Razorbacks offensive coordinator Joe Craddock talked Monday about the decision to replace Ben Hicks at quarterback with Nick Starkel and “cleaning up one or two of the mistakes” from Ole Miss loss.
Chavis on facing Colorado State, mistakes made against Rebs
Razorbacks defensive coordinator John Chavis talked Monday about the problems against Ole Miss last week and looked ahead to rematch with the Rams in Fayetteville.
Razorbacks to play Sooners, Cowboys in fall exhibitions
FAYETTEVILLE — Dave Van Horn announced with a press release Monday a pair of fall exhibition games against neighbors in the Big 12 for Arkansas baseball.
The Razorbacks will play Oklahoma on Friday, Sept. 20 in Baum-Walker Stadium.
The team will also hit the road for its other game when it goes to Stillwater, Oklahoma, to play Oklahoma State on Saturday, Oct. 12.
Both games will not count toward the team’s 56-game regular season schedule due to the rule changes announced by the NCAA in 2018.
2019 Fall Exhibition Schedule
Sept. 20: vs. Oklahoma (7:30 p.m.)
Oct. 12: at Oklahoma State (Noon)
The game at Baum-Walker Stadium with the Sooners will be free admission and last 14 innings. Seating throughout the stadium will be first-come, first-serve and parking will be free. The Hog Pen will also be open for seating.
Light concessions will be available via cash only and fans will also be allowed to bring in outside food and beverages with the exception of alcohol.
No coolers will be allowed in the main seating bowl, but will be allowed in the Hog Pen.
Arkansas’ game in Stillwater with Oklahoma State will also be free admission and be held inside Allie P. Reynolds Stadium. It will also last 14 innings.
A member of the Big 12 conference, Oklahoma has faced Arkansas on 25 previous occasions, but not since 2012 in a midweek contest.
Arkansas is 14-11 all time against the Sooners and have faced them three of the last six times in the NCAA Tournament. OU is coached by Skip Johnson, who will begin his third season with the Sooners in 2020.
The Hogs and Cowboys have been frequent opponents over the last few years, splitting four games over the last five years, dating back to the 2015 NCAA Regional in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
Oklahoma State is coached by Josh Holliday, who is entering his eighth season as head coach.
All fall practices through the month of September and October at Baum-Walker Stadium are open to the public.
The dates for the annual Fall World Series will be announced at a later time.
Bud Light Morning Rush Podcast: Monday
John & Tommy are joined by Clay Henry to discuss the Ole Miss loss, plus callers react to the defeat.
Will going to the ‘Starkel Sparkel’ end Morris’ game of QB Roulette?
Based on most of what I’ve seen around, there are a lot of folks ready for Chad Morris to just go ahead and put the Razorback offense into what they hope is the “Starkel Sparkel.”
Graduate transfer Nick Starkel replaced another graduate transfer, Ben Hicks, in the second half of a 31-17 loss to Ole Miss on Saturday night and a lot of people felt it was considerably past time.
But does Morris?
Is he really ready to play this little game once again? Last year was a revolving door at times, but now it may appear to be more like roulette.
“We’re just going to step back from tonight, get in there tomorrow and re-evalute things and make a decision that’s what’s best for this football team,” he said after the loss.
So, that means you’re not settled on a quarterback after you thought you were, right?
“I didn’t say that,” Morris said. “I said we’d go back and re-evaluate and see and we’ll make a decision at that point.”
It’s almost like Morris doesn’t want to believe his own lyin’ eyes. He wanted to get back to Fayetteville and look at the video … and I’m assuming that’s to simply confirm what he already saw.
Morris may want to take a breath because it’s probably past time to name a permanent starter and ride with him — good or bad — and tell everybody that’s the way it is. This isn’t a high school program where the coach can play little public relations games and have it work out well.
“We’re just going to step back from tonight,” he said later, “get in there tomorrow, re-evalute things and make a decision that’s best for this football team.”
Which is coachspeak for either not having a clue what he wants to do or is torn between deciding what to do.
Neither are exactly inspiring to a fan base that has passed restless and is now in full-blown worry.
Don’t ask me what the criteria is because I don’t have a clue. We’ve heard since spring they are looking for consistency and the quarterback that can put the team in the end zone the most often.
In scrimmages, Morris and offensive coordinator Joe Craddock told us that was John Stephen Jones, but he hasn’t done anything the past two weeks but go through pregame warmups and keep Jack Lindsey company on the sidelines.
If what we have been told is accurate, wouldn’t we at least see Jones for a series or two?
Everybody has followed Morris’ lead on this whole quarterback thing and there is nothing to indicate it’s anybody even under consideration other than the two guys we’ve seen in the first two games.
But, as I say a lot, we don’t know what we don’t know.
Based on what we’ve been told, it would have been logical to see Jones in a game. Is this a case of falling in love with somebody’s arm, ignoring whether he can get the team in the end zone or not?
There is another problem Morris may be on the verge of finding out the hard way.
Playing the Quarterback Roulette seldom works out well for coaches. It’s usually the coach that ends up with the bullet to the head.
For now, though, he’s trying to avoid a repeat situation with Colorado State, who will show up in Fayetteville before about 45,000 people on what is likely to be another hot day.
“A year ago this happened to us and we let one team beat us a few times,” Morris said. “It’s all about a response.”
Exactly who will be leading that response is still up for debate … apparently.
Turns out, some folks can’t remember how Wild Hog lined up
When Rakeem Boyd lined up in the Wild Hog formation Saturday night against Ole Miss, social media, well, basically blew up because apparently a lot of geniuses couldn’t remember to count.
That includes the broadcast team that felt Boyd was lined up too deep.
But obviously Chad Morris and offensive coordinator Joe Craddock had gone through the old game films because they had the spacing almost exactly where it was in 2006 and 2007?
Fortunately we have YouTube these days and the ability for screen grabs to actually do the comparisons.
Here is Darren McFadden from the 2007 game against LSU (he had a pretty fair game there for those that don’t remember):
The ball, as you can see is on the LSU 16-yard line while McFadden is between the 22 and 23-yard line … maybe actually a few inches DEEPER than Boyd was against the Rebels on Saturday night.
Hogs center Ty Clary is over the ball, which is on the 43-yard line while Boyd is standing squarely on the 49.
It’s not a stretch that Boyd was actually closer than McFadden … at least on this one alignment.
No, it wasn’t the alignment that was the problem as the Hogs dropped their SEC opener, 31-17. It seldom is, just as play-calling is the most over-rated thing in football … play execution is what makes plays work, not schemes.
You might argue that’s too deep for Boyd, but that’s not the argument that was being made ad nauseum Saturday night. The comparison was being made to the Wild Hog from 2006-07 and “not even being able to line up right.”
Turns out, that argument is not an accurate one at all.
With Vols not on schedule, can Morris survive oh-16 start?
When Chad Morris was hired in December 2017 he asked fans to give him a chance as the Arkansas football coach.
“I won’t let you down,” he said at his opening press conference.
Most fans were willing to let 0-8 and 2-10 in his first year slide, but after going backwards from last year, can he survive a OH-and-16 start in SEC games?
At this point some fans are wondering if he can survive Colorado State and San Jose State. But if this team couldn’t do much with opportunities against an Ole Miss team that lost to Memphis last week, where is the league win this year?
More importantly, Saturday’s debacle in Oxford in a 31-17 loss to Ole Miss where the offense failed to produce a single touchdown when it mattered is going to stretch even the most optimistic.
If Morris says, “I get it” at his press conference Monday following two games of complete ineptitude from coaching to players, then it’s proof, indeed, he does NOT get it.
There’s no other explanation.
And, yes, it’s gotten that bad.
The Razorbacks aren’t making progress. No, they’re going backwards.
What in the world is the positive for Morris after a 2-12 start to his tenure in Fayetteville?
Recruiting is one part of it, but if you don’t develop the players you have, well, you end up staring in the face of a start that is going to make the seat upon which Morris sits the hottest we’ve seen in awhile.
It’s even worse than what the fans in Tennessee are dealing with, not that they particularly have time to be worrying about the Hogs right now.
Did Morris ignore what many felt was obvious in going with Ben Hicks over Nick Starkel from the start this season?
Or even not putting the quarterback that put the team in the end zone the most in preseason scrimmages by sitting John Stephen Jones through the first two games?
Against the Rebels, Hicks misfired on two passes that would likely have been scores. That was 14 points … gone.
Remember the final margin was 14 points and that’s not even taking into account any momentum swings those two scores would have provided.
While I have given Morris the benefit of the doubt because people that know far more about college football than me said he was the perfect guy for the job.
Now, in fairness, they didn’t tell me how long it would take for him to be the perfect guy for the job, but he’s headed towards the worst start in the history of Razorback football.
Not just recent history, but the entire history.
There will be people encouraging fans to not over-react … and there is a scenario I might agree with that. Morris isn’t exactly helping his case.
Saturday night, the Hogs looked like a team that hadn’t seen a practice field in the first half against an Ole Miss team that didn’t look particularly imposing until a lack of firepower gave them hope.
By the time Morris went for the Starkel Sparkle to start the second half, it took nearly two quarters for any sort of timing and rhythm to be developed.
By then it was too little too late.
It could be argued this staff has spent considerable time and resources bringing in better players, which they have been fairly successful doing.
But it doesn’t matter if you can’t “coach ’em up,” as Steve Spurrier used to say.
Granted, Morris didn’t inherit a lot of offensive linemen in either numbers or talent. They were some pretty good guys, but simply not that good.
But he also isn’t showing much in the way of improvement.
Or doing anything to earn the trust of the fans he asked for when he was hired.
A 3-11 start to his tenure in Fayetteville is stretching the faith of a lot of Hog fans.
And it was already getting thin.
KNWA Video: Morris on frustration after falling to Ole Miss
Video courtesy of KNWA
Arkansas coach Chad Morris talking about not being able to overcome the number of mistakes and the frustration of losing to Rebels on the road Saturday night.
KNWA VIDEO: Starkel after starting second half in loss
Video courtesty of KNWA
Nick Starkel started the second half after Arkansas fell behind Ole Miss on Saturday night and talked about his outing following the 31-17 loss.
KNWA Video: Pool on lack of execution in loss at Ole Miss
Video courtesy of KNWA
Arkansas linebacker Bumper Pool talked after the loss to the Rebels and said the defense simply failed to execute at times.
