15 days ? pic.twitter.com/iG1T3jqdNN
— Tye Richardson (@TyeSportsRadio) August 17, 2018
Some magic times in War Memorial Stadium.
Bud Light Countdown: 15 days until Hogs kick off the season
Bud Light Morning Rush Podcast: Friday
John, Tommy and Tyler Wilson touch on the injuries impacting the Razorbacks, news around the SEC, interview Raymond House and more!
At least Chad doesn’t have Orgeron’s problems at QB
Chad Morris and Joe Craddock are still trying to figure out their quarterback issue … and it’s a good bet the opening-day starter might not be the one that starts against Missouri the day after Thanksgiving.
“Just because we get to a point and we do name [a quarterback] doesn’t mean it’s a lifetime contract,” Morris said Thursday after practice.
It’s a little bit of a different issue than Ed Orgeron has going on these days at LSU where two left the team this week, leaving two scholarship quarterbacks on the roster.
Ed said this week he is concerned about the situation. At least that’s what I think he said in the clip I heard. There’s always a certain amount of caution quoting Ed because at times he sounds more like Farmer Fran in the movie The Waterboy than the head coach of an SEC team.
It’s just a straightforward competition in Fayetteville and nobody’s made noises about leaving, either.
“We talk about it all the time,” Morris said. “We talk about it every day. We want the same guy every day … whoever that guy’s going to be.”
Just from observations at the limited time we have at practice Ty Storey might be the frontrunner by a nose ahead of Cole Kelley and Daulton Hyatt. But don’t discount freshmen Connor Noland and John Stephen Jones.
A few years ago, nobody thought at this point Jalen Hurts was going to be the starting quarterback at Alabama and he wasn’t on opening night against Southern Cal.
But he did start the second half of that game and didn’t spit the bit until the first half of the national championship game this past January.
Morris isn’t afraid to start a freshman and shouldn’t be. Championship coaches seem to be doing pretty well these days with freshmen quarterbacks starting. As they have all said, they’ll take talent over experience every time.
As we’ve noted, there’s been good things from all of them. One day one will do something better than the others. Then, the next day it’s somebody else.
That’s really the problem for Morris.
“It’s all about being that same guy every day,” Morris said. “Up or down, it doesn’t matter, you’ve got to be able to control your emotions. You’ve got to be able to withstand adversity and keep pushing forward.”
At practice Thursday there were times when Kelley would misfire on a throw and you could hear him utter his disappointment all the way to the sidelines. At times last year his emotion was something that was cause for concern.
Now Morris is just trying to find somebody to take control, be consistent.
“There’s been some good things out of all of them,” he said. “I’ve been pleased with all of them. But they’ve all got to continue to keep pushing and keep getting better and keep moving that football down the field and doing the right things.”
It will be interesting to see how the freshmen do after having a couple of weeks to get settled into things because the fact both Noland and Jones are still in the conversation is because of their familiarity with the offense.
In passing drills, Noland and Jones have much shorter deliveries. Storey’s motion is much more compact than Kelley’s, which at times resembles a windmill on a rubber band trying to wind up. You can image safeties’ eyes getting big on each pass.
Saturday’s scrimmage will feature more passing than last week, Morris said. It will be just two weeks before the opener against Eastern Illinois and they’ve got to start finalizing some things.
The fans or media won’t get to see it. That may or may not be the norm for the future, but it is the reality now.
The offensive realities now are Morris is happy with the wide receivers (he said Thursday senior Jared Cornelius is really starting to emerge from a talented pack) and the running backs.
The offensive line, however, is a daily juggling competition and, well, we’ve just talked about the quarterback stuff going on.
As if the offensive line wasn’t already starting to resemble a MASH unit, offensive tackle Dalton Wagner was feeling a little sick the other day. They take him to get checked out and they had to do an appendectomy.
“You just kind of shake your head and go, ‘Well, OK, what’s next?'” Morris said about an offensive line that has been down around only eight players at times when they want to have 15 scholarship players there. “You can’t dwell on it. You don’t have time to dwell.”
He did say Thursday no more defensive linemen will be moved to the offensive side.
Which means there is a lot of playing time for the youngsters to get experience there.
And, to be perfectly honest, opening against Eastern Illinois, Colorado State and North Texas they should be okay even with the problems in the line.
The Hogs’ first real test will be against Auburn on September 22 in the fourth game.
Morris may have his quarterback issues sorted out by then.
Or maybe not.
Morris feels Thursday’s practice ‘best one this year’
Arkansas coach Chad Morris met with the media after Thursday’s practice and felt it was the best one they’ve had in fall camp and was upbeat going into Saturday’s scrimmage.
Hammonds goes down in practice with ankle injury
Arkansas running back T.J. Hammonds suffered an ankle injury at the end of a run during the 20-minute open period of practice Thursday.
It was the 12th practice of the year and Hammonds was helped off the field by trainers, who were seen wrapping the ankle before discarding that and going straight to ice.
It came one play after Cole Kelley had thrown to Tyson Morris for a big gain and one of the best deep shots we’ve seen in practices. Hammonds cut up the middle on the carry, fumbled and was injured.
The Morning Rush on Twitter
Long pass completion at practice Thursday from Cole Kelley to Tyson Morris. https://t.co/MLiWcW3TnQ
In other notes:
• Quarterbacks Ty Storey and Connor Noland were throwing the ball well in drills.
• Tight end Jeremy Patton was walking around practice with less of a limp than he had on Wednesday.
• Offensive tackle Brian Wallace was back after missing three days.
• Connor Limpert and Preston Stafford both made field goal attempts
• Offensive tackle Dalton Wagner apparently missed practice for the second straight day.
Bud Light Countdown: 16 days until Hogs kick off the season
16 days ? pic.twitter.com/K6dMPFsuuE
— Tye Richardson (@TyeSportsRadio) August 16, 2018
Remember what it was like to beat Alabama?
Photo via Stephen Dunn
Bud Light Morning Rush Podcast: Thursday
John and Tommy hit on the potential of Morris snagging a 5-star recruit, which newcomer will have the biggest season, interview ADG’s Richard Davenport and more!
Hogs’ soccer readying for opening week of games that count
FAYETTEVILLE — Since reporting August 1, Arkansas has been hard at work.
With 11 training sessions, two exhibition matches, numerous fitness tests and weightlifting sessions now behind them, it all starts to pay off when the 2018 season begins this Friday against Duquesne.
Arkansas will have to open the year on the road, however, as it will travel to State College, Pennsylvania to take part in the Penn State Invitational.
The Razorbacks won’t face the host school on this trip, but will get to face a top-10 opponent when they take on No. 9 West Virginia two days after facing the Dukes.
The home opener is next week against Nebraska-Omaha on Aug. 24.
With classes not set to begin until Aug. 20, the team has been able to put all of its focus on soccer. Seniors Carly Hoke and Reece Christopherson believe the team is well-prepared for the tough schedule ahead.
“I think we’re in a really good place,” Hoke said. “This preseason was set up differently from in the past. We were able to play a home game against Kansas State and then an away game at Nebraska. Those two teams are really good in their conference and we got to see a lot of our own problems early and get to solve it. That gives us a lot of confidence going into this weekend.”
“I think we have an advantage,” Christopherson said. “We’ve never played a game three days into the preseason like we did against Kansas State, so it helped. We got to play in a lot of different formations and test out which ones we liked and which ones we didn’t like and self-scout that way.”
Exhibition Match 1 – Kansas State vs. Arkansas (Razorback Field)
After only two days of actual practice as a team, the Razorbacks took the field against an outside opponent. Kansas State, just in its third season of existence as an official Division I program, was able to give the Hogs a good test out of the gate. Sophomore Taylor Malham provided the only score in the 1-0 Arkansas victory, but the most important thing was that many of the available players were able to play valuable minutes.
Exhibition Match 2 – Arkansas at Nebraska (Lincoln, Neb.)
Arkansas showcased its depth in its second exhibition against Nebraska, netting three goals while continuing to utilize the entire roster. Malham, once again, found the back of the net, but sophomore Abbi Neece and Tori Cannata also got in on the fun for the 3-1 victory.
Malham is coming off a busy summer competing with the US Women’s National U-19 team in Switzerland, but has not seemed to be slowing down.
Quick Soundbyte
“I think we are a lot deeper on our bench this year and are more confident with who we put out there. A lot of last year’s freshmen class were really strong, but now they’ve had a year to develop, get into our system and understand. We’ve gotten better as a team and there hasn’t been as big of a drop off like in the past.” – Senior Carly Hoke
“Everyone has gotten some really good minutes in so far. That’s been good because you can save legs for other games. We have a lot of younger girls that can step up this year.” – Senior Reece Christopherson
Arkansas Picked Sixth In Preseason SEC Coaches’ Poll
Earlier this week, the league coaches made their predictions on how they think the standings will shake out at season’s end. Arkansas, which finished 2017 as the eighth-place team, was selected two spots higher at sixth this week going into the 2018 opener.
The Razorbacks, who played in their second-consecutive SEC Tournament final last year, finished eighth in the conference in 2017 after compiling a 4-5-1 record. Arkansas has only finished lower than eighth once under head coach Colby Hale since his arrival in 2012.
Arkansas returns a total of 14 letter winners, including 12 starters after an 11-win team that appeared in its fourth NCAA Tournament in the last five years and a tallied a school record-tying 10 shutouts.
Doyle, VanFossen, Goins and Malham Selected To SEC Preseason Watch List
Four Razorbacks were picked as players to watch in the SEC this year. Junior Stefani Doyle, along with sophomores Parker Goins, Taylor Malham and Haley VanFossen all made the list that includes some of the best in the league.
Arkansas was one of 10 teams with four or more players named to the watch list and it’s the second-straight year for Doyle to earn the distinction.
Hogs’ soccer picks up pair of national television appearances
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — With the 2018 season set to begin this weekend for Razorback soccer, fans will have the opportunity to not only catch a great slate of matches at Razorback Field, but also on television and online via the Watch ESPN app.
Arkansas’ home matchups against Texas A&M (Sept. 20) and Missouri (Sept. 27) will both be broadcast on the SEC Network, as well as online via the Watch ESPN app. The Razorbacks also picked up a regional audience via Cox Sports for their match at McNeese State (Aug. 26).
With the two SEC Network pickups, the start time for both matches against the Aggies and Tigers will have new start times, both at 6 p.m.
Other home matches will be televised online only via SEC Network+ with the exception of the match against Nebraska-Omaha (Aug. 24).
Most, if not all, of the road conference slate will be on SEC Network+, the online-only arm of the SEC Network, which can be accessed via WatchESPN.com or the Watch ESPN app.
Those schedules will be released by each school as the season draws near.
2018 Television Schedule | all times central
Sun, Aug 26 – Arkansas at McNeese State, 4 p.m. (Cox Sports)
Thu, Sept. 20 – Texas A&M at Arkansas, 6 p.m. (SEC Network)
Thu, Sept. 27 – Missouri at Arkansas, 6 p.m. (SEC Network)
This year marks the second year in a row that Razorback Field has hosted at least two nationally televised matches. The first match this year is set for Thursday, Sept. 20 against Texas A&M, a rematch of last year’s SEC Tournament final.
A week later, Arkansas will host the Missouri Tigers on Thursday, Sept. 27, with first kick at 6 p.m. on the SEC Network. The Razorbacks and Tigers have not faced each other since 2016, but Arkansas has come out victorious in four of its last five dating back to 2012.
The league office also unveiled that the entire SEC Tournament held in Orange Beach, Alabama, will once again be televised on the SEC Network. The tournament runs from Oct. 28 – Nov. 4, at the Orange Beach Sports Complex.
Razorback volleyball picks up six television appearances
FAYETTEVILLE — As part of this week’s broadcast release by the SEC, Arkansas is scheduled to make six national television appearances during the upcoming season.
wo of the six dates will originate from Barnhill Arena with eight additional SEC Network+ home broadcasts available through the WatchESPN app.
2018 Television Schedule | all times central
Wed, Sept. 19 at Texas A&M – 7 p.m. (SEC Network)
Wed, Oct. 17 vs South Carolina – 7 p.m. (SEC Network)
Wed, Oct. 24 at Mississippi State – 7 p.m. (SEC Network)
Sun, Nov. 4 at Florida – 3 p.m. (SEC Network)
Wed, Nov. 14 vs Kentucky – 5 p.m. (ESPNU)
Wed, Nov. 21 at Georgia – 5 p.m. (SEC Network)
An additional television appearance could be added with a wildcard pick to be decided at the discretion of the SEC Network.
The late-season home date—Nov. 18 against Tennessee—allows for the league to select those compelling matchups that could influence league standings or postseason status at that point in the year.
2018 Arkansas Volleyball Schedule
The Razorbacks open their 2018 campaign Aug. 24 with a home match against Kansas. First serve of the season opener is slated for 6 p.m. at Barnhill Arena.
Including the Jayhawks, Arkansas is scheduled to face seven opponents that played in last year’s NCAA Tournament.
Arkansas will cap its second week of preseason camp Saturday afternoon with an exhibition match at Oklahoma. The two teams will play at McCasland Field House in Norman at 3 p.m.
Coach Jason Watson enters his third season at the helm of the program and off a year in which he led Arkansas to a 19-11 record.
The team returns 11 members from last year and will be bolstered by an incoming class that earned Highest Honorable Mention accolades — just outside the top 30 — from PrepVolleyball.com.
Cross on competition at wide receiver positions
Hogs wide receiver talked after practice Wednesday about the group looking better and how much he’s enjoying the offensive style with the new look and speed.
