Arkansas quarterback Cole Kelley met with the media Tuesday about the win over Ole Miss and how offensive coodinator Dan Enos handled a difficult week last week.
Enos talks about dealing with loss of father, win
Arkansas offensive coordinator Dan Enos met with the media Tuesday and talked about emotional win over Ole Miss.
Malzahn-Sumlin matchup loser tied to Hogs
We have officially entered the time of year in college football that is, for some, the most fun … the coaching carousel.
Coaches with jobs don’t find it much fun. Most of the media loves it and fans either love it or hate it, usually coinciding with their view of their current coach.
For better or worse, Arkansas and Bret Bielema are right in the middle of all the talk these days.
Whether Jeffrey P. Long wants it or not, he’s getting a ton of advice on what to do. Of course, he’s off in Grapevine, Texas, helping decide what teams join Alabama to play for the national championship, but it would be interesting to know how much feedback he’s getting there.
Back here, the furor has subsided slightly. The biggest comeback in program history helped that. It will stay quiet for another week as the Hogs should be leading Coastal Carolina by 35 at halftime.
Arkansas should be sitting at 4-5 with three SEC opponents left and needing two wins to assure a bottom-feeder bowl berth. With the list of LSU, Mississippi State and Missouri the opponents it’s going to be a tough task.
Nobody knows (at least anybody that will say anything) about whether there is a number Bielema has to hit to keep his job. The win over Ole Miss really didn’t help the argument to keep him when you step back and really analyze it.
The Rebels are a dysfunctional mess. If the Hogs were really ready to right the ship, they wouldn’t have gotten down by 24 points in the first half and needed literal gifts to make their record comeback.
No, the reason Bielema’s seat is still hot there is not one single sign in the last year or so this program is headed anywhere near competing for a division title.
Now national pundits are weighing in with coaches coming to Arkansas … and Bielema hasn’t been fired yet.
Pat Forde of Yahoo Sports had Texas A&M’s Kevin Sumlin in the mix today.
Kevin Sumlin (35), Texas A&M. Yes, he could finish the season 9-3 – though that would require a complete reversal of recent November collapses. But regardless of record, it seems Sumlin’s time at A&M is done. The ugly fallout from that season-opening loss to UCLA pushed both sides to the breaking point. A guy with an 84-41 record and excellent recruiting ties in Texas will find another Power Five job. Wait for it.
Bret Bielema (36), Arkansas. The buyout is big, and Bielema began an attempted salvage of this season Saturday with a huge comeback to beat Mississippi. But the big man is just 11-26 in SEC play, 1-4 this year, and a losing season in year five might spur the Arkansas hierarchy to pay the money to start over. If so, this could be another potential landing spot for Sumlin.
Coming on the heels of speculation about Auburn coach Gus Malzahn being a candidate for the Arkansas job that is presently occupied, that makes this week’s matchup in College Station between the Aggies and Tigers interesting.
Is the loser the leader in the clubhouse to replace Bielema at Arkansas?
With Florida’s dumping of Jim McElwain over the weekend, the coaching carousel has started. Mississippi State’s Dan Mullen is rumored to be a candidate there, but that won’t happen.
Mullen and his family love living in Starkville, plus he’s expecting to have probably his best team ever next year. Everyone tries to invent reasons for Mullen to leave every year, but the fact of the matter is he’s getting $4.5 million a year to live in Starkville, Mississippi.
Expectations at both Auburn and Texas A&M are not being met. Whether they are too high or not doesn’t matter. That’s for others to decide.
At Arkansas, the expectations of most fans aren’t being met and there is absolutely zero evidence to suggest they will be met at any time in the near future.
All of that is why, at the very least, you want to catch the replay of the A&M-Auburn game this weekend.
There will be a lot of discussion about the loser being in the mix to come to Fayetteville for a job that’s not open.
At least not yet.
Arkansas set for fall ITA Nationals in Arizona
TEMPE, Ariz. — The final event of the collegiate tennis fall season gets underway Wednesday, as the nation’s top singles and doubles players, including Arkansas’ Leolia Jeanjean and Giulia Pairone, gather in Palm Desert, California, to compete in the inaugural Oracle ITA National Fall Championships.
The tournament will be held Wednesday-Sunday, and will feature a 64-player singles draw and 32-team doubles draw. Matches will take place at the JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort & Spa and the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.
“We are excited to begin the ITA Fall National Championships,” head coach Michael Hegarty said. “We have had a great fall across the board and are looking to end it on a high note.”
Jeanjean, seeded No. 16, will play a first-round singles match against Sonja Larsen of Barry University at 11:45 a.m. CT Wednesday, before teaming up with Pairone in first-round doubles action at 4:30 p.m. CT against Lindsey Hodge and Wendy Zhang of Rice. The duo of Jeanjean and Pairone is ranked No. 9 nationally in doubles and is coming off a runner-up finish at the ITA Central Regional Championships.
Draws, schedule of play, daily recaps and photo gallery links can be found on the Oracle ITA National Fall Championships event page. Live scoring via Tennis Ticker will be available at both site locations, while TempuZ will provide live streaming coverage from two courts at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.
Hogs’ freshmen get SEC player honors for week
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Following the largest comeback win in program history at Ole Miss this past Saturday, Arkansas quarterback Cole Kelley has been named the SEC Freshman of the Week and dynamic rookie returner De’Vion Warren earned SEC Special Teams Player of the Week, announced by the league office Monday morning.
Kelley is the third quarterback in Arkansas history to be named the SEC Freshman of the Week, joining Casey Dick (2005) and Mitch Mustain (2006).
Warren is the first Arkansas kickoff returner to win SEC Special Teams Player of the Week since Dennis Johnson in 2011.
Trailing 31-7 in the second quarter, the Razorbacks began chipping away at the Ole Miss lead behind the arm and legs of Kelley.
With 2:44 left in the first half, Kelley rumbled into the end zone on a 15-yard run before finding wide out Deon Stewart for a 23-yard score with 13 seconds left to cut the deficit to 31-21 at the half.
Kelley’s 15-yard run was the longest rushing TD of the season by a Razorback.
Kelley’s third TD pass of the game came on Arkansas’ second drive of the second half, as he became just the second Arkansas quarterback in the SEC era (1992-current) to throw for three TDs and rush for another in a conference game.
Arkansas’ game-winning drive started with 4:04 on the clock and ended with a game-winning field goal with four seconds remaining after Kelley orchestrated a 12-play, 62-yard drive that took 4:04 off the clock.
A week after becoming the first Razorback to take back a kickoff for a touchdown since 2014, Warren totaled 141 yards of kickoff returns, good for the 11th-most in program single-game history.
The Monroe, La., native broke his second-longest return of the season in the fourth quarter at Ole Miss, going for 45 yards to set up Arkansas with good field position. Over the last two games, Warren is averaging over 40 yards per return.
Kelley Notes
• Completed 19 of 30 passes for 190 yards and 3 TDs, while adding 22 rush yards and a score.
• Only FBS freshman QB to throw for three TDs and rush for a TD in a conference game this season.
• First freshman quarterback in Razorback history to defeat an SEC team on the road as a starter since Mitch Mustain in 2006 (W, 21-19 at Vanderbilt).
Warren Notes
• Has a kickoff return of 39 or more yards in four of five SEC games this season. Arkansas previous four kickoff returns of 39 or more yards in an SEC contest came over a 43-game span.
• Leads the SEC with a kickoff return average of 29.1, good for eighth nationally.
• His 100-yard kickoff return in the third quarter against No. 21 Auburn is tied for the longest scoring play in the FBS this season and equaled the longest TD in Arkansas history.
Bielema on win at Ole Miss, impact on team
Arkansas coach Bret Bielema talked Monday about the win over Ole Miss and the impact it will have on the team.
