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Talking with LSU superfan before Arkansas’ matchup in Baton Rouge tonight

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Superfans. Every sports team on every level has them.

I have experienced opportunities to visit with several of the most faithful from countless high school, college, and professional teams throughout the years. None stood out quite like Matt Breland.

Mr. Breland may not physically bleed LSU purple and gold; however, I can say without a doubt if he could find a way dye the color of his hemoglobin to match his favorite team he would do it sans hesitation.

Therefore, what better time than Arkansas’ trip to LSU to perform my annual visit to a man who lives in the heart of Louisiana and obtain his take on the college football season to this point?

Quick preface: if you knew Matt personally, I can assure you might hate LSU just a little bit less … possibly.

Peter: Matt, thank you for having me. Before we begin, I see you have a Mike the Tiger headgear in your office. Is this the same one Lee Corso used on College Gameday?

Matt: I ripped it directly off his head and ran with it.

Peter: Should I fear a raid? Two weeks ago, LSU knocked off Alabama in Tuscaloosa by a close 46–41, thanks primarily to a big early lead. Were you astonished how well LSU played Alabama, especially in the first half?

Matt: Yes, I was surprised that LSU beat Alabama, even more so by the performances of both teams in the first half. Evan then I knew it would still be a close game.  The LSU offense dominated the entire game except for the third quarter, but our defense did not play well, particularly in the second half.

Peter: A lot of people forget a young Ed Orgeron planted his roots in coaching as an assistant strength coach at Arkansas. Since that time, he has completed stints at a small number of schools including Miami, Syracuse, USC, and Ole Miss (as head coach). He even spent a year coaching an NFL defensive line in New Orleans. After Les Miles was fired in late September 2016, LSU named Orgeron was named prior to him being given the full title and privilege prior to the bowl game. Did Tigers fans have expectations of him leading your team to contending for a national championship at that time?

Matt: Probably not many. In fact, early in this season, I am certain only a small number thought Ed Orgeron would be leading LSU to accomplish what they have thus far. However, after LSU beat Texas, Florida, Auburn, and (particularly) Alabama, most fans now feel the Tigers will be contenders in the playoffs.

Peter: Is LSU the team to beat?

Matt: Of course, but there are other teams which are very capable of winning it all.

Peter: The spread for Saturday’s game has been fluctuating in the mid-40’s. It’s well-known this is a historic number for an SEC spread. If you were a gambling man, and I was giving you Arkansas +44 points, how much would you wager?

Matt: I would wager about $100 as I think the final score will be LSU 38, Arkansas 10. It all depends on how LSU’s defense plays.

Peter: So not only are you a high roller, you’re a big follower of the SEC. What are your thoughts on Arkansas firing Chad Morris with two games left in the season of his second year?

Matt: I believe they made the right decision to fire Coach Morris. For the quickest turnaround (and any chance of ever beating us), Arkansas would need to hire a big-time coach like Nick Saban, but we know that will not happen.  Mike Leach would be good candidate for the job.

Peter:  Arkansas has an interim coach for Saturday’s game in Death Valley. How much motivation would it take for him to have the Razorbacks keep this game competitive? Remember Orgeron’s “flip the script” approach?

Matt: I have to think Arkansas will not have much motivation since it is late in the season, but they could use this to their advantage.

Peter: Great answer. Who carries the Golden Boot back to their campus this Saturday? Why and by how much?

Matt: Joe Burrow (who is my favorite candidate for the Heisman trophy) will carry the Golden Boot back to LSU’s campus. The Tigers will win by 30-points.

Peter: There’s a hint of the Tiger arrogance for which people admire you. Bonus Question, Matt: Any fear Arkansas can knock LSU out of the #1 spot a second time?

Matt: No fear.  LSU has the best quarterback and will score a lot of points in the first half. I say there is zero chance Arkansas can knock out #1 LSU.

Peter: Thanks for the confidence boost. Why are we friends again?

Matt: Because you owe me money.

Peter: Well, this is definitely all the time I have for today. Thank you for your great conversation, Mr. Breland. I always enjoy them. God Bless, best wishes, and may you have SOME luck on Saturday. Good day.

Matt: Thank you. You as well. Geaux Ti–

Peter: I said “good day.”

Be sure to listen to the game at 6 p.m. via HitThatLine.com, and on the air at ESPN Arkansas 95.3 in the River Valley, 96.3 in Hot Springs and 104.3 in Harrison-Mountain Home.

Find me on ‘Twitter’: @PeterMorganWPS

Oh, Matt, before you leave…. Go HOGS!!!

Musselman pleased with win, but 3-point shooting concerns; preview Georgia Tech

Razorbacks coach Eric Musselman said they have to improve their 3-point shooting, especially going on the road against Georgia Tech on Monday night.

Whitt on his big night, Hogs’ play in win over South Dakota on Friday night

Arkansas guard Jimmy Whitt, Jr., (24 points, 7 rebounds) talked after the 77-56 win over the Coyotes when their 3-point shooting was off early, but the defense played well again.

???? Halftime Pod presented by Jeff’s Clubhouse — Collin Wilson of The Action Network on Arkansas

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Phil & Tye on the South Dakota game, if Arkansas can cover against LSU, plus Collin Wilson!

Success elsewhere hasn’t always been duplicated coaching Razorbacks

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You’d think we’d be getting used to these coaching searches at Arkansas, which have resembled picking teams at playschool recess to a lot of the media and fans for the better part of the last decade.

It’s human nature, I guess, to automatically assume a coach that has success in one place can come in and have the same success at a different place.

The reality is that’s just one small piece to the puzzle. Razorback fans should have that figured out by now. That ain’t gonna work here.

Few places are identical. There’s different entrance requirements (and, yes, that comes into play much more often than you think), different interpretations of NCAA and even SEC rules (which often appear to be the starting place for negotiations).

Nothing is black-and-white in the world of college athletics these days. All of it is a huge gray area.

The Hogs have had three football coaches that won national titles. Only Frank Broyles won one here. Lou Holtz got his at Notre Dame after coaching in Fayetteville and Danny Ford won one at Clemson before coaching the Hogs.

Those guys along with Ken Hatfield are in the hall of fame.

Yet just one of them figure things out with Arkansas football for the long haul. After Broyles stepped off the sidelines in 1976, recruiting dipped a little, then took a nosedive.

The Razorbacks’ job is one that you aren’t going to recruit your way out of the hole immediately because there’s not a backlog of Top 10 recruiting classes like coaches inherit at places like Alabama, Ohio State and others. There’s not even a history of consistent Top 20 recruiting classes to build on like at Clemson.

If you don’t believe it, just take a look through the 247Sports.com composite rankings for the last few years. Arkansas has averaged a No. 26 ranking for the last 20 years.

Discounting the interim coaches, that’s four head coaches in that time span.

The Razorbacks have one Top 10 ranking (9th in 2001) and one Top 20 ranking (16th in 2000), according to that composite ranking of all the recruiting services.

You are what you are and the Hogs are never going to consistently be in the Top 20 in the recruiting rankings. If you believe otherwise, that’s called hope.

For a lot of the coaches on the fans’ latest wish list, that fact alone is enough they are not seriously interested in coming to Fayetteville, but they are perfectly willing to float it out there to advance their various agendas at times.

That doesn’t mean you can’t win at Arkansas, though.

Before coming to the SEC, the Razorbacks were the No. 10 program in the country in winning percentage from 1958-1991.

It should be noted, Broyles knew exactly that coming to the SEC was going to knock that down a few notches when he made the decision, but there weren’t a lot of options. He knew change was coming and the Big 12 wasn’t interested in Arkansas, which is what we know now prompted his interest in the SEC.

Before this latest train wreck season, the Hogs were 53rd in the nation in winning percentage since 2000. Under Houston Nutt, Arkansas was 35th in the country (1998-2007). With Bobby Petrino that improved to 26th (2008-11).

Don’t speculate about what might have happened if he could have stayed on a Harley. There are guesses both ways, but his track record says that wasn’t going to continue long.

Since 2011, though, the Hogs are currently at a 38.3 percent winning percentage, which will not even qualify them for a spot in the Top 100.

For those of us that remember when the Hogs were playing at a Top 10 level virtually every year, it is madness that the program has now fallen below Kentucky and Vanderbilt.

That’s NOT just about recruiting.

When Arkansas was winning the key ingredient was a coach that could evaluate players, develop them and, finally, motivate them to play above some concocted rating system.

It was Barry Switzer who said it best a few years ago, talking about how things have changed.

“Bear Bryant was the last coach that could take your players and beat his, maybe Bud Wilkinson before him,” Switzer said. “It doesn’t work that way anymore.”

That’s why this coaching search is about finding the right fit. Consider what Hunter Yurachek has to contend with:

• Instability with two coaches in the last three seasons, three coaches in eight seasons with a revolving door of assistants.

• A program that has never been a Top 20 recruiting program.

• A state that produces few highly-rated recruits each year.

• A program that is not even in the Top 100 in winning percentage over the last eight seasons.

• Playing in a conference where the program has never win a championship. In fact, only six teams have won a conference title in the last 60 years.

• Playing in the toughest division in all of college football that has produced a team that won the national championship six of the last 10 seasons and had one of the two teams playing for the championship nine of those 10 years (in 2011 both teams in the title game were from the SEC West).

If you think money is the answer to get a big-name coach here, you don’t understand anything about that profession. They aren’t broke now where they are and tackling all those issues isn’t something for everyone.

There is some in the coaching circles that view Arkansas a career-killer.

And it doesn’t matter what they’ve done somewhere else. That’s one factor, of course, but not the main one.

Oh, and Yurachek is probably in the position that if he doesn’t get this right, HIS seat is going to get considerably warmer.

Welcome to Football Coach Search 2019.

Musselman recaps Texas Southern win, previews South Dakota matchup

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Eric Musselman recaps Texas Southern, previews South Dakota

Joe recaps Texas Southern on Tuesday, previews South Dakota on Friday

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Isaiah Joe recaps Texas Southern, previews South Dakota

???? Halftime Pod presented by Jeff’s Clubhouse — Lunny/Orgeron on the game

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Phil & Tye on Lunney/Orgeron’s comments on the game, a great John Daly story, plus Halftime Homework!

Hogs start fast, roll to another blowout win, dropping Belmont, 91-60

FAYETTEVILLE — No. 20 Arkansas kept rolling on Wednesday night, beating Belmont, 91-60, at Bud Walton Arena.

The Hogs beat an opponent by 30+ for the fourth straight game, moving their point differential on the season to 32.4.

Three players crossed the 20-point threshold: redshirt junior guard Chelsea Dungee (21), freshman guard Makayla Daniels (21) and senior guard Alexis Tolefree (20).

Turning point

The Hogs started fast once again, opening the game with a 13-4 run out of the gate.

The sledgehammer was dropped from the 3:56 mark of the first quarter to the 7:23 mark in the second, when the Hogs scored 18 unanswered to make it a 36-11 game early in the second frame.

Dungee, Daniels, Tolefree, sophomore guard Rokia Doumbia and redshirt junior guard A’Tyanna Gaulden all scored on the run, and the Hogs wouldn’t look back.

PHOTO BY ANDY HODGES | HITTHATLINE.COM

Hog highlights

• Dungee scored 21 points in the game, and has now scored 20+ points in 22 of her 42 games in the Red & White.

• Tolefree’s 20 was a season-high for her, and was just two shy of her career-high. It was her third time dropping 20+ points.

• Daniels continues to score it well, as her 21-point game tonight was the second time in the last three games the freshman has cleared 20 points.

• Redshirt freshman Erynn Barnum led the Hogs in rebounding, pulling down eight boards. Barnum also had two rejections in the game to lead the squad.

Next time out

The Razorbacks will head on the road for the first time this season, visiting Golden State to face the Cal Bears this Sunday. That game is set to tip at 4 p.m.