Belk Bowl Preview

Belk Bowl Preview

The Arkansas Razorbacks travel to Charlotte to face off against the Virginia Tech Hokies in the 2016 Belk Bowl Dec. 29

sports@theeveningtimes.com

The Arkansas Razorbacks (7-5 overall) face off against the Virginia Tech Hokies (9-4) in the Belk Bowl on December 29th at 4:30 p.m. on ESPN.

In his fourth year with the Razorbacks, Head Coach Bret Bielema travels with his team to Charlotte, North Carolina for Arkansas’ third consecutive bowl game appearance. Bielema is 4-4 throughout his coaching career in bowl games, going back to his coaching days at Wisconsin.

Bielema will meet former Memphis Tigers Head Coach Justin Fuente.

Fuente, a highly-sought after free agent coach this past year following a ninewin season with the Tigers, led the Hokies to a 22nd place ranking in the Associated Press pole and looks to win his second career bowl game.

While the game represents the first ever meeting between the Razorbacks and Hokies, Arkansas is a very familiar team for Virginia Tech Special Teams Coach James Shibest. Shibest played wide receiver for the Razorbacks when he was in college and briefly served as an assistant coach for the team before coaching at Memphis and following Fuente to Virginia Tech.

Both teams are very similar in the respect that they both run the ball exceptionally well.

Razorbacks’ running backs Rawleigh Williams III and Devwah Whaley both averaged 5.7 yard per rush this season. Williams gained 1,326 yards on the ground and 13 touchdowns rushing. Whaley accounted for 601 yards and three touchdowns via the run on less than half the carries of Williams. Both backs showed big play ability with rushes over 70 yards.

The Hokies are led on the ground by their quarterback Jerod Evans, however a slew of running backs also contribute to the Virginia Tech rushing attack. Evans has accumulated 759 yards and ten touchdowns on the ground. Complementing Evens are three running backs who all averaged over four yards a carry on at least 55 touches and rushed for ten touchdowns combined during the regular season.

Each team also boasts a quarterback who threw for over 3,000 yards in the regular season.

Razorbacks Austin Allen aired the ball out for 3,152 yards in 12 games, finding the end zone 23 times while throwing 12 interceptions. Allen often finds reliable target wide-receiver Drew Morgan. Morgan leads the Razorbacks in receptions with 61 catches resulting in 664 yards and three touchdowns receiving. Allen also relies heavily on deep-threat Keon Hatcher. Hatcher only caught 38 passes during the regular season, but turned those receptions into 638 yards and seven touchdowns.

The Hokies dangerous dual-threat quarterback, Jerod Evans, just barley best Allen in all passing categories. Evans racked up 3,309 yards with his arm which resulted in 27 passing touchdowns and only seven interceptions.

Isaiah Ford and Cam Phillips lead the Hokies in receiving, both wide receivers with over 70 receptions on the year.

Ford and Phillips have 1,038 and 868 yards receiving, respectively, and have found pay dirt a combined 12 times.

The real difference in the game comes on defense.

The Razorbacks rank 75th nationally in defense, while the Hokies boast a national defensive ranking of 19th. While both teams offensively convert third downs at 42 percent. The Hokies defense only allows opposing offenses to convert on third down 27 percent of the time.

That percentage is good for a third-place national ranking for Virginia Tech on third down defense. In comparison, the Razorbacks allow opponents to convert third downs 44 percent of the time, ranking them 107th nationally.

In order for Arkansas, a seven-point underdog according to Oddsshark.com, to steal a bowl win from Virginia Tech the Razorbacks must execute well in several areas. Mainly, the hogs must be able to contain Evans and cover Ford, the Hokies deep-threat receiver, well. Stopping the speedy receiver and lightning quick quarterback on third down well be essential.

Offensively, the Razorbacks must play well on first and second down.

Being able to run the ball on third down and take pressure off Allen is a must, especially facing a stingy Hokies defense.

Kickoff of the 2016 Belk Bowl is at 4:30 p.m. on December 29th and will be covered on ESPN.

By Collins Peeples