NO. 17 ARKANSAS READY TO BEGIN THIRD SEASON OF PETRINO ERA
􀀗The Razorbacks begin their 116th season of football at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Ark. against Tennessee Tech at 6 p.m., Sept. 4. Head football coach Bobby Petrino begins his third season at the helm. In 2009, Coach Petrino led the Razorbacks to an 8-5 overall record, including a win in the 2010 AutoZone Liberty Bowl. The bowl victory was the first for the program since 2003.

􀀗Arkansas enters the 2010 season ranked No. 17 in the AP preseason poll. The mark is the highest preseason ranking for the program since 1990 (No. 14).

􀀗The Razorbacks begin their 2010 campaign looking to pick up where last year’s squad left off. UA finished the 2009 season winning five of its last six games, including the AutoZone Liberty Bowl triumph.

􀀗Arkansas has won 20 of its last 25 season-opening contests. The Razorbacks are 90-22-4 (.793) all time in season openers, including nine consecutive season-opening victories from 1997-2005. Arkansas saw its streak snapped against Southern California in 2006, but rebounded to win the season opener each of the last three years.

􀀗Coach Petrino has never lost a season opener as a head coach (6-0). His teams have averaged 35.5 points in the first game of the season and have limited opponents to 16.7 points per game:

Year Opponent Score
2003 Kentucky 20-13
2004 Kentucky 28-0
2005 Kentucky 31-24
2006 Kentucky 58-29
2008 Western Illinois 28-24
2009 Missouri State 48-10

􀀗Arkansas finished 6-1 at home in 2009 and won each of its last five games to do so. The home win streak is tied for the third-longest in the SEC and the 15th-longest in the nation.

VS. FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SUBDIVISION
􀀗This season, Arkansas is one of the 11 teams from the Southeastern Conference to have an opponent from the Football Championship Subdivision on its 2010 schedule. Three league schools begin play against an FCS opponent this season (Ole Miss vs. Jacksonville State and Tennessee vs. Tennessee Martin).

THE TEAM

Arkansas’ leaders in each of the following departments are projected to return to the 2009 squad:
passing, rushing, receiving, total offense, scoring, all-purpose yards, tackles, sacks, interceptions, pass break ups, quarterback hurries, forced fumbles, fumble recoveries, kickoff returns, punting, field goals, punting and blocked punts.

Arkansas is poised to return nine starters on offense and seven on defense. Arkansas should return a total of 40 players who made at least one start in 2009 (22 on offense and 18 on defense). In 2008, the Razorbacks returned 32 players who had made at least one start from the previous season.

9-4-10 vs. Tennessee Tech  -- PDF file

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