the Little Rock Touchdown Club on Monday. Long thinks it’s a positive thing that Arkansas can tell its recruits that it has three home stadiums — Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock and Cowboys Stadium in Arlington. Signing talented high school athletes from Texas is important to the future of the Arkansas football program. Beating the Aggies in Arlington on a regular basis certainly can’t hurt when it comes to attracting those players’ attention.

Arkansas State 27, North Texas 24 — One of these days, this Red Wolf team is going to put together 60 minutes of decent football instead of 30 minutes. It might as well be Saturday night in Denton. ASU fell to 1-4 with its 34-24 loss to 2-2 Louisville before a crowd of more than 25,000 in Jonesboro on Saturday night. Louisville was the first team from a BCS conference to visit Jonesboro since 2001. The Cardinals had 393 first-half yards and took a 31-7 lead to the dressing room at halftime. ASU stormed back, cutting the margin to seven points at 31-24 with 8:08 left in the game. But Louisville iced the contest with a 46-yard field goal with 3:54 remaining. Coach Steve Roberts said it best: “We played a half. We’ve won a lot of halves, and that’s the disappointing thing.” North Texas is also 1-4. The Not So Mean Green has lost 35-10 to Clemson, 32-31 to Rice, 24-0 to Army and 28-27 to Louisiana-Lafayette. The lone victory was a 21-17 win against Florida Atlantic in Boca Raton.

UAPB 28, Prairie View A&M 20 — The Golden Lions lost their first two games to UTEP and Alabama State on the road but fought back for wins against Clark Atlanta in the Gateway Classic at St. Louis and against Southern University in Baton Rouge. Now, more than a month into the season, Monte Coleman’s team gets to play at home. It’s a Thursday night game and will be televised nationally by ESPNU. In the 41-27 victory over Southern, Golden Lion quarterback Josh Boudreaux completed 24 of 29 passes for 366 yards and four touchdowns. Raymond Webber had 11 receptions for UAPB for 169 yards and three touchdowns. Prairie View opened the season with a 16-14 victory over Texas Southern. That game was followed by losses of 34-7 to Southern Mississippi, 18-15 to Alabama State and 24-17 to Grambling. Prairie View moved to 2-3 Saturday with a 34-13 victory over 0-5 Mississippi Valley State. Give the slight edge Thursday to a UAPB team that finally gets to play at home.

UCA 38, Northwestern State 17 — The 3-1 Bears had an off week to recover from their loss at Tulsa. They should be rested and ready for Saturday night’s game in Conway against what’s frankly a very bad team from Northwestern State of Louisiana. The lone Demon victory was a 17-14 win over Division II Tarleton State. The four losses have come by scores of 65-21 to Air Force, 19-7 to Samford, 49-24 to North Dakota and 24-7 to McNeese State. UCA should roll over the 1-4 Demons.

Ouachita 32, Arkansas Tech 31 — Ouachita came close last week to posting its first victory ever in Valdosta, Ga. The Tigers drove 82 yards against Valdosta State and scored with 1:10 left in the game on a fourth-and-goal from the one to narrow the margin to two points at 21-19. But a pass fell incomplete on a two-point conversion attempt that could have sent the game to overtime. The Tigers outgained Valdosta, which is No. 22 nationally in NCAA Division II this week, 444 yards to 332 yards. Ouachita senior quarterback Eli Cranor was 27 of 42 passing for 312 yards and one touchdown. This week, Cranor plays in his hometown of Russellville against an Arkansas Tech team that fell 28-0 to No. 3 North Alabama. Terry Bowden’s North Alabama team is 5-0 and hasn’t allowed a score in 10 quarters. North Alabama has now won 27 consecutive games against Arkansas schools. The winner of the Tech-Ouachita game should go on to have a decent season.

Delta State 40, UAM 24 — The Boll Weevils obviously aren’t the same team without Scott Buisson. The senior quarterback became the state’s all-time total yardage leader in a loss to Tech. In the process, he broke a finger and had to have a pin inserted. He will miss three to four games. Without Buisson, the Weevils showed up flat in Arkadelphia last Saturday afternoon. A good Henderson team got on a roll and never slowed down, winning 47-0. The 2-3 Boll Weevils won’t be able to hang with a Delta State team that’s 4-1, coming off a 41-37 victory over West Alabama and ranked No. 13 nationally in Division II.

West Alabama 29, Harding 22 — This Harding team is 2-2 and could easily be 4-0, having experienced close road losses at West Georgia and Ouachita. The Bisons looked good Saturday in a 27-0 victory over a Lambuth team that had earlier defeated West Alabama. Harding had 238 yards of rushing from its new option offense while holding Lambuth to 17 yards of offense. West Alabama was No. 15 prior to the loss to Delta State. It dropped out of the Top 25 following that defeat. The Tigers are now 3-2. This should be a fun game Saturday night in Searcy.

Henderson 34, Southern Arkansas 17 — Henderson is 3-2 but played well in losses to nationally ranked North Alabama and Delta State. The Reddies seem to be getting better by the week. In the victory over UAM, Henderson senior quarterback Nick Hardesty was 18 of 28 passing for 415 yards and three touchdowns, including an 87-yard touchdown pass to Chris Evering that was the second longest pass play in school history. Henderson had 550 yards of offense and held the Weevils to 127. Southern Arkansas fell to 0-5 with a 31-17 loss last Saturday to 3-2 West Georgia on the road.