Hogs, Buckeyes set for Big Easy showdown in Sugar Bowl
By Bud L. Ellis
The journey won’t be a long one for the Arkansas Razorbacks, but getting to the Sugar Bowl is a trip 30 years in the making.
Leaving Fayetteville and making the trip south to New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 4 is a sweet reward for a Razorbacks’ team that finished 10-2 in the ultra-tough SEC West. And while national finalist and SEC champion Auburn kept Arkansas from playing in the SEC title game in Atlanta, the season nonetheless ends with the Hogs’ first BCS bowl berth.
No. 6-ranked Arkansas will face an Ohio State squad that is 11-1 on the season, but is 0-9 against SEC teams in bowl games. The eighth-ranked Buckeyes are led by Terrell Pryor, who passed for 25 touchdowns and 2,551 yards this season. Arkansas features its own standout QB in Ryan Mallett, who passed for 3,592 yards and 30 touchdowns in 2010.
Offense figures to be the story of the day when the Buckeyes and Hogs meet. Ohio State is averaging 39.4 points per game, while Arkansas has put up 37.3 per contest. Yardage wise, both teams are in the top 20 in the nation, the Hogs averaging 489.3 yards per contest (10th in the nation) while the Buckeyes average 448.8 per game (18th).
Both teams also feature 1,000-yard rushers. Ohio State’s Dan Herron has 1,068 yards and 15 touchdowns, sparking a rushing attach that ranks 14th in the nation at 219.7 per contest. Arkansas’s Knile Davis has rushed for 1,183 yards and 13 touchdowns on the season.
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Monday, December 6, 2010 at 4:23 pm by bud
Tags: Arkansas Razorbacks, Auburn Tigers, Dan Herron, Knile Davis, Ohio State Buckeyes, Ryan Mallett, Sugar Bowl news, Sugar Bowl schedule, Sugar Bowl tickets, Terrell Pryor
