Worst Thing for Razorbacks in Week 4 is Arkansas State win not an A&M Loss

Written by Ryan Wright

Twitter: @HogManInLA

When Week 4 of the 2015 college football season has come to an end on Saturday, the worst thing to possibly happen to the Arkansas Razorbacks on the field is not necessarily a loss to Texas A&M but an Arkansas State victory on another field hundreds of miles away.

On Saturday the Hogs will have their hands full with SEC West rival Texas A&M but in-state Division-I program Arkansas State also has a big game, a game on the road against Toledo. The Rockets are off to a 2-0 start with wins over Arkansas (16-12) and Iowa State (30-23). The building momentum for Toledo and their program is great and is helping bring a lot of credibility to the MAC.

Arkansas State has started the season 1-2 with a 55-6 loss to then No. 8 USC in Los Angeles and then a tough 27-20 loss at home to then No. 21 Missouri in Week 2. The Red Wolves got on the right side of the win-loss column last week steamrolling Missouri State 70-7.

If ASU can pull off a big win in Toledo, not only will the Red Wolves be back on track for their fifth consecutive bowl berth, something the Hogs cannot claim, but will have also toppled a common opponent adding a little bit of insult to injury fueling in-state fires among the fans about which program is better.

Arkansas State has been through a little bit of adversity under center with Fredi Knighten suffering an injury but James Tabary has stepped up completing 74 percent of his passes compiling 377 passing yards with three touchdowns against two picks.

ASU has been led by a strong ground game with Michael Gordon rushing for 214 yards to go along with three scores. Johnston White is second on the team with 138 rushing yards and three touchdowns.

The one player on the field who has not suffered with the change of arms in the pocket is J.D. McKissic. McKissic has pulled down 17 passes for 203 yards with one touchdown. Tres Houston has proven to be a big play threat averaging 15 yards a catch off six receptions with two touchdowns. McKissic is also a threat in the kick return game averaging 28 yards a pop with a long of 40.

Against the Hogs, Toledo did not overwhelm Arkansas only coming up with 318 yards of offense but took advantage of a poor punt snap to get great field position for their first score and was the beneficiary of two Arkansas touchdowns called back due to penalties.

The Rockets did allow Arkansas 515 yards of total offense but stuffed the highly touted Razorback running game only giving up 103 net yards on the ground. Hogs’ quarterback Brandon Allen passed for a career-high 412 yards but could not find the end zone throwing one pick.

If ASU can get the big win, detractors for Arkansas head coach Bret Bielema will have a field day linking the common opponent win for ASU over the loss for the Razorbacks.

The Arkansas State line against Toledo opened with Toledo -10 but has dropped to 7.5 with an over/under at 60.5. Coverage for the Arkansas State vs. Toledo game is on ESPN3 with kickoff schedule for 7:00 p.m.

Photo credit: topbet.eu; No. 34 Michael Gordon receives the handoff from Fredi Knighten.