Saturday Down South’s Connor O’Gara told Phil Elson, Matt Jenkins and Matt Travis (Halftime) on ESPN Arkansas about FINALLY get a weekend full of actual games.
ON HALFTIME: Bentonville West gets attention with win over Central last week
Friday Night Scoreboard co-host Nate Olson on last week’s games when the Wolverines blasted the Tigers at Quigley Stadium in Little Rock.
| HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL RANKINGS | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Following is the final Overall Top 10 high school football teams in Arkansas and the top five in Classes 7A, 6A, 5A, 4A, 3A and 2A, as voted by a panel of sports media from around the state for the preaseason. Ranking is given with first-place votes received, records, total points and ranking from the last poll of 2019: | ||||
| OVERALL | Record | Pts | Prv | |
| 1. | Bryant (25) | 13-0 | 250 | 1 |
| 2. | North Little Rock | 11-2 | 205 | 3 |
| 3. | Greenwood | 14-0 | 182 | 4 |
| 4. | Pulaski Academy | 13-0 | 156 | 5 |
| 5. | Bentonville | 10-1 | 126 | 2 |
| 6. | Cabot | 8-4 | 125 | 9 |
| 7. | Conway | 8-4 | 109 | 6 |
| 8. | Lake Hamilton | 11-2 | 93 | 8 |
| 9. | Shiloh Christian | 14-1 | 44 | — |
| 10. | Harding Academy | 12-1 | 29 | — |
| Others receiving votes: Sylvan Hills 22, Little Rock Christian 16, Wynne 10, Rivercrest 3, Fordyce 2, Benton 1, Harrison 1, Hoxie 1. | ||||
| CLASS 7A | ||||
| 1. | Bryant (25) | 13-0 | 125 | 1 |
| 2. | North Little Rock | 11-2 | 94 | 3 |
| 3. | Bentonville | 10-1 | 55 | 2 |
| Cabot | 8-4 | 55 | 5 | |
| 5. | Conway | 8-4 | 46 | 4 |
| Others receiving votes: None. | ||||
| CLASS 6A | ||||
| 1. | Greenwood (25) | 14-0 | 125 | 1 |
| 2. | Lake Hamilton | 11-2 | 100 | 2 |
| 4. | Sylvan Hills | 9-4 | 72 | 4 |
| 3. | Little Rock Parkview | 8-2 | 46 | 3 |
| 5. | Benton | 8-5 | 22 | — |
| Others receiving votes: Mountain Home 5, Marion 4, Jonesboro 1. | ||||
| CLASS 5A | ||||
| 1. | Pulaski Academy (25) | 13-0 | 125 | 1 |
| 2. | Little Rock Christian | 9-3 | 99 | 4 |
| 3. | Wynne | 11-1 | 73 | 2 |
| 4. | Harrison | 11-2 | 51 | 3 |
| 5. | Texarkana | 7-1 | 13 | 5 |
| Others receiving votes: Magnolia 10, White Hall 3, Camden Fairview 1. | ||||
| CLASS 4A | ||||
| 1. | Shiloh Christian (25) | 14-1 | 125 | 1 |
| 2. | Rivercrest | 13-1 | 98 | 4 |
| 3. | Stuttgart | 12-1 | 67 | 3 |
| 4. | Warren | 8-5 | 40 | — |
| 5. | Joe T. Robinson | 8-4 | 28 | 2 |
| Others receiving votes: Nashville 7, Ozark 7, Dumas 2, Arkadelphia 1. | ||||
| CLASS 3A | ||||
| 1. | Harding Academy (25) | 12-1 | 125 | 1 |
| 2. | McGehee | 12-1 | 96 | 5 |
| 3. | Hoxie | 13-1 | 65 | 4 |
| 4. | Prescott | 10-1 | 51 | 2 |
| 5. | Glen Rose | 11-3 | 24 | — |
| Others receiving votes: Booneville 13, Centerpoint 1. | ||||
| CLASS 2A | ||||
| 1. | Fordyce (25) | 15-0 | 125 | 1 |
| 2. | Des Arc | 13-1 | 96 | 3 |
| 3. | Gurdon | 10-2 | 79 | 2 |
| 4. | Junction City | 9-3 | 50 | 4 |
| 5. | Bigelow | 12-1 | 17 | 5 |
| Others receiving votes: Poyen 8. | ||||
ESPN’s McDonough on wild college football finishes he’s called over years
THE MORNING RUSH: Michigan State’s wild win over Michigan ranks up there with crazy finishes ESPN’s Sean McDonough has announced.
McDonough talked about some of those finishes with Tye Richardson and Tommy Craft on ESPN Arkansas Monday morning including the 1998 Arkansas loss to Tennessee on Clint Stoerner’s late fumble … and how the Vols also pulled out an earlier miracle win over Syracuse.
Bud Light Seltzer Morning Rush Podcast – Arkansas belongs in the SEC
Tye & Tommy on Arkansas belonging in the SEC, fall weddings Sean McDonough and more!
ESPN’s Sean McDonough joins The Morning Rush
ESPN Commentator Sean McDonough joins the show to discuss the opening weekend of college football, his favorite memories of games he has called, his memories of the Arkansas-Tennessee game in 1998, and much more. Check it out now!
Hogs’ tough schedule now has 60% of Top 10 in latest media poll
Everybody already knows Arkansas has the toughest schedule in college football and with the first media poll of teams actually playing it got a little bit harder.
And you may not have thought that possible, but now it is … at least on paper.
The Razorbacks now will play six of the Top 10 teams in the Associated Press’ poll, throw in another at No. 15 and you have 70 percent of the opponents ranked in the Top 15 in the country … at least right now.
Athletics director Hunter Yurachek has said several times it’s the toughest schedule in the history of college football and if you had any doubts, get rid of it now.
Alabama is ranked second behind Clemson in the latest poll, then starting with Georgia at No. 4 (the Hogs’ opening opponent Sept. 26), there is Florida and LSU.
Auburn is ranked No. 8 and Texas A&M is 10th.
Sam Pittman will say it’s just an opportunity, but there’s not a whole lot of other ways he can realistically look at it.
Tennessee, another opponent on the schedule for Nov. 7, is ranked 15th in the latest poll.
The SEC has eight teams in the Top 15 with Kentucky entering the poll this week at No. 23.
As of Sunday’s poll, the homecoming game against Ole Miss on Oct. 17 is the only opponent in Fayetteville not against a team that is ranked in the Top 15 in the country.
ASU’s big win is good for football in state … whether some admit it or not
We’ll just get this out of the way now … Blake Anderson and Arkansas State out-coached, out-prepared and out-played Kansas State on the road.
Whether you’re a fan of the Red Wolves or not, that win Saturday was good for football in the state of Arkansas. There will be some people disagree with that … and they are wrong.
With the Razorbacks not even starting to get ready for their opener against Georgia on Sept. 26 and the media shut out from the dress rehearsal practice inside the stadium Saturday, it was Arkansas State’s game that was interesting to watch.
The Red Wolves have now been on national television three times, the team a lot of Hog fans like to look down their noses at is the one getting the best publicity right now.
That will change over the next couple of weeks when we get to see something other than players jumping up and down or running individual skill drills … or the Hogs play a game.
How much longer Anderson will stay in Jonesboro is anybody’s guess, but he’s proven to be the most successful college coach in the state for the last several years and he just flat out-coached a Big 12 school Saturday.
The Red Wolves have shown what I’ve said for a few years that Group of 5 schools can get enough players to challenge any Power 5 team on occasion.
The big boys aren’t going to get every player. ASU’s Jonathan Adams is the best college receiver in Arkansas right now and will be playing on Sundays at some point.
Normally, I would have never seen the Red Wolves’ game with K-State. But in a strange year, I was able to see it because football, finally, is back.
Whether there should be football or not is an individual decision you can make for yourself. In the science and medical community there is no consensus. Whatever side you want to take there is somebody with better credentials to argue the other side.
The only thing we have a guide on is there is no evidence that playing football increases the spread of the virus among the players. That has surprised a lot of the national media, whether they want to admit it or not.
While there have been breakouts on teams and games cancelled because of positive tests it’s been due to players not making smart decisions off the field.
Other people can debate that for hours and feel free to have at it.
The only thing that really matters is football is back. We’ve had games played at every level and with the lack of big-time Power 5 conferences playing, ESPN2 broadcast the Texas-San Antonio-Texas State game nationally.
Unless you’re one of those that likes an entertaining 3-2 defensive struggle — which HAS happened in the modern SEC — it was like watching a track meet. I suffered through Auburn beating Mississippi State by that exact score in 2008. It was like watching two mules fight over a turnip.
Former Arkansas running backs coach Jeff Traylor was coaching his first game with UTSA and Texas State was trying to get it’s first win in that series.
Oh, it was far from an artistic masterpiece. Bless his heart, the Bobcats’ kicker ducked into the medical tent after missing a short field goal in overtime … after he blew an extra point at the end of regulation that would have won the game.
Neither team played much defense, which has pretty much followed the formula of what we’ve seen the first few weeks of college football. A lot of these teams were more scared of transmitting the virus than getting close in practice and it’s showed in games.
But Sunday afternoon we start the NFL season with a full day of games after a full day of multiple games at the same time in the world of college football on Saturday.
If we missed anything, it was Oklahoma jumping on Bobby Petrino’s first game at Missouri State … then proceed to repeat that throughout the first half to a 41-0 lead. I didn’t want to spend $60 to watch it.
A lot of folks would have liked to watch it.
We even got to see Saturday just how quickly a game can be scheduled if the athletics directors at both schools want to make it happen. Louisiana Tech cancelled a game with Baylor, who proceeded to get a game with Houston for next weekend. All of it was done in 24 hours or so.
Most of the teams at least appear to be TRYING to follow most of the guidelines. As for the fans, well, that’s their business. I can’t care more about the safety of them or the people they come into contact with than they do.
If they’re willing to take risks that’s their decision to live with however it works out.
The only thing I know is we’re a long way from anything returning to what used to be normal. The guess here is there will be a multitude of permanent changes from this, but we won’t know that for a few years.
With football back at least it’s a lot easier to deal with all these changes.
Photos from Razorbacks’ game-simulation scrimmage in stadium
Here are photos from Arkansas Communications of Saturday’s dress rehearsal scrimmage inside Razorback Stadium on Saturday.
Pittman knows coaches have to adjust schemes to fit personnel
Sam Pittman knew exactly what he wanted to do on both sides of the ball when he got the job at Arkansas and that was do things the players could make work.
That may or may not be what most folks think.
“When we hire coordinators, you hire them to basically run their offense, but look and see where we can be successful,” Pittman said after the first night practice Thursday.
Maybe the biggest change in that from the last two coaching staffs is one took a year to put his system in place while the other planned to have enough players to do what he wanted in three or four years. He didn’t make it two.
Offensive coordinator Kendal Briles was hired after defensive coordinator Barry Odom, who worked with Pittman to get Briles on board.
A lot of people talk about “Briles’ offense,” but the guess is it probably won’t look like it has anywhere else simply because he has different players in Fayetteville
“Kendal has adjusted really well to our personnel, what we can do, what we can’t do,” Pittman said. “Different personnel, different formations, different things that we think we can do to take advantage of defenses.”
Which is the mark of good coaches. Having a great system is something developed after a few recruiting classes.
Right now flexibility is the key. The media and fans often spend way too much time talking about people that aren’t here … regardless of whether they’ve left or haven’t decided to come here yet.
Odom has been doing that his entire career on defense.
“He’s been so multiple his whole life I knew that he would adapt to who we have and he’s done that,” Pittman said.
You get the idea he was one of the first hires he finalized when he got the job. Pittman, as the offensive line coach at Arkansas and Georgia, has faced a Missouri defense every season since 2014.
“When we played against him here at Arkansas, over at Georgia or wherever it may be, his fronts were so multiple anyway that I knew he could adapt to what we had,” Pittman said.
Which is why you got the idea Thursday night listening to Pittman what they initially thought might be more of a 3-man front on defense could see more of a 4-man front.
Players like Julius Coates have stepped up and Odom has apparently adjusted fairly seamlessly.
“To be honest with you, coming in, we thought we needed to run possibly another front,” Pittman said. “We have some big guys now, so maybe we can get into a four-man line a little bit more than an odd front.”
That size is something on both sides Pittman wanted. He likes big guys
“Not big guys like me, he has said with a chuckle on a couple of occasions.
He wants big and fast and that task got handed to strength and conditioning coach Jamil Walker.
“I can’t give enough credit to Jamil Walker and his staff in the weight room really transforming some of those guys, especially up front,” Odom said back before fall camp got started.
That means he got players to buy into what he was selling in the first 100 days after he arrived in Fayetteville
And it says a lot about this group of players for making those changes. They’ve had to do it without the multi-million-dollar weight room in Fayetteville for most of the time due to the corona virus pandemic.
Ultimately, that may be the biggest change in this team. The difference above the shoulders may be dramatic.
One person who sees far more of what’s going on with this team than the media said earlier this week it’s a completely different look.
“Everything is vastly different … physically, tempo, attitude is all completely different,” was what I was told.
Which should be good news for Hog fans.
? FANTASY FOOTBALL FRIDAY w/ Sigmund Bloom
Tye Richardson and Evan Gentry talk to Sigmund Bloom of FootballGuys.com, discuss the Chiefs-Texans, guys they like in 2020 and more!
