[mm-video type=playlist id=01fc3h383th881vsf1 player_id=none image=https://razorbackswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]
It’s actually a bit wild that Arkansas has never played the opponent it will face January 1 in the Outback Bowl, Penn State.
The two storied programs were powerhouses of their time: Arkansas in the 1960s, Penn State throughout the Joe Paterno tenure. Yet New Year’s Day will be the first meeting.
Penn State was in the hunt for a potential College Football Playoff berth through the first month of the season. But like Arkansas, a midseason three-game skid ended those hopes. And like Arkansas, the Nittany Lions bounced back, albeit with one fewer win, over the last few weeks of the season.
Coach James Franklin’s team is dangerous, even if they are 7-5. They lost to No. 2 Michigan by only four points and then Michigan State, which is playing in the Peach Bowl, by only three in the final week of the season.
Mostly, the Penn State does it with defense and a passing attack. The Nittany Lions have the seventh-ranked scoring defense in FBS. Part of that has to do with the Big Ten, which after Ohio State and Michigan, isn’t a conference filled with high-scoring teams.
Offensively, Jahan Dotson is certain to give Arkansas’ secondary fits. He had 91 catches this season for 1,182 yards and 12 touchdowns. Those numbers are slightly better than Arkansas’ own star receiver, Treylon Burks, put up this year.
Arkansas coach Sam Pittman will elaborate on Penn State in the coming weeks and we will get a better idea of the Razorbacks’ plan to counter them blue-and-white by Christmas.