Arkansas cornerback Kamren Curl talked about the defense’s performance in Saturday’s scrimmage, but he didn’t see any 99-yard pass completion.
Morris pleased with second scrimmage to end camp
Arkansas coach Chad Morris met with the media after the second scrimmage of the fall Saturday as they prepare to break camp Saturday night to get ready for the first game.
Craddock on offense’s performance in scrimmage
Offensive coordinator Joe Craddock didn’t have a lot of definitive comments after the scrimmage inside Razorback Stadium because he was in the press box making calls.
Chavis not happy with tackling in scrimmage
Arkansas defensive coordinator John Chavis met with the media after Saturday’s scrimmage inside Razorback Stadium and wasn’t happy with their tackling during the 140-play workout.
Anderson honored at Burlsworth Foundation’s Legacy Dinner
FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas coach Mike Anderson was honored Friday at the annual Brandon Burlsworth Foundation Legends Dinner.
Anderson becomes the ninth Legend the Burlsworth Foundation has honored, joining John Paul Hammerschmidt (2010), Frank Broyles (2011), John Boozman (2012), Mrs. Pat Walker (2013), Randy Veach (2014), Asa Hutchinson (2015), Judy McReynolds (2016) and Curt Bradbury (2017).
University of Arkansas Chairman of the Board of Trustees Mark Waldrip served as the master of ceremonies while Scotty Thurman, Steve Smith, Hunter Yurachek and Nolan Richardson each spoke during the program before Anderson was honored.
“The Legends Dinner recognizes a person each year who has made great contributions to our state,” said Marty Burlsworth, Chairman/CEO and Founder of the Brandon Burlsworth Foundation. “Coach Anderson has a long history with the University and the state of Arkansas, so it was an easy choice for our board of directors to honor him in this way.”
Anderson is starting his eighth season at Arkansas and owns a 151-86 record with the Razorbacks.
Overall, this season will mark his 17th as a head coach, posting a 351-184 career record, and this season will be his 25th at Arkansas.
He is one of four Division I coaches with 15-plus years of head coaching experience and has never experienced a losing season while being the only coach to accomplish the feat at three different programs.
In his 16 years of being a head coach, Anderson has led his teams to 11 postseason berths, including nine NCAA Tournament appearances, and posted 11, 20-win seasons.
This past season, the Razorbacks reached the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year, made the NCAA field for the third time in four seasons and played in the postseason for the fourth time in the last five years.
Prior to becoming a head coach, Anderson was part of the basketball staff when Arkansas won the 1994 NCAA Championship and finished runner-up for the national title the following year (1995), while helping the Razorbacks to three Final Four appearances and 15 postseason appearances in his 17 years as an assistant.
While his on-court success is evident, Coach Anderson is equally a champion in the community.
He created his own Mike Anderson Foundation, which provides funding for programs focused on preventative health care education and assists organizations that offer nutritional support for children. Anderson is active with the Yvonne Richardson Center and Samaritan’s Feet.
Also, each year at the annual Red-White Game, fans get in free with a canned food item, which helps support the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank. In fact, Anderson has done similar food drives as the head coach at Missouri and UAB as well as assist with Special Olympics at all three stops.
Bud Light Countdown: 14 days until Hogs kick off the season
14 days ? pic.twitter.com/SIsyTkl9Zz
— Tye Richardson (@TyeSportsRadio) August 18, 2018
Stoerner to Lucas.
Photo credit: Brian Bahr/Getty Images
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.
