Razorbacks linebacker Dre Greenlaw says the 3-4 defense will keep them in better position to contain mobile quarterbacks.
Walker on who will be playing outside linebackers
Razorbacks outside linebackers coach Chad Walker met with the media following Sunday’s practice and reviewed the depth chart, being in the press box.
Scott confident new-look defensive line better with depth
Razorbacks defensive line coach John Scott, Jr., met with the media following Sunday’s practice and talked about how the 3-4 will add much-needed depth.
Richardson feels secondary ready for other faces
Arkansas defensive back Kevin Richardson met with the media after practice Sunday and talked about how they are ready to see someone else.
Hargreaves anxious to see linebackers in game
Arkansas linebackers coach Vernon Hargreaves met with the media Sunday evening after practice and talked about how he wants to see the linebackers in a game.
Beware of the August confidence bubble
FAYETTEVILLE — Confidence is high in this bunch of Razorbacks.
It’s high everywhere in the month of August.
Even lowly Florida A&M gets on that long bus ride next week thinking they can shock the football world.
It’s the return of the August confidence bubble.
The bubble works like this, when you are focused on one thing for several weeks and paying no attention to the outside world, a football team loses all sense of perspective.
No idea that the teams with more talent are “getting better” too.
So how far is the gap?
Is it any narrower now then last season?
There is no way to answer these questions today. No predicting talking head or scribe in the preseason magazines has a clue how it is going to all play out.
Except for Phil Steele, its spooky how good that guy is at predicting things.
All I know is to sit back and buckle up for one of the most unpredictable Razorback football seasons we have seen in some time.
Hogs will be 1-0 after Thursday’s live scrimmage
Arkansas’ opener against Florida A&M won’t be much more than a scrimmage televised live by the SEC Network.
Well, it will count in the standings. There is that.
But not much more.
The Rattlers opened against Texas Southern on Saturday and the 29-7 final score sounds closer than the game actually was.
Really.
Watching it, I started thinking how many high school teams could beat Texas Southern There were more than one or two on the list … and those were just some Northwest Arkansas teams.
Now FAMU comes to Little Rock to play an Arkansas team that hasn’t played particularly well there in Bret Bielema’s four previous years.
You get the idea Bret wasn’t particularly fond of the games there.
The guess here is this will be the next to last year the Razorbacks play in Little Rock. I wrote in 1978 they should expand Razorback Stadium and play all the games in Fayetteville because War Memorial Stadium deserved to be imploded.
Okay, I may have been going a little overboard. I prefer to call it having some foresight. When Frank Broyles increased the stadium capacity in Little Rock to 55,000 by lowering the field and squeezing the seat sizes, I lost all interest in War Memorial for Razorback games.
After the interstate was opened in January 1999, it suddenly became easier for folks to make it to Fayetteville. It was about that time when Broyles told some that Northwest Arkansas was the only area the Hogs were really interested in.
While that ticked off some, it was the truth. I don’t care what Jeff Long or anybody else says, that is the truth. They know the rest of the state will still love the Hogs and put up with whatever they give them.
It’s kinda like selling the regular seats. Outside of the seats between the 40-yard lines and the luxury boxes, the only other thing that matters is ESPN’s SEC Network. Now what happens as ESPN’s implosion continues is anybody’s guess (and there are a lot of those, both within the walls in Bristol and on Wall Street).
But that’s for the future.
The now is a game against a Florida A&M team that will roll into Little Rock after a 10-hour bus ride from Tallahassee, Florida, jump up and down a couple of times and play a night game against an SEC team.
It won’t be close.
So the fans shouldn’t read a whole lot into it. Don’t be shocked if the Hogs take the opening kickoff, the first punt or the first play to the house.
Bielema hopefully won’t play anyone with the slightest hint of an injury concern. Jared Cornelius will probably see a few plays, simply because he missed all of fall camp and his first action probably shouldn’t come against TCU on Sept. 9.
We’ll hear Arkansas’ coaches and players talk about the respect they have for the Rattlers. We may even hear from a media wag or two about Toledo in 2015.
The first is understandable. That’s coach-speak and players-speak they have to say, mainly to convince themselves.
The second would be ridiculous.
Toledo was a good team. Florida A&M may be a good FCS team in their league, but Toledo was a good team in their world where the Rattlers would be lucky to be in a game in the fourth quarter.
No, this one won’t be close. We won’t be shown a whole lot by the Hogs, mainly so TCU won’t get much for the scouting report.
The only sign could be the halftime score.
No, seriously.
If Arkansas is not up 28-0 at halftime, that’s a red flag. Not warning bells and sirens understand, but a red flag.
Yes, this one should be easy.
And probably will be.
Hardee’s Thickburger Contest: Greenwood HS wins again
Jon Womack of Greenwood won the high school division of the Hardee’s Thickburger Challenge on Saturday in Fort Smith.
It continues a string of domination by the Bulldogs in The Challenge with Womack being the fourth straight from Greenwood to win.
Other schools competing were Fort Smith Northside, Fort Smith Southside and Alma.
Florida A&M rolls to win over Texas Southern
By Florida A&M Sports Information
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida A&M rode a stalwart defensive effort, and a balanced offensive attack to a breezy 29-7 nationally-televised season-opening victory over the visiting Texas Southern Tigers in Bragg Memorial Stadium.
Saturday’s contest, which aired live on ESPNU, was all FAMU throughout, as the Rattlers forged a 29-0 lead through three quarters in a totally dominant performance.
The Rattlers’ GanGreen Defense set the tone, not allowing the Tigers (0-1) to cross midfield until the fourth quarter, when FAMU had a four score lead, limiting the Houston crew to just 62 yards rushing (on 18 tries), and 140 yards through the air.
TSU quarterback Jay Christophe was sacked three times, and managed to complete just 12 of 39 pass attempts, with one interception, and a 30-yard touchdown pass to Darvin Kirby with 14:16 left in the game. He was the Tigers’ top rusher with 29 yards on 10 carries.
Meanwhile, transfer Jalene Douse led the Rattler defenders with seven solo tackles Saturday, followed by senior linebacker Jakaris Wilson and senior tackle Emilio Gibbs with four tackles each, and senior cornerback Jules Dornevil, who finished with three solo stops and a driving-killing interception the end zone. Tackle David Richardson also had three tackles and one-and-a-half quarterback sacks.
FAMU’s Offense rolled up 415 total yards, rushing for 193 yards on 42 attempts, while two quarterbacks – starter Ryan Stanley, and the number two man, Vincent Jeffries – combined for 222 yards through the air.
Redshirt freshnman Ricky Henrilus led the FAMU ground game with 81 yards on 14 carries, while junior Devin Bowers ran for 41 yards on 15 tries, with one TD.
Stanley got most of the time under center at quarterback Saturday, rushing for 21 yards on three carries and a touchdown, while passing for 217 yards (hitting 19 of 32 aerials) for one score. Jeffries rushed for 12 yards and a TD, plus went one-for-six passing for five yards.
Senior Brandon Norwood led the Rattlers with five catches for 63 yards, and a 35-yard touchdown catch from Stanley. Marcus Williams added 51 yards on three catches, followed by Kareem Smith (3 for 38 yards), Elijah Jones (3 for 24 yards) and Chad Hunter (2 for 11 yards).
HOW THEY SCORED
Stanley’s nine-yard TD run with 2:53 left in the first period, capped a nine-play, 74-yard drive, giving the Rattlers at 7-0 lead.
Devin Bowers bolted into the end zone from six yards out with 12:27 left in the half, extending FAMU’s lead to 13-0, before Stanley and Norwood hooked up on a 35-yard TD pass play for a 20-0 halftime lead.
FAMU opened the second half by turning bitter to sweet, when a 10-yard delay of game penalty (band related), ended up in a safety, when TSU misplayed the kickoff, causing the ball to skitter into the end zone.
On the ensuing drive, Vince Jeffries capped off the 49-yard, eight play mar5ch with a 12-yard dash to paydirt for a 29-0 lead with 10:22 left in the third period.
GAME NOTES: An announced crowd of 15,401 fans witnessed the FAMU victory at Bragg Stadium, under cloudy to partly cloudy skies, with temperatures in the low 90s … The 2017 Sports Hall of Fame Class, consisting of gridiron greats Algie Hendrieth and Joe Yates; basketball star Leonard King; basketball coach Ajac Triplett; softball star Valerie Stoudemire Leath; track stars Ebenezer T. Oriaku and Bonita McCray Williams; plus athletic trainer Percyell “Doc” Pratt, were recognized during pregame ceremonies, along wth head coach Rudy Hubbard, his staff and members of the 1977 Football Team – the school’s last undefeated team.
Bielema’s wide ranging press conference Friday
Bret Bielema covered a lot of topics Friday in his press conference, which takes the place of the usual Monday briefing.
Opening on Thursday caused that.
Enos talks about wide receivers, helmet radios
Arkansas offensive coordinator Dan Enos met with the media Friday and talked about the young wide receivers and experimenting with helmet communications.
