Arkansas running back Rakeem Boyd, quarterback Ty Storey and linebacker De’Jon Harris on loss to Alabama.
Arrogance vs. optimism for Razorbacks against Bama
If you are headed up to The Hill for the game, be prepared. You will see them. They will be wearing red, toting white A’s upon their hats, and sporting extreme pride in their team.
No, it’s not a hoard of Razorbacks fans to which I refer. Here is a hint: they are coming, and their arrogance is coming with them.
The Alabama Crimson Tide are in Fayetteville, and this team has never looked better. If you listen to “The Morning Rush,” you probably heard John Nabors and Tommy Craft discussing how this may very well be the most complete Tide team ever under Nick Saban.
Perhaps under any coach at any program.
On an unrelated note: Happy birthday week, John.
Saban has called this a trap game. And while the sports journalists and radio personalities must do the politically correct thing of publicly analyzing his statement, permit me to say what we are all really saying: by definition, this is a trap game. By reality, nice try, Nick.
Yes, the Arkansas faithful is feeling a bit better about the future after the close game against Texas A&M. How far can that get us? Let’s take a look.
The Razorbacks offense is definitely progressing under Ty Storey, however, they are in trouble. Big trouble. If they find a weakness in the Alabama defense, they had better exploit it over and over.
And at halftime, Arkansas’s leadership had better start looking for a second flaw in the Crimson defenders.
If anyone believes the Tide’s coaching staff is incapable of making the proper adjustments, then I have a Houston Nutt “I Called That Play, Chuck!” t-shirt ready to ship directly to you.
Let us fill our Hog heads with hope Coach Morris can dial up some good statistics which defensive coordinator John Chavis can utilize against Tide quarterback Tua Tagov … Tagovel … Tagava … uh, Tua, who has taken Alabama offense to possibly the highest level ever achieved on an NCAA field.
Can Arkansas even limit what may wind up being the most vaunted offensive assembly in our lifetime? Do not count on it. [Pun intended … Think about it.]
Which brings us back around once more to the special teams. Focus is key to success. So, Coach Morris, let’s center our strategy by going for it on fourth down, kicking it out of bounds, and crossing our fingers on every field goal attempt.
On a positive note, kicking seems to be the only possible weakness in Alabama’s arsenal.
However, for Arkansas to wish this imperfection will change the projected outcome of the game, then the Tide’s fancy footers had better be horrible. How horrible you ask? Like Leigh Tiffin in 2006 horrible. Like Halle Berry in 2004’s “Catwoman” horrible, but that is a whole other story, man.
Yes, despite Saban’s best efforts, this Alabama team and its band of energetic supporters possess enough ego alone to fill the entirety of all SEC stadiums.
Can this lead to complacency? If you’re an optimistic Hogs fan hoping for any chance of a scoreboard win, then you’d better hope so. Stay positive fans, and remember, like Andy Hodges stated, Arkansas’s victory will not be on the scoreboard.
Arrogance 31, Optimism 17
Speaking of, many of you have stated to me that Mr. Hodges is on a roll [pun not intended] with his picks as of late. In fact, the word “perfect” has been a word floated around the past couple of weeks.
Do not let my not posting my record each week fool you – I am right on his heels, and that end of the season championship barbecue dinner will be mine. Yes, I just raised the “steaks.”
- Missouri at South Carolina – Too close to call, yet I will say the Gamecocks at home by 6.
- (5) LSU at (22) Florida – The Tigers knock the Gators back out of the Top 25. LSU by10
- University of Louisiana – Monroe at Ole Miss – Rebels by 15
- (13) Kentucky at Texas A&M – [UPSET ALERT] Aggies by 10, but can you really call this an upset?
- Vanderbilt at (2) Georgia – Bulldogs by 22
- (8) Auburn at Mississippi State – Tigers by a close 14
Go HOGS!!!
Follow me on ‘Twitter’: @PeterMorganWPS
Hogs open fall exhibition with win over Wichita State
FAYETTEVILLE — An announced crowd of 5,142 were in attendance Friday night at Baum Stadium as Arkansas beat Wichita State, 10-1, over 14 innings as fans got a first-hand look at many veterans and newcomers alike.
2018 Fall Exhibition Schedule
Oct. 5 – vs. Wichita State – W, 10-1 (14 innings)
Oct. 12 – at Little Rock (4:30 p.m.)
Sophomore Heston Kjerstad, who is coming off an All-American and SEC Freshman of the Year campaign, went 1-for-5 in the opening nine innings. His lone hit was a two-run opposite-field home run in the first inning that got Arkansas’ offense going.
On the mound, Arkansas’ pitching staff excelled, allowing only one run on five hits throughout the entire night. Redshirt junior right-hander Isaiah Campbell got the start and battled through a shaky first inning to strike out eight over four innings. He only walked one batter and threw 63 pitches, retiring four of the last five he faced.
For the next five innings, the Arkansas coaching staff worked its pitchers as if it were a real game. With a 2-0 lead after the first, junior Jacob Kostyshock threw two perfect innings, striking out three.
Then, redshirt junior Cody Scroggins threw a perfect seventh inning, followed by a perfect eighth by sophomore Kole Ramage.
With the score 3-1 going into the ninth, junior lefty Matt Cronin got his number called to close out the game. Cronin, who set the Arkansas single-season record for saves (14) last year, did what he does best, striking out the side in the ninth on 12 pitches.
Arkansas added five more runs in the 10th as its starting lineup got one more turn at the plate before giving way to the bench. Sophomore JUCO transfer Matt Goodheart turned in a good day at the plate, going 2-for-5 including a long home run over the right field bullpen. He finished with four RBIs in the game.
The Razorbacks will continue with fall practice next week before playing its final fall exhibition on Friday, Oct. 12 against the Little Rock Trojans. The team will travel to the capital city and play at Gary Hogan Field. First pitch is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.
For more information on Razorback Baseball, follow @RazorbackBSB on Twitter.
From Dave Van Horn
“There were some good things, but there were obviously some things we need to work on. Try to get everybody in in the second half, but obviously our pitching was outstanding and if you look how (Isaiah) Campbell started it out, his first five outs were from strikeouts before they got a hit. He didn’t have his breaking stuff until his last inning and he did a nice job with it. Then it was one right after another came in and really threw the ball well, held them down. They only had four or five hits throughout the night. Offensively, the positive would be that we took advantage of things. We scored when they walked us or they made an error here or there. We punched in some runs and we got a big three-run homer after the walk, but there were too many strikeouts. We have to cut those in half and we have to give credit to their first pitcher (McGinness). He threw a lot of breaking balls, change-ups, and kept us off balance. They brought in another lefty, another guy throwing a lot of breaking balls and we didn’t do a good job with it. It’s early and it was a good learning experience for us.” — On how the team managed their first fall exhibition
“On Kjerstad’s, I think it was a change-up and he just stayed on it. We knew from the dugout as soon as it left the bat it was out of here. I think (Matt) Goodheart took some good swings early in the game and fouled some balls back, but then he got all of that one and drove it through the wind over the back wall. He’s been swinging the bat good in practice that’s why I DH’ed him, I also put him at first tonight and left field. Obviously, in a normal game you wouldn’t be able to move him around and take him out like that. We discussed that before the game, if we had a DH, we wanted to move him around and that’s what I did with him because I think that is what he’ll do for us. I think he’ll play a little outfield and some first base; a good DH and I want him to hit.” — On the two home runs by Heston Kjerstad and Matt Goodheart
???? Friday Halftime Pod — Featuring Aaron Torres
Phil Elson and Tye Richardson talk about what fans would do if Arkansas beat Alabama, interviewed Aaron Torres, and FOMO Friday.
Win for Hogs won’t be on scoreboard against Tide
Coaches refuse publicly to acknowledge anything remotely resembling a moral victory.
Let’s face it, Chad Morris publicly is doing nothing to discourage the notion that Arkansas is preparing for a win against No. 1 Alabama on Saturday.
Which is what probably should be expected.
On the flip side, though, his mantra has been the Razorbacks getting better every day, with every meeting, every practice.
Beating the Crimson Tide would be more than just getting better. It would be like something out of the Twilight Zone and I’m not completely sure there would be a bigger upset in program history.
Maybe the closest would be the Hogs’ 25-24 win over Tennessee back in 1992. That was a team that had lost to The Citadel, getting then-coach Jack Crowe fired. But they had rebounded with a 45-7 win over South Carolina the next week.
This Razorback team has no such win. Sorry, but beating Eastern Illinois in the opener isn’t the same thing.
For starters, this Alabama team is better. It is deservedly in the conversation as maybe the best college football team of all time. That may happen at the end of the year, but right now it’s not even the best team in Tide football history.
For Arkansas to even keep this game close, however, they will have to have some help from Alabama. Turnovers, missed assignments or maybe even equipment malfunctions will have to come together in spectacular fashion.
Having a few tricks in the offensive plan for the Hogs might help, too. Of course, the execution on those tricks has to be flawless, too. Over 40 years of covering big-time football, I’ve seen about as many tricks blow up as I’ve seen work.
On Wednesday, I started getting the idea something was in the plan for the Hogs when the media was cut back by a period in what we could see at practice. If something’s not up, why kick us out a period early when we get so little availability as it is?
All of this little intrigue college coaches seem so fond of doing is what created my favorite question — we don’t know what we don’t know. If you think about it for a second you’ll get it (I threw that out there in case any Alabama fans are reading this in the trailer park).
All of that is why this week’s prediction doesn’t begin to guess at what we don’t know. We’ll just have to figure it out as the game develops.
Alabama 59, Arkansas 24
Okay, into the rest of the league and we’re riding a two-game winning streak where we’ve hit on every single pick. Yes, we’ve hit every one of them, including upsets involving my cousin’s Mississippi State team.
He’s since requested I not make a pick in any of their games going forward.
The record is now 47-5 this season in games. The easy picks this week are Ole Miss over Louisiana-Monroe and Georgia over Vanderbilt (let’s face it, if the Commodores win this one it might be bigger than the Hogs beating Alabama).
Missouri at -2.5 South Carolina
This is a game that on the surface could go either way. It’s well known you get three points for being the home team, so this one’s a virtual toss-up.
I’m still not buying into the Tigers as they haven’t particularly impressed me in their games against other SEC teams.
The Gamecocks are at the top of the group in the middle in the East and I don’t think Missouri is quite ready to get there yet. Something says Deebo Samuel is due for a breakout SEC game.
South Carolina 35, Missouri 24
-3 LSU at Florida
Nick Saban said Arkansas is a trap game for the Crimson Tide. Nobody’s really buying into that, though.
This is the trap game for LSU.
The Tigers have really only had one close game, a 22-21 win on the road at Auburn. Quite frankly, Ed Orgeron has the Tigers playing better than I guessed before the season.
I thought they would be 2-3 or, at best, 3-2 right now. Yep, I missed that one, which is why I hate making any predictions before October, which is where we are now.
This LSU team will be near the top of the West at the end of the season, but this is more about having confidence in what Dan Mullen is doing down at Florida.
He inherited a lot of talent there, especially on defense.
This is a game that might end up being ugly, unless you’re into defensive stalemates in which case you’ll love this game.
Florida 17, LSU 16
Kentucky at -6 Texas A&M
You would think somebody would start to recognize the Wildcats really seem to embrace being the under dog this year.
They have won every time, Florida on the road and Mississippi State at home.
The Aggies, on the other hand, are carrying a close loss to Clemson as their biggest accomplishment so far this year.
In this one, the Wildcats have an offense to go with a strong defense.
The Aggies had to claw their way to a win over Arkansas last week that didn’t exactly impress anyone.
Benny Snell makes the difference in this one and it may take until the second half for him to start piling up the yardage.
Kentucky 28, Texas A&M 24
-4 Auburn at Mississippi State
Exactly why the Tigers are still ranked in the Top 10 is likely due more to preseason expectations than what we’ve seen on the field in the first half of the season.
This Auburn team is not as good as last year and this game is completely out of whack, in my opinion.
That’s assuming, of course, that the Bulldogs are a good team that just ran into a couple of other pretty good teams in Kentucky and Florida, which is what I believe to be the case.
And State usually plays the Tigers very well in Starkville.
Just like they will Saturday
Mississippi State 24, Auburn 20
Bud Light Morning Rush Podcast: Friday
Tommy & Phil are joined by Tyler Wilson in studio to discuss keys to the Alabama game, SEC news, plus Fenceman Friday Picks!
Cannata’s two goals defeat LSU in double overtime
FAYETTEVILLE — Junior Tori Cannata provided a heroic performance Thursday night as her two goals secured a 2-1 victory for Arkansas over LSU in overtime at Razorback Field.
Cannata scored the game-winning goal in the 105th minute of the match, extending Arkansas’ unbeaten streak to five games.
The performance was Cannata’s second multi-goal game of the season, her first coming in the win over No. 2 Texas A&M. She now leads the team in goals (6) and points (13) and tonight’s overtime goal was her first game-winner of the season.
The Razorbacks had to weather a strong LSU offense that peppered goalkeeper Taylor Beitz with 15 shots, seven coming on goal. However, Beitz secured her fourth win of the season thanks to a career-high six saves.
The redshirt sophomore has come up big since conference play began, racking up a 0.83 goals against average over a four-match span and is responsible for both of Arkansas’ shutouts in league play.
With Thursday’s win over LSU, the Razorbacks remain unbeaten at home, improving to 7-0-1 at Razorback Field.
Overall, Arkansas is 9-2-2 and 4-1-0 in SEC play with 12 points, only three behind standings-leader Vanderbilt.
Sound Bytes
“It was kind of a weird game, but we found a way to win. Good teams find a way to win and I’m just really proud of them tonight.” —Colby Hale on the 2-1 victory over LSU
“She’s just a goal scorer. When you want a hungry goal scorer, it’s her. She wants to be in the box and score goals. That’s why we just left her in. We just said ‘Hey, Tori, we know you’re tired, but get us a goal somehow,’ and she got two tonight.” —Colby Hale on Tori Cannata’s play
“It was great. Scoring is great in general, but to win in overtime is a big deal. I’m just glad the ball came to my feet. I just kept my eye on the ball and got my body in the right position. Overall, this is a great win for us in conference play.” — Junior Tori Cannata on the team’s win over LSU and her two-goal performance
“The crowd gave us that extra energy tonight and help us give that last effort in the game.” — Sophomore Julia Laskaris on the crowd
How It Went Down
43rd minute – LSU scored the first goal of the match after being awarded a penalty kick off a hand ball in the box. Alex Thomas got a chance at a penalty kick and scored her second goal of the year.
49th minute – Four minutes into the second half, the Razorbacks scored the equalizer on an effort play two yards from the net. After Arkansas attempted their third corner of the game, the ball bounced around the box and was almost cleared by LSU. However, the ball, then, deflected back off Tori Cannata and into the net to tie the game.
94th minute – Arkansas got a chance early in the first overtime when the ball was sent up the field to Cannata after she got behind her opponent on a touch pass. The junior aimed a shot at the far post, but the LSU keeper was there to make one of her six saves in the match.
105th minute – With Arkansas seemingly knocking on the door all night, the 11th corner kick finally paid off as Cannata delivered the game-winning goal five minutes into the second overtime period. After Malham’s corner kick sailed toward the far post, Kayla McKeon redirected it to the middle of the box where Cannata one-timed it in to complete the brace.
Key Notes
• Thursday’s game against LSU was the fourth overtime game for the Razorbacks this year. Arkansas is now 1-2-1 in overtime matches this season.
• Redshirt sophomore Taylor Beitz made her third-consecutive start Thursday night and has only allowed one goal in the previous 284 minutes of play. Her 0.83 goals against average is sixth-best in the SEC.
• Junior Tori Cannata secured her second brace of the season after scoring both goals in the win over LSU. Four of her six goals this year have come in multi-goal games (vs. Texas A&M – Sept. 20).
• Cannata now takes over the team lead in goals (6) and points (13). Both are top-10 totals among all SEC players.
• The win over LSU was Arkansas’ third-straight in the all-time series and eighth overall dating back to 1996.
Up Next
The Razorbacks are back on the road to finish the weekend on Sunday as they travel to Oxford, Mississippi to take on the Ole Miss Rebels.
First kick is set for 2 p.m. and will be broadcast on SEC Network+.
Defensive line success key for Hogs against Crimson Tide
Amidst all the glowing praise thrown at Alabama this season, this still isn’t quite the best college football team in history … yet.
Right now, it’s not even the best in Crimson Tide history.
At this point (after five games), the Tide only has a +206 difference between them and their opponents. As we said, that’s not the best Alabama’s done.
The 1979 team after five games had a +210 difference and had only given up nine points total through those first games.
Arkansas found out how good that defense was in the Sugar Bowl following the 1979 season and lost, 24-9, in a game that really never seemed that close.
That Alabama team didn’t have an offense like this one.
Which is why how well the Razorbacks’ defensive line plays in this game could go a long way towards determining if progress made the past two weeks is still able to be made.
Photos by Andy Hodges | HitThatLine.com
For those who were whining and complaining about the hiring of John Chavis, be quiet and go sit down. He’s turned what was collectively the worst defense in program history over the past couple of years into a unit that is, at the very least, looking like it belongs in the SEC.
Right now, the Crimson Tide’s offense is the football equivalent of Secretariat heading into the stretch run of the 1973 Belmont Stakes. They are averaging over 54 points a game.
Can the Hogs even slow them down? Lordy, three weeks ago there were some worried about giving up 100. That still may happen, but I don’t think so.
This defense is not spectacular, but it has solidified into a steady, consistent group.
Maybe the biggest key has been the play of the defensive line, which is doing a lot of things that were done in the original 4-3 defense as Tom Landry created when he was the defensive coordinator of the New York Giants in the late 1950’s.
The job of the defensive line was, in simplistic terms, to basically keep the offensive linemen from being able to block the linebackers. Landry created it because they had Sam Huff at middle linebacker and it put him in the Hall of Fame.
Numbers like Dre Greenlaw and De’Jon Harris put up against Texas A&M (29 tackles, a sack and two interceptions) is a reflection on what the defensive line did to free them up.
You’re not going to hear me even hint that the Hogs will shut down Alabama’s offense. Shoot, if they can get a three-and-out in the first quarter there should be a standing ovation for the defense.
But IF (and, granted, that’s a pretty big if) the Hogs’ front wall can get any kind of pressure on Tua Tagovailoa, they might have a shot. Of course that could open up the running game where Najee Harris is averaging over 6.5 yards per carry.
Oh, it’s a challenge.
But nothing Chavis hasn’t faced before. He knows the Hogs don’t have the sheer talent numbers that Alabama has. Of course I’m not sure how many teams in the history of college football has been stockpiled like the group Nick Saban has put together.
Now they come into the hills of Arkansas to face the little ol’ Hogs. Shoot, they got blown out at home by North Texas.
Saban earlier this week called this a trap game, which is one of the things he’s doing to get his team’s attention. That didn’t get enough attention, so he called out the Alabama students for not showing up or hanging around long.
Considering the talent gap in these two teams, you wonder how much of his job this week is simply keeping some type of edge on his team.
Okay, everybody knows all of that, so that’s why how the Hogs’ defensive line plays Saturday. Briston Guidry is going to miss this game after having some cleanup on a knee done, which Chad Morris dismissed Wednesday as no big deal, but everybody else is there.
Watching the defensive line drills this week in workouts, coaches Steve Caldwell and john Scott have been driving, pushing, working on some things we haven’t seen.
Getting some sort of pressure on Tagovailoa is going to be key. He’s not the threat Jalen Hurts was to pull the ball down and take off and possibly cause more problems than flinging it downfield.
And these guys will be trying to just get some kind of pressure.
If they do their job, Greenlaw and Harris could have another big game.
And, like last week, I don’t even know that will be enough to derail Alabama.
It might keep showing improvement, though.
Which, of course, is what Morris keeps saying this team is trying to do every day.
Van Horn talking about exhibition game Friday
Hogs coach Dave Van Horn talked with the media Monday and he’s not real sure exactly what he’s looking for in Friday night’s exhibition matchup with Wichita State.
