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Jackson talking about being back, healthy, in lineup once again

Arkansas offensive lineman Colton Jackson talked Tuesday about finally being back in the lineup for game against Auburn, team’s reaction to loss to North Texas.

It’s Storey time this week for Hogs on The Plains

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You could excuse Ty Storey for looking at Chad Morris’ putting him at the No. 1 quarterback spot this week as the old good news, bad news situation.

The good news, Ty, is you’re starting. The bad news is you face Auburn first.

Which is how this Arkansas team enters the Southeastern Conference part of it’s schedule this week down on The Plains against a defense that might be considered the best in the league if there wasn’t that pesky Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide a few hours up the road.

“We plan to give him the entire game,” Morris said Monday about naming Storey the No. 1 quarterback.

This week will likely see a simplified offensive game plan. To the average fan it will look pretty much the same, but the guess is there’s going to be more decisions made before the ball is snapped than after, which is what the Razorbacks have been trying to do.

Right now Hog fans feel like they’re starting a 1-11 season in the face, maybe 2-10 because Tulsa is on the schedule.

Of course every Monday morning quarterback in the state has the solution to the problem, most of which can’t be done because they’re basing it on the way things were done 40 years ago.

Coaches can’t do that these days because of different rules restricting what coaches can do with the players and, quite simply, a different attitude with youngsters.

The depth chart once again showed Storey or Cole Kelley as the No. 1 quarterback, but you have to wonder how many more chances Kelley is going to get. He’s not the answer in Morris’ offense, no matter what you think of the big guy.

We really don’t know what we don’t know about Storey. Some close to the program felt he never got a fair chance with the previous coaching staff. That’s not relevant now, but he still doesn’t have near the number of game reps that Kelley has.

You got the idea Monday that Morris is very much aware of the feeling many fans have. Let’s be clear … I don’t think he expected these problems, either.

The way the rules are now the only way coaches can really find out what they have with a team is when there’s a game. With serious scholarship limitations and coaches, in effect, having just 17 hours a week with a team and a mandated day off (which is Monday for the Hogs).

Yes, it’s 17 hours a week because the game counts as an additional three hours and the weekly limit from the NCAA is 20 hours a week.

“I do know offensive football,” Morris said at one point Monday. “I know what it takes.”

He’s in a worse situation than Bret Bielema was in 2013 when Steve Spurrier told him he was just going to have to recruit his way out of his problem after drilling the Hogs on homecoming, 51-7.

Morris came in after basically seven years or mediocre recruiting and two years of poor coaching on the offensive line combined with a basic failure to retain or develop players at that position.

He’s going to do what coaches have done for decades — make things simpler, reduce thinking and focus on getting better every day.

I’ve heard it from coaches forever.

Jimmy Johnson had to fire his first offensive coordinator in Dallas, bring in Norv Turner who drastically simplified things and the results were back-to-back Super Bowl titles.

It took a year, but few people remember his first season there when the Cowboys looked as bad as any team in NFL history, including the 1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. John McKay was asked once about the execution of his team and he replied, “I’m all in favor of it.”

LSU simplified things after a one-and-done year with Matt Canada as offensive coordinators. They have started the season beating two Top 10 teams in three weeks, including Auburn last week which likely will have them focused for the Hogs this week.

Cutting back is not giving up, which is how one fan described it to me this week.

“Maybe we only run 10 percent of our offense,” Morris said this week. “I want us to be effective with 10 percent.”

He knows the urgency. He also knows the schedule, although no coach will ever admit looking beyond that week’s opponent.

In reality, Morris has three games in Auburn, Texas A&M and Alabama where he better keep things simple or it could get beyond ugly in a hurry … and it might anyway.

And it all starts with the quarterback, the position where the No. 2 guy has a group wanting him put in every time a drive doesn’t end in a touchdown and it’s been a revolving door through three games.

“We’ve been talking about who the quarterback is since April,” Morris said. “We want to settle on a quarterback. Believe me when I say that. It’s been inconsistent.”

It’s Storey time for the Hogs this week.

After that will depend on what happens this week.

PHOTOS: Hogs’ practice Tuesday with Storey at quarterback

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Chad Morris announced Ty Storey will be the starting quarterback against Auburn on Saturday and Tuesday was the first look at him in basic drills during the media’s access in the early part of practice.

Photos by Andy Hodges | HitThatLine.com

Patton on offense getting behind Storey in practice

Razorbacks tight end Jeremy Patton talked Tuesday about how the offense is rallying around quarterback Ty Storey, who was named the starter this week by Chad Morris on Monday.

Watts on finally getting his shot to play for Razorbacks

Hogs defensive lineman Armon Watts didn’t see the field much under the previous coaching staff, but is proving to be one of the key members of this defensive line unit.

???? Tuesday Halftime Pod — Featuring Rivals’ Nikki Chavanelle

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Phil Elson and Tye Richardson talk booing in college sports, interview Nikki Chavanelle, and the soon to be famous Get Off My Lawn segment.

Razorbacks will play Ole Miss second week in 2019

FAYETTEVILLE — The Southeastern Conference announced the 2019 football schedules for all 14 schools on Tuesday, including the Razorbacks who will open the 2019 season at Razorback Stadium against Portland State.

The biggest change, though, will come in the second week when Arkansas will travel to Ole Miss to open the conference season.

There will be two open dates, Oct. 5 and Nov. 19.

Along with opening against the Vikings, Arkansas will host Colorado State, San Jose State, Auburn, Mississippi State and Western Kentucky in Fayetteville before wrapping up the regular season in Little Rock at War Memorial Stadium against Missouri.

The Razorbacks will visit Ole Miss, Kentucky, Alabama and LSU and square off against Texas A&M in Arlington, Texas at AT&T Stadium.

The schedule also includes two open dates for Arkansas, Oct. 5 and Nov. 19.

The 2019 schedule features a trio of new opponents for the Hogs. Arkansas will play Portland State, San Jose State and Western Kentucky for the first time in school history. Arkansas’ fourth non-conference game will be a rematch against Colorado State. The SEC schedule will take the Razorbacks to Kentucky for the first time since 2008 in the first matchup against the Wildcats since 2012.

Date Opponent
Aug. 31 Portland State
Sept. 7 at Ole Miss
Sept. 14 Colorado State
Sept. 21 San Jose State
Sept. 28 vs. Texas A&M (Arlington)
Oct. 12 at Kentucky
Oct. 19 Auburn
Oct. 26 at Alabama
Nov. 2 Mississippi State
Nov. 9 Western Kentucky
Nov. 23 at LSU
Nov. 30 Missouri (Little Rock)

’Dogs jump to No. 2 overall; LR Christian, PA tied in Class 5A

Following is the Overall top 10 overall high school football teams in Arkansas and the top five in Classes 6A, 5A, 4A, 3A and 2A, as voted by a panel of sports media from around the state for the week ending September 15.

Ranking is given with first-place votes received, records, total points and last week’s rankings:

OVERALL

1. North Little Rock (29) 3-0 332 1
2. Fayetteville (3) 3-0 296 3
3. Bryant 2-1 226 2
4. Conway (1) 3-0 205 4
5. FS Northside 3-0 193 5
6. Greenwood 2-1 120 8
7. Pulaski Academy 2-1 89 6
8. Springdale 3-0 75 9
9. Warren (1) 2-0 61 10
10. Cabot 2-1 44 7

Others receiving votes: West Memphis 43, Benton 41,Bentonville 25, LR Christian 18, FS Southside 16, Joe T. Robinson 14, Bentonville West 11, Springdale Har-Ber 8, Rivercrest 8, Pine Bluff 4, Searcy 2, Texarkana 1.

CLASS 6A

1. Greenwood (27) 2-1 154 1
2. West Memphis (6) 3-0 132 2
3. Benton (1) 2-1 109 3
4. Searcy 3-0 65 5
5. Pine Bluff 0-2-1 27 4

Others receiving votes: El Dorado 10, Lake Hamilton 7, Marion 3, Jonesboro 1, Russellville 1.

CLASS 5A

1. LR Christian (14) 3-0 146 2
1. Pulaski Academy (18) 2-1 146 1
3. LR McClellan 3-0 85 3
4. Harrison 3-0 64 4
5. Texarkana (2) 2-1 50 5

Others receiving votes: Watson Chapel 12, Nettleton 5, Morrilton 1, Greenbrier 1.

Class 4A

1. Warren (33) 2-0 169 1
2. Joe T. Robinson 2-1 125 2
3. Nashville (1) 3-0 108 3
4. Rivercrest 3-0 48 4
5. Southside Batesville 2-1 32 5

Others receiving votes: Dardanelle 10, Arkadelphia 6, Bauxite 6, Pea Ridge 3, Gosnell 2, DeWitt 2, Fountain Lake 1, Shiloh Christian 1.

CLASS 3A

1. Booneville (26) 3-0 161 1
2. Clinton (5) 3-0 124 2
3. Prescott (2) 3-0 87 3
4. Mayflower (3-0) 55 4
5. McGehee (1) 1-2 18 5

Others receiving votes:, Smackover 14, Charleston 9, Rison 9, Melbourne 7, Atkins 6, Osceola 5, Newport 3, Glen Rose 1.

CLASS 2A

1. Mount Ida (21) 3-0 154 1
2. Foreman (10) 2-0 120 2
3. Hazen (1) 2-0 105 3
4. Mineral Springs (1) 3-0 49 5
5. Junction City (1) 1-2 35 4

Others receiving votes: Hampton 15, Conway Christian 11, Bigelow 9, Earle 3, England 2 DesArc 2, Fordyce 2, McCrory 1, Hector 1, Poyen 1.

Hogs open SEC schedule on road at Texas A&M on Wednesday

FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas turns its attention to SEC play which begins Wednesday at Texas A&M.

First serve of the conference opener is scheduled for 7 p.m. on the SEC Network. Arkansas (6-4) has won nine of its past 10 SEC openers including five in a row.

All-Time Series vs Texas A&M
Wednesday’s match will be the 11th meeting in the series, all since the Aggies joined the SEC prior to 2012.

Arkansas won both matchups last year including a straight-set win in College Station. Three of Arkansas’ four wins in the series have come in College Station.

Courtney Lyle (play-by-play) and Jenny Hazelwood (analyst) will be on the call for Wednesday’s match.

Last Time Out
Arkansas closed out its non-conference schedule with a four-set road loss at Georgia Tech (Sept. 15).

Sophomore Logan Brown tallied a career-high 20 kills while Hailey Dirrigl (16 kills, 11 digs) and Rachel Rippee (47 assists, 10 digs) each had double-doubles in the setback.

In the weekend opener against NC State (Sept. 14), the Razorbacks had 11 service aces including four from freshman Lauren Evans.

Logan’s Last Five
Over her last four outings, sophomore Logan Brown has put down 68 kills which is good for 3.78 kills per set coupled with a .297 hitting percentage.

Her career-high 20 kills against Georgia Tech (Sept. 15) replaced her previous best of 15 which she posted in the previous two matches.

Milestone Watch
Senior libero Okiana Valle enters the week needing 26 digs to reach 1,500 for her career.

She has four matches this season with at least 20 digs including a season-high 24 digs in the opener against Kansas (Aug. 24).

Additionally, Rachel Rippee is 34 assists shy of 2,732 career assists which would move her into the program’s all-time top five.

Career Assists at Arkansas
1. 5,886 – Tina Rico (1994-97)
2. 3,661 – Raymariely Santos (2010-13)
3. 3,182 – Ning Zhao (1998-99)
4. 2,825 – Lindsay Scanlan (2006-09)
5. 2,732 – Roberta Tarnauskaite (2002-03)
6. 2,698 – Rachel Rippee (2016-pres.)

Where They Rank
Through four weeks of the 2018 campaign, junior Rachel Rippee is second in the SEC with 10.89 assists per set and senior libero Okiana Valle is third with 4.41 digs per set.

In the middle, sophomore Elizabeth Pamphile ranks fifth in the conference with 1.05 blocks per set.

Additional top-10 SEC performers are sophomore Hailey Dirrigl who is seventh with 3.53 kills per set and freshman Lauren Evans who is eighth with 0.38 aces per set.

Bud Light Morning Rush Podcast: Tuesday

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Tommy and John are joined by Tyler Wilson to discuss Ty Storey’s strengths, battle at Auburn and more!

???? Monday Halftime Pod — Featuring former Hog Brett Goode

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Phil Elson and Tye Richardson are joined by former Razorback Bret Goode to discuss losing a second consecutive game, former players calling the team out, 3up-3down and more!