Arkansas’ Justin Smith (9 points, 6 rebounds) talked with the media after the 86-50 win Saturday night where the defensive play was better.
Musselman after team plays well, fast start pacing 86-50 win over Lipscomb
Razorbacks coach Eric Musselman liked the really fast start his team got, then better defense in rolling to 36-point win Saturday evening.
Pittman disappointed in defense’s play after Missouri’s comeback win
Arkansas coach Sam Pittman vows after watching the Tigers to score 21 straight points to come from behind, downing Hogs, 50-48, on Saturday.
Smith says Jefferson ‘did a tremendous job’ filling in at quarterback for Franks
Razorbacks running back Trelon Smith said main focus for offense was “four yards here, five yards there” in 50-48 loss to Tigers on Saturday.
Moody on performance against Lipscomb his coach called ‘flawless basketball’
Arkansas’ Moses Moody (18 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and a steal for good measure’ played what Eric Musselman said later was “flawless basketball.”
Pool on defense’s “positively heartbreaking” inability to make a play at end
Razorbacks linebacker Bumper Pool said the defense simply didn’t make plays when they needed to in fourth-quarter collapse.
GAMEDAY BLOG: Hogs-Missouri commentary through second half
4Q 4:47: In the span of just a few minutes in the fourth quarter, the Hogs are dangerously close to blowing a fourth-quarter lead to Missouri … again. Tyler Badie sprinted in from 25 yards out and now the Tigers have the advantage. Missouri 47, Hogs 40
4Q 7:46: Larry Rountree scores from 9 yards out and that’s how quick the Hogs’ two-touchdown lead has evaporated, mainly because the offense is suddenly not getting first downs. Over 1,000 yards of offense and this one isn’t over yet. Hogs 40, Missouri 40
4Q 12:41: Tyler Badie goes 46 yards down the left sideline for a score and cut the Hogs’ lead back to a touchdown. Hogs 40, Missouri 33
4Q 13:15: Trelon Smith and Treylon Burks are having monster days. Behind a circus catch by Burks, the Hogs drove 75 yards in seven plays to score on a 16-yard run by Smith, who has 153 yards on the ground. Burks has seven catches for 179 yards. Hogs 40, Missouri 26
4Q 14:51: Missouri puts together a 14-play drive but has to end up settling for a 40-yard field goal from Harris Mevis, cutting the Hogs’ lead to one score. Hogs 33, Missouri 26
3Q 8:18: The Hogs’ offense holds the Tigers to a field goal, then K.J. Jefferson directs a 75-yard drive in eight plays with Trelon Smith doing much of the work, scoring on a 15-yard run. The extra point was blocked. Hogs 33, Missouri 23
3Q 10:23: After Arkansas goes three-and-out coming out of halftime, Missouri moves down and gets a 37-yard field goal from Harrison Mevis. Hogs 27, Missouri 23
K.J. Jefferson is proving me wrong in the first half against Missouri because I didn’t believe he was ready to be an SEC quarterback, but Kendal Briles has him playing like one.
It helps his roommate Treylon Burks is one of the Hogs’ most dynamic players (you have to put Trelon Smith in that category now) and it’s starting to look like a threat as Arkansas takes a 27-20 lead at halftime over the Tigers.
The announcement came just before kickoff Feleipe Franks was out with rib injuries and Jefferson would start.
The redshirt freshman has responded.
Burks has six touches, 116 total yards and three other passes were thrown his direction and fell incomplete.
2Q :20: Arkansas’ defense figured out a way to force Missouri to punt, then K.J. Jefferson directed a 70-yard drive with big runs from Trelon Smith and a fake field goal where holder Jack Lindsey ran right up the middle for 20 yards. That set up Jefferson’s 1-yard sneak to give the Hogs a lead with 20 seconds to go to halftime. Hogs 27, Missouri 20
2Q 3:39: The Hogs answer with offense as K.J. Jefferson has settled down in this game and the moves them 75 yards in 13 plays with Trelon Smith running in from 6 yards out as this one is starting to look like a shootout. Hogs 20, Missouri 20
2Q 7:45: If the Hogs can’t figure out a way to at least slow down Larry Rountree this game is going to be tough to win as the senior running back has 73 yards and added a 6-yard touchdown run to put the Tigers back on top. Missouri 20, Hogs 13
2Q 11:16: Roommates Treylon Burks and K.J. Jefferson catch the Missouri secondary moving the wrong way and connect on a 68-yard scoring play and get the Hogs right back in the middle of things. Hogs 13, Missouri 13
2Q 11:56: Arkansas’ defense trying to hang on and keep them in the game as Larry Rountree has 57 yards on the ground early in the second quarter as the Tigers get a 29-yard field goal when a drive stalls. Missouri 13, Hogs 6
1Q 1:48: After a rough start, K.J. Jefferson settles down and makes enough plays scrambling and hitting key passes to lead a 12-play, 75-yard drive and flipped a 2-yard scoring pass to tight end Blake Kern. Special teams problems pop up as A.J. Reed pulls the extra point to the left. Missouri 10, Hogs 6
1Q 6:17: The Tigers limit the Hogs to just 2 yards of offense after taking the lead, then proceed to go 69 yards in 12 plays and Larry Rountree ran the ball in from 2 yards out with 6:17 left in the first quarter. Missouri 10, Hogs 0
1Q 12:12 Missouri’s offense dominating Arkansas’ defense as K.J. Jefferson only managed three passes, one of which was backwards to Mike Woods for just a 2-yard gain. The Tigers’ offense got a 51-yard field goal from Harrison Mevis with 12:12 left in the first quarter. Missouri 3, Hogs 0
The news broke just before kickoff Arkansas quarterback Feleipe Franks might be out for the game with injured ribs, which is a complete surprise to everyone.
That means redshirt freshman K.J. Jefferson may be the starter, which nobody saw coming.
Nobody may know better than Odom how to slow down Rountree
Arkansas’ game with Missouri has been played the day after Thanksgiving for so long fans came to automatically assume it’s always scheduled that way.
Nope.
It is set every year for the Saturday after Thanksgiving, then moved to Friday in the summer. When LSU was played at the end of the year it was handled the same way.
This year fans had hoped to see the Hogs and Tigers play in Kansas City in Arrowhead Stadium. Then covid got in the way and now everybody is glad the game is going to be played anywhere.
And it’s essentially a pick ’em game. Oh, Missouri is a consensus 2.5-point favorite among the sports books. Considering the home team gets three points just for being at home that makes it about even.
The bigger story line for this game is it’s a contest between two of the top coach of the year candidates in the Hogs’ Sam Pittman and the Tigers’ Eli Drinkwitz, who is from Arkansas.
All of that is just noise around the main issue, which is what happens at 11 a.m. when this game gets under way.
Just about everything is equal in this game and the Hogs certainly have tilted the law of averages in their favor on getting critical calls from officials. It makes about as much sense as anything else these days considering we don’t know until kickoff who’s available and who is out (for whatever reason).
Handicapping games this season is mostly by guess and by golly, which is pretty much what we’ve got this week.
Missouri is 4-1 in its last five games, causing folks to point at that as evidence they have things headed in the right direction. That’s what Drinkwitz is hoping.
Those wins have come over Vanderbilt, South Carolina, Kentucky and LSU wrapped around a 41-17 loss to Florida that wasn’t nearly as competitive as the final score sounds.
On the other hand, Arkansas is 2-3 in the last five games with wins over Tennessee and Ole Miss and losses to Texas A&M, Florida and LSU.
With two games left in the regular season it’s time for Kendal Briles’ offense to figure out how to have all the pieces come together at the same time. Consistency has been the problem.
We’ve seen flashes of how good it can be. The third quarter of the Tennessee game may have been the most consistency we’ve seen in it.
A lot of that has been due to an offensive line that didn’t have a lot of stars to begin with and it’s been pretty much a series of moving pieces between injuries and covid.
It’s about time for it to come together.
Defensively, the Hogs have to figure out a way to get off the field on third down which will likely mean stopping Tigers running back Larry Rountree, who is averaging 4.5 yards per carry.
Hogs defensive coordinator Barry Odom recruited him to Missouri and coached him for three years. He knows how good he is … and it won’t be surprising if anyone has an insight on how to slow him down it will be Odom.
That’s the key and the hunch here is Odom has some know-how tucked away that will make the difference.
Arkansas 27, Missouri 23
With a two-game lead, it may be the shakiest lead this late in the season I’ve ever had. Pete Morgan has hope he can catch up. The problem is hope ain’t a good plan.
Texas A&M (-5.5) at Auburn
The Aggies still have a shot at landing in the College Football Playoff. Don’t giggle. They are sitting at No. 5 and if the committee likes their resume better than Ohio State they could slip in. Auburn, on the other hand, has been all over the place this season, but will be at least .500 this year with the assistance of the league’s replay officials. That won’t make a difference this week. Texas A&M 31, Auburn 14
Florida (-17.5) at Tennessee
This won’t even be close. Maybe the biggest question is where Vols coach Jeremy Pruitt can have a good enough showing to keep the seat he’s sitting on from throwing up flames. That’s a question for Phillip Fulmer and nobody knows which way he’ll come down, but it won’t affect this game. Florida 63, Tennessee 14
South Carolina at Kentucky (-11.5)
The Gamecocks are just playing out the schedule, which is what the Wildcats are doing, too, except Mark Stoops still has a job. South Carolina doesn’t have a coach right now. Neither team is very good this season but they both will play a complete 10-game schedule, which really is a win for this season. Kentucky 35, South Carolina 10
Alabama (-29) at LSU
You would be hard-pressed to find a defending national champion being over a four-touchdown underdog at home just a year after winning the title, but that’s where the Tigers find themselves. A win in this one and the Crimson Tide can take the third and fourth team to Arkansas the next week and their playoff spot rests squarely on the SEC Championship game. Alabama 56, LSU 7
Hogs’ game with Lipscomb moved up an hour, creating jammed schedule
Apparently television decided to make Arkansas a fixture Saturday afternoon on ESPN’s SEC Network so fans won’t have to change television channels.
The start time for the Arkansas-Lipscomb men’s basketball game on Saturday has been changed to 4 p.m. and will be telecast nationally on SEC Network … right after the network broadcasts the Hogs’ game at Missouri starting at 11 a.m.
The new tip time was made by the Southeastern Conference and SEC Network due to the postponement of the Georgia- Vanderbilt football game that was originally scheduled for SEC Network during that time.
Doors to Bud Walton Arena will open at 3 p.m.
Information from Arkansas Communications is included in this story.
