ARKANSAS AT NO. 17 MISSOURI

Arkansas wants to feed burgeoning rivalry

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Arkansas at No. 17 Missouri hogtoon illustration.

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- A fresh rivalry born of geography starts today as Arkansas travels to 17th-ranked Missouri, the SEC East leader, with a chance to knock the Tigers out of the SEC Championship Game.

Arkansas (6-5, 2-5 SEC) will take a two-game shutout streak into the 1:30 p.m. game at Memorial Stadium, the first regular-season meeting between the teams since 1963 and the first of what has been set up as a perennial Thanksgiving weekend affair between the new cross-division rivals.

Today’s game

Arkansas at Missouri

WHEN 1:30 p.m. Central

WHERE Faurot Field, Columbia, Mo.

RECORDS Arkansas 6-5, 2-5 SEC; Missouri 9-2, 6-1

RANKINGS Missouri is 17/17/17 by CFP/AP/Coaches

COACHES Bret Bielema (9-14 in secondnd year at Arkansas, 77-38 in ninth year overall); Gary Pinkel (111-65 in 14th year at Missouri, 184-102-3 in 24 years overall)

SERIES Missouri leads 3-2

TELEVISION CBS

RADIO Razorbacks Sports Network, including KABZ-FM, 103.7, in Little Rock; and KQSM-FM, 92.1, KEZA-FM, 107.9, KUOA-AM, 1290 and KUOA-FM, 105.3, in Fayetteville. XM-Radio 208, Sirius 93

The schools have given a name to the game -- the Battle Line Rivalry -- and plan to create a permanent trophy that will be given to the winner of the game each season.

"I think it's a neat thing just to continue to build that rivalry," Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema said. "It'll take a little bit of time ... but I know our guys are very excited to see a team that last year played in the SEC Championship Game and now this year will get a chance to go back to it, or we can stop it."

The Razorbacks have done away with lengthy losing streaks against SEC teams and ranked teams, but they are still riding an eight-game skid in SEC road games.

Missouri (9-2, 6-1 SEC) came into the league in 2012 with much less fanfare than Texas A&M, but the Tigers won the East Division last year and can advance to the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta for the second time in their three seasons in the league.

"I expect a team that's playing with a lot of energy and a lot of excitement to try to win their side of the bracket," Arkansas offensive coordinator Jim Chaney said. "My goodness, they've got a lot on it, and we do too."

An Arkansas victory will send Georgia, which defeated the Tigers 34-0 here on Oct. 11, into the SEC title game.

"Certainly after that Georgia game, there was a sense of urgency if we wanted to accomplish a lot of our goals we've got to get better fast," Missouri Coach Gary Pinkel said. "A year ago every game was difficult, but we didn't have as many games that were as tight and close as this year.

"I think we can accept at this point that that's what this season might be like. This season might be a fourth-quarter season."

Arkansas, the first unranked college football team to shut out consecutive ranked opponents, also will become the first team in college football history to play all of its conference games against teams ranked in the top 20 at the time the teams met.

Bielema said his the Razorbacks have embraced their schedule, rated as the most difficult in the country.

"I know they have to beat us to get to the SEC championship, so it's always good to go try to knock somebody off of their dreams," Arkansas linebacker Martrell Spaight said.

Sharing a border, competing for prospects and playing the regular-season finale every year should eventually create a rivalry between the programs, but players on both sides are aware things could heat up quickly.

"We understand what they've got going between them and Georgia, but we're just focusing on Arkansas, trying to build respect for Arkansas around the whole nation," Arkansas defensive end Trey Flowers said.

"Arkansas, they have the word Kansas in it, so it's got to be a rival," Missouri center Evan Boehm told reporters this week while making a reference to Kansas, the Tigers' longtime rival when Missouri was still in the Big 12 Conference.

Arkansas quarterback Brandon Allen, who took a hit on his right hip that knocked him out of last week's game, is questionable. Bielema said Wednesday that Allen was progressing better than expected and if he continued at that rate there wouldn't be "any problem or hesitation" keeping Allen from starting.

Allen's brother, redshirt freshman Austin Allen, would get the starting job if Brandon Allen isn't ready to play.

The Razorbacks will have to contend with a Missouri defense that ranks fourth in the country with 40 sacks, led by end Shane Ray, the SEC leader with 13 1/2 sacks and 19 1/2 tackles for loss. Fellow end Markus Golden has 8 1/2 sacks.

"They blitz to stop the run," Arkansas offensive line coach Sam Pittman said. "This is not a team that blitzes to sack the quarterback. The reason they can is because Golden and Ray have 22 sacks between them."

Arkansas tight ends coach Barry Lunney said Golden and Ray are probably the two best ends Arkansas has seen on the field at the same time this season.

"They're very good and very disruptive," Lunney said.

Missouri's offense features mobile quarterback Maty Mauk, a pair of quality tailbacks in Russell Hansbrough and Marcus Murphy, and a veteran pack of tall receivers.

"We've got to stop the run, first and foremost," Arkansas defensive coordinator Robb Smith said. "The biggest thing is, when they throw the football we've got to keep their quarterback in the pocket. Maty Mauk does a really nice job of extending and making plays."

The Razorbacks and Tigers have only a brief history, which includes splitting a pair of bowl games, but in the coming years it could blossom into something much more meaningful.

"It will be [a rivalry]," Pinkel said. "I kind of compare it to the Kansas rivalry. It didn't happen overnight."

Sports on 11/28/2014