Arkansas staying calm in advance of super regional
Chad, perception is important offensively for Hog fans
One of the old sayings in football that has more or less held true over the years is defense wins championships.
That was actually true at one point in time. You could win a championship with a shutdown defense. Arkansas actually won in 1964 with a defense that simply didn’t give up many points (they shut out their last five regular-season opponents). For the entire 11-game season (including the Cotton Bowl), they averaged allowing less than six points a game.
Quite simply, that world doesn’t exist anymore.
And it’s not because of the hurry-up, no-huddle spread offenses teams are going to. Nope. The rules changes are the biggest reason why offenses score points in bunches.
Shoot, in my day offensive linemen were taught to block with their hands on their chest with elbows extended. Any time the hands came out wide a flag was soon to follow.
Defensive backs could basically jump on a receiver’s back and take a ride until the ball was in the air. It was all fair game until the quarterback turned loose of the ball.
But Arkansas fans have always loved passing.
And it’s not that there’s necessarily a lot of passing, but the perception counts more than actions.
Don’t believe it? In 1968 when Frank Broyles was coming back from a horrendous 4-5-1 campaign in 1967, he started a ton of sophomores (which was the first year they were eligible back then) and went to a pro-style offense.
On the first play of the 1968 season, quarterback Bill Montgomery dropped back in War Memorial Stadium and fired a bomb to a streaking Max Peacock. Montgomery overthrew the pass. The stadium went wild over an incompletion.
Broyles admitted years later they weren’t changing that much, but it was about the perception for recruiting purposes. The Hogs actually ran more in 1968 than they did in 1967.
It’s ALWAYS about perception.
And Chad Morris, who focuses on the details and appears to be fairly public-relations adept, would do well to take note of the Hogs’ history.
When Lou Holtz was off and running with a 30-5-1 record over his first three seasons and people were all excited about the offense and the thrilling passing game. In truth, Holtz was about running the Veer option.
After Lou came Ken Hatfield with the Wishbone. In 1987, the Hogs were 9-4 and everybody was jumping up and down mad as daylights. A Little Rock columnist pointed out that it took Hatfield something like eight hours to make the normal four-hour drive to Fayetteville because he wouldn’t pass.
Never mind that senior quarterback Greg Thomas had an injured shoulder the entire year and still managed to hit some key passes (and had some big-time drops … like the first play against Texas when Derek Russell flat dropped a perfectly-thrown bomb).
Fast-forward to the Houston Nutt era and fans were smoking hot when the Hogs were 10-4 because they didn’t pass enough. With Darren McFadden, Felix Jones and Peyton Hillis in the backfield the only reason they should have passed was to give those running backs a chance to catch their breath.
Bobby Petrino came in and he admitted he didn’t have the patience to move the ball downfield running it. Fans loved it.
They loved it so much when he flew through the handlebars on his Harley on April 1, 2012, many were quite willing to overlook the facts that came out as a result of that. Just keep flingin’ it.
Never mind that Petrino’s teams lost a couple of games by double digits when they scored over 40 points. In 2011, they only lost two games — to Alabama and LSU, who played in the national title game that year — by a combined 79-31 score. Neither game was close.
The Hogs finished fifth in the nation after the bowl games, so losing to two teams in your own division isn’t the end of the world in terms of having a great season … if that’s the only two games you lose.
And you’re flingin’ the ball all over the field.
Now Morris comes in with an offense that is really a combination of the Wing-T, Veer and Pro-Style passing game. It just comes with a different look and a very different pace.
And, pay close attention Hog fans, every single play has a passing option built into the offense.
As I was talking with another media member Wednesday after Morris’ clinic, we were discussing Razorback fans’ fascination with passing and wide open offenses.
We agreed it’s very easy to reach an almost inescapable conclusion: It often appears Razorback fans would rather lose passing than win running the ball.
But, as Broyles said years ago, it’s all about the perception.
Full video of Morris’ clinic for media Wednesday
The full video from Razorbacks coach Chad Morris talking football with members of the Arkansas media, breaking down the basics of what he’s wanting to do.
Hogs’ moves? Consistent inconsistency at fast pace
You got the idea Wednesday from Chad Morris’ coaching clinic for the media he views football much like a chess match.
But he wants to keep opponents on their heels and, to sum it up, he’ll do it with consistent inconsistency. Not the bad kind of inconsistency, but the kind that keeps other teams guessing what’s coming next.
“We could run the same play five times,” he said. “If it’s working, it’s common courtesy to keep running it,” he said.
That’s refreshing to hear. I hear from old coaches all the time about guys today out-coaching themselves, assuming the other team is automatically going to change something to stop what they’re doing offensively.
They often don’t because they’re guessing the offensive playcaller is going to change things.
Just because it’s the same play, though, doesn’t always mean it will look the same. There will be different speeds.
“Tempo is about how fast I can go, but also, can I stop and get them on their heels then we can stop and check the sidelines, stop, check the sidelines again?” Morris said.
Oh, and that may include a huddle, but don’t look for it to resemble a detailed committee meeting with a leisurely stroll to the line of scrimmage.
“”We may huddle, but when we break out, we break out in a fire alarm,” he said. “It’s at a fast pace.”
Remember, it’s like a chess match.
“There’s always a weakness somewhere,” Morris said. “It’s just whether or not they hide their pressures good enough to where it’s too late to get to your answer. That’s the question that we’ll find out with a lot of our quarterbacks.”
Don’t holler about playcalling. That’s because until somewhere seconds on either side of the center snap, nobody knows exactly what’s going to happen, which is about the best way I can put into layman’s terms the RPO. That’s the Run-Pass-Option that’s popular these days.
“We’ll have an RPO on every play,” Morris said.
That’s why the quarterback position is going to be so critical. Cole Kelley isn’t the answer. There are questions about his skillset and whispers in the locker room from other players. He hasn’t stepped up as a leader either on or off the field.
Of the quarterbacks who were on campus when Morris got the job, walk-on Jack Lindsey picked up the offense the quickest. Reportedly, when offensive coordinator Joe Craddock asked questions in the quarterback room, Lindsey had the answer so fast they had to tell him to give somebody else a chance to answer.
All of that’s why many are interested to see what freshman Connor Noland can do. He’s been running Morris’ offense for years down at Greenwood because his coach, Rick Jones, was in on all those visits with Morris and Gus Malzahn years ago.
With Morris, it’s all about the details. Like some other championship coaches, he’s got folks paying attention to every little detail. They even scout the officials.
“The officials come in and we’ll meet and we’ll talk about, ‘Hey, this is what we look for. How quick do you spot the ball?’” Morris said. “I’m communicating with the down box, because they usually don’t set (the ball) until that down box gets set. Once that gets set, everything can work after a first down, so you kind of make sure to eye the guy working the down box.
“Does he look like he can run? Are his shoes tied up good?”
That’s getting down to the details, which is something not seen around these parts in a few years. Maybe longer than you think.
Morris spent a great deal of the clinic Wednesday talking about defensive schemes. During warmups you see offensive coaches going to defensive players … defensive coaches going to offensive players.
Didn’t see that before, even during a 21-5 run over 2010-11.
Offensive and defensive staffs will watch spring clips together and bounce ideas and tips off each other. In some instances, Morris or offensive coordinator Joe Craddock may pass on a defensive tip to defensive coordinator John Chavis, and vice versa.
“We’ll say, ‘Hey, Coach Chavis, you brought pressure right there, but man, if you would bring it from there like this and disguise this look … that free safety gave it away, which allowed our quarterback to make that check and push the front to the right,’” Morris said. “’But if he would have kept his hat down or his stance squared a little bit more, Coach, he would have never seen it.’
“I said to him that night when I called him, ‘I can help you. I can help you as much as you can help me as far as communicating. And if you can defend us offensively, then you can defend a lot of teams because of how fast we play and what we do.”
Chavis has bought into Morris’ system maybe as much as any stop he’s made.
And it should be interesting to watch it play out.
Van Horn on playing Gamecocks again, MLB draft
Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn talked with the media Wednesday about facing South Carolina for the third time this season and the second at Baum Stadium.
Shaddy on finishing career with Hogs; Super Regional
Carson Shaddy talked with the media Wednesday about finishing his career and he’s hoping for a return trip to Omaha in addition to his being drafted Tuesday in the 10th round.
Knight’s focus strictly on weekend Super Regional
Arkansas pitcher Blaine Knight said he’ll deal with being drafted by the Baltimore Orioles after the Razorbacks’ season ends and he’s only thinking about South Carolina right now.
Razorbacks’ schedule of SEC opponents set by league
The Southeastern Conference released the men’s conference slate for the 2019 season on Wednesday with the Razorbacks set to host games against Alabama, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Missouri, Texas A&M and Vanderbilt.
Arkansas will travel to Auburn, Kentucky, LSU, Ole Miss, Missouri, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas A&M and Vanderbilt.
Times, dates and television information will be announced at a later date.
Morris answering questions after media clinic
Arkansas coach Chad Morris answered questions from the media after his media clinic Wednesday on his offensive and defensive basics.
Razorbacks all business on first day of NCAA Championships
EUGENE, Ore. — On the opening day of the men’s NCAA Track & Field Championships, Arkansas competed in front of a crowd of 9,767, the largest day one attendance since 2010, advancing two relays and four individuals to their respective event finals.
Coach Chris Bucknam:
“We have the second-most qualifiers into the finals. We have two decathletes who are battling to get back into scoring position in Gabe [Moore] and Derek [Jacobus]. Derek set a personal best after day one, and Gabe tied a personal-best in the quarter. We’re hoping for those guys to get back into scoring position and bring home some points, that’s the main goal. Kenzo had a tough draw in the 100-meters, he ran a phenomenal time into a negative wind and then the next two heats had positive wind and he ended up missing the final by the smallest of margins, it was just unfortunate. But overall it was an outstanding day, I’m pleased with the effort our guys put out there today. I’m looking forward to the guys having a rest day tomorrow and keeping our foot on the accelerator when we return to the track on Friday.”
Derek Jacobus and Gabe Moore opened the meet for the Razorbacks in the men’s decathlon. Jacobus and Moore are currently in 11th and 14th-place, respectively with their day one totals of 4,010 and 3,983 through five events.
Jacobus’ total is a day one personal best for the senior from Palo, Iowa.
In the opening event on the track for the Razorbacks, Arkansas fielded a sprint relay group of Kristoffer Hari, Kemar Mowatt, and Kevin Harris, placing Kenzo Cotton on the anchor leg.
Entering the meet having recorded the fastest time in the NCAA this season, the Razorbacks finished with an auto-Q time of 38.54 trailing only Florida who eclipsed Arkansas’ NCAA-leading seed time finishing in a new collegiate-leading time of 38.49.
With the qualification through to the final in the 4-x-100-meters, this marks the fourth-straight year Arkansas will be in the final of the event at the NCAA Championships.
In the prelims of the 1,500-meters, Cameron Griffith ran a strategic race, running with the pack for the first 1,200-meters before swinging wide with 300-meters to go and making a move into third-place.
Griffith held put for 200-meters before cementing himself in the top-five earning an auto-Q spot to Friday’s final finishing with a time of 3:47.93Q.
Obi Igbokwe had a breakthrough performance in the prelims of the men’s 400-meters where the junior finished the one-lap race with the third-fastest time in program history.
Igbokwe posted a time of 44.94 to finish second in his heat grabbing an auto-Q spot into Friday’s final.
Kemar Mowatt returns to the finals of the men’s 400-meter hurdles following a heat-winning time of 49.98. The senior from St. Elizabeth, Jamaica looks to capitalize on his return trip to the final of the 400-hurdles after finishing third last season at this meet.
Cotton, who already advanced to the finals as a member of the 4-x-100-meter relay, bounced back from a non-advancing run of 10.14 in the 100-meter prelims to advance to the finals in the 200-meters grabbing the final spot in with a season-best run of 20.38 in the prelims.
Closing out the meet for Arkansas was the 4-x-400-meter relay. The Razorback worked their way back to the NCAA final running a time of 3:03.98 earning an auto-Q finishing second in the final heat of prelims.
Also competing on day one of the NCAA Championships was Larry Donald in the 110-meter hurdles running a time of 13.93 in the prelims to finish in 17th-place, and Harrison Schrage in the men’s long jump capping the competition with a personal-best jump of 7.70m (25-3.25″) for 14th-place.
