VIDEO COURTESY OF KNWA
Razorbacks quarterback Ben Hicks talked after the loss to Texas A&M about the Hogs’ final offensive play and how he was trying to get ball to receiver to give them chance to make a play.
KNWA VIDEO: Hogs’ Curl on improved performance Saturday
VIDEO COURTESY OF KNWA
Razorbacks defensive back Kamren Curl talked about playing better against Texas A&M, despite coming up a little short on the scoreboard.
???? Halftime Pod presented by Jeff’s Clubhouse — Aaron Torres
Phil & Tye on what A&M brings to Jerry World, interview Aaron Torres, plus their picks for the weekend!
Arkansas fans deserve better football program than getting
A couple of years ago, frustrated Razorbacks fans tweeted at me, “We don’t deserve this.”
This was at the end of the Bret Bielema Era. He was lamenting the abrupt end of the Bobby Petrino Era that had given way to the disappointing Bielema experiment.
I wasn’t sympathetic as a lifelong Iowa State and Chicago Cubs fan. I know Cyclones fans would trade Arkansas’ football success in a heartbeat. I know misery, and it is a lot worse than anything Hogs fans have seen — or at least to that point.
However, as I left Reynolds Razorback Stadium Saturday night, that tweet crept into my mind.
Arkansas displayed an absolutely putrid effort against a terrible San Jose State program and was beaten in every phase of the game. The ticketed attendance was announced at a little more than 50,000, many of which stayed even when the Razorbacks trailed 24-7 at halftime.
The boisterous crowd was one of the reasons Arkansas got back in the game in the second half. San Jose State was feeling the pressure.
Alas, the Spartans did score on their final drive and pulled out the 31-24 win, but Hogs fans were in the game.
No doubt, many of them headed home for a long drive upset and frustrated. And I really can’t blame them. I hadn’t been to DRR since the 2000 season (that’s a long story) when I covered games for the Northwest Arkansas Times.
I was impressed with all of the renovations, especially the north end zone. The facility is a big-time venue and coupled with the locker rooms and operations center and indoor facility would be appealing for recruits.
Everything is in place for fans to enjoy a good time except good football, and despite what some say, that is the most important thing.
More important than a fan experience outside the stadium that was added this year or some cell phone light show in the third quarter. Those things are great if you’re winning.
I was in the press box when Arkansas beat No. 3 Tennessee in 1999. The atmosphere was electric, and the stadium was a shell of itself, but as Tee Martin pushed deep into Arkansas territory in the waning seconds, the crowd was beyond loud.
The Hogs were enjoying back-to-back successful seasons under second-year coach Houston Nut and excitement was at an all-time high.
I’ve been critical of Arkansas fans in general being fair weather or unrealistic. Some think because Arkansas “won” a national championship in 1964, they are a championship team.
Not true and most reasonable folks agree that going to a bowl game and winning seven or eight consistently is reasonable with a couple of stellar years out of a decade that may include 10 wins and a shot at an SEC Championship.
Refer to the Nutt Era. He had his critics but most would take those results now.
What we can all agree on is that Arkansas fans deserve better than 2-10 and a lengthy SEC losing streak. The program has sunk to historically low depths. It is capable of much better.
Losing to San Jose State was a new low and caused several in the media, including me, to question the direction of the program. So far, and it is early, coach Chad Morris hasn’t given an indication that he is capable of turning the program around.
At least some in the media have called for Morris’ firing. I won’t do that at this point (or ever), but if Arkansas finishes the season winless in the SEC and only beats Western Kentucky, the administration better be ready with a plan that won’t allow this program to spiral out of control for good.
Nothing is going to make Saturdays better than winning, and as we saw Saturday bad losses spoil everything that is good about the program.
This pattern must stop.
The fans do deserve much better.
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
Despite soul-crushing lost, we must move on as Hog fans
“You build on failure. You use it as a stepping stone. Close the door on the past. You don’t try to forget the mistakes, but you don’t dwell on it. You don’t let it have any of your energy, or any of your time, or any of your space,” — Johnny Cash.
“We are tackling the Spartans like they are playing a game of bumper pool,” — Eric Soller.
Last Saturday, we wept and felt embarrassment. On Sunday, we felt anger. The same sentiment haunted us on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Thursday we were numb.
And, as of Friday, we move on. We must.
Here comes the Southwest Classic.
Honestly, lacking my general hope and enthusiasm for all things Razorback, my hope was Phil Elson would record something as motivating and inspiring as he did when the OmaHogs defeated Ole Miss to confirm their reservations in Nebraska.
Unfortunately, given the state of of the Arkansas football program, I take solace in the fact even Matt Foley had to occasionally admit defeat.
Jimbo Fisher’s 23rd ranked Texas A&M Aggies and Chad Morris’ Arkansas Razorbacks meet in neutral territory this Saturday at Arlington with the Hogs being listed as the home team.
And before you make a trip to Dallas or watch the game on ESPN (all while streaming and enjoying the contest even more by listening to the live audio on HItThatLine.com), we invite you to muse over our thoughts on possible outcomes.
Our deep, intellectual, earth-shattering, riveting, perplexing, genius-laden thoughts. You are welcome.
No worries. Like Houston Nutt’s success at Ole Miss, we will be brief.
One thing to consider is while both Arkansas and A&M are 2-2, there is a reason why the Aggies continue to be ranked. Both losses came to Top 10 competition.
Arkansas? Not so much. In fact, if college football had an opposite to the Top 25, both of our losses might be from programs which would fall under that designation.
The Aggies are better from top-to-bottom. There is zero doubt. They have great talent, a lot of heart, and they are well-coached.
As much as I hate to admit it, the Razorbacks are in trouble, yet upsets can and do happen.
If the Hogs want to end a losing streak to their old SWC foe they will need to execute what works for them and dismiss anything to the contrary.
Here is a small list containing other points of emphasis for the casual Arkansas fan to consider if the Razorbacks have any hope of leaving Jerry Jones’s Palace near Dallas alongside a disarrayed group of Texas A&M faithful:
• The offensive line has to perform. A&M’s defensive line is being critiqued as mediocre (depending upon the source).
This could give fans a false sense the offensive line of Arkansas may be able to hold their own when it comes to opening holes for the backs and for affording the receivers and quarterback Nick Starkel time to get open and release the ball, respectively.
I fear we will be even further exposed in this area. The Aggies have faced great offensive lines whereas the Razorbacks have lined up against less than stellar opposition.
• Speaking of Nick Starkel, my unfamiliarity with him leaves me indecisive on whether he needs to forget he was denied the QB1 spot by Jimbo Fisher or if Starkel has the mentality to use it as motivation.
Obviously, our hope is he plays clear-headed and free of negative emotions to ensure a focus which seemed to dissipate against … well, who needs that reminder?
• The Hogs might consider keeping the Aggies offense off of the field.
Yes, Morris’ offenses have primarily been designed as high-octane, “hammer down”, score quick, and score often. If we could execute this consistently then why not take the approach?
Unfortunately, our defense is not built to spend a lot of time on the field (although some recent opening drives from our opponents have not provided the testing to assist in verifying this hypothesis), and the more game time we spend on this side of the ball the more our foes have seemed to produce.
Could we take advantage of the defensive stops we will have, slow down our offense, and avoid a shootout? Possibly.
• Hey, are you still reading this?
• Where are U Now, Justin Bieber? No offense to the teen heartthrob, but so many of us have been hoping since the discovery of Starkel’s gameday attire he would lose, hide, or burn the distraction of the black and white T-shirt.
Oh, and if you are still reading this, my apologies. Coach Dale Dooley bet me $50 I would not bring this up.
• A primary focus on the secondary. Our defensive backs seem to have bad penalties at (of course) crucial times.
I realize they do not want to lose sight of and an attempt at containment upon the receiver, yet they also need to be able to turn around and track the ball.
We cannot continue to place a judgment decision of defensive pass interference onto the officials. It harmed us last week. It will be our demise this week.
• Stop Kellen Mond. Nick Starkel’s successor (so to speak) is not the greatest dual-threat quarterback to ever graze the fields in College Station. [Oops, did I say “graze”? I meant ‘grace’. A&M does not celebrate a homecoming thus no queen exists to divert my faux pas as a Freudian slip.]
Mond is not the best runner, yet the Twelfth Man seems to call for him to be more proactive in tucking the ball and running while the word on the Manziel-paved streets seems to be Fisher is opposed to this strategy.
Hopefully this assists the Arkansas defense in applying pressure against a quarterback hesitant to take off yet slow to get through all of his reads.
On a side note, if things do not progress on The Hill in the near future, not only is this our best chance to beat A&M for a while, it’s our greatest shot of winning an SEC game outside (or even inside) our state’s borders.
Add to that a decline in attendance for the Southwest Classic will easily end the contract we have to play within what is probably the nicest stadium in the world, and nothing outside of some great talent is looking bright for our future.
Final verdict: As mentioned, upsets do happen, just not this week no matter how many Hogs fans show up in the home of the Cowboys.
I DARE you to prove me wrong, Razorbacks players and staff. I just do not believe you have it in you to do so.
Texas A&M 30, Arkansas 20
Mr. Andy Hodges and I had a push in last week’s contest. I still remain one game behind. It’s the art of the hustle, Andy.
I stay back, I intentionally make mistakes, and I even put a little Aspercreme on my knees to lull you into a lazy sense of confidence before I claim what is rightfully mine.
Last season you won easily. This time, you have found yourself in a ring of fire.
Northern Illinois at Vanderbilt — This one is tough to call, so I’ll used deductive reasoning. Arkansas could probably beat the Huskies. Vanderbilt definitely will. Commodores by 14.
Ole Miss at (2) Alabama — Remember when Ole Miss beat Alabama a couple of years in a row (excluding the Ole Miss sanctions) and the Rebels would not shut up about it for at least the next four? That trend will move to five as they will not have this game for which to brag. Tide by 38.
Towson at (9) Florida – Simply put, we have never heard of them either. Gators by 34.
Mississippi State at (7) Auburn [GAME OF THE WEEK] – Has coaching really made the difference for Mississippi State? Is Dan Mullen far superior to Joe Moorhead? I have said it before, and I will say it again: even though they are 3-1, I thought the Bulldogs would be better this season. They drop to 3-2 against the Tigers though no matter who is calling the shots from the sidelines. Tigers by 20.
Kentucky at South Carolina [SLOPFEST OF THE WEEK] – These two teams kind of fall under the same microscope as Mississippi State. I thought both would have more successful seasons up to this point. Kentucky actually has not been too bad based upon the level of competition they have faced. South Carolina has been competitive in their losses to a great team and two decent teams. Something tells me the SEC Network will not set record numbers for this 6:30 PM contest. It will be sloppy (in one fashion or another). Wildcats by 3.
Bye to the rest of the SEC.
Hey, I appreciated the social media lambasting I received last week. Please continue to do so. Find me on Twitter @PeterMorganWPS
Go HOGS!!!
Hogs’ Reggie Chaney on Media Day after practice Thursday
Arkansas forward Reggie Chaney talking with the media after practice for the men’s basketball Media Day at the basketball practice facility Thursday.
Hogs’ Jalen Harris on Media Day after practice Thursday
Arkansas guard Jeantal Cylia talking with the media after practice for the men’s basketball Media Day at the basketball practice facility Thursday.
Hogs’ Jimmy Whitt on Media Day after practice Thursday
Arkansas guard Jimmy Whitt talking with the media after practice for the men’s basketball Media Day at the basketball practice facility Thursday.
Hogs’ J.D. Notae on Media Day after practice Thursday
Arkansas guard J.D. Notae talking with the media after practice for the men’s basketball Media Day at the basketball practice facility Thursday.
