When Bret Bielema made his head coaching debut with Wisconsin back in September of 2006, his Badgers got off to a slow start against quarterback Freddie Barnes and the Bowling Green Falcons before eventually cruising to 35-14 win.
Arkansas' introduction to its first Bielema-led team offered more of the same.
Sometimes it just takes a while for a team to get its feet planted firmly on the ground.
The Razorbacks let Lousiana-Lafeyette hang around for the opening 20 minutes or so before slowly taking on Bielema's signature offensive looks: a yards-churning rushing attack with efficient quarterback play.
The new-look Razorbacks walked away with the victory, 34-14, which was not always a guarantee for the program last season (See: Louisiana-Monroe, Sept. 8, 2012).
In his seven seasons in Madison, Bielema groomed four 1,000-yard rushers in P.J. Hill, John Clay, James White and Montee Ball — accounting for seven 1,000-yard seasons overall. The 2008 season was the only campaign in which he has not coached a 1,000-yard runner, and the team finished 7-6 that season.
All of this is to say that, without question, the rushing attack is a staple of good Bielema teams.
In its season opener, Arkansas appeared to pursue a similar formula.
Jonathan Williams and Alex Collins, two highly-recruited backs in the 2012 and 2013 classes, respectively, may never become James White or P.J. Hill — putting them on Ball's pedestal would be even more premature — but it's clear the talent is there and that their head coach plans to use them early and often. The two young Razorbacks combined for 282 yards and a score on Saturday to pace an Arkansas attack that ran up 500 yards and change against the Ragin' Cajuns.
Last season, thanks in large part to standout Kniles Davis missing significant time, Arkansas' leading rusher was Dennis Johnson … at 757 yards.
That should not be the case this season.
"What you guys saw today is what I’ve been seeing all fall camp," Bielema said of his two-headed RB attack.
That effectiveness opened up the field for quarterback Brandon Allen (or vice versa), who went 15-for-22 with 230 passing yards and three touchdowns. Overall, it was the balanced effort opposing defenses are used to seeing from teams out of Madison, and with a relatively weak opening schedule — Louisiana-Lafeyette, Samford, Southern Miss and Rutgers is not a gauntlet by stretch of the imagination — so expect similar results before the rough-and-tumble SEC West schedule kicks off. Could Collins and Williams combine for 1,000 yards through the first four weeks? Don't put it past a Bielema offense.
With Alabama, Texas A&M and LSU in their usual top-15 perches overlooking the college football landscape, it's going to be the likes of Arkansas, Ole Miss and Auburn that define just how deep the SEC — and, more specifically, the SEC West — goes this season. The difficulty level increases as the schedule wears on for Bielema, but it looks as if he has some solid pieces in place to be competitive offensively.
Same ol' song.
Of course Coach Bielema rocks a pair of Beats headphones for the Hog Walk... pic.twitter.com/DQECPsZ8cL
— Blake Eddins (@_BlakeEddins) August 31, 2013
