LITTLE ROCK — Nearly halfway through Coach Petrino’s second season at Arkansas, it’s time to take a statistical glance at how these ’09 Hogs compare to their predecessors. Let’s look at those shiny per-game stats now, before Arkansas’ plunge into the fiery maw of Mount Doom that is Florida’s Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on Saturday.

Razorback Nation has long anticipated Petrino improving the Razorbacks as he did his first two seasons with the Louisville Cardinals (9-4 in 2003 and 11-1 in 2004). Those ’04 Cardinals nearly touched God en route to a season-ending No. 7 ranking. They led the nation in total offense (539.0) and scoring offense (49.8), while setting an NCAA record by scoring 55 or more points in five straight games.

Granted, such stratospheric production came in the Conference USA, not exactly a bastion of defensive powerhouses five years ago. Nope, the likes of Houston, Tulane and Cincinnati didn’t prowl the college landscape with the same menacing growl of the SEC’s Florida, Alabama and LSU.

Still, Razorback fans have expected to see major improvement from a team that finished 5-7 last year. After all, any SEC coach worth his mounds of millions has shown significant improvement between his first and second years. To wit: Mark Richt, Georgia: 2001 (8-4), 2002 (13-1, SEC champ); Urban Meyer, Florida: 2005 (9-3), 2006 (13-1, BCS champ); Nick Saban, Alabama: 2007 (7-6), 2008 (12-2)

This summer, Petrino chimed in on what we’d see after a year of adjustment to his system: “The second year, you see a lot of improvement because the players understand what you expect, they know what they need to do, and they’re comfortable with what you’re doing.”

The offensive numbers: Surprisingly, Arkansas so far has a more prolific passing attack than that of the juggernaut ‘04 Louisville squad. Two reasons: 1) Ryan Mallett is an upgrade over ‘08 quarterback Casey Dick in nearly every facet except running ability. 2) Mallett has enjoyed dramatically better pass protection from a deeper, bigger and more seasoned offensive line that has allowed 1.6 sacks per game. After five games last year, Arkansas was allowing 4.25 sacks per game, worst among 119 NCAA Division I teams.

On the defensive side: Kudos, Willy Robinson. Our slightly crazed-looking defensive coordinator, who could store a mini playbook in that sprawling mustache of his, has the defense clicking on most cylinders. His defensive line is getting excellent penetration, and has helped Arkansas average an SEC-best 7.6 tackles for loss. Bolstered by linebacker Jerry Franklin and safety Elton Ford, the D has been especially stout lately. Since trailing the Aggies 10-0, and excluding a 20-point Auburn outburst while Ford sat late in the 3rd quarter, the Razorbacks have outscored opponents 91-12.