John & Nick discuss if the team goes 0-8 in conference, Clay Henry, plus actors they want to portray their lives.
ANDY’S NOTES: Uniforms, SEC Media Days in dead days of summer
You know the doldrums of summer have arrived when a new uniform look dominates the news cycle around Arkansas sports for the week.
Yes, the look is a drastic improvement and there are people who have quietly hinted it might be more than a one-time thing, but the talk is uniforms.
That tends to happen following a bad season and last year was that and more.
Some like it, some don’t.
Nobody is saying how frequently we’ll see the Razorbacks in those new uniforms, but some have whispered it may be more than you think.
Don’t throw looking like Oklahoma in there because Jim McKenzie and Barry Switzer took the current look to the Sooners when they went there in 1966. It was at Arkansas first.
With any luck, they’ll throw the anthracite stuff into a big pile and create a bonfire tradition.
Along with everything having the front-facing Hog on it.
What we’ll know from SEC Media Days
While a large number of media people will congregate in Hoover, Ala., next week — primarily to interview each other for four days — fans will start seriously paying attention to the fast-approaching college football season.
Don’t expect the Hogs to get a lot of votes above the bottom in the SEC West.
My pick will continue to be Alabama in the West, Florida in the East. That’s what it has been every single year.
Nine times that’s hit dead on (10 if you count the year the Crimson Tide won the West, but couldn’t go to Atlanta due to NCAA issues). Six more times one of those two teams have been there.
Picking the lottery that well would pay off handsomely.
Preseason picks are just so much babble because nobody can predict injuries or breaks.
Or officials’ calls.
Depth is the key to winning
Winning a title in the SEC is about who has the best first 44 players … not 24.
Arkansas doesn’t happen to have a lot of proven players. They do have a lot of players with potential, but they’ve got to prove they can do it in the SEC.
The good news is three non-conference games in September the Hogs will be favored to win. The league opener against Ole Miss in the second week is a winnable game, despite being on the road.
Traditionally, that hasn’t mattered against the Rebels, which is pretty much the only league team the previous coaching staff could win against consistently.
As I’ve said before, we won’t know anything for sure about this team until October … unless it’s bad.
???? Halftime Pod presented by Jeff’s Clubhouse — w/ Bob Holt
Phil & tye hit on their Hog ESPY’s, interview Bob Holt, plus Halftime Homework is back!
Bud Light Morning Rush Podcast: Thursday
John & Tommy discuss Chad Morris’ players for SEC Media Days, foods they want to be healthy, plus Tom Murphy!
Harris, Agim, Whaley will be Razorbacks going to SEC Media Days
FAYETTEVILLE — Three Arkansas seniors will represent the Razorbacks next week when the Hogs take their turn at SEC Media Days in Hoover, Ala. on Wednesday.
McTelvin “Sosa” Agim, De’Jon “Scoota” Harris and Devwah Whaley have been selected to participate in the annual media event, which returns to Hoover after being held in Atlanta for the first time last year.
Agim returns for his senior season after posting his best year as a Razorback last fall.
He started all 12 games and posted career-bests with 45 tackles, 10.0 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks. His team-best 10.0 TFLs were the most by an Arkansas defender since Deatrich Wise recorded 10.5 in 2015.
A former five-star recruit out of Hope, Agim has played in 37 games in his first three years on The Hill, starting 28. Phil Steele recently tabbed him as a preseason second-team All-SEC member along with Athlon Sports.
Harris also returns for his senior year after a big junior campaign.
Harris led the Southeastern Conference with 118 total tackles to become the first Razorback since Martrell Spaight in 2014 to pace the nation’s premiere conference in stops.
The 118 tackles put him over 100 tackles for the second straight year to make him the first Hog since Jerry Franklin in 2010-11 to eclipse the century mark in consecutive years.
The Associated Press has tabbed him a second-team All-SEC member each of the last two seasons. Phil Steele and Athlon Sports have him on their preseason All-SEC second teams as well.
Whaley enters his final year at Arkansas off an injury-plagued 2018 season.
He earned the starting nod in each of the Razorbacks’ first four games before being slowed by injuries and appearing in three of the team’s final eight games.
Despite the injuries, Whaley rushed for 383 yards on 82 carries with two scores while also catching eight passes for 87 yards out of the backfield.
His biggest game of the year, and his Arkansas career, came at Colorado State in Week 2 when he ran for a career-best 165 yards and a touchdown on 26 carries.
The Razorbacks will be a part of the morning session on Wednesday alongside Alabama.
???? Halftime Pod presented by Jeff’s Clubhouse — w/ Bobby Swofford
Phil & Tye discuss the Arkansas players heading to SEC Media Days, interview Bobby Swofford, and more!
Bud Light Morning Rush Podcast: Wednesday
Tommy & John discuss the new uniforms, best fictional coaches in movies, interview Hutch and more!
???? Halftime Pod presented by Jeff’s Clubhouse — w/ Nikki Chavanelle
Phil & Tye hit on the new uniforms, interview Nikki Chavanelle, and more!
Razorbacks’ new uniforms go back to classic look … which is awesome
When you’re coming off a bad season, Arkansas’ highly-awaited announcement of a new look in uniforms is, well, simply awesome.
If that makes me old, so be it.
The UA made the announcement on Twitter on Tuesday just after noon as fans were itching from the tease made on that platform Monday.
They're baaaaaaaaaaack. pic.twitter.com/4EHX8bXgrk
— Arkansas Razorback Football (@RazorbackFB) July 9, 2019
BRINGING.
THAT.
WOOD. pic.twitter.com/IVjAL7T97I— Arkansas Razorback Football (@RazorbackFB) July 9, 2019
It is the look with a No. 5, which just happens to coincide with Darren McFadden, who is on the short list for the best player in program history.
The Razorbacks had this uniform combination in 2006-07 when D-Mac ran to a second-place finish in the Heisman Trophy race (and should have won it at least once).
Now if they just burned all that gray stuff …
Bud Light Morning Rush Podcast: Tuesday
John & Tommy discuss John’s dream on the beach, best BBQ style, Yurachek on changes, and Crosby Tuck!
Most improved group? Guess here it will be Hogs’ receivers
We’ll never get a direct answer from any of the coaches for a few years, but it became pretty clear before the end of September last season the receivers were a problem for Arkansas.
It became clear when one transferred before the end of September, the most experienced one had a grand total of eight catches all year, the best tight end missed two games for reasons other than injury and the leading receiver transferred out at the end.
You wonder how much of the offense’s passing woes came from the receivers not being on the same page as the quarterbacks … for whatever reason.
Just because a pass sails into what resembles a vacant lot doesn’t mean it’s on the guy who threw it.
Everybody has to be reading the same thing in coverages or it looks like a train wreck.
Which pretty much sums up last season.
Now there are changes at the receiver position following a recruiting binge that landed what could be the best group of incoming freshmen in program history at catching the ball,
Potentially it could be as good — or even better — than the 2008 group of Jarius Wright, Joe Adams, Greg Childs and Chris Gragg. This group is rated higher coming out of high school.
Trey Knox, Treylon Burks, Hudson Henry, Shamar Nash and T.Q. Jackson are all big, fast and have basically been playing in a similar offense since they were in junior high. Granted, that’s not the SEC, but they already have the basics.
During the summer they have been getting a crash course on what’s expected on and off the field.
The returning receivers I’ve come across during the summer have all noted the complete change in attitude and accountability. It’s been a complete change.
More importantly, there seems to be more pride. The body language is even different in the receivers coming back. They’ve had the talent, but now appear to to have the attitude in place.
Honestly, the returning receivers know they better get their act together or they will be standing on the sidelines when Saturdays roll around this fall.
In fact, it won’t be surprising to see passing early, then running the ball. If you can consistently hit a pass on first down for 4 yards, second down gets a lot more interesting.
A big part of Chad Morris’ offense is, quite simply, staying ahead of the chains. That means eliminating second-and-long and third-and-long.
There will be a lot of reading on first downs this year, which simply means nobody’s going to know the ball is going (or should be going) until after it’s snapped.
For all that to happen with any consistency, the receiver position had to improve.
The odds are good that it has.
