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Toledo Rockets 16, Arkansas Razorbacks 12: Toledo Upsets Arkansas, and the Hogs Are in Trouble

After one SEC West team avoided an upset against an FCS team, another one lost to a midmajor in a week that began to shake out the division race

Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

It's still not clear who will finish last in the SEC West, but we have two clear contenders after a wild day in what was touted as college football's deepest division: Auburn, which almost lost to Jacksonville State, and Arkansas, which lost 16-12 in Little Rock in an upset that raises deep questions about the Hogs' season.

If you didn't watch the game, it's hard to fathom how Arkansas lost this one. The Hogs outgained the Rockets by 222 yards, 515-293. They only turned the ball over once. Penalties were relatively even.

But Arkansas wasted a lot of those yards. A 21-play, 73-yard drive that started late in the third quarter with the Razorbacks trailing, 16-7, yielded only a field goal after burning 10:39 off the clock. Beginning with that drive, the Hogs would churn out 190 yards over their last three possessions and produce three points as a result. The Razorbacks simply dug too deep a hole for a team built on power running to overcome.

Not that the power running game was consistent when it got the ball. Alex Collins had some nice runs, but ended up with 54 yards on 20 carries. Overall, Arkansas would average 3.3 yards a carry on the ground. Brandon Allen had some good throws and ended the day 32-of-53 for 412 yards and an interception, but he also missed some key passes late in the game. And when a Bret Bielema offense is throwing the ball 53 times while running it 31 times, something is wrong.

And it only gets harder for Arkansas from here. Texas Tech comes to town next week, and literally every conference team remaining on the Razorbacks' schedule is ranked. (That seems likely to change for Auburn well before the end of October, but it remains true at the moment.) One upset doesn't end a season, but the one Arkansas suffered on Saturday sure made it look like it will be a long three months in Fayetteville.