Arkansas vs Oklahoma State | College Football Week 2 Game Preview

Arkansas and Oklahoma state is one of the more underrated games in college football for week two these are two teams that have different goals but at the same time you have two teams that are very talented on both sides of the ball that could be surprises in their conference and after what we saw last week from both of them you have maybe some questions about one more so than the other but at the same time it's one game and also the level of competition was drastically different now Arkansas obviously had a huge game off defensively 70 against Arkansas Pine Bluff you're probably not going to put a ton of stock into a win over Arkansas Pine Bluff but at the same time the fact that they put up 70 points is very impressive you have a new quarterback running the show you have some new players that are stepping up and playing different roles for this team and that's going to be huge to see how they handle this in terms of a game against a solid opponent in in Oklahoma State Oklahoma State 44 to2 win over South Dakota state now South Dakota state is going to compete for another FCS Championship so the fact that it was close doesn't speak to what Oklahoma state did wrong it speaks to the fact that South Dakota state is a tough team no matter who is going to play them and Oklahoma State ultimately took care of business and that's really all that matters putting up 44 points says the offense is pretty good this year I think that you feel that you can put some stock into that and it also speaks to the fact that this line is Oklahoma State by seven and a half points Oklahoma state is definitely a team that can handle the the explosive nature of Arkansas it's just a matter of can they do certain things to slow down this offense now when you look at Arkansas Helen green obviously was phenomenal we saw exactly what he's capable of doing and it's going to be fun to see what he can do in week two to repeat that the biggest question for them is can they repeat that success this is a very different team than they saw in week one and Oklahoma state is a team that's going to compete for a big 12 championship and they have dudes on both sides of the football moving the ball against that front seven for Oklahoma State could be more challenging for Arkansas and Tor green is really good and if he is truly the guy in the Razorback system that it can lead them to new heights then you feel pretty good about where this team is going the question for Oklahoma state is can the defense contain him I think that they're a group that is super talented you have really good experience with guys like Colin Oliver Nicholas Martin uh you look at Kendall Daniels you have plenty of guys that can make big time plays it's just a matter of can you handle the explosive nature of pen green can you handle the physicality of jaquin and Jackson those are two big things that are going to have to play a factor for Arkansas and Oklahoma State and that probably dictates which side has the advantage the matchup I'm curious to watch is Arkansas's defensive line which is very good against Oklahoma State's offensive line This is an Oklahoma State team that wants to be physical let oi Gordon do his thing but at the same time open things up for the passing attack as well Arkansas defensive line they have good players that can get through the quarterback in the passing attack they also have good interior Defenders that we'll talk about here in a little bit that are going to make life difficult for Oklahom State's rushing attack and that's going to be a huge matchup to watch because that probably dictates which side has more success Oklahoma state is a balanced offense that can get going in a hurry and if Arkansas's defensive line is getting pushed around then Oklahoma state is probably favored and can see more success because of that ta alone now the impact players that will pay attention to we talked about ton green and one of the questions that we had for him coming into this new team is can he be more consistent can he be more consistently good because we saw some flashes from him at Boise State it's just that we did not see that on a consistent basis and we saw obviously in week one you can't put too much stock into one game but 229 yards through the air and two touchdowns as well as 88 yards and two touchdowns on the ground shows exactly what he's capable of doing and if he has another performance like that Oklahoma State's going to be in trouble and this is an Oklahoma State team that can very much make his life difficult so his decision making is going to be a big part of that now joining him in the back field is a guy that's going to balance him I think or comp complement him really well in jaquin and Jackson Jackson is one of those physical Runners that had a solid game last week and he is going to play a big role once again because you have a like I said you have an Oklahoma State Defense that is going to look to slow you down and it's just a matter of what guys like Jackson can do can green make smart decisions and can the rushian attack do what they need to do to continue moving this ball down the field and the defense like I mentioned before they play a big role as well the defensive tackles I mentioned earlier Eric Gregor Gregory and Cameron ball were two guys that we talked about coming into the year and I thought that Arkansas Team had some pretty good depth at the defensive tackle position same with the defensive end position now you face an Oklahoma State team that has good experience on the offensive line and a running back in Ali Gordon that is one of the toughest to stop in college football a very physical back with good size and he is someone that's going to be tough to take down guys like Gregory and ball can not not only can they make tackles on their own tackles for loss and slow him down but they also have the ability to eat up blocks and open things up for the guys behind them that makes the tackles and the vision of those linebackers a little bit easier when your guys up front are doing their jobs and that's going to be a big big key to this team if they're not able to slow him down it's going to be a long day and Olie Gordon is someone who is ex capable of exploding and that's going to be a bad thing if you're an Arkansas fan now for Oklahoma State you also feel pretty good about where you are at because you have a guy like olly Gordon olle Gordon is someone who can have a monster game he also doesn't necessarily have to because of the talent he has around him Alan Bowman is back a veteran player who is very good at just knowing his role and getting the ball to his Playmakers the wide receivers are very good for Oklahoma State they are very capable of moving the ball down the field through the air and guys like Rashad Owens already showed us why and we've seen that from him and the trio of receivers that they have they are capable of providing balance because the fact that Oly Gordon takes so much attention and away from them they're able to see more favorable matchups maybe teams are try to stack the Box a little bit more to stop Oly Gordon that opens things up for the passing attack and we'll see what Arkansas decides to do and again that's why this offensive line for Oklahoma state is so important and that's why that match up to watch against Arkansas's defensive line is so important for this game because we've seen what this offense is capable of doing we've seen seen what Ali Gordon is capable of doing and that means good things into your Oklahoma State the defense is going to have their hands full stopping a guy in tailor green is going to require all handson deck so a guy like Colin Oliver Nick Martin they're GNA have to really step up and make sure that everyone else is in position Trey Rucker is another name to keep an eye on on the back end and then I don't know if I have a ton of concerns for Arkansas's wide receivers quite yet but you can't disrespect them you have to obviously key in where you're were looking to stop right now the Russian attack feels like it's more of a focus for Oklahoma States defense but we'll find out truly where they have their attention and this is a very interesting game because both of these teams I think are relatively unknown right now obviously Oklahoma State's probably in a little bit better position I think we know what they're capable of doing right now but it's early in college football it's a new year and that's what makes this so interesting because we we don't necessarily know what these teams are going to be well we have kind of an idea and that's what makes this game so intriguing yes Arkansas put up 70 points and yes Oklahoma State gave up 20 points but there's a reason why Oklahoma State is favored by seven and a half it's a more balanced team as of right now and we'll see what happens but it feels like Oklahoma state is going to be able to handle business it's just a matter of how close this game is because I think it'll be closer than people expect and and it's it's going to be fun to see where Arkansas's at in the Sam Pitman era or are we going to see a different result where you feel he may be headed out the door that's going to be fun to watch and I I think that Oklahoma state has the ability as the veteran talent to win this football game but it would be really interesting to see if the opposite was true what that means for tailor green and that offense