Razorback players Armon Watts, who won the Cripp Hall Award as the outstanding senior on Homecomine, Hjalte Froholdt and McTelvin Agim after the game.
Hogs get shutout over Tulsa, 23-0, on homecoming
FAYETTEVILLE — Freshman Connor Noland got his first start Saturday on homecoming, but it was three field goals by Connor Limpert, a couple of touchowns and Arkansas got a 23-0 win over Tulsa on Saturday.
The Razorbacks came into the game with a plan to run the ball, but Rakeem Boyd didn’t play in the second half due to what Chad Morris said later was dehydration after a 99-yard effort and the offense wasn’t spectacular, but good enough.
This story will updated with press conference quotes.
Last chance homecoming dance, Tulsa turnaround
Remember the good old days? No, not when Frank Broyles, Houston Nutt, or Bobby Petrino had Arkansas Razorbacks football in the national spotlight.
Think back to a time when you had to put on your best clothes, laden your hair with the good gel, and actually take more than one shower in the same day.
I’m referring to homecoming dance night. Now do you remember? The obligatory annual gathering of purple shirts, pink carnations, and every school staff member criticizing the inappropriateness of modern youth.
For many it was where you were permanently defined eitheras a lover or a loser based purely upon the song selections by an elite group of deejays — two of your school’s finest seniors from the year before and a 45-year-old man that acts like his job is more critical than national security.
This weekend’s game against Tulsa is a metaphor of the 2018 Arkansas football season and the aforementioned anxiety attack held after a Friday night’s game.
Up to this point, the sunglasses wearing trio has only played up-tempo music of which you have no moves., no rhythm, and no chance in which to showcase your talent.
Then suddenly, right around 10:45 PM, there is this one slow song that begins to play, and the Hogs had better jump on it like it is the last Frank Sinatra [Ed Sheeran for you younger readers] song of the season.
While some were hoping to see Ty Storey back from his concussion protocol, Tommy Craft reports Storey will not be doing “The Charleston” this weekend.
Instead, Rakeem Boyd and Devwah Whaley will have to do their best versions of the running man to rack up yards against the Hurricane defense. It is possible as Tulsa has given up over 100-yards three times to individual rushers this season.
This week, the top question has become who will replace Storey as the starting quarterback? Andy Hodges gives Connor Noland his nod of approval as the player Morris should utilize to call the signals. Nate Olson also extended his opinion.
Do you agree with their perspectives?
On the opposite side of the ball (no pun intended), Arkansas must stiffen up from the meltdown that they suffered in the second half of the game against Ole Miss.
For the Razorbacks defense, stopping redshirt freshman quarterback Seth Boomer (ironic name, I know) will be key. Boomer, who has stepped in for an injured Luke Skipper, may have not played very well in their loss to South Florida, however, he had unimpressive numbers but 227-yards in a separate defeat to Houston.
In summary, for those of you that in fact had a steady date, the Hogs must play better defense than your girlfriend’s father who suddenly showed up to chaperone the dance, his daughter, and any preconceived aspirations you possessed for after the gala.
In case you weren’t nervous enough in the stag line, knowing that at any moment you could gird up enough courage to brave the floor to one of those fast songs leaves a lump in your throat.
Why?
The Arkansas special teams are a constant reminder that at any moment you can transition from what you think is looking suave to becoming the new Elaine Benes with awkward kicks and thumbs-only tackles, not to mention a difficult Monday morning.
Dust off those dancing shoes, Razorbacks fans. This will not be an easy win, yet we will not sit the entire season with our backs to the wall, staring at the punchbowl, and wondering if there is anyone left that will allow us to cut a little rug on our own terms.
The slow song is playing, and Tulsa is that little gal willing to oblige to your extended hand. Enjoy, and for the love of all things Razorback, please, no one cut in.
Arkansas 34–24.
Last week proved tough to me, and I should have gone with my initial feeling of putting Auburn on an upset alert. I refrained, and my lowly 3–3 performance dropped me to 51–14 on the season. This week looks to be more promising.
- Auburn at Ole Miss – $50-million may sooth some of the burn from the hot seat, but it won’t provide a victory. Rebels by 3 in what some would have classified as an upset at the beginning of the season.
- (1) Alabama at Tennessee – Tide moves easily in a circular motion by 24
- Memphis at Missouri – Tigers by 11
- (22) Mississippi State at (5) LSU – The Tiger defense is too much for the hot and cold Bulldogs. LSU by 14
- Vanderbilt at (14) Kentucky – The Wildcats get back to business. Kentucky by 25.
Go HOGS!!!
Follow me on ‘Twitter’: @PeterMorganWPS
Gafford, Joe, Harris pace Red to big win over White
FAYETTEVILLE — The Red Team, led by Isaiah Joe and Daniel Gafford, defeated the White Team, 105-82, before a crowd of 7,500 in the annual Red-White game Friday night.
Joe, a freshman from Fort Smith, made 9-of-14 from 3-point range and scored a game-high 31 points.
Gafford recorded a double-double, scoring 24 points and pulling down 12 rebounds. Redshirt sophomore guard Jalen Harris, who sat out last season per NCAA transfer regulations, also posted a double-double with 16 points and 10 assists.
Gabe Osabuohien just missed a double-double, scoring 20 points and getting eight rebounds.
For the White Team, Mason Jones and Adrio Bailey each scored 22 points while Desi Sills added 16 points and eight assists.
The teams combined for 187 points in the game.
However, midway through the second half, the scrimmage had a running clock but the teams still combined to score 88 points, compared to 99 in the first half playing with a conventional clock.
In addition to the game, festivities for the evening included a slam dunk competition by the Razorbacks as well as assorted Homecoming activities, highlighted by a halftime pep rally.
It was no surprise that Gafford, who had a school-record 75 dunks last season, won the slam dunk contest with freshman Ethan Henderson giving a good run for his title. In the game, Gafford finished with six dunks.
The Red Team jumped out early as Gafford controlled the tip to Harris, who hit a wide-open Joe for a layup just seconds into the game. It was one of Harris’ seven, first-half assists.
Red led White 15-8 at the first media timeout behind five points from Joe. The White made a run behind Mason Jones, cutting its deficit to four, 22-18, at the second break.
In the first eight minutes, Jones, a junior college transfer, was the first to double digits with 11 points. A pair of 3’s from Joe and one from Jonathan Holmes helped the Red open up an eight-point lead at the 8-minute timeout, 34-26.
The White worked its way back into the game and trailed just four, 40-36, coming out of the 4-minute timeout after a basket by Adrio Bailey.
The Red once again answered as the first half drew to a close and took a 55-43 lead at the break.
True to form in coach Mike Anderson’s #FASTEST40 style, both teams had 10 fast-break points in the first half and both teams shot over 46 percent from the field.
Joe led the way with 17 points in the first 20 minutes, draining 5-of-8 from long range. Jones poured in 17 to lead the White team in the first half, making 7-of-11 shots from the field.
To open the second half, the Red Team quickly raced out to a 71-54 lead as Joe hit a coupe of treys and Gafford put an exclamation on the lead with a dunk before the first media timeout.
Despite a 3-pointer by the White’s Sills midway through the second half, the Red maintained a 20-point lead the rest of the way.
Arkansas will play the first of its two home exhibition games next Friday (Oct. 26) when the Razorbacks host Tusculum. Tip-off is set for 7 pm.
Anderson enjoyed exhibition during Red-White game
Arkansas coach Mike Anderson wasn’t looking too close at the stat sheet he had, but saw some good things in the Red-White game Friday at Bud Walton Arena.
Joe, Gafford recap Red win in annual Red-White game
Arkansas players Isaiah Joe and Daniel Gafford met with the media after the Red’s 105-82 win in the Red-White game at Bud Walton Arena to kick off the new season.
No Storey this week should put Noland up first
Ty Storey participated in practice a couple of days this week and appeared to be running for the first time, but that may have been more for the media in attendance for the first few periods.
We honestly don’t have a clue based on what we saw at practice, but I did find it interesting that freshman Connor Noland was taking Storey’s place in the individual work at times.
That may or may not indicate anything because Chad Morris changes things up at times, trying not to tip his hand in any way. I guess Tulsa is close enough they may have been slipping around trying to find out who will be the quarterback.
But really, though, is there a better time to put Noland out there from the beginning? His only game experience has been in a lost-cause situation against North Texas.
We’re hearing he is the likely starter, but that’s not on a strong enough basis to go ahead and say he will be behind center at the start against the Golden Hurricane on Saturday.
It has become clear Cole Kelley isn’t the answer. For whatever reason, his performances in games doesn’t match what coaches saw in practices because they made him the starter at the beginning of the year and replaced him after a quarter.
If Rakeem Boyd is indeed back — and he did look full speed in drills and there’s no concussion protocol to deal with there — that may take some of the pressure off Noland.
But, let’s face it, there’s not a better chance to see what Noland can do in a game situation to rest of the season. We got the idea the last couple of weeks Morris was trying to avoid throwing Noland into a no-win situation in one of those SEC games. That’s why I think he didn’t put him out there in the rain in the fourth quarter against Ole Miss.
My guess is Noland will start and the Hogs will do enough to get past a Tulsa team that has had about the same luck as Arkansas this year.
Arkansas 31, Tulsa 21
Last week was a rough one after a great three week run. My picks were just 3-3 as I hit on the Georgia over LSU upset, but I seriously under-estimated how far Auburn has fallen and South Carolina couldn’t win in overtime against the Aggies. I’m down to 56-9 on the year, or 86 percent.
This week, Kentucky over Vanderbilt is the only easy (and obvious) pick I can make
-4 Auburn at Ole Miss
The Rebels have to get the win over Arkansas out of their system, but celebrating takes awhile in Oxford for a fan base that is prouder of their never losing a party than any football win.
The Tigers have had the wagon go careening into the ditch and busted a wheel on the way. Gus Malzahn is under fire, along with everybody that signed off on what they are now calling a ridiculous contract with a $32 million buyout this season if they want to fire him.
Beating Ole Miss might not help him an awful lot, but playing this game away from Auburn will help the team avoid the chaos.
The Rebels’ defense will help with the rest.
Auburn 38, Ole Miss 24
-28.5 Alabama at Tennessee
Tua Tagovailoa is still nursing an injured knee from the Arkansas game, but do you really think that will make much difference?
The Vols seemed to get some momentum going down on The Plains last week and surprising everyone with a win over Auburn that wasn’t really as close as the final score sounded.
But Jeremy Pruitt is a former Nick Saban assistant and none of them have ever figured out a way to beat him. Saban may have taught them most of what they know, but he didn’t team them everything he knows.
Besides all that, even if Tagovailoa can’t go, Tennessee hasn’t figured out a way to beat the Crimson Tide with Jalen Hurts at quarterback.
That’s another trend that will continue.
Alabama 45, Tennessee 14
Memphis at -9.5 Missouri
The Tigers got a little attention playing Central Florida, the disputed self-proclaimed champions, to a close game, but keeping that momentum going is difficult when the talent level will be different this week.
Drew Lock is rolling along right now and this one may get a little high with the scoring, but Missouri should be able to hang on.
Missouri 41, Memphis 31
Mississippi State at -6.5 LSU
Let’s see now, a night game in Baton Rouge, where the Bulldogs tend to not exactly set the world on fire.
The Tigers have clearly proven me wrong because I predicted a meltdown by this point of the season and they are ranked No. 5 in the country right now.
The Bulldogs have stumbled a couple of times, but seem to have found themselves in an upset win over Auburn.
Welcome to Death Valley at Night.
It may not be a good night for Mississippi State as I think they will shut down Nick Fitzgerald and that offense while LSU will continue to roll in some special game uniforms with purple helmets.
LSU 31, Mississippi State 10
???? Friday Halftime Pod — Featuring Coach Matt Zimmerman
Phil Elson and Tye Richardson hit on the hogs not having Ty Storey for Saturday, FOMO Friday, plus interview coach Matt Zimmerman!
‘Morning Rush’ confirms Storey out for Hogs this week
The Morning Rush on ESPN Arkansas reported this morning that it has been confirmed Arkansas quarterback Ty Storey will not be starting Saturday’s game against Tulsa.
Show personality Tommy Craft reported on the show, which runs from 6-9 a.m. on several stations across the state, that he had confirmed Storey had failed the concussion protocol this week.
Storey suffered the injury in the loss to Ole Miss last week in Little Rock on a big hit on the Razorbacks’ second offensive play in the fourth quarter.
Arkansas coach Chad Morris gave no indications earlier this week who might replace Storey, but it likely will be either freshman Connor Noland or Cole Kelley, who started the season opener and against North Texas this season.
Storey had practiced Tuesday and Wednesday and all appeared normal, but the concussion protocol tests are much more intensive than anything seen at practice.
‘Steamboat’ has sailed; Noland should get start
Arkansas quarterback Ty Storey won’t play against Tulsa Saturday after failing concussion protocol following a nasty hit against Ole Miss last week, according to some reports.
That leaves Hogs coach Chad Morris with a tough decision. Well, not really.
Morris’ obvious choices to fill Storey’s spot are sophomore Cole Kelley or true freshman Connor Noland, the Greenwood High School product.
Storey and Kelley have taken most of the first-team snaps and both have started games this fall. However, Storey has firmly secured the starting spot with Kelley being used in the “Steamboat Package” when his 6-foot-7, 256-pound frame can be used to pick up short yardage, mostly plowing straight ahead.
Although Kelley has shown a knack for throwing the deep ball, Storey clearly has a better command of the offense.
That was obvious in last week’s loss to Ole Miss when the Hogs struggled with Kelley under center when Storey had to leave the game for good in the second half.
Kelley did throw a deep touchdown on his first play subbing for Storey when he was knocked out for a play in the first half, but when he was asked to lead the offense and sustain drives, the Hogs sputtered and allowed Ole Miss to come back and eventually win the game late.
The final thud came when Kelley threw a horrible pass to no one in particular that was intercepted by Ole Miss and ended any chances the Razorbacks had to win.
Two factors must be mentioned in his defense, though. Kelley didn’t have the benefit of handing the ball off to dominant running backs Rakeem Boyd or Devwah Whaley.
Both were injured in the first half and didn’t return. That left the diminutive Chase Hayden as the featured back which is a role he is not suited for.
The other thing to consider is just before the pick, Kelley threw a nice ball to La’Michael Pettway over the middle for first-down yardage but it was dropped.
So, Kelley isn’t all to blame of course.
However, I’m fairly certain that if Storey had stayed in the game with the same personnel, he could have helped the offense do enough to preserve its first SEC win.
With the defense faltering even worse against Ole Miss’s high-powered offense, Morris needed his offensive unit to pick up a few first downs and run clock. Storey showed he could find a way to get that job done.
So, that leads us to the present dilemma. Morris’ most consistent QB is on the shelf and a 1-5 Tulsa team awaits. This is a must-win for a last gasp at trying to build some momentum to end the season. A loss to the Golden Hurricane may lead to four more straight losses and a 1-11 campaign.
Morris needs a signal caller he can count on to salvage this very winnable game. Kelley hasn’t shown that he’s that guy.
Noland’s only chance has been a few snaps in the second half of a lop-sided loss to North Texas. Noland was 4 of 7 for 25 yards and an interception.
Noland is the quarterback of the future at UA. He has the talent to be better than both Storey and Kelley. With Arkansas in full rebuild mode, he needs to be playing.
Starting him against a lackluster Tulsa team seems to be the perfect time to get meaningful snaps. And if he shines, look at making him the full-time starter to finish the season.
Or if you subscribe to the theory that a starter shouldn’t lose his job to injury, then move him up to No. 2 on the depth chart and spell Storey from time to time to end the year.
Arkansas isn’t going to a bowl game, there is no guarantee that Storey will even be back at Arkansas next year, so the future should be front and center in Morris’ mind. That future is Noland.
Bud Light Morning Rush Podcast: Friday
John & Tommy share QB news for Saturday, interview Austin Chadwick, plus Fenceman Friday picks!
