Archive for October, 2022

College football: Week 10

Monday, October 31st, 2022

The six-game Arkansas losing streak to Auburn is over, and Bryan Harsin is out as head coach on the Plains after less than two seasons.

The Hogs had 520 yards of offense en route to Saturday’s 41-27 victory. Arkansas moved to 5-3 overall and 2-3 in the Southeastern Conference while Auburn fell to 3-5 and 1-4. It marked the first time for Arkansas to win back-to-back road games since beating Ole Miss and LSU in 2015.

Can Arkansas make it three wins in a row against No. 23 Liberty in Fayetteville this Saturday afternoon?

The Razorbacks can if KJ Jefferson plays like he did against Auburn. Jefferson accounted for 279 yards and three touchdowns. On the ground, Raheim Sanders had 171 yards on 16 carries, topping 1,000 yards for the season. Arkansas rushed for 286 yards while Jefferson passed for 234.

Matt Landers had four catches for 115 yards, and Jadon Haselwood added five catches for 61 yards.

Arkansas has now had at least one 100-yard rusher in nine consecutive games. Of the 286 rushing yards against Auburn, 216 came in the second half.

We were 9-1 on the picks last week to make the season record 59-16. Here are the picks for this Saturday’s games:

Arkansas 37, Liberty 34 — This has turned into a monster of a nonconference schedule with Cincinnati, BYU and now Liberty. Hugh Freeze has his team at 7-1. The only loss was by a single point, 37-36 to Wake Forest. The victories have come by scores of 29-27 over Southern Mississippi, 21-14 over Alabama-Birmingham, 21-12 over Akron, 38-24 over Old Dominion, 42-24 over Massachusetts, 21-20 over Gardner-Webb and 41-14 over BYU.

UCA 29, Eastern Kentucky 28 — The Bears moved to 4-4 overall and 3-0 in the ASUN with a 64-29 victory in Conway over a 1-7 North Alabama squad. UCA led 33-7 at the half and never looked back. Will McElvain was 15 of 24 passing for 277 yards and two touchdowns. UCA must go on the road this week to take on a decent Eastern Kentucky team that’s 5-3 overall and 1-1 in conference play. The wins have come by scores of 59-57 over Bowling Green, 40-17 over Charleston Southern, 35-28 over Southern Utah, 56-53 over North Alabama and 28-23 over Southeast Missouri. The losses were by scores of 42-34 to Eastern Michigan, 31-20 to Austin Peay and 25-17 to Sam Houston.

Grambling 19, UAPB 10 — UAPB fell to 2-6 overall and 0-5 in the SWAC with a 27-6 loss at Florida A&M. It was the first game under interim coach Don Treadwell. UAPB’s Skyler Perry was 21 of 38 passing for 173 yards and one interception. This isn’t a vintage Grambling team that the Golden Lions visit this Saturday. Grambling is 2-6 overall and 1-4 in the SWAC. The wins were by scores of 47-21 over Northwestern State of Louisiana and 35-6 over Alcorn State. The losses were by scores of 58-3 to Arkansas State, 66-24 to Jackson State, 36-19 to Bethune-Cookman, 34-14 to Prairie View A&M, 37-31 to Alabama A&M and 20-16 to Florida A&M.

Ouachita 35, Southeastern Oklahoma 25 — The Tigers are 9-0 and ranked No. 4 in the country in NCAA Division II by the American Football Coaches Association. But they received a scare last week as East Central Oklahoma led 18-14 late in the fourth quarter. The defense saved the day with two interceptions, which set the stage for T.J. Cole touchdowns at 1:56 and 1:33. With the 28-18 victory, Ouachita secured at least a share of its sixth Great American Conference title in 11 seasons. The Tigers can win the title outright with a victory in Durant on Saturday over Southeastern Oklahoma. But that won’t come easily. Southeastern is 6-3 and routed UAM by a score of 48-20 in Monticello last Saturday.

Henderson 48, Oklahoma Baptist 20 — The Reddies moved to 7-2 when they stopped Southern Nazarene’s two-point conversion attempt in overtime to win 42-41. Southern Nazarene fell to 3-6 with the loss. Oklahoma Baptist brings a 1-8 record to Arkadelphia this Saturday.

Harding 30, Southwestern Oklahoma 18 — The Bisons are 7-2 and ranked No 17 in the country by the AFCA following their 28-7 victory over 1-8 Northwestern Oklahoma. On a rainy afternoon, all but 15 of Harding’s 366 yards of offense came on the ground. Southwestern Oklahoma is 3-6 after a 22-21 loss at Arkansas Tech.

Arkansas Tech 24, Northwestern Oklahoma 17 — The Wonder Boys’ secured the one-point victory over Southwestern Oklahoma when Jesus Zizumbo’s 44-yard field goal attempt bounced off the right upright and then cleared the crossbar on the final play of the game. Tech can even its record at 5-5 with a win at struggling Northwestern Oklahoma.

East Central Oklahoma 33, UAM 23 — East Central showed the kind of talent it has by almost beating Ouachita. The Tigers from Oklahoma had won six consecutive games coming into that contest. They’re now 6-3 and should be able to handle a 3-6 UAM squad that has lost five consecutive games.

Southern Arkansas 44, Southern Nazarene 40 — The Muleriders improved to 4-5 with a 52-20 win over Oklahoma Baptist. Talented quarterback O.B. Jones was 16 of 18 passing for 224 yards and one touchdown. He also rushed for three touchdowns. He’s getting better each week and should have another big game against Southern Nazarene.

Rex’s rankings: Regular season ends

Monday, October 31st, 2022

It always seems to go quickly. The regular season comes to an end this week in high school football.

In the biggest game of the season thus far in Class 6A, Greenwood downed Pulaski Academy last Friday night, 33-23. The Bulldogs move to No. 1 in the classification (and No. 3 overall) while PA drops to No. 2 in Class 6A (and No. 6 overall).

Our No. 1 overall team, Bryant, rolled to a 45-14 win over North Little Rock. The Hornets will receive a stiffer test this week against No. 5 Conway, a 50-20 winner over Jonesboro last week.

In Class 4A, it will be No. 1 Arkadelphia against No. 2 Malvern to end the regular season.

Here are the updated rankings:

OVERALL

  1. Bryant
  2. Cabot
  3. Greenwood
  4. Bentonville
  5. Conway
  6. Pulaski Academy
  7. Little Rock Catholic
  8. Joe T. Robinson
  9. Shiloh Christian
  10. Arkadelphia

CLASS 7A

  1. Bryant
  2. Cabot
  3. Bentonville
  4. Conway
  5. Fayetteville

CLASS 6A

  1. Greenwood
  2. Pulaski Academy
  3. Little Rock Catholic
  4. Benton
  5. Lake Hamilton

CLASS 5A

  1. Joe T. Robinson
  2. Shiloh Christian
  3. Little Rock Parkview
  4. Little Rock Mills
  5. Camden Fairview

CLASS 4A

  1. Arkadelphia
  2. Malvern
  3. Warren
  4. Harding Academy
  5. Star City

CLASS 3A

  1. Prescott
  2. Rison
  3. Charleston
  4. Melbourne
  5. Booneville

CLASS 2A

  1. Hazen
  2. Carlisle
  3. Bigelow
  4. Mount Ida
  5. Marked Tree

College football: Week 9

Monday, October 24th, 2022

It was the Saturday that Arkansas, UCA and UAPB all had open dates.

Arkansas State did play last weekend, but it was simply the continuation of a frustrating season for the Red Wolves. ASU fell to 2-6 overall and 1-4 in conference play with a 38-18 loss at Louisiana-Lafayette. ASU punted on its first five possessions and trailed 24-9 at the half. The Ragin’ Cajuns improved to 4-3 as quarterback Ben Woolridge threw five touchdown passes.

We went 4-0 on the picks last week to improve to 50-15 on the season.

Here are the picks for this week’s games:

Arkansas 38, Auburn 30 — The Razorbacks travel to the Plains in an attempt to make Bryan Harsin’s hot seat even hotter. The victory over BYU, followed by a restful week, should have the Hogs ready to play well. Auburn is 3-4 overall and 1-3 in Southeastern Conference play. The wins have come by scores of 42-16 over Mercer, 24-16 over San Jose State and 17-14 over Missouri. The losses have been by scores of 41-12 to Penn State, 21-17 to LSU, 42-10 to Georgia and 48-34 to Ole Miss. The Tigers have lost three consecutive games.

South Alabama 35, Arkansas State 25 — The pain likely will continue Saturday for ASU even though the game is in Jonesboro. USA is 5-2 with wins of 48-7 over Nicholls, 38-24 over Central Michigan, 38-14 over Louisiana Tech, 20-17 over Louisiana-Lafayette and 41-34 over Louisiana-Monroe. The losses have been close ones, just 32-31 to UCLA and 10-6 to Troy.

UCA 31, North Alabama 17 — With two weeks to prepare, the Bears should be able to handle North Alabama in Conway on Saturday afternoon. UNA has struggled to make the transition from NCAA Division II to the FCS. North Alabama is 1-6 with losses of 17-14 to Indiana State, 41-14 to Chattanooga, 43-28 to Tarleton State, 40-34 to Kennesaw State, 47-31 to Jacksonville State and 56-53 to Eastern Kentucky. The only win came by a score of 49-17 over UVA-Wise, a school that frankly I’ve never heard of.

Florida A&M 49, UAPB 29 — The Golden Lions won their first two games and have since lost five consecutive contests. Last week, UAPB fired its head coach. Don’t look for the Golden Lions to win another game this season. Florida A&M is 5-2 with wins of 23-13 over Albany State, 38-25 over Alabama A&M, 34-7 over Mississippi Valley State, 20-14 over South Carolina State and 20-16 over Grambling State. The losses came in the first two games of the season — 56-24 to North Carolina and 59-3 to Coach Prime’s Jackson State squad.

Ouachita 32, East Central Oklahoma 21 — The Tigers moved to 8-0 with a 63-31 victory over Southern Arkansas in the Murphy USA Classic at El Dorado. Senior All-American T.J. Cole rushed 25 times for 230 yards and scored six touchdowns on the ground. Cole has now gained 230 or more yards rushing in two consecutive games. Ouachita outscored the Muleriders 21-0 in the fourth quarter of a contest in which the two teams combined for 1,001 yards of offense. Ouachita is still No. 4 nationally in the American Football Coaches Association NCAA Division II poll. Ouachita can gain at least a share of its sixth Great American Conference championship with a win at Cliff Harris Stadium on Thursday night. But this one won’t come easily. East Central enters with a 6-2 record and is the best of the six Oklahoma schools in the GAC.

Southeastern Oklahoma 40, UAM 33 — UAM fell to 3-5 with a 56-43 loss to Harding at Monticello on Saturday. The 3-5 Boll Weevils have now lost four consecutive games. Southeastern Oklahoma is 5-3 following an impressive 62-14 victory over Oklahoma Baptist.

Southwestern Oklahoma 27, Arkansas Tech 26 — Tech and Southwestern are both 3-5. The Wonder Boys lost 35-19 at Henderson on Saturday. Southwestern, meanwhile, fell 42-28 to East Central. In a game between teams that seem evenly matched, we’ll give a slight edge to the home squad.

Harding 41, Northwestern Oklahoma 24 — Harding is No. 21 in the AFCA’s Division II poll with a 6-2 record. Northwestern is 1-7 following a 27-21 loss to Southern Nazarene on Saturday. The game is in Searcy, and the Bisons will roll.

Henderson 28, Southern Nazarene 10 — The Reddies are 6-2 following that win over Arkansas Tech. Quarterback Andrew Edwards was 19 of 28 passing for 302 yards and three touchdowns. Xavier Malone had 10 catches for 207 yards and two touchdowns. Henderson visits 3-5 Southern Nazarene on Saturday. The Reddies shouldn’t have much problem in Oklahoma.

Southern Arkansas 36, Oklahoma Baptist 20 — The Muleriders had their problems on defense, but their offense scored more points on undefeated Ouachita than all but one team this year. Quarterback O.B. Jones is a talented athlete. Oklahoma Baptist, the host team this Saturday, is 1-7.

Rex’s rankings: After nine weeks

Monday, October 24th, 2022

It was No. 1 against No. 2 last Friday night, and No. 1 prevailed as Bryant defeated Cabot by a final score of 24-10.

We only drop Cabot one spot to No. 3 overall in this week’s rankings (Pulaski Academy moves up a spot) after a strong performance against the team we like to call the University of Bryant.

The No. 1 team in each classification remains the same: Bryant in 7A, Pulaski Academy in 6A, Joe T. Robinson in 5A, Arkadelphia in 4A, Prescott in 3A and Hazen in 2A.

With only two weeks remaining in the regular season, here are the updated rankings:

OVERALL

  1. Bryant
  2. Pulaski Academy
  3. Cabot
  4. Bentonville
  5. Conway
  6. Greenwood
  7. Little Rock Catholic
  8. Joe T. Robinson
  9. Shiloh Christian
  10. Arkadelphia

CLASS 7A

  1. Bryant
  2. Cabot
  3. Bentonville
  4. Conway
  5. Fayetteville

CLASS 6A

  1. Pulaski Academy
  2. Greenwood
  3. Little Rock Catholic
  4. Benton
  5. Lake Hamilton

CLASS 5A

  1. Joe T. Robinson
  2. Shiloh Christian
  3. Little Rock Parkview
  4. Little Rock Mills
  5. Camden Fairview

CLASS 4A

  1. Arkadelphia
  2. Malvern
  3. Warren
  4. Harding Academy
  5. Star City

CLASS 3A

  1. Prescott
  2. Rison
  3. Charleston
  4. Melbourne
  5. Centerpoint

CLASS 2A

  1. Hazen
  2. Carlisle
  3. Bigelow
  4. Mount Ida
  5. Marked Tree

College football: Week 8

Monday, October 17th, 2022

Welcome back, KJ.

Arkansas quarterback KJ Jefferson threw a career-high five touchdown passes in the Razorbacks’ 52-35 victory over Brigham Young. Rocket Sanders added a career-high 175 rushing yards, and Matt Landers caught three touchdown passes. It was quite an afternoon for the Arkansas offense as the Hogs scored on eight consecutive possessions at one point.

Arkansas outgained BYU 644-471 and won the turnover battle 3-1. Jefferson was 29 of 40 passing for 367 yards as Arkansas broke its three-game losing streak.

BYU is now 4-7 against schools from the Southeastern Conference. The Cougars come to Fayetteville to play next year.

It’s a good time for an open date for the 4-3 Razorbacks. They get struggling Auburn on the road in their next game.

Arkansas isn’t the state’s only team with an open date this week. UCA and UAPB also have the weekend off.

UCA moved to 2-0 in the ASUN Conference and 3-4 overall with its impressive 51-24 victory at Kennesaw State. The Bear offense had by far its best performance of the season.

UAPB suffered a fifth consecutive loss, falling in Pine Bluff to Alabama A&M by a final score of 34-31. The Golden Lions are now 2-5 overall and 0-4 in the SWAC.

We struggled for a second consecutive week on the picks, going 4-3 to make the season record 46-15. Most of the teams in Arkansas are highly inconsistent this year, making it difficult to predict how they will do.

Here are the picks for this week’s abbreviated schedule:

Louisiana-Lafayette 37, Arkansas State 32 — It was another frustrating game for the Red Wolves as they fell by a final score of 20-19 at Southern Mississippi. ASU led 19-7 in the fourth quarter, but the Golden Eagles went on scoring drives of 95 and 45 yards. ASU is now 2-5 overall and 1-3 in Sun Belt Conference play. The Red Wolves go on the road this week to take on a Ragin’ Cajun squad that is 3-3. The Louisiana-Lafayette victories have come by scores of 24-7 over Southeastern Louisiana, 49-21 over Eastern Michigan and 23-13 over Marshall. The losses were by scores of 33-21 to Rice, 21-17 to Louisiana-Monroe and 20-17 to South Alabama. This is a winnable contest for ASU, but the Red Wolves have yet to show the ability to win such games.

Ouachita 40, Southern Arkansas 25 — Ouachita moved up to No. 4 in the American Football Coaches Association NCAA Division II national rankings with a 41-7 win over UAM. Ouachita is now 7-0 on the season and is 38-2 in its previous 40 Great American Conference games. Senior All-American running back T.J. Cole had 232 yards rushing and two touchdowns in the win over the Boll Weevils. Kendel Givens added 141 yards and three touchdowns. Ouachita’s defense has allowed 14 or fewer points in five of its seven games. The Tigers play Southern Arkansas in the Murphy USA Classic at El Dorado on Saturday afternoon. The Muleriders are 3-4 after beating Arkansas Tech by a final score of 49-33 in Russellville on Saturday as Jariq Scales gained 152 yards on 20 carries and scored three touchdowns for the Muleriders.

Henderson 41, Arkansas Tech 24 — The Reddies are 5-2 after going to Searcy on Saturday and stunning Harding by a final score of 15-14. Tristan Heaton put Henderson ahead for good with a 46-yard field goal with 6:40 left in the game. Tech comes to Arkadelphia this week with a 3-4 record. Henderson just has too much firepower for the Wonder Boys.

Harding 30, UAM 20 — Harding is the defending GAC champion and was the coaches’ preseason pick to win the conference in 2022. The Bisons, though, have now lost to both Arkadelphia schools to fall to 5-2. Expect an angry group of Bisons to get that option offense going again this Saturday in Monticello against 3-4 UAM.

Rex’s ranking’s: After eight weeks

Monday, October 17th, 2022

As expected, our top two teams had no problem last week. No. 1 Bryant rolled to a 35-8 victory over Little Rock Southwest, and Cabot beat Little Rock Central by a final score of 49-13.

They play each other this week.

The game of the week came in northwest Arkansas as Bentonville edged Fayetteville 31-30 after a successful two-point conversion play in overtime.

Our No. 1 teams in each classification remained the same: Bryant in 7A, Pulaski Academy in 6A, Joe T. Robinson in 5A, Arkadelphia in 4A, Prescott in 3A and Hazen in 2A.

Here are the updated rankings with just three weeks remaining in the regular season:

OVERALL

  1. Bryant
  2. Cabot
  3. Pulaski Academy
  4. Bentonville
  5. Conway
  6. Greenwood
  7. Little Rock Catholic
  8. Joe T. Robinson
  9. Shiloh Christian
  10. Arkadelphia

CLASS 7A

  1. Bryant
  2. Cabot
  3. Bentonville
  4. Conway
  5. Fayetteville

CLASS 6A

  1. Pulaski Academy
  2. Greenwood
  3. Little Rock Catholic
  4. Benton
  5. Lake Hamilton

CLASS 5A

  1. Joe T. Robinson
  2. Shiloh Christian
  3. Little Rock Mills
  4. Little Rock Parkview
  5. Camden Fairview

CLASS 4A

  1. Arkadelphia
  2. Malvern
  3. Warren
  4. Harding Academy
  5. Star City

CLASS 3A

  1. Prescott
  2. Rison
  3. Charleston
  4. Booneville
  5. Melbourne

CLASS 2A

  1. Hazen
  2. Carlisle
  3. Bigelow
  4. Mount Ida
  5. Marked Tree

College football: Week 7

Monday, October 10th, 2022

There’s no way around it. It was a bad week for college football teams in Arkansas.

The 13 college football programs in the state went 3-10 against out-of-state opponents. I don’t remember a week like that.

The NCAA Division I teams were 0-4.

Arkansas lost 40-17 to Mississippi State to fall to 3-3.

Arkansas State lost 42-20 to James Madison to fall to 2-4.

UCA lost 52-49 to Lindenwood to fall to 2-4.

UAPB lost 24-17 to Texas Southern to fall to 2-4.

In NCAA Division II, the six Great American Conference teams from Arkansas went 3-3 against GAC foes from Oklahoma.

I checked the NCAA Division III ranks, and it didn’t get any better. Hendrix lost 34-28 to Millsaps.

I then checked the NAIA ranks, and it was just as bad. Lyon lost 60-8 to Arizona Christian, and Arkansas Baptist lost 48-14 to Louisiana Christian.

I had my worst week by far, going 5-5 on the picks. Outside of Ouachita and Harding winning, I can no longer figure out the GAC. There’s no rhyme or reason to the other results in the conference. And both UCA and ASU continue to play worse than I had expected going into the season.

With that 5-5 mark last week, the season record now stands at 42-12.

Here are the picks for this weekend’s games:

BYU 41, Arkansas 39 — Will Rogers riddled the Arkansas secondary, passing for 395 yards and three touchdowns. Mississippi State also rushed for 173 yards and had 568 yards of total offense. Rogers now has the Southeastern Conference record for career completions at 946, surpassing Georgia’s Aaron Murray at 921. Murray played from 2010-13. Malik Hornsby did fine for Arkansas since he was responsible for 347 of the Hogs’ 483 yards of offense. Arkansas has now lost three consecutive games. It has had at least a three-game losing streak in 10 of the past 11 seasons. BYU is 4-2 with victories of 50-21 over South Florida, 26-20 over a Baylor team that was ranked No. 9 at the time, 38-24 over Wyoming and 38-26 over Utah State. The losses have been by scores of 41-20 to Oregon and 28-20 to Notre Dame in prime time on NBC last Saturday night. This is a winnable game for Arkansas, but a slight edge goes to the home team.

Southern Mississippi 40, Arkansas State 35 — In Jonesboro on Saturday night, James Madison scored touchdowns on four of five series in the second half and moved to 5-0 in its first FBS season. ASU had only 12 first downs and was outgained 598-267. The Red Wolves go on the road this week to take on a Southern Miss squad that is also struggling at 2-3. The losses have been by scores of 29-27 to Liberty, 30-7 to Miami and 27-10 to Troy. The wins were by scores of 64-10 over Northwestern State of Louisiana and 27-24 over Tulane. As is the case with Arkansas, this is a winnable game for ASU. Again, we’ll pick the home team to win a close one.

Kennesaw State 30, UCA 27 — In Conway last Saturday night, the Bears never held the lead despite gaining 590 yards and averaging 8.8 yards per play. Their defense was just that bad. UCA goes on the road this week to take on a 2-3 Kennesaw State team in Georgia. The Kennesaw victories have been by scores of 24-22 over Wofford and 40-34 over North Alabama. The losses have been by scores of 27-17 to Samford, 63-10 to Cincinnati and 35-28 to Jacksonville State. Here we go again: This is a winnable game for UCA, but we give the advantage to the home team.

Alabama A&M 21, UAPB 19 — The Golden Lions lost their homecoming game to Texas Southern. This weekend they play on Sunday in a special HBCU classic in St. Louis. Alabama A&M is also 2-4 with wins in its past two games of 35-27 over Bethune-Cookman and 37-31 over Grambling. The four losses to open the season were by scores of 59-0 to UAB, 38-17 to Troy, 28-3 to Austin Peay and 38-25 to Florida A&M.

Ouachita 34, UAM 20 — Ouachita is still No. 5 in the country in the American Football Coaches Association NCAA Division II poll. The Tigers moved to 6-0 with a 63-24 victory over a Southwestern Oklahoma team that had come in with a 3-2 record. The Tigers scored touchdowns on their first six possessions to lead 42-17 at halftime. Senior T.J. Cole rushed for 144 yards and three touchdowns. Sophomore Kendel Givens added 118 yards of rushing on the ground. Quarterback Riley Harms passed for 197 yards and ran for 81 more. Ouachita had 709 yards of offense, with 481 yards of that coming on the ground. Those totals could have been much higher had Ouachita not put the substitutes in the game with nine minutes still remaining in the third quarter. UAM was shocked in its homecoming game, losing 26-23 to a Northwestern Oklahoma team that came in 0-5. Boll Weevil quarterback Demilon Brown was 20 of 30 passing for 163 yards. UAM is now 3-3.

Harding 31, Henderson 22 — Harding moved to 5-1 with a 56-28 win at Southern Nazarene. The Bisons are No. 12 in this week’s AFCA poll. Will Fitzhugh rushed for two touchdowns as Harding piled up 469 yards of offense. Henderson fell to 4-2 with a 31-10 road loss to 4-2 East Central Oklahoma. ECU scored 17 unanswered points in the fourth quarter of that game. This Saturday’s game is in Searcy, and Harding should win.

Southern Arkansas 29, Arkansas Tech 26 — This is a hard one to pick since the teams seem evenly matched from a talent standpoint. SAU is 2-4, and Tech is 3-3. The Wonder Boys posted a 34-13 victory over 1-5 Oklahoma Baptist. Tech built a 21-0 lead and rolled on from there in a road game at Shawnee. Meanwhile, Southern Arkansas fell 35-32 to 3-3 Southeastern Oklahoma. The Muleriders scored 25 of their 32 points in the fourth quarter of that game.

Rex’s Rankings: After seven weeks

Monday, October 10th, 2022

There was one major change last week in the high school football rankings.

Cabot defeated No. 2 Conway by a score of 35-20 and moved up from No. 5 overall to Conway’s previous No. 2 spot.

The top teams in each of the seven classifications remained the same.

Here are the updated rankings with just four weeks remaining in the regular season.

OVERALL

  1. Bryant
  2. Cabot
  3. Pulaski Academy
  4. Bentonville
  5. Conway
  6. Lake Hamilton
  7. Greenwood
  8. Little Rock Catholic
  9. Joe T. Robinson
  10. Arkadelphia

CLASS 7A

  1. Bryant
  2. Cabot
  3. Bentonville
  4. Conway
  5. Fayetteville

CLASS 6A

  1. Pulaski Academy
  2. Lake Hamilton
  3. Greenwood
  4. Little Rock Catholic
  5. Benton

CLASS 5A

  1. Joe T. Robinson
  2. Shiloh Christian
  3. Little Rock Mills
  4. Little Rock Parkview
  5. Camden Fairview

CLASS 4A

  1. Arkadelphia
  2. Malvern
  3. Warren
  4. Harding Academy
  5. Star City

CLASS 3A

  1. Prescott
  2. Rison
  3. Charleston
  4. Booneville
  5. Melbourne

CLASS 2A

  1. Hazen
  2. Carlisle
  3. Bigelow
  4. Mount Ida
  5. East Poinsett County

College football: Week 6

Monday, October 3rd, 2022

Alabama is back atop The Associated Press poll, and Arkansas is out completely following the Crimson Tide’s 49-26 win in Fayetteville on Saturday before a crowd of 75,579.

We picked Alabama last week, but we thought it would be closer.

Arkansas got within five at 28-23, but Alabama answered in a big way. The Tide’s surge was highlighted by three runs of more than 70 yards.

Alabama ended the game with 555 yards of offense, with 317 of that coming on the ground. In securing its 16th consecutive win over Arkansas, the Tide went nine of 14 on third down and gained 225 yards on third-down plays. In the fourth quarter, Alabama averaged 20.2 yards per rush.

Nick’s Saban’s team is 5-0 for the 13th time in his 16 seasons at Alabama. Alabama is 73-18 against ranked teams since 2008 and is 15-1 in Southeastern Conference road openers under Saban.

The Razorbacks, meanwhile, are 0-6 against teams with reigning Heisman Trophy winners.

Arkansas’ 377 yards of offense was 102 yards below its season average.

Given the way Mississippi State is playing right now, it won’t get a lot easier for the Hogs in Starkville on Saturday.

We were 7-3 on the picks last week, making the record 37-7 for the season.

Here’s how we see this week’s games shaping up:

Arkansas 31, Mississippi State 30 — Are we going with our head or our heart here? Well, our head actually tells us that the Bulldogs won’t play as well as they did last Saturday in that 42-24 rout of Texas A&M. The Aggies helped them out with three turnovers in the red zone. Mississippi State is 4-1 overall and 1-1 in the SEC. The Bulldogs began the season with wins of 49-23 over Memphis and 39-17 over Arizona before falling 31-16 to LSU in Baton Rouge. That loss was followed by a 45-14 victory over Bowling Green and then the win over the Aggies.

James Madison 35, Arkansas State 33 — ASU improved to 2-3 overall with a 45-28 win over Louisiana-Monroe in Jonesboro on Saturday night. The Red Wolves scored four touchdowns on as many possessions in the second half to blow the game open. ASU hasn’t lost at home to Monroe since 2001. Johnnie Lange, who had a 98-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, finished the game with 258 all-purpose yards. It’s a much stiffer test this week as James Madison brings a 4-0 squad to Jonesboro for a game that will be telecast by the NFL Network. James Madison is 4-0 with wins of 44-7 over Middle Tennessee, 63-7 over Norfolk State, 32-28 over Appalachian State and 40-13 over Texas State.

UCA 24, Lindenwood 10 — Like ASU, the Bears are 2-3 and got a home victory Saturday. UCA scored 42 second-half points in a 49-20 victory over 4-2 Austin Peay. It was the Bears’ ASUN Conference opener. Will McElvain was 20 of 31 passing for 261 yards and four touchdowns. Just three years ago, Lindenwood upset Ouachita in the NCAA Division II playoffs. The school has since moved up to FCS. Wins of 21-20 over Houston Baptist and 37-3 over Keiser were followed by losses of 56-26 to Tennessee-Martin and 49-28 to Southeast Missouri State.

Texas Southern 14, UAPB 12 — In Baton Rouge on Saturday night, UAPB fell 59-3 to Southern University. Southern scored 35 of its points in the second quarter. The Golden Lions have dropped three consecutive games to fall to 2-3. Texas Southern comes to Pine Bluff this Saturday with a 1-4 record. The win came by a score of 24-0 over Southern. The losses have been by scores of 40-23 to Prairie View A&M, 59-27 to North Texas, 52-24 to UTSA and 16-13 to Alabama State. Based on the vastly different results against Southern, we’ll give an edge to the visitors in this one.

Ouachita 32, Southwestern Oklahoma 19 — Ouachita moved up to No. 5 in the American Football Coaches Association NCAA Division II national rankings following a 48-7 road victory at Northwestern Oklahoma. The Tigers, now 5-0, rolled to a 28-0 halftime lead and never looked back. This week’s opponent, Southwestern Oklahoma, is the surprise team of the Great American Conference so far. The Bulldogs went 0-11 last year, but they’re off to a 3-2 start in 2022. It’s Ouachita’s homecoming game, so there’s little chance the Tigers will overlook this opponent.

Harding 45, Southern Nazarene 13 — The Bisons bounced back from their loss to Ouachita with a 38-23 win in Searcy on Saturday over 1-4 Oklahoma Baptist. Harding led 24-10 at the half. Southern Nazarene is at home, but the 1-4 Crimson Storm shouldn’t present much of a challenge. Harding, now 4-1, moved up to No. 11 in this week’s AFCA rankings.

Henderson 27, East Central Oklahoma 21 — Henderson improved to 4-1 with a 31-23 win in Arkadelphia over 2-3 Southeastern Oklahoma. The two teams combined for 879 yards of offense in that one. East Central Oklahoma is off to a 3-2 start and should present a challenge for the Reddies in Ada on Saturday.

UAM 38, Northwestern Oklahoma 20 — UAM got off to a 3-1 start and then was upset Saturday by a final score of 37-27 at Southwestern Oklahoma. The Weevils are back home this week and should have no problem with 0-5 Northwestern Oklahoma.

Oklahoma Baptist 34, Arkansas Tech 29 — Both squads have struggled at times, so we’ll give a slight edge to the home team in this one. The Wonder Boys improved to 2-3 with a 48-35 win over Southern Nazarene last Saturday. Davontae Dean rushed for 165 yards and scored two touchdowns for Tech.

Southeastern Oklahoma 40, Southern Arkansas 37 — Again, we’ll give a slight edge to the home team in a battle of two 2-3 squads. SAU fell 34-22 to East Central Oklahoma on Saturday in Magnolia. The Muleriders have been inconsistent during the first five games of the season.

 

Rex’s rankings: After six weeks

Monday, October 3rd, 2022

There was one big change in our overall Top 10 following last week’s games. Fayetteville dropped out of the Top 10 due to its loss to Rogers, and Cabot moved into the Top 10 with a 41-0 victory over Little Rock Southwest. The other nine spots remained the same.

The No. 1 team in each classification also remained the same.

Bryant is No. 1 in Class 7A following a 43-14 victory over Jonesboro. Pulaski Academy is No. 1 in Class 6A following a 52-14 victory over Mountain Home. Joe T. Robinson is No. 1 in Class 5A following a 42-3 win over Vilonia.

Arkadelphia is No. 1 in Class 4A following a 54-7 victory over Mena. Prescott is No. 1 in Class 3A following a 55-20 victory over Junction City. Hazen is No. I in Class 2A following a 51-0 win over Baptist Prep.

Here are the updated rankings:

OVERALL

  1. Bryant
  2. Conway
  3. Pulaski Academy
  4. Bentonville
  5. Cabot
  6. Lake Hamilton
  7. Greenwood
  8. Little Rock Catholic
  9. Joe T. Robinson
  10. Arkadelphia

CLASS 7A

  1. Bryant
  2. Conway
  3. Bentonville
  4. Cabot
  5. Rogers

CLASS 6A

  1. Pulaski Academy
  2. Lake Hamilton
  3. Greenwood
  4. Little Rock Catholic
  5. Benton

CLASS 5A

  1. Joe T. Robinson
  2. Shiloh Christian
  3. Little Rock Mills
  4. Little Rock Parkview
  5. Magnolia

CLASS 4A

  1. Arkadelphia
  2. Ashdown
  3. Warren
  4. Harding Academy
  5. Star City

CLASS 3A

  1. Prescott
  2. Rison
  3. Charleston
  4. Booneville
  5. Melbourne

CLASS 2A

  1. Hazen
  2. Marked Tree
  3. Carlisle
  4. Bigelow
  5. Mount Ida