Is it a warm-up game or a trap game? Is last week what Arkansas really is or was the hype a one-time thing?
Most importantly, can this last into SEC play?
Arkansas football is one of the highest programs in college football this week after making the day for college football fans in literally 49 of the 50 states in Week 2 dismantling big, bad Texas, 40-21. The Hogs were darlings, even in national media. Coach Sam Pittman drew praise for his kinship with players. Quarterback KJ Jefferson went from inexperienced to brimming with potential. The name a defensive player other than Grant Morgan or Jalen Catalon was uttered.
Yes, it was a mighty fine week in the Boston Mountains.
Pittman will tell you, though, that week is over. And a loss in Week 3 would obliterate all the good will created in the last six days.
Arkansas hosts Georgia Southern on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. The Hogs have never played the team from the southern part of the Peach State. Georgia Southern only became an FBS school in 2014. And while the Razorbacks are favored by three-plus touchdowns, GSU isn’t a regular Sun Belt team.
From 1997 to 2012, the Eagles went to five FCS semifinals and played in three FCS national title games. They won two of them. Since arriving in The Belt, they’ve had just two losing seasons. Current coach Chad Lunsford has taken them bowling for three straight years.
Plus, that tricky, ol’ option is their primary offense.
If Arkansas’ defense, ranked No. 28 in total D, can stifle it, the Eagles could be finished before they really start. When Florida Atlantic trounced them last week, the Owls did just that.
And if it happens, those good times will continue. Arkansas will have theoretical momentum (does it really, actually exist?) going into its SEC opener against Texas A&M in Week 4.
My, what a trip that could be.