Arkansas Razorbacks vs. TCU Horned Frogs Betting Preview
Where: Amon G. Carter Stadium, Fort Worth, TX
When: Saturday, September 10, 7:00 PM ET
Line: Arkansas Razorbacks (+7.5) at TCU Horned Frogs (-7.5) – view all NCAA Football odds and lines
TV Broadcast: ESPN
Writer’s Pick: TCU Horned Frogs (-7.5)
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Betting on the Arkansas Razorbacks (+7.5)
A game-winning drive late in the fourth quarter led by junior QB Austin Allen bailed out the Razorbacks just in time. Allen had a mixed bag of results in his first start for his team, throwing for 191 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. And while those two picks are causes for concern, he did connect on 20 of his 27 other pass attempts in the contest. Plus, he already found himself a favorite target this early on in wideout Keon Hatcher, who missed most of last season with a broken leg but hauled in six catches for 86 yards on Saturday.
What’s got to be a bigger problem for Arkansas is its supposedly imposing running game. After averaging 197 yards on the ground last season, the team only mustered up 106 yards on 40 carries against the Bulldogs. The defense, which kept nine starters from last year’s core, felt sort of half-baked as well. It allowed just 79 rushing yards to Louisiana Tech, but still ended up surrendering a total of 291 offensive yards, and that’s not a good sign at all.
Having to face a formidable TCU gang in Fort Worth next is no easy task, especially with the team still trying to get its footing in general. Then again, and although the ‘Backs are just 4-5 on the road for the past two seasons, they’ve actually gone 7-2 against the spread in those contests, making them an intriguing underdog pick this week all things considered.
Betting on the TCU Horned Frogs (-7.5)
Everybody expected the TCU Horned Frogs, who are priced at +4,000 to win national title this season, to put up tons of points on the board. However, the Horned Frogs themselves didn’t anticipate their Week 1 opponent, the South Dakota State Jackrabbits, to do the same unto them last Saturday.
TCU’s defense, which – like Arkansas’ – had a good number of last year’s starters return for this campaign (eight of them to be exact), just gave up a whopping 461 yards to an FCS school. If the team doesn’t fix its D, who’s to say what other FBS programs will be capable of doing in the coming weeks?
Nonetheless, if the Frogs’ offense continues to erupt as it did this past weekend, maybe they don’t need to excel so much on defense after all. Kenny Hill, who took over prolific QB Trevone Boykin’s job, dazzled in his starting debut. Hill racked up 439 passing yards (seventh-highest in school history) with two touchdowns and two picks, and also ran for 45 yards and three more scores in the 59-41 shootout victory over South Dakota State. Junior wide receiver helped immensely in Hill’s cause as well, nabbing 11 receptions for 158 yards and a TD.
And if there’s one truly positive factor going for the Horned Frogs this coming Saturday, it’s that they’ll still be hosting another game in Amon G. Carter Stadium. They’ve gone a perfect 16-0 (13-3 ATS) at home since the beginning of the 2014 season with a staggering average of 46.2 points scored per contest during that span.
Writer’s Prediction
The Horned Frogs (-7.5) do just enough on offense again to hold off the Razorbacks, 38-27.
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