No. 18 Florida (3-1, 2-0 SEC) looks to remain undefeated SEC play when Arkansas comes to town at 7 p.m. tonight. Here are five things of note in advance of the meeting:
1. Arkansas run game vs. Florida run D: This will be the matchup to watch today. Arkansas is second in the SEC in rushing yards per game (237) while Florida is No. 1 in the country in rushing defense (53.5 yards allowed per game). Arkansas hasn't faced a defense as good as Florida's and the Gators haven't faced a team as productive as the Razorbacks on the ground, so it will be interesting to see how it plays out. Freshman Alex Collins (597 rushing yards) and sophomore Jonathan Williams (471) pace the Razorbacks. Florida's run defense hits opponents at or behind the line of scrimmage 57 percent of the time, 15 points better than average among AQ conference squads, and the Gators haven't allowed an opponent to rush for 75 yards or more yet this year.
2. Florida's series dominance: This is the first meeting between the two teams since 2009 and Florida leads the all-time series 8-1. Since Arkansas joined the SEC in 1992, Florida has won all eight meetings between the squads. Arkansas has lost its last five SEC games and is in the middle of a stretch where it is playing ranked teams four straight weeks. The Razorbacks lost their last two games, falling to unranked Rutgers and to No. 9 Texas A&M. Arkansas coach Bret Bielema only lost three straight games in a season once while he was at Wisconsin back in 2008, when the Badgers dropped four in a row.
3. Continued success for Murphy?: This will be Tyler Murphy's second start since taking over for an injured Jeff Driskel at quarterback. So far, Murphy has been nothing short of stellar. His QBR of 96.1 would rank second in the FBS if he had enough snaps to qualify in the national rankings, but the results have been positive for Florida's offense when Murphy has been under center. In his 19 drives, he has led Florida to seven touchdowns to only four three-and-outs, with three drives ending in turnovers. In 28 drives under Driskel, Florida had five touchdowns, seven turnovers and eight three-and-outs.
4. Running game emerging: Matt Jones had his best game of the season last week (28 carries, 176 yards, one touchdown) since returning from a viral infection that caused him to miss the opener. While much of the talk around Florida has surrounded the quarterback, it's the running game that will carry the Gators. Mack Brown is a solid complement and the Gators have rushed for more than 200 yards in all but one game this season, the loss to Miami.
5. Kicking game: Florida kicker Austin Hardin missed a field goal attempt last week and is 4-of-7 on the season, with his misses coming from 39, 41 and 53 yards, respectively. The Gators were accustomed to having an ace in the hole at kicker when Caleb Sturgis was around but Hardin, a redshirt sophomore, is still trying to find some consistency. He beat out senior Brad Phillips in preseason camp, but it'll be interesting to see if Phillips gets a look if Hardin doesn't show improvement.