14 days ? pic.twitter.com/SIsyTkl9Zz
— Tye Richardson (@TyeSportsRadio) August 18, 2018
Stoerner to Lucas.
Photo credit: Brian Bahr/Getty Images
Bud Light Countdown: 14 days until Hogs kick off the season
Don’t count on passing top QB requirement for Hogs
With Chad Morris not wanting to put any particular quarterback ahead of another in fall camp, it does lead to a constant conversation topic for radio talk shows and any gathering of two fans or more.
The view from here is many fans simply haven’t paid close enough attention to what Morris has been saying since the spring.
Being the best passer isn’t a primary measuring stick. This isn’t the same scenario for Arkansas as it was in 2008 when Bobby Petrino took over.
Morris wants to run the ball. Petrino made no secret of the fact he preferred passing, even saying on a couple of occasions he wasn’t patient enough to run the ball downfield, gaining four and five yards at time.
You get the feeling if the Razorbacks were getting 4-5 yards a clip by simply handing it off on the first read in Morris’ offense there wouldn’t be a pass thrown.
And the time between snaps would be so fast you better not look down to grab your popcorn.
Morris has said since he was announced as coach his offense is a two-back, run-oriented offense that will take deep shots down the field. I didn’t think that was very hard to understand, but a lot of folks still aren’t grasping it.
His offenses are remarkably balanced.
At SMU last year, they ran the ball 486 times and passed it 487 times. You don’t get much more balanced than that, but there’s a more important message.
If you thought this was going to be slinging it all over the field in the air like Petrino, forget it. That’s not what Morris does.
While Petrino’s first team struggled the first year, a lot of that was adjusting to a coach who, let’s be nice here, was not a players’ coach. For the players returning, it was in stark contrast to the Houston Nutt style. For high school players, well, there were some who decided before the halfway point of the season they were leaving and had to be talked out of it by Bobby.
There were other issues, too. Most of the skill position players coming in had played a Morris-style offense in high school. For example, it took Tyler Wilson some time to adapt to getting the snap from under center and dropping back. In high school he started back where Petrino wanted him to get to.
An astonishing number of the Hogs’ current skill position players — both returning veterans and newcomers — played a Morris-style offense in high school. Some an offense created after their coach went to one of Morris’ clinics.
The learning curve isn’t that steep. As commentator Greg McElroy pointed out on the SEC Network last week, the learning curve isn’t nearly as steep making this change as it was from Petrino to Bret Bielema’s style.
Now don’t misunderstand me. This team would need a lot of breaks and maybe a miracle or two to get to nine or 10 wins. No way I will go out on that limb and make a prediction in that range.
But there is a path to get there … if they get the breaks and that miracle or two. In Lou Holtz’ first year, he got some breaks:
• After winning the league in their first year in 1976, the Cougars were dealing with a pesky NCAA investigation that finally blew up just before playing the Hogs and they simply showed up as the Hogs romped to a 34-0 win in Little Rock.
• At Texas A&M a month later, the Hogs had to get a very late pass completion from Ron Calcagni to Robert Farrell, on a route they modified for a score to pull out a 27-22 win. Patrick Martin had to intercept a pass in the end zone to salvage the win.
• In Lubbock on Thanksgiving, the Hogs sleepwalked through the first half, threatening to derail an Orange Bowl bid, and finally did just enough for a 17-14 win over the Red Raiders. Tech had lost the previous week to Houston, 45-7, after the Cougars shook off the midseason NCAA slump.
The point is, to win nine or 10 games, there’s always a break or two, plus usually something bordering on near-miracle that makes the difference. Very few folks just steamroll their way to even nine wins.
To have a shot at any of that, Arkansas is going to need a quarterback that makes quick, correct decisions.
And THAT is the No. 1 thing Morris and offensive coordinator Joe Craddock are trying to find on this team.
Which is why worrying about who’s got the biggest arm of the bunch is likely not even in the equation. From what I’ve seen in limited views, every one of the quarterbacks can make the throws required in this offense.
How accurate they are is more important than how fast they get the ball there. Getting rid of it fast is a factor, but still not the biggest factor.
Who starts at quarterback is likely going to be more about what’s going on above the shoulders than anything below that.
And it won’t be surprising if Morris waits until game day to make the decision.
Defensive stand gives Hogs win in first official game of season
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Arkansas did not concede a single shot in its 2018 season opener Friday night against Duquesne and used a strong second half effort to defeat the Dukes, 1-0, at Jeffrey Field.
The lone goal came from junior Kayla McKeon in the 37th minute in the run of play as the first half winded down. McKeon has now scored 14 goals in her Razorback career and has scored once in two of the last three season openers.
Friday night’s victory over the Dukes was Arkansas’ ninth season-opening win in the last 10 years and sixth-straight victory via shutout going back to 2017.
The team will now look ahead to its marquee matchup of the weekend against No. 9 West Virginia on Sunday at 11 a.m., which will also be played on the Penn State campus.
From Head Coach Colby Hale
“The positive is that we won the match. Winning is never easy, but we worked out some first-game jitters against a good Duquesne team. We need to keep progressing in order to reach out final goals. Duquesne had some moments today, but we didn’t concede a shot and it’s good to get a ‘W’ in our first match.” – Head coach Colby Hale
How It Went Down
Pregame – Arkansas and Duquesne had to wait out an hour-long weather delay prior to the beginning of the match. The original start time of 4 p.m. was pushed back to 5 p.m. due to heavy rain and thunderstorms in the State College area.
37th minute – Kayla McKeon found the scoresheet for the first time this year when her one-timer in the middle of the box snuck past the Duquesne keeper for the game’s only goal. The play was set up nicely by sophomore Taylor Malham on the right side, who sent the cross in toward the near post where it was back-heeled by Tyler Runnels right to McKeon in front of goal.
For Runnels, the point was her first of her collegiate career, while Malham’s was her 15th of her young career.
Other Key Notes
• The shutout Friday night against Duquesne is reminiscent to 2017, where the Hogs piled up a school-record tying 10 clean sheets during the year. Tonight’s shutout was goalkeeper Rachel Harris’ second of her career.
• Tonight’s 1-0 victory was the first season-opening shutout for the Razorbacks since 2013 when they defeated Kansas, 1-0, on August 23.
• After not conceding one shot to Duquesne, it marked the first time in program history than an Arkansas opponent did not record a shot in a match.
• Sophomore Brooke Pirkle logged a career-high 76 minutes in the midfield and made her third start of her Razorback career.
• Kayla McKeon’s score was her first goal since her rebound put back against Vanderbilt (Nov. 2) in the SEC Tournament semifinals last year. McKeon had four goals in 2017 and 13 points.
Up Next
Arkansas now sets its sights on No. 9 West Virginia, which it will face on Sunday at 11 a.m. at Jeffrey Field. The Mountaineers will be the Razorbacks 12th top-10 opponent in the last four seasons.
The match will be streamed for free on Penn State’s athletics website, GoPSUsports.com, with live stats available as well.
Bud Light Countdown: 15 days until Hogs kick off the season
15 days ? pic.twitter.com/iG1T3jqdNN
— Tye Richardson (@TyeSportsRadio) August 17, 2018
Some magic times in War Memorial Stadium.
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.
