After last Saturday’s 44-17 loss to North Texas, one of the better teams in Conference USA, it wasn’t hard to tell Chad Morris was ticked off afterwards.
Not so much because of WHAT he said, but HOW he said it.
Then, as he left the stadium after recording his weekly television show, Morris strode from the new North End Zone to the parking lot outside the Fred Smith Center like a man trying to get somewhere in a hurry.
All of that is why we weren’t surprised Monday to hear that in the Sunday meeting with the team, Morris went off on the entire team. According to what we were told, there were no punches pulled and the words used left little doubt as to what Morris was feeling.
Good. Great. That’s the best news I’ve heard in a trainwreck of a season that flew off course in the fourth quarter against Colorado State and wandered in the wilderness against a North Texas team Arkansas should have beaten by four touchdowns.
No, this Razorback team isn’t devoid of talent. There appeared to be the appearance of going through the motions by some folks on the field and Cole Kelley simply melted down in a game situation.
Morris and offensive coordinator Joe Craddock, desperate to get some stability at quarterback, even gave Kelley a vote of confidence and put him back on the field in the third quarter.
And Kelley responded with another interception. For a team looking for consistency at maybe the most critical position on the team, Kelley provided that … he was consistently throwing the ball to the other guys.
Blame who you want. Morris and Craddock on Monday tried to deflect some of the blame from Kelley, but there was something there because for the first time since spring practice started, Morris stepped up and named a starting quarterback early in the week, giving Ty Storey the nod with no equivocation.
Kelley is a big, tall kid with a strong arm. It’s amazing how many of those I’ve seen over the years that absolutely blew you away in practice. Then get in a game and lose their mind.
The classic sign of that is the quarterback pointing to everyone on the field but himself after every interception. Kelley looked like one of those guys near the terminal at an airport waving in the airplanes the way he was waving his hands coming off the field.
At halftime I remarked to somebody in the pressbox they should have Kelley untie his shoes and tie them back so he can say he did at least one thing right in the game.
It was surprising he started the second half. It wasn’t surprising when Connor Noland replaced him in the third quarter.
Now Storey gets his chance.
For the first time in his career in Fayetteville, Ty is given the same backing that other quarterbacks got under the previous coaching staff.
Morris and Craddock didn’t mention anybody else. Apparently they are going with Storey against Auburn, sink or swim. Some think if he can just dog paddle and stay alive that will be progress.
Don’t misunderstand the simplification of the offense. That doesn’t mean Storey’s just going to turn and hand the ball off to the running back three times, then send in the punter and let the adventure begin with THAT aspect of the Hogs’ game.
The reads won’t be as complex for either Storey or the receivers.
In practice Wednesday, Storey was much sharper in most of the passing drills I saw, connecting with receivers consistently more than other quarterbacks. He has looked more relaxed with his body language this week.
What does that mean for Saturday?
I have no idea. It could be incredibly ugly with a final score. After getting beaten at home by LSU last week, the Tigers will be looking for redemption.
But, let’s face it, it can’t be any worse that what we’ve seen the last two years from Auburn. The Hogs have lost 56-3 and 52-20 each of the last two games … that’s 108-23 over the last couple of seasons.
We’ll see how Morris’ stern talk Sunday night plays out with this team Saturday.
