Prediction contest: Arkansas vs. Jacksonville State

Photo: ArkansasRazorbacks.com

It’s here, ladies and gentlemen. It’s time for another season of Arkansas Razorbacks football, and we’re not sure about you guys, but we couldn’t be more ready.

It has been a strange offseason to say the least, but fortunately for us all, the drama is over and it’s time for some hard hits, long passes, sacks, punt returns, stiff arms, and fade routes. Holy moly, who’s ready for some football?

The Hogs open the 2012 season on Saturday versus the Jacksonville State Gamecocks. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m., and the game will be televised on pay-per-view for those who don’t have tickets.

The Gamecocks are coming off a 7-4 season, in which they finished 6-2 in conference play for a share of the Ohio Valley Conference Championship with Eastern Kentucky and Tennessee Tech. The Gamecocks return 10 starters from last year’s team, including six on offense and four on defense.

Arkansas comes into the game ranked 10th in the country by the Associated Press. The Hogs are the only team in the SEC to return a quarterback with a 3,000-yard passing season (Tyler Wilson) in his career and a running back with a 1,000-yard rushing season (Knile Davis). The Razorbacks also return last season’s team leaders in total offense, all-purpose yards, passing yards, passing touchdowns, rushing yards, rushing touchdowns, tackles for loss, quarterback hurries, kickoff returns, scoring, field goals, extra points, punting and kickoffs.

Our guess is that the Hogs will win this one handily. Arkansas 49, Jacksonville State 3.

Let us know what you think the final score will be. If you’re the closest (see rules below), you’ll get a free t-shirt from Bearstate Supply.

How to enter

Leave a comment with your game prediction. If you want to add anything else, please feel free.

What you’ll win

One t-shirt of your choice (design, color, size) from the Bearstate Supply online store. (Hoodies, ringers and tri-blend AA’s not included)

The rules

• You only may enter this specific contest once.
• Contests are open to anyone anywhere except staff of Fayetteville Flyer and their immediate family members.
• The winning entry must pick the winning team and have the smallest combined difference from each team’s final score. Example: If the Razorbacks win by a score of 21-7, and your prediction was Razorbacks 20-10, your difference would be 1 + 3 = 4. In the event of a tie, a winner will be selected by a random drawing.
• You must pick the score by 15 minutes before kickoff for each game.
• Make sure you leave a valid e-mail address when filling out the comment form since that’s how we’ll contact you if you’ve won.

Good luck!