John & Tye discuss the end game, coaches worth $6 mil, plus Richard Davenport!
Morris knows quarterback depth essential in today’s college football
Don’t get hung up on who the starting quarterback is at Arkansas when August 31 rolls around and Chad Morris’ second season gets rolling … hopefully with more than two wins.
The spoiler alert is it will be Ben Hicks under center.
He knows the offense and has taken snaps in games that matter. Hicks put up big numbers at SMU when he had NFL-caliber receivers. As any Razorback fan should know, that matters.
Now the good news is physically this group of receivers looks completely different than any group the Hogs have had in recent memory. Even Jordan Jones, who has resembled a toothpick more than a big-time SEC receiver, now is starting to fill out and look the part.
They are more athletic. You can see muscles rippling in the many Razorback Drill and Attack! drills we’ve seen in practices. This is a much, much more physical group than any other in immediate memory.
All of that will make the quarterback — any quarterback — look better.
Oh, it’s doubtful a lot of fans are going to get that warm, fuzzy feeling from the Red-White game Saturday. This won’t be a dog-and-pony show like the spring game in 2012 when they loaded up the first-team offense on one side playing against the scrubs and it looked like a skeleton drill all afternoon.
Morris has kept this spring practice focused on fundamentals. We’ve seen him working with the wide receivers on one half of the field while Justin Stepp has been working the other side. That’s not a negative on Stepp is the feeling here, it’s just getting both sides an equal amount of hands-on coaching.
He’s had a lot of one-on-one instruction with Koilan Jackson, so it’s not a stretch to think he sees something there from a receiver that has been hampered by injuries and we haven’t seen him on the field a lot. He’s another one of those big, strong guys and nobody seems to remember him when talking about the position.
If that group is consistent and more physical that’s going to make a difference in the passing game and the running game. I’ve listened to coaches for years talk about how much the blocking skills of wide receivers makes a difference in the running game.
That doesn’t make a difference in the back getting a hole at the line, but it does make the difference between a 5-yard run and a 30-yard run.
Oh, the offensive line will play a big part, too, but they’ve been banged up and dealing with so many issues it’s been hard to get a good read on them.
Just from limited views, though, this group won’t be worse than last year. They actually look more like SEC offensive linemen than we’ve seen before because they are all long and their footwork looks much better.
All of this wandering around is to get to the quarterback part of this story. Just remember it takes 10 other people on any given play to allow the quarterback to be whatever he’s going to be.
Having more than one quarterback, though, is not a luxury in today’s world of college football, particularly in the SEC.
Look at teams in the championship games the last few years. Alabama needed two good ones to get to consecutive championship games. Clemson started with Kelly Bryant last year and kicked him to the curb for a true freshman, who then proceeded to become the odds-on favorite for the Heisman before spring is over.
Very few teams make it through a season with one quarterback.
Hicks will be the starter. Behind him, though, is going to be a gaggle of guys with their strong points, but not a lot of experience.
Nick Starkel and Connor Noland have the most experience. John Stephen Jones is starting to figure it out. Daulton Hyatt has filled out some. Morris and offensive coordinator Joe Craddock have talked about walk-on Jack Lindsey’s grasp of the offense from an intellectual standpoint.
Who knows what freshman KJ Jefferson will be able to do. That’s not a knock on the kid, but you don’t go out on a limb on a true freshman until you see how he handles being on his own, taking college classes and the demands of being an SEC player just a few months from going to prom.
What Morris has said repeatedly is he’s always on the lookout for another quarterback. Arkansas fans haven’t heard that before.
It’s part of the way he’s putting the program together. In other words, you get the idea no single position — or player — is more important than the team.
The first reaction is it’s good in case of injury.
More importantly, though, it’s about having somebody pushing for playing time at every position. Especially at quarterback.
“It’s not a lifetime appointment,” is one of Morris’ sayings talking about who starts a game.
Having one good quarterback is not enough.
And, these days, I’m not sure you ever have enough.
Razorbacks defeat Missouri State 2-1, now head for series with Florida
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Arkansas scored a pair of runs on an error in the second inning and strong pitching made it hold up in a 2-1 win over Missouri State on Wednesday.
Autumn Storms and Mary Haff combined for six scoreless innings in the circle.
Arkansas (26-11) recorded only three hits — from sophomore Kayla Green, junior Sydney Parr, and senior Ashley Diaz. Green and senior Haydi Bugarin scored for the Hogs, moving into scoring position with Parr’s base-hit to Missouri State’s shortstop.
With the bases loaded, sophomore Nicole Duncan went nine pitches before delivering a hard-hit ground ball to the left side.
Missouri State’s shortstop fielded a grounder off the third baseman’s glove and threw high trying to catch Green at home, which allowed Bugarin to cross the plate safely.
Storms pitched four successful innings for the Hogs, facing 20 batters and striking out four while giving up no free bases. Haff relieved Storms in the fifth and retired nine of the 11 batters she faced, picking up her fourth save of the season and sixth of her career.
Missouri State (20-13) scored its only run in the bottom of the fifth inning after back-to-back base hits put leadoff hitter Kyana Mason on third. Mason scored on the next play as teammate Darby Joerling was thrown out at first.
The Razorbacks are now 21-19 all-time against the Bears, winning eight of their last ten meetings.
Up next
The Razorbacks will head south to Gainesville, where they will continue their four-game road stint with a three-game series with Florida starting Friday at 5 p.m.
Now we hear Alford one of two final candidates, but is he a smokescreen?
The only thing we know for sure in Arkansas’ search for a new basketball coach is that we don’t know a blooming thing.
Only Hunter Yurachek and maybe a couple of others know and they ain’t talking.
In these things everybody knows somebody and it’s almost aways nobody that knows anything. Coaching searches are usually as ambiguous as that sentence.
Especially when it comes to the Razorbacks.
Now we’re hearing former UCLA coach Steve Alford is one of two final candidates for the job. Whether that’s fake news or not is anybody’s guess.
The guess here is the Hogs would be a much better fit for Alford than the Bruins. This guy had to deal with the whole LaVar Ball circus for a year so he’s seen crazy up close and personal from a fan base living in the past.
Remember, UCLA won 10 national titles over a 12-year period when players had to stay four years … and won one since then (ironically, in this case, beating the Hogs in 1995).
Alford played for and coached against Bobby Knight, so he’s dealt with that. He’s also had success.
He took Missouri State to the Sweet 16 and got UCLA there three times in four years.
Exactly why things fill apart for him with the Bruins probably depends on who you want to listen to. I’ve had people tell me he got a raw deal and others tell me he should have been fired sooner.
As usual, reality is likely square in the middle of that. Sometimes things just happen. Ask Mike Anderson. There are still a number of people ticked off he’s not the Razorbacks’ coach anymore.
Of course, don’t discount the idea the Alford talk that surfaced Tuesday and gained some momentum throughout Wednesday is a smokescreen to take attention away from the real candidate.
There are people who have said he’s one of the final two candidates.
Eric Musselman of Nevada may — or may not — be the other one.
He was reportedly in Fayetteville on Tuesday. Naturally there’s not a single picture from anyone in and around town, which makes you wonder in this day and age of EVERYBODY having a camera in their hands about 90% of the time.
Then his wife shot down the whole thing.
“Twitter created this rumor and boy did it spread,” Danyelle Musselman said in an interview with the Reno Gazette Journal on Tuesday.
Then The Twitter had a video of him IN Reno on Tuesday.
“Mouse in the house” ‼️@EricPMusselman #Frontthepost pic.twitter.com/aIDOLmVE4A
— Caleb Martin (@Calebmartin14) April 2, 2019
At this point, it appears nobody really knows anything. We’re already starting to hear this guy turned it down for a certain reason or somebody wanted something that threw a wrency in everything.
The usual hysteria that surrounds a coaching search.
Naturally, though, all of this couldn’t be dragging out because the coach Yurachek REALLY wants is still has at least one more game to coach.
Or could it?
Your guess is as good as mine.
???? Wednesday Halftime Pod — featuring Kevin McPherson
Phil Elson & Tye Richardson discuss all the names that have been tossed out, plus Kevin McPherson joins the pod!
Van Horn: ‘We didn’t give ourselves a chance to win’ against Little Rock
Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn wasn’t pleased with his team’s performance, especially at the plate, in the 17-7 loss to the Trojans on Tuesday night.
Hogs can’t slow down Little Rock in whopping 17-7 loss Tuesday night
FAYETTEVILLE — Little Rock defeated Arkansas, 17-7, Tuesday night at Baum-Walker Stadium in the first-ever meeting between the two programs.
It’s Arkansas’ second midweek loss of the season and the first time its suffered back-to-back losses.
Although four different Razorbacks recorded multi-hit games, the offense didn’t manage more than seven hits for the final six innings and leaving the bases loaded in the fifth. Arkansas left 14 runners on base in the game, tying a season-high (Western Illinois – March 13).
Trevor Ezell led all Razorbacks with a 3-for-5 game after batting in the leadoff spot for the first time this season. It was his first three-hit game since Feb. 27 against Memphis and ninth multi-hit game of the year.
Heston Kjerstad, Matt Goodheart and Jack Kenley also had two hits each. Kenley drove in three of Arkansas’ runs including a solo home run in the eighth inning, his sixth of the year which ties for the team lead with Casey Martin.
Freshman starting pitcher Patrick Wicklander looked good through the first two innings, allowing just one hit and two baserunners. However, in the third inning, the Razorbacks suffered their first of a season-high four errors after Christian Franklin dropped a pop fly in shallow left field that led to three unearned runs.
Wicklander had racked up five strikeouts before the third inning. It was his second-straight start with five as he finished the game with 3.1 innings pitched with three hits allowed and all three runs coming unearned.
Arkansas got an early 2-0 lead in the second inning after a two-RBI double by Martin, his only hit of the game. But, Little Rock responded with a three-run third inning, two coming off the bat of Nick Perez, who doubled home the second and third runs for the Trojans, giving them their first lead of the game.
It looked like the game was going to be a back-and-forth slugfest when Arkansas scored four more times in the bottom of the third to take a 6-3 lead.
Three of the four runs came off singles by Goodheart and Jack Kenley. Goodheart finished the game 2-for-5, his seventh multi-hit performance in his last 12 games.
Little Rock responded a second time in the fifth inning when Troy Alexander hit a grand slam off Kole Ramage to take a 7-6 lead.
It was the last lead change of the game.
The Hogs got the bases loaded with nobody out in the bottom half of the fifth, but were unable to punch in any runs.
Up next
Arkansas hits the road for its first Thursday-Saturday series in conference play when it travels to 10th-ranked Auburn at Plainsman Park.
Game one is set for Thursday at 6:30 p.m. on ESPNU, while game two will be at 6 p.m. on SEC Network+.
The series finale will have first pitch at 2 p.m. and be broadcast on SEC Network+ as well.
Hicks, quarterbacks plus offensive linemen as offense wins Tuesday
It was the offense’s first time to win the belt for a spring practice Tuesday as Chad Morris said later Ben Hicks is making a big difference, taking charge during the drills.
PHOTOS BY ANDY HODGES | HITTHATLINE.COM
Morris talks about offense winning belt for first time in spring
Razorbacks coach Chad Morris said for the first time in spring practice the offense captured the belt and talked about Ben Hick pulling unit together.
Gafford named honorable mention All-American by AP on Tuesday
FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas’ Daniel Gafford picked up a pair of national honors as he was voted Associated Press All-America honorable mention and named to the CollegeInsider.com Lefty Driesell Defensive All-America Team.
Gafford becomes the 29th Razorback to be named All-America and the 14th to make an AP All-America squad. Gafford is the first Razorback to be named to the Lefty Driesell Defensive All-America Team, an award that began in 2010.
Gafford’s honor comes after he was tabbed consensus first team All-SEC — just the sixth Razorback to be such honored — and being voted to the SEC All-Defensive Team, joining LSU’s Tremont Waters as the only players to be both consensus first team All-SEC and be named to the SEC All-Defensive Team this season.
A native of El Dorado, Gafford finished fifth in the NCAA in field goal percentage (.660) and led the SEC in the category by 95 percentage points over Tennessee’s Grant Williams (.565).
Gafford was one of two players in the NCAA (Gonzaga’s Brandon Clarke) to average at least 15.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 2.0 blocked shots while shooting at least 60 percent from the field.
In the SEC, Gafford was the only player to rank among the league’s top five — much less top 10 — in scoring (4th; 16.9/game), rebounding (2nd; 8.7/game), field goal percentage (1st; .660), blocked shots (3rd, 2.0/game), offensive rebounds (2nd; 2.8/game) and defensive rebounds (3rd; 5.8/game).
In addition to blocking 2.0 shot per game (65 total for the season), Gafford led the Razorbacks with 151 deflections on the defensive end — 36 more than the next closest on the team.
Gafford finished his two-year Razorback career with 955 points, averaging 7.4 rebounds, a .635 (second-best in school history) and 141 blocked shots (sixth-best in school history).
