Bielema: No apathy from Razorback fans now

Bret Bielema showed Monday he’s either not understanding of the Arkansas fan base … or he refuses to believe it.

At his press conference Monday, he was asked about fan apathy.

“What’s apathy?” he asked. “The fans don’t care? No, I think they’ve shown they care a lot. That’s a bad adjective.

“The part that we sense from our players is, again, they’re disappointed, they’re upset, but this one was more of an anger factor that they … certain things happened that … I know our defense guys were frustrated, thought they had a third down stop and it didn’t end up being one.

“That turns out to be a bit of anger afterward. We gotta make sure it’s channeled the right way.

“Offensively, second to last play of the game, we have one that’s an open touchdown and it ends up being out of bounds, so that turns to anger when you see it.

“As far as fans having angst, after the definition you gave that they don’t care I’ve seen the exact opposite.”

He was asked again if he saw a problem.

“Not from what I’ve seen of Arkansas,” he said, apparently trying to convince himself as much as anyone else. “I’ve been overwhelmed at the positive things, the mail, the e-mail, people stopping you walking out on Saturday, the comments … I realize there’s negative people out there … I don’t hear from them or see them … I think our players probably see it a little more than us, but I would think the exact opposite.

“I think they’ve demonstrated they care a lot and I think that’s a positive thing.”

Either Bret isn’t paying attention (which calls some other things into question) or he’s denying the reality, based on what we hear and see.

He could look around to see that many fans are simply throwing up their hands over the state of the Razorbacks.

Being 1-2 is part of it. Six straight losses to Texas A&M in a showcase game adds to the problem.

Not having any noticeable improvement in his program, though, is the biggest problem.

While many in the fan base simply have said they don’t care, others are, well downright upset over the downward spiral of this football program over the last five years.

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Bielema can say what he wants about being close, but that’s just trying to put a happy face on a program that is mired in mediocrity, which is not something the fans are used to.

While Arkansas has not been a program to rip off a run like Alabama is enjoying under Nick Saban, the fans have gotten used to eight and nine-win seasons regularly with the occasional 10-win season in there and maybe one, at the most two, down years every decade.

Bielema and the coordinators Monday tried to put some narrow-minded spin control on things, but here’s the actual facts:

• In the first three games of each of his five seasons, the only Power 5 win is over Texas Tech in 2014.

• Saturday’s loss was to a team that played 17 freshmen extensively.

• Defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads said the Hogs only missed two tackles the entire game, basically saying it was about as well as they can play defensively.

• According to offensive coordinator Dan Enos, they are still trying to find answers at wide receivers, especially now with Jared Cornelius out for the season with an Achilles injury.

So, to summarize, in yet another 1-2 start to a season (it’s the third time under Bielema), the Hogs played about as well as they can defensively and gave up 43 points in regulation to a team playing 17 freshmen — including a true freshman quarterback — and they lost their only experienced wide receiver.

Add to that the rather startling statistic that 38.8 percent of the Hogs’ tackles in the game were made by two linebackers — Dre Greenlaw and Scoota Harris. Yes, that number is accurate, well over a third of the tackles by two players.

And that freshman quarterback, Kellen Mond, ran for 109 yards. It would have been 119 if an official hadn’t gone brain dead and blew the play dead, which turned out to be huge for the Hogs because it never would have gone to overtime if the correct call was made.

On that play, what maybe is more telling is the fact that nobody on the Hogs’ defense really caught him. Oh, Josh Liddell got close enough that Mond stopped and carried him the final 10 yards into the end zone, but he was so wide open it looked like Arkansas’ entire secondary ran to the A&M sideline.

No, this team has bigger problems.

The biggest is a lack of quality players, which falls directly on Bielema’s shoulders.

If that’s the best Bielema can do in five years, then THAT is why the fans are mad and disgusted.

All the way through August, I said we won’t know what this team is until after the Texas A&M game and 1-3 at that point could be disastrous.

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We have a pretty good idea what this team is now.

Most of the fans do, too.

Which is why Bielema will probably learn first-hand that apathy is directly related to those empty seats at Razorback Stadium.

And that, friends, is the worst thing of all.