64.1 F
Fayetteville

Mizzou football not as far ahead of Arkansas as it appears in records

Nate Olson
-
0

Missouri enters Friday’s game with Arkansas riding a two-game winning streak in the series and most likely will end the day in Columbia with its third straight win — a convincing one at that.

Since the Battle Line Rivalry (a terrible name with a worse trophy) was established in 2014, the Tigers have only lost once (28-3 in 2015) and own a 6-3 all-time series lead.

Mizzou fans, and there are a few sprinkled around the state, are quick to point out this dominance.

Knowing them like I do dating back to the Big 8 days growing up in Iowa, Mizzou fans are quick to point out any sort of series dominance because it has been few and far between.

They’ll tell you Missouri “owns” Arkansas, and there is a great disparity in the two programs.

But the numbers only tell half the story, and like it has been throughout history, Arkansas is still the program with the most upside.

The main advantage the Tigers have is playing in the SEC East.

That is the ONLY reason they have two division titles. When Mizzou entered the league in 2012 following a pedestrian 5-4 Big 12 season, the Tigers promptly finished 2-6 in the SEC East. With Florida, Georgia and Tennessee all down, Missouri rebounded and won the division the next two seasons.

The Tigers then finished 5-7 in legendary coach Gary Pinkel’s final year in 2015. Barry Odom’s teams have finished 4-8 and 7-6, and the SEC East is still not close to what it has been when Georgia, Florida and Tennessee are in the their glory years.

The point is, Missouri has been inconsistent in a watered down division. The powers that be in Columbia were thankful it was expansion team Texas A&M assigned to the West and not them. There would be no division titles in the trophy case at Mizzou if the Tigers were in the West.

And that’s been Arkansas’ biggest problem, especially the past 10 seasons.

A Razorbacks team can be pretty talented and still take a backseat to the likes of Alabama, Auburn, LSU and even Texas A&M. Not only has the timing been good for the Tigers in the division, but they began playing the Hogs during the most tumultuous time in school history.

Missouri benefitted from the Bret Bielema Era, and no Hogs fan will ever forget the epic second-half collapse in the 2016 game against a 4-8 Tigers team.

Bielema left Arkansas with a putrid 1-3 record in the manufactured rival game against average at best Mizzou squads.

The trend won’t continue. Mizzou should enjoy the spanking they will dish out Friday, because it won’t last. This year will be the second time since they joined the league in 2012 that they have had back-to-back winning seasons.

The East is going improve steadily the next two seasons but bets are the Tigers won’t. Missouri’s NFL Draft prospect QB Drew Lock will be gone, and it won’t be easy to replace him.

The Tigers are primed for a losing season in 2019.

With an 18-18 record in three years, I am still not sure the former Tigers linebacker Odom is the coach that can lead the Tigers to upper echelon finishes yearly.

Mizzou was never a consistent threat in the Big 8-Big 12 until Pinkel arrived in 2001.

You can make a case that Odom is a better coach than his Eastern counterparts Derek Mason at Vanderbilt, Jeremy Pruitt and Will Muschamp at South Carolina, but I’d take Georgia’s Kirby Smart and Florida’s Dan Mullen any day and probably Mark Stoops at Kentucky.

So, is Odom a better coach than the Hogs’ Chad Morris?

No, and that’s why my money is on Arkansas becoming a better program and beating Mizzou routinely. The biggest difference between the two coaches is recruiting.

Morris has guided the Hogs to one of the worst seasons in school history and his first recruiting class is ranked by some services in the Top 10. Morris’ deep Texas connections have paid off and will continue.

If Odom thought recruiting in the Big 12 was tough with Texas schools, it’s even tougher in the SEC East with the likes of Georgia, Florida and Tennessee mining the rich South that is hundreds of miles away from the Midwest.

With a team featuring such lackluster talent, we didn’t get to see Morris’ real coaching ability this year.

That should come more next year. The problem next year will be a glut of inexperience. It could be another losing season, but the talent should be improved.

Will that be enough to beat Mizzou next year? Yes. And the disparity between the two should rapidly decrease even with Arkansas playing in a much tougher decision. Morris may have other problems but beating Missouri won’t be one of them.

Anderson liked play of defense, 29 assists in win Wednesday night

ESPN Arkansas News Services
-
0

Razorbacks coach Mike Anderson talked after the 90-68 win over Montana State about the team piling up 29 assists in the game, Mason Jones’ 18 points.

Five tally double figures in blowout win over Montana State

ESPN Arkansas News Services
-
0

FAYETTEVILLE — All five starters scored in double figures, including Jalen Harris getting his first career double-double, as Arkansas used its trademark defense and up-tempo style to claim a 90-68 victory over Montana State at Bud Walton Arena in the Razorbacks’ third game of the Hardwood Showcase.

The Razorbacks capitalized on its #FASTEST40 style to throw down 10 dunks, the second-most total in the Mike Anderson era.

Harris dished out a career-high 11 assists and is the first Razorback to have 11 helpers since Jabril Durham did so versus South Carolina on March 5, 2016. Harris, who only committed one turnover, added 11 points.

Mason Jones at the free-throw line for part of his team-leading 18 points against Montana State on Wednesday night. PHOTO BY ANDY HODGES | HITTHATLINE.COM

Mason Jones led the Razorbacks with 18 points while Daniel Gafford added 16, Adrio Bailey scored 10 and Isaiah Joe scored 10.

Gafford was 8-for-8 from the field, tying a school record for best field goal percentage in a game (with eight attempts being the minimum). Gafford is the eighth player to accomplish the feat and the only Razorback to do so twice. (Gafford was 8-for-8 last season versus Minnesota.)

Hogs Daniel Gafford drives down the lane but has the ball swatted away during the first half of Wednesday’s game against Montana State. PHOTO BY ANDY HODGES | HITTHATLINE.COM

Montana State was led by Tyler Hall, who scored 29 points. He was 10-of-12 from the field overall and 7-of-15 from 3-point range. However, 23 of those points came in the first half as Arkansas held the guard to just six points on just 2-of-6 shooting in the second half.

Arkansas will wrap up the Hardwood Showcase on Friday by hosting UT Arlington. Tip-off is set for 7 pm at Bud Walton Arena.

FIRST HALF: Arkansas 54 – Montana State 38

• Mason Jones scored Arkansas’ first seven points and the Razorbacks started the game with an 11-1 run. Overall, Jones scored 10 of the Razorbacks’ first 16 points.

Arkansas’ Isaiah Joe looks inside during the first half of the 90-68 win over Montana State on Wednesday night. PHOTO BY ANDY HODGES | HITTHATLINE.COM

• Isaiah Joe had steals on three straight possessions as Arkansas pushed its lead to 25-7 with 11:46 left in the period.

• Montana State did not reach double digits until Tyler Hall hit a 3-pointer with 8:48 left. Arkansas forced 10 turnovers with seven steals up to that point.

• The Bobcats made five 3-pointers and worked a 25-point deficit to 15 with 5:39 left.

• Arkansas had a season-high six dunks in the first half alone and the 54 points were the most by the Razorbacks this season.

• Mason Jones finished the half with 16 points. Jalen Harris had five assists, who had dished out a total of four in each of the first three games.

• For Montana State, Tyler Hall scored 23 points of the Bobcats’ 38 points on 7-of-12 shooting from 3-point range.

SECOND HALF:

• A dunk by Adrio Bailey at 12:20 was the Razorbacks’ ninth dunk of the game. It additionally put the Razorbacks up 25. The Razorbacks maintained at least a 24-point lead the rest of the game.

• Daniel Gafford, who had four dunks in the game, provided the Razorbacks’ 10th and final dunk of the game with 6:25 left in the game. The total was the second-most by the Razorbacks in the Mike Anderson era with 12 being the record.

PHOTO BY ANDY HODGES | HITTHATLINE.COM

GAME NOTES:

• Arkansas starters were Isaiah Joe (G) – Jalen Harris (G) – Mason Jones (G) – Adrio Bailey (F) – Daniel Gafford (F). Reggie Chaney started the second half for Bailey.

• Arkansas controlled the tip and Mason Jones scored the first points of the game, a 3-pointer six seconds into the game.

• In three of the four games this season, Mason Jones has scored the first points of the game, each time the baskets were 3-pointers.

• Over the last two games, Daniel Gafford has made 20-of-23 shots from the field.

• Daniel Gafford, Mason Jones and Isaiah Joe have scored in double figures in all four games.

• Jordan Phillips, who had been injured since the summer, saw his first action of the season, entering at 8:54 in the first period.

• Jonathan Holmes got his first playing time of the season, entering with 2:31 left in the game. Ty Stevens also saw his first action as a Razorback, entering at 1:02 in the second half.

• Mike Anderson is now 66-1 as a head coach when his teams score at least 90 points, including a 34-0 mark at Arkansas.

• Arkansas has held three of its four opponents to fewer points in the second half than the first half. Montana State scored 38 in the first and just 30 in the second. The only team to score more second-half points was Indiana, which scored 37 in the second half and 35 in the first.

Harris, Gafford talking after Hogs’ blowout win Wednesday night

ESPN Arkansas News Services
-
0

Arkansas players Jalen Harris and Daniel Gafford talked with the media after the 90-68 win over Montana State on Wednesday night at Bud Walton Arena.

???? Wednesday Halftime Pod — featuring Chuck Barrett

Tye Richardson
-
0

Phil & Tye discuss things Hog fans should be Thankful for, interview Chuck Barrett, plus Change My Mind!

Bud Light Morning Rush Podcast: Wednesday

Tye Richardson
-
0
Bud Light Morning Rush Podcast: Wednesday

John, Tommy & Nick Mason talk Thanksgiving, What’s Your Turkey Wednesday, and more!

With players comfortable losing, suspensions send strong message

Andy Hodges
-
3

Chad Morris’ suspension of two players for this week’s game against Missouri isn’t exactly what a lot of people seem to think it is from this viewpoint.

It’s a message.

Not to just Kamren Curl and Ryan Pulley — who really weren’t doing anything that doesn’t happen from time to time these days in college athletics — but to everyone.

That includes players, coaches, recruits … and fans.

The message is when you’re 2-9 on the season, everything is being scrutinized and you better walk the line with zero tolerance for straying off.

You can debate for days (and probably will) whether this would even have happened if it hadn’t been broken by a member of the media but it’s not going to change anything.

Throwing in that it’s a former player and somehow that should define his role differently is demeaning to his position in the media. He will always be a former player, but now he is a member of the media and that should, appropriately, take priority. It’s an awkward position, but one that any former player deals with being in the media.

It’s a no-win either way.

For Morris, though, the fact it was reported and resulted in discussion on social media and elsewhere, he felt he had to take quick and decisive action. You may not agree with his action, but he took action.

What you would have done is not relevant. Morris doesn’t really care what you or I think and he shouldn’t. He knows he will ultimately be judged by how many games he wins.

Since Saturday numerous ex-players have talked to me about the decision. Not being there, I am only speaking from what I’ve read and heard about. To give you the results of the former players, well, they’ve been on both sides of the issue about equally.

For a team mired in the spot the Razorbacks are, Morris’ actions aren’t that far out of place. When Jimmy Johnson took over the Dallas Cowboys in 1989, there were players cut for talking with players on the other team AFTER the games.

All-Pro cornerback Everson Walls wasn’t cut until the end of the season but he was dead man walking the last half of the year. He was laughing with a Cardinals player after another Dallas loss and Johnson debated cutting here in the dressing room right after the game.

“There are too many players around here that are comfortable with losing,” was how Johnson phrased it on numerous occasions during that 1-15 season.

Jimmy came in that first year and was horrified at the talent level. He cut players like Danny White (former Pro Bowler) and Randy White (a Hall of Famer) among others. He kept Ed “Too Tall” Jones around for one season because, well, he was 6-foot-9 and at least he could stand up, raise his arms and create a problem on that side.

They were bringing players in for tryouts on Monday, practicing them the rest of the week and cutting them on Sunday night.

Morris can’t do that at the college level.

But the guess from this view is it won’t be the last message Morris will be sending. It appears this 2-9 season has worn on him, especially the seemingly lack of concern from some of the players.

Morris isn’t the type to use Johnson’s line about the players on the roster, but it seems appropriate for this Razorback team that has a remarkable collegiate resemblance to those dreadful 1989 Cowboys.

There seem to be a lot of Hogs that have gotten comfortable being losers.

And the guess is that will be changing.

Ramirez on secondary with new guys filling in for first time

ESPN Arkansas News Services
-
0

Hogs senior safety Santos Ramirez talked after practice Tuesday about how the secondary has been reacting this week to younger players filling in for two suspended starters.

Clary on offense going into Friday’s final game of year against Mizzou

ESPN Arkansas News Services
-
0

Arkansas center Ty Clary talking after practice Tuesday about the offensive preparations for the Tigers this week on the day after Thanksgiving.

Watts looking forward to finishing career in home state

ESPN Arkansas News Services
-
0

Razorbacks defensive lineman Armon Watts talked after practice Tuesday about the game coming up against Missouri and how it is to finish off his career in his home state.

Wallace previewing playing back in home state on Friday

ESPN Arkansas News Services
-
0

Senior offensive tackle Brian Wallace talked with the media after Tuesday’s practice about playing his final game as a Razorback in his home state against Missouri.

1...1,4221,4231,424...1,756Page 1,423 of 1,756

HitThatLine.com is the website for ESPN Arkansas. Listen at 99.5 in Fayetteville, 95.3 FM in Fort Smith and the River Valley, 96.3 FM in Hot Springs and 104.3 FM in Harrison.

© Copyright 2017-25 by Pearson Broadcasting. All rights reserved.