Arkansas defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads called Kevin Richardson’s interception the “unpickable pick,” and the cornerback talked about it Wednesday.
Curl expecting to be target for Stidham, Auburn
As a freshman, Arkansas cornerback Kamren Curl is getting used to being the target of opposing offenses and expects nothing different this week.
Hogs’ Eugene on what he’s looking for from Tigers
Arkansas linebacker Dwayne Eugene talked with the media Wednesday about getting ready for Auburn’s offense.
Will Hogs take advantage of Kelley’s confidence?
Since spring, whenever Bret Bielema talks about Cole Kelley, the confidence comes in somewhere along the way.
There’s also been the occasional rolling of the eyes, shaking of the head and usually a smile.
It’s clear to see Bielema and offensive coordinator Dan Enos like the big guy out of Lafayette, Louisiana. Once the players figured out how to figure out the Cajun accent (which has improved), they have been better with him, too.
“I’m not sure what it was actually that what he was saying,” center Zach Rogers said Wednesday afternoon.
But he admitted it has improved.
“He’s pretty easy to understand now,” Rogers said. “Maybe we are used to him now. Maybe he’s just talking the way we talk now.”
“I guess I did have to slow down a little,” Kelley said.
What he does talk with is confidence … in everything.
“My confidence is higher now … even higher than before the Alabama game,” Kelley said, admitting even he is a little surprised to say that. “If the quarterback doesn’t have confidence you wouldn’t expect the team to be confident in the quarterback.”
Kelley is trying to break the stereotype of the tall quarterback failing. There haven’t been many over 6-foot-5 have success. None are in the Hall of Fame.
The tallest? Probably Dan McGwire, who completed exactly half of his 148 career throws in the NFL. The incompletions, like the case so often with quarterbacks over 6-5, often sailed high or were drilled into the ground short.
Something about the angles just never has been right, although people have been fascinated with the idea of a tall quarterback.
Kelley is hoping to break the mold. He can do it in either Bielema’s antique “huddle system” or with the no-huddle with some tempo thrown in for good measure.
“Either way is fine with me,” Kelley said. When you go up-tempo it catches the defense off guard and makes it tougher for them to execute their blitzes. That’s what happened a little bit.”
He does know all the other stuff doesn’t matter if you don’t come out on top.
“We have to win the game,” he said. “No matter what, you have to win this game. It’s an exciting time. It’s an important game, but all of them are important. We want to win this game at home.
“It’s a little weird that it’s our first SEC game here and that just makes it more important. That’s all I want to do, win this game.”
Now the only question is if the Hogs can take advantage of that confidence.
Will Bielema actually use offense that works best?
The last two years it’s appeared from this angle that spreading things out and flinging the ball around was when Arkansas’ offense worked.
Which was why it was a mystery when Bret Bielema keeps talking about “doing what we do” and all that stuff.
It’s clear Bielema doesn’t have either the personnel or the coaches to do what he does.
When Arkansas went with the up-tempo offense, they were able to at least move the ball a little on Alabama last week. They’ve scored doing it at times this season, particularly in the red zone against Texas A&M.
The question then was why they didn’t do it more often?
For a coach that sounds at times like he’s about three decades behind, it’s a positive move for Bielema. He actually noted it during his press conference Monday.
“Going back to the spring we’ve had a tempo system in place for Austin (Allen),” he said. “We thought we had a fifth-year senior quarterback and a fifth-year senior center that are in charge of all your communication, so we started practicing a phase of our game that we refer to as an up-tempo phase. Looks like two-minute to the outside observer, but we’ve been practicing all the way from last spring.”
They’ve had it in every game this year, Bielema said, and he added it gave Kelley the entire offense, but with some tempo.
Then he refused to really commit much to it.
“For our offense, defense, special teams to work together our huddle system is something we’ll definitely use,” he said.
Uh, Bret, that ain’t working, buddy. Since I don’t think Bielema is a completely blind idiot he has to notice that teams still using the old football social system of a huddle ain’t exactly competing for many championships.
In the brief three-year existence of the College Football Playoff, the only teams that have made it using what Bielema calls a “huddle system” were Alabama in 2014 and Michigan State in 2015.
That’s it.
Both were stomped into early submission by teams running a no-huddle offense that varied the tempo. Out of the 12 teams in the playoff, only two (or 16.67 percent) of the teams just to make it to the playoff used a huddle system.
Quite frankly, the football huddle is the oldest social gathering in all of college football. The huddle has become a fond relic of the past along with square-toed kicking shoes and plastic face masks.
It doesn’t mean you have to go fast. It doesn’t mean you can’t run the football.
Surely Bielema knows this. He’ll also, I’m sure, notice the improved efficiency of his team offensively against the No. 1 team in the nation using it.
The flip side is Bielema can stick with his huddle system. If this season doesn’t improve, then it’s a fair guess changes will be required in the offseason.
That’s the job of the athletics director to insist upon after consulting with his experts, which is certain to happen, regardless of what happens the rest of the way. Let’s face it, unless this team wins every game left on the schedule, it will be another year of tire-spinning or going backwards.
Of course, Bielema could stick with his “huddle system.”
There is about, oh, one other team in the SEC using a huddle and that’s LSU. Even Georgia doesn’t, except on the rare occasion when it resembles more teenage guys having a quick decision on who’s got the fake ID to go into the liquor store.
In case you’re not aware, the Bulldogs are undefeated and may be the closest thing to Alabama in Kirby Smart’s second year as the coach.
It’s also interesting to note he’s doing this with Bielema’s former offensive line coach (Sam Pittman) and offensive coordinator (Jim Chaney) who are doing the same jobs in Athens they did in Fayetteville.
He’s quite aware, I’m sure, of the fate of the last coach at LSU who stubbornly stuck to his “huddle system” with a fullback, tight end, boring style.
Les Miles got fired making a lot of the same comments Bielema makes.
And he got fired winning 77 percent of the games he coached (as opposed to Bielema’s 47 percent) and 69 percent in the SEC (Bielema is at 28 percent).
The primary reason? A boring offense nobody thought was going to keep working with talent better than anything Bielema will ever get.
We’ll see if Bielema uses what works best.
Or sticks with his “system,” which isn’t working that well.
It’s kinda like what Bear Bryant told an old friend who asked him why he switched from his pro-style offense to the wishbone in the early 1970’s, which was as revolutionary to many as the spread offense is to some today.
“A wise man changes his mind,” Bryant growled. “A fool never does.”
Gray wins ‘Fall Series’ behind Biggers, Campbell
FAYETTEVILLE — Junior Jax Biggers went 3-for-4 with two doubles and redshirt sophomore Isaiah Campbell threw five scoreless innings to help Team Gray win its third-straight game and claim the 2017 Fall World Series title Tuesday afternoon at Baum Stadium.
After falling to Team Cardinal, 13-0, in game one last week, Team Gray turned the tables to win three-straight games by a combined score of 24-2 and hit .326 as a team.
“Team Gray had it handed to them in game one, but they were the more confident team the rest of the way as they put it behind them,” Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said. “I’m looking forward to putting the best team together and getting back on the field come spring.”
Biggers was a big part of Team Gray’s turnaround. Three of his series-leading seven hits came in Tuesday’s contest with two going for doubles. He drove in the game’s second run in the second inning and started another rally in the sixth with a big double down the right field line.
“I just did what I’m supposed to do,” Biggers said after the game. “When you’re in the leadoff spot, you’re just trying to get on base. Coach Van Horn has a tough task of making a lineup out of this team. Our depth is really good. It’s a good problem to have. I’m excited for this year.”
The Missouri City, Texas native finished the series hitting .412 (7-for-17) with six runs scored, four doubles, one home run, and four RBIs. However, he wasn’t the series’ top hitter.
Freshman Heston Kjerstad led all hitters in the Fall World Series with a .467 average and five RBIs.
Five of his seven hits came in Sunday’s 13-run victory in game three and he added a two-RBI single on Tuesday in the series clincher.
For the third-straight game, Team Gray also benefitted from its starting pitching. Fans got their first real glimpse of Campbell, who was shut down after one appearance last season due to an arm injury.
He threw five good innings, giving up just four hits with two walks and five strikeouts on 80 pitches.
“He did a good job today,” Van Horn said. “I think he got behind a couple of times and came back and got hitters. He really didn’t give anything up and didn’t give in to any hitters. There was one time he had a 3-2 count and gave them a breaking ball. He locked the hitter up for strike three.
“It shows me he has confidence in more than just one pitch. He’s still getting it going. Come springtime, he’s a guy that’s got a lot more in there.”
Sophomore Matt Cronin followed Campbell with his third appearance of the series, closing out the final two innings with just one hit given up and four strikeouts.
In the other dugout, Hunter Wilson led his squad with the bat, going 2-for-3. Evan Lee, Brady Disher, and Casey Martin added a hit each.
On the mound, junior Barrett Loseke got the start, but was roughed up for three runs over the first two innings. He settled down to pitch into the fourth before giving way to freshman Kole Ramage.
Ramage allowed three runs on three hits with two strikeouts over the game’s final three innings.
With fall practice now behind them, the team will focus on individual and weight room workouts to prepare for the 2018 season. Arkansas’ 2018 schedule is set to be released this month. Early renewals for season-ticket holders are also available through the Razorback Ticket Office.
For more information on Razorback Baseball, follow @RazorbackBSB on Twitter.
2017 Fall World Series Schedule
• Game 1 – Cardinal 13, Gray 0 (Cardinal leads 1-0)
• Game 2 – Gray 3, Cardinal 0 (Series tied 1-1)
• Game 3 – Gray 15, Cardinal 2 (Gray leads 2-1)
• Game 4 – Gray 6, Cardinal 0 (Gray wins 3-1)
