The Hogs made a decision to part ways with longtime head coach Houston Nutt and hire former Louisville and Atlanta Falcons coach Bobby Petrino. After losing both Darren McFadden and Felix Jones, it's tough to envision the Hogs being competitive this year in the SEC.
Offense: As mentioned, the offense will have to be completely overhauled with the losses of McFadden and Jones. Petrino does have a knack for developing quarterbacks, as he did with Brian Brohm up at Louisville. Casey Dick returns and figures to be the opening day starter, but who will he throw and hand off to? That remains to be seen.
Expect sophomore tight end D.J. Williams to be involved in the offense. Petrino's offense historically involves a tight end. The offensive line will be one of the best in the nation, anchored by All-American center Jonathan Luigs.
Defense: Wow—where to begin? The defense is a mess. All four starters in the secondary are gone, and depending on linebacker Freddie Fairchild's pending suspension, all three linebackers could be gone as well. The defensive line better get to the quarterback early and often—because if not, things could get ugly in the Ozarks.
Impact Newcomer: Ryan Mallett, QB. With no real impact guy coming in this year, we're going to cheat a little bit and name Mallett here. Mallett was a five-star quarterback coming out of high school who committed to Michigan, but when new coach Rich Rodriguez brought his system up to Ann Arbor, Mallett transferred. Expect Mallett to start in '09.
'08-09 Forecast: Over the past three seasons, Arkansas has ranked 112th, 109th and 109th in pass offense, so there is optimism that Petrino will take to the air more often. In recent years fans have been frustrated that the team hasn't won more. This season, getting to a bowl game would be a miracle for the Hogs.
'08-09 Record: 3-9 (0-8)
Auburn Tigers
You could make an argument that Auburn has been the most consistent team in the SEC over the past several years. The Brandon Cox era has officially come to an end in Auburn, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. This team will be all about the defense. If the Tigers want to overtake LSU in the West, the D will be the key.
Offense
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