Arkansas beat Eastern Illinois, 55-20, to open the season Saturday and here are some of the best pictures from the game. (Photos by Ted McClenning | HitThatLine.com)
WATCH: Highlights of Hogs’ victory over Eastern Illinois
Credit: WarMachine2013
Hogs use Storey to get offense rolling in 55-20 win
Arkansas finally answered the burning question fans have been asking since Chad Morris was named coach last December with Cole Kelley as the starting quarterback.
That question was answered and probably not the way most people expected.
Ty Storey came in and jump-started the offense, the defense got a whopping five turnovers and it was a 55-20 start in Morris’ first game.
But the staggering start was not something Morris wanted to see.
“it was an extremely slow start,” was how Morris put it later.
That was, quite simply, an understatement. Kelley started with great field position after Chevin Calloway jumped on a fumble at the Eastern Illinois 35.
Kelley got one first down, but then the offense misfired and Connor Limpert kicked a 35-yard field goal and an early 3-0 lead.
He couldn’t get the Razorbacks in the end zone for the rest of the first quarter, but the defense got another turnover when Briston Guidry recovered a fumble in the end zone caused by Armon Watts and it was a 10-0 lead.
“We could not get into a rhythm,” Morris said of the offense in the first quarter. “Our pace of play was very slow. We just couldn’t get things going.”
Thank goodness for the defense.
“The defense helped set the tone and get this thing started,” Morris said.
Storey helped. In the second quarter alone he was 10-of-13 passing for 214 yards and three touchdowns.
He passed to La’Michael Pettway for 14 yards on a play where Pettway fell down and still made the catch, then a 48-yard completion for a score and, after Morris handled the clock masterfully towards the end of the first half, hit a wide open Jordan Jones for a 57-yard play with 45 seconds left.
“At the time we were 3-0 and Ty saw an opportunity to step up and complete a pass up the middle to Jordan Jones,” Morris said. “That sparked him. That was the spark that we needed.”
That 46-yard pass to Jones was the spark, everyone agreed later.
“It just felt like it took that one play and we all settled down and got into a rhythm,” Storey said. “When you have guys like that out there, you just get them the ball and they’ll convert. My job is not too hard.”
Morris also was trying after the game to make things as smooth as possible for Kelley, but he made the same point he’s made all through spring and in fall camp.
“The name of the game is putting the ball in the end zone,” he said. “That’s really the key when this whole thing comes into play. How can I get the ball in the end zone?”
He didn’t forget Kelley, though.
“He was our starter and he was our finisher,” Morris said as Kelley played most of the fourth quarter, going 3-for-5 for 55 yards, most of it coming on a 42-yard catch and run to tight end Austin Cantrell.
Eastern Illinois, coached by former Razorback Kim Dameron, came into the game determined to not let Arkansas run the ball up the middle all day.
He knew the inexperience at quarterback the Hogs had and he was going to make them throw the ball to win, which the Hogs did when Storey came in.
“You have to give them credit and bringing some pressure and dropping some safeties down in the box,” Morris said. “I was expected more out of the run game, but I’m not quick to make an assessment on that until I watch some film, but I think there’s some areas that I think we have to get better in.
“Not everything, but we have to run harder, we’ve got to block better, we’ve got to hold our blocks better and we might have some reads and the quarterback position that we may have pulled a read when we should have held the read. Those are things that we’ll just go back in and reevaluate.”
In the end, though, it was a win.
“We’re just excited about starting this thing 1-0,” Morris said. “You can’t build a house without a foundation and we needed a starting point. That’s kind of what I’ve shared and what I’ve talked about from the get-go, something that we can use as a base moving forward.”
And it appears they’ll be moving forward with Storey at quarterback.
Morris glad to get out of opener with opening win
Arkansas coach Chad Morris was glad to come away with a win Saturday in his first game as coach of the Razorbacks, but he knows there’s still a lot of work to get done.
Storey, Pettway, Harris talking about opening victory
Quarterback Ty Storey, wide receiver La’Michael Pettway and linebacker De’Jon Harris talked with the media after Arkansas’ 55-20 win over Eastern Illinois to open the season.
McClure, Jones, Calloway recapping Razorbacks win
Linebacker D’Vone McClure, wide receiver Jordan Jones and cornerback Chevin Calloway talked after the 55-20 win over Eastern Illinois about the defensive effort, big offensive plays.
Razorback Stadium lit up all in red for home opener
With the season-opener against Eastern Illinois just hours away, Razorback Stadium was completely lit up with a red glow and it drew a crowd of folks on a busy Friday night in Fayetteville.
Photos by Andy Hodges | HitThatLine.com
One man’s pick: Hogs take an easy one over Eastern Illinois
(Every week Peter Morgan and Andy Hodges will compete to see who picks the most games right. The disclaimer for both picks is if you use them for a friendly wager … you’re on your own and if you lose, well, you get what you pay for.)
Nostradamus. The man behind the credited predictions of the French Revolution, the Great Fire of London, and Arkansas Razorbacks Football.
Well, maybe not the latter, however, one must wonder what the reputed seer would have to say when it comes to the fresh 2018 NCAA football season.
Game by game, a man with a lesser name and lesser fame will attempt to do that which those who place bets in Vegas merely dream. So, with the start of the new campaign, let’s predict Hogs football, shall we?
First up is Eastern Illinois making their trek south to Razorbacks Stadium. Let’s be completely transparent: not much is truly known about any team before the season begins.
That’s why end of the season polls rarely look much like their pre-season equivalents with the exception of (you guessed it) Alabama always hanging around the top.
The offense for Arkansas looks to educate itself simply on what the spread can do with Cole Kelley at the helm for at least the first two series.
Mix in coach Chad Morris installing the new hurry-up system versus Bret Bielema’s slow-the-pace mentality, seeing how the players have and will transition shall be a determining factor not only for this game but for the remainder of the season as well.
There is something about the returning players on defense mixed with the wisdom of John Chavis that has my hopes up a little higher than they probably should be.
Fortunately, we are playing the Panthers of Eastern Illinois which will enable us to iron out any deficiencies. Unfortunately, we are playing the Panthers of Eastern Illinois which will not enable us to determine how good the defense will perform in the SEC.
My guess is that we have an improved defense compared to seasons past which will enable the offense to better find its way over the next year.
Special team. Flip a coin for now. I may have missed too many practices to accurately predict anything here, however, I am hopeful that this Saturday’s game does not come down to anything related to field goals, punting, or anything related to an onside kick.
I do not have enough antacids to support my well-being if so.
So here you have it, from a mere mortal who once prophesied that “MySpace” would change the way that people do business, these are Week One’s conjectures:
Inside, amongst the new northern end zone seats, the fans will be in somewhat strong force for the Labor Day Weekend matchup.
Those wearing red and ‘Calling the Hogs’ will watch the Razorbacks score on their first series, struggle on their second, and push through a less than stellar first half.
However, while Arkansas does not cover the spread, they do make the appropriate adjustments and make short work in the second half against Eastern Illinois. Arkansas 34 – EUI 10.
While I am at it, I might as well make guesswork for the rest of the SEC in some key early season contests: (Spoiler alert: watch out for some homeristic selections.)
• Coastal Carolina at South Carolina – Gamecocks by 28
• Ole Miss at Texas Tech – Red Raiders by 10
• Austin Peay at (3) Georgia – Bulldogs by 30
• (6) Washington at (9) Auburn – Tigers by 7
• (17) West Virginia at Tennessee [UPSET ALERT] – Vols by 3
• Central Michigan at Kentucky – Wildcats by 17
• UT Martin at Missouri – Tigers easily by 28
• SF Austin @ (18) Mississippi State – Bulldogs by 35
• Charleston Southern at Florida – Gators by 42
• Middle Tennessee at Vanderbilt – Vandy by 12
• Louisville at (1) Alabama – Crimson Tide by 22
• (8) Miami at (25) LSU – Hurricanes by 7
PICKS: Don’t compare Hogs opener with Aggies’ win
The Jimbo Fisher era opened Thursday night and Texas Aggies everywhere are ready to put the team in the College Football Playoff.
A whoop-de-do 59-7 win will do that.
The Chad Morris era opens Saturday for Arkansas and while it should be a convincing win for the Razorbacks, they won’t go through the Panthers with quite the ease A&M did through Northwestern State.
Eastern Illinois is a better program.
Kim Dameron, who I remember as a wide-eyed freshman back in 1979, hasn’t done a terrible job, but the Panthers are living in that 6-5 world of mediocrity.
Hog fans are finally getting an offense many have wanted for over a decade. Remember when many, including some in the media, were clamoring for Gus Malzahn’s offense about 15 years or so ago?
Frank Broyles made the off-the-cuff statement that offense wouldn’t work in the Southeastern Conference, but he wasn’t taking into account rules changes over that time frame that have basically made playing defense now slightly more physical than two-hand touch. The Aggies had two players kicked out in the first half for targeting Thursday night.
Still, A&M looked like a team more disciplined against Northwestern State. Their defense didn’t have much of a challenge, but did get burned once on a long pass to Jazz Ferguson, a 6-5 speedster that started at LSU.
Eastern Illinois would probably be favored by 10 points over the Aggies’ opening day opponent.
There’s not really a line on the Hogs-Panthers game. This is one of those games that SEC teams shouldn’t play, in my opinion. If Nick Saban has his way, there won’t be any non-Power 5 opponents on any SEC team’s schedule, but it’s not that way now.
The Razorbacks have better players than Eastern Illinois. Shoot, Morris and his staff had better players at SMU than the Panthers will stroll into newly-renovated Razorback Stadium with Saturday.
There’s not a line on this one at the sportsbooks I looked at Friday. That’s because there’s not much point in having a line on FCS teams when they play somebody in the SEC.
But the Hogs should score at least 50 in this game. They might hang 35 on the board before halftime.
Whatever the result is, it shouldn’t be close.
AROUND THE SEC
Washington vs. -2.5 Auburn (in Atlanta)
Gus Malzahn is favored in this opener, mainly because the Tigers will have virtually a home game in this one.
But the Huskies will come in as the preseason leader in the Pac 12.
Auburn will try and control the game with the run and a defense that has a front probably only slightly behind Clemson if you did a power ranking of that position.
That could be enough.
Auburn 28, Washington 24
LOUISVILLE vs. -24 ALABAMA (in Orlando)
Bobby Petrino said during the summer the Cardinals would win this game. There was no report of him flying through the handlebars or getting repeated blows to the head, so you can only assume that was talk to fire up the fan base.
If Louisville wins this game, the shock waves across the SEC and all of college football won’t quite reverberating for a while.
From what I’ve heard Tua Tagovalia will be the starting quarterback, mainly because he’s better than Jalen Hurts. It’s a delicate tap dance act Nick Saban has done with that issue through spring and summer.
And, yes, I’m aware it may be the first time an SEC starter who went 26-2 in games he started and finished, 27-2 if you want to give Hurts credit for the national championship game that Tagovalia finished back in January.
Somehow, Saban will have it figured out by the time the game starts.
Alabama 48, Louisville 17
-10 West Virginia vs. Tennessee (in Charlotte)
Nobody, including a lot of the Volunteers’ faithful, give Tennessee much of a chance in this one.
I talked with the noted Tennessee booster and historian, Bud Young from Crump, Tenn., and he held out little to no hope.
“Will Grier may throw for 500 yards in this game alone,” Young said in a dejected tone.
New coach Jeremy Pruitt inherits a team that was in total chaos last year. We’ll see how much of an impact his presence makes the first year.
But it likely won’t be enough.
West Virginia 35, Tennessee 14
Ole Miss vs. -2.5 Texas Tech (in Houston)
The Rebels will be wearing all white for the first time in school history. Yes, that includes white helmets, which will just look weird.
There will be little to no defense played in this game.
Ole Miss 38, Texas Tech 35
Miami -3.5 vs. LSU (in Arlington, Texas)
After listening for two days to talking heads on the SEC Network say that LSU is going to surprise some people, I’m inclined to agree … but not in the same way.
The Tigers are my pick to be the biggest collapse this season. Shoot, by the time they play Arkansas in November it won’t be THAT surprising if they have five losses and Ed Orgeron is either gone or going down in flames.
Miami 24, LSU 10
Everybody else in the SEC will win … and none of the games should really be close:
• South Carolina -29.5 over Coastal Carolina
• Georgia over Austin Peay
• Kentucky -17.5 over Western Michigan
• Missouri over Tennessee-Martin
• Mississippi State over Stephen F. Austin
• Florida over Charleston Southern
• Vanderbilt -3 over Middle Tennessee State
Bud Light Countdown: 1 day until Hogs kick off the season
1 day ? pic.twitter.com/rkrPpVifju
— Tye Richardson (@TyeSportsRadio) August 31, 2018
Always fun dominating in Death Valley.
