If there is one thing a Bret Bielema-coached team tends to do well, it is run the football. If Saturday’s spring game for Arkansas is any indication, Bielema will have some tools to work with on the ground in 2014. The first-team offense rushed for 252 yards and recorded four touchdowns in the process. Korliss Marshall, who had been on the defensive side of the football, showed why he belongs on the offensive side of the ball by stealing the show with 99 rushing yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Last year’s leading rusher, Alex Collins, and second-leading rusher, Jonathan Williams, split reps with Marshall on the first-team offense, which means Arkansas could have a three-headed monster developing for the fall. Collins led the Razorbacks with 1,026 yards and four touchdowns in 2013. Williams notched 900 yards on the ground along with four touchdowns. Marshal appeared in eight games on offense, with 17 rushing attempts for 146 yards. Expect Marshall’s numbers to go up in the fall if the spring game is considered a preview of things to come.
The strength on the ground should be of little surprise tough. Arkansas finished a dismal 2013 season ranked third in the SEC in rushing offense. The first-team rushing offense may have been dialed in, but on the flip side of the conversation you can suggest the Razorbacks have some holes to plug on defense. Last year the Razorbacks were 11th in the SEC in rushing defense, allowing 178.42 yards per game. Alabama and Auburn combined for 585 rushing yards and eight rushing touchdowns in back-to-back games against the Razorbacks, and LSU ended the season by rushing for 238 yards and three touchdowns in a 31-27 victory against their Arkansas rivals.