Morris is right, responding to negatives important … even for fans

Chad Morris is correct.

While Arkansas’ recent losses hurt, he’s hoping they are building blocks to the future. During a week following one of the worst losses in program history, Morris has said over and over it’s about how this team responds.

“Our total focus was on us and to figure out why we didn’t get the results we wanted,” he said on the SEC Teleconference on Wednesday.

A lot of Razorback fans think they know what the problem is, the truth is they don’t have a clue, mainly because they don’t want to admit how steadily this program declined over the last decade.

Yes, I throw The Great Playcaller in there, too, because his big years in 2010-11 weren’t going to continue in 2012 because he wasn’t getting playmakers on either side of the ball during that run.

His successor was shocked at the lack of depth at wide receiver, for example, and in the interior lines on both sides of the ball.

Over five years, he didn’t do a whole lot to turn it around. It didn’t help that his athletics director was more interested in promoting himself and essentially set about destroying a program from on the field to the public relations aspect.

But that’s in the past.

The only reason it matters is that’s what Morris walked into … apparently with his eyes wide open. New athletics director Hunter Yurachek was right there, too, and both were aware it wasn’t going to get fixed anytime soon.

Fans don’t get that, either. They only care about winning in the manner they feel is appropriate (in other words, the offense has to keep them excited).

Facing Texas A&M this week at AT&T Stadium is big. Maybe bigger than anybody really realizes.

Oh, it’s not about a win. Nobody expects the Hogs to come back from Texas with that.

Considering the past history of this series, though, the Aggies have a history of playing down to whatever level is required to make this game close.

How this team responds from last week’s nosedive could set up the rest of the season.

We get to see how some talented newcomers bounce back. It’s easy to forget a lot of these guys were able to still make plays a year ago without 100 percent effort at times.

It’s one thing for coaches to remind them they have to go full-out on every snap and every practice drill. It’s another to see it against a team that makes them look the way they were making others look a year ago.

Not having a a group of upperclassmen around that are in-your-face leaders makes this a bigger problem than maybe it’s been before. That tends to happen when you have guys who get comfortable losing.

Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterward is a common expression. Unfortunately, there are very few exceptions to that.

Particularly in sports.

It’s probably more important for an impatient fan base.

No, there won’t be any prediction here for an Arkansas win. While I think there will be some improvement, I’m not ready to go THAT far out on a limb.

Texas A&M 41, Arkansas 38

In the weekly prediction contest across the SEC with Peter Morgan last week was a push. We both missed the Hogs’ face planting against San Jose State and Ole Miss getting hosed at home in a loss.

It’s still a one-game lead for the old man, who will hang on to his Suzanne Somers poster that is accompanied by the original posters of Farah Fawcett, Bo Derek and the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders.

Easy pickings

Vanderbilt (6.5) over Northern Illinois and Florida (37.5) over Towson.

Ole Miss at Alabama (37.5)

Exactly why this is the featured national game of the week in the SEC is more of a testament to Alabama’s drawing power than the matchup. The Rebels have surprised the Crimson Tide in the past, but they won’t this year … and Bama likely covers the spread.

Alabama 48, Ole Miss 6

Mississippi State at Auburn (10)

Why this one may be close is strictly because the Tigers have an annoying habit of following up a big-time win with a flat performance against an opponent that should be a pushover. But I’m not sure the Bulldogs have enough offense to stay close in this one.

Auburn 31, Mississippi State 10

Kentucky at South Carolina (3)

These middle of the pack matchups as we start the middle of the season are always full of surprising results and tend to come down to which team is more desperate clinging to a shot at a decent finish. Both are winless in the league and that creates a certain amount of desperation on both sides. Go with the home team on these.

South Carolina 21, Kentucky 17