Juice Wells put on a show for the nation to see. If Carolina won this game, Wells would have been plastered all over media highlights. He did everything he could when his name was called, creating several big plays after the catch. Wells finished with 8 receptions for 189 yards and a touchdown. He was billed as a playmaker and has not disappointed through two weeks of play.

What a difference a year can make. Last season, Pickens would not have been a factor in a game like this, but Saturday night Pickens was a force on the interior of the defensive line. Play after play Pickens took on double teams. Not only did he win his fair share of battles but he also was the defender often making the tackle. Pickens finished with 12 tackles and Carolina will need that kind of effort and performance from Pickens for the rest of the season.

Between a botched PAT, shanked punt, and an onside kick lined directly to an uncovered Bumper Pool, the special teams were anything but special Saturday night. On the bright side, there were no turnovers and all kickoffs were unreturnable except the onside kick. Debo Williams receives the POTG nod for swiftly recovering an onside kick that glanced off an Arkansas player.

TIP OF THE CAP

Another week and another game where Nick Emmanwori was flying around and making plays. Time after time Emmanwori came up to make a one-on-one tackle finishing with 7 solo and 11 total. The only knock came in the passing game where for the second week in a row Emmanwori was caught watching the backfield and a receiver slipped behind him for a touchdown.

Ahmarean Brown created separation all game long and it seemed like sooner or later he and Rattler would connect on one of the deep balls, but it never happened. Brown is a player to watch going forward and as he is proving to be a deep threat this offense needed. The next step is actually completing a few passes and taking the top off the defense. Despite not connecting on any of the deep balls, the attempts did cause Arkansas to take a man out of the box and created some running room for McDowell and Lloyd.

By no stretch is the OL where it needs to be, but their play was head and shoulders above last week. Pass protection, coupled with Rattler’s movement, was solid, and midway through the second quarter Marcus Satterfield found a mismatch in the running game on the right side of the line out of their power formations. Had Carolina been able to somehow gain the lead, they could have exploited this mismatch and the stat sheet would have looked much different. Unfortunately, that was not the case and Carolina was forced into playing catch up the majority of the day through the air.