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Cornelius named to watch list for ‘Hornung’

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Following a career-best season in 2016, Arkansas senior wide receiver Jared Cornelius was named to the preseason watch list for the Paul Hornung Award presented by Texas Roadhouse, the Louisville Sports Commission announced Monday.

The award is presented to the most versatile player in college football.

Highlighted by three 100-plus yard receiving performances, Cornelius recorded 32 receptions for 515 yards and four touchdown catches, while adding a rushing score, in 2016.

After racking up 100-plus yards through the air in Weeks 4, 5 and 6, Cornelius matched a 20-year old school record of three straight 100-yard receiving efforts, joining Anthony Lucas (1996) and Mike Reppond (1971) as the only three players in school history to accomplish that feat.

Of his 32 catches, 22 resulted in either a first down or touchdown. He led the team in receptions of 30-plus yards (5), 25-plus yards (7) and 20-plus yards (11), including touchdown grabs of 35 and 29 yards. With 14 catches for 309 yards and two TDs in Weeks 5-8, no Southeastern Conference receiver was more productive in the month of October than Cornelius, as his 309 yards receiving were tops in the league during that span.

Cornelius’ rushing score came against No. 12 Ole Miss when he lifted the Razorbacks to a 34-30 victory with a 6-yard TD run late in the fourth quarter.

The Shreveport, Louisiana, product was previously named to the watch list for the Paul Hornung Award a year ago, following a sophomore campaign that saw him catch 24 passes for 393 yards and three touchdowns and turn seven rushes into 112 yards and two scores.

He was the only player in the SEC and one of three players in the nation with a 40-yard punt return, 40-yard run and 40-yard reception during the 2015 season.

Long follows Morning Rush into rules discussion

Andy Hodges
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Arkansas athletics director Jeff Long just can’t resist sometimes.

During Tuesday’s statewide Morning Rush radio show, host Derek Ruscin threw out that he was ready for Arkansas to stop worrying about the rules and get in the game to win now.

“Why do we have to be the moral authority on all this crap?” Ruscin asked live on the air. “Why can’t we get in the mud with everybody else? If everybody else is cheating, then it’s not cheating if you do it.”

That will pretty much take care of wondering what people will call about for a couple of days, I’ll bet.

“Why is this the only school on God’s green earth that won’t cheat?” Ruscin asked. “START HANDING OUT SOME CASH!”

» Listen to the podcast of the show.

Long, who listens to the Morning Rush apparently was listening Tuesday morning.

Long apparently feels in football not coming close to competing for a conference championship during his 10-plus years on the job is okay as long as “doing things the right way is who we are.”

Don’t throw out 2010 and 2011 … the Hogs ended up finishing FOURTH in the SEC West in the final rankings in 2010 and THIRD in the West, despite a No. 5 overall finish.

 

History tells us Ruscin may have a valid point.

In the winningest three years in Razorback history (1964-66), the football program was on NCAA probation for recruiting violations.

There were no sanctions. The penalty was handed down in 1963. Yes, the violations were more than what we call “minor” in this day and age.

In that time, if you had the political pull and clout with the NCAA there were no sanctions. They didn’t run around handing down much more than a bowl ban.

The television ban came as a means to get Oklahoma off TV in the early 1970’s. Darrell Royal down at Texas had more pull with the NCAA and he needed anything he could get to slow down Barry Switzer’s annual haul of players in Texas.

Yes, during a time when the Hogs won over 90 percent of their games (29-3 over those three years), they were on probation for two of the years for recruitment of some of the players on those teams.

In case you’re wondering, Royal’s Longhorns were also on probation following their national championship year of 1963.

Now that doesn’t mean you follow Ruscin’s method of just blatantly handing out cash as the players come out of the football facility.

Nah, there are other ways.

But Long needs to understand — and the guess here is he better get it sooner rather than later — that the football team winning is important to the fans in this state.

After all, he likes being in the SEC. He’s stated the advantages of being there over and over when people start speculating about a move.

And in the SEC, one school over a period of three years fired the coach, the athletic director and the president of the university … all because the football team wasn’t winning enough games, despite a 72.2 percent winning margin all three years.

Yeah, that was Alabama.

 

Translating the media’s voting for finish at SEC Media Days

Andy Hodges
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The voting is in and, as usual, Alabama is the favorite to win the SEC this year.

No surprise, right?

Arkansas finished right in the middle of the West. That’s because most have absolutely no idea what to think of this Razorback team right now.

The people I’ve talked to aren’t ready to put the Hogs up in the rankings but, based on prior history, don’t want to put them at the bottom.

So they simply put them in the middle.

Before we get to the final picks, here’s how I picked it (and, yes, since 1992 I have picked at the top Florida in the East and Alabama in the West … EVERY year):

East: 1. Florida, 2. Kentucky, 3. South Carolina, 4. Georgia, 5. Tennessee, 6. Vanderbilt, 7. Missouri.

West: 1. Alabama, 2t. Auburn-LSU, 4. Arkansas-Ole Miss-Mississippi State-Texas A&M.

Explanations of my preseason picks will come later. Don’t sweat it, that’s just how I think it’s going to end up.

Here’s the official breakdown of the media voting last week:

East
1. Georgia – 1,572 points (138 first-place votes)
2. Florida – 1,526 (96)
3. Tennessee – 998 (3)
4. South Carolina – 897 (5)
5. Kentucky – 869
6. Vanderbilt – 554
7. Missouri – 388

West
1. Alabama – 1,683 (225)
2. Auburn – 1,329 (13)
3. LSU – 1,262 (4)
4. Arkansas – 796 (1)
5. Texas A&M – 722
6. Mississippi State – 633
7. Ole Miss – 379

SEC Champion
1. Alabama – 217 votes
2. Auburn – 11
3. Georgia – 6
t-4. Florida – 3
t-4. LSU – 3
t-6. Arkansas – 1
t-6. South Carolina – 1
t-6. Vanderbilt – 1

Now let’s translate that.

In the East, it’s traditional thinking to continue the belief that Kirby Smart is a good coach because he was with Nick Saban for so long.

Funny thing about traditional thinking is not a single former Saban assistant has ever beaten the boss. In other words, Saban probably taught these assistants everything THEY know, but not everything HE knows.

In the East, literally you could put Georgia, Florida and Tennessee on one tier, South Carolina, Kentucky, Vanderbilt and Missouri on another.

Figure out injuries, goofy bounces, weird officials’ calls and everything else that factors into how a season plays out and you get a result in both of those scenarios.

Alabama still rules the West. Until someone can knock them off, then not fold down the stretch (see Ole Miss in 2015), the Crimson Tide are out in front.

Right behind are Auburn and LSU, who have opened some space from everyone else. Now they have to avoid a collapse if they stumble early, which has been the death knell in the past.

Remember, Les Miles was not fired because he didn’t beat Alabama. He got fired because he lost too many others after losing interest after losing to the Tide.

Auburn has lived with the growing pains of Gus Malzahn learning about being a head coach. He only had one year of college head coaching experience at Arkansas State before getting the Auburn job, replacing another first-time head coach.

Tigers football would also likely benefit if athletics director Jay Jacobs would take away Pat Dye’s office and tell him to go away. Most schools would do that with a former coach that handed them a massive NCAA problem like Dye did.

After those three, the order of finish in the West depends on far too many factors. I don’t care what they say publicly, nobody knows what is going to happen with Arkansas, Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Texas A&M.

You can make a case for any of them to win 10 games … or finish below .500.

Which, of course, is why they play out the schedule every year.

Nutt files lawsuit against Ole Miss at perfect time

Andy Hodges
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When Houston Nutt left Ole Miss in 2011, it was a negotiated divorce.

Nutt is now claiming in a lawsuit filed that Ole Miss breached the terms of his termination with the mess surrounding the Rebels’ football program and the NCAA investigation.

Interestingly enough, that investigation has lasted longer than Nutt’s tenure in Oxford and alleges a campaign by Ole Miss officials, including coach Hugh Freeze and athletics director Ross Bjork to place the blame on Nutt.

Which is true. That’s coming from someone who was in Oxford as Nutt’s time was coming to a shattering end and there for the past year around all of the NCAA investigations.

The lawsuit, obtained by Yahoo! Sports can be found in full here. This is among the more interesting parts:

“Coach Freeze had knowingly lied to the journalists and recruiting prospects by saying that the NCAA’s investigation had little, if anything, to do with him or his coaching staff and was instead focused on alleged rules violations by Coach Nutt’s staff,” the complaint says. “Coach Freeze falsely stated that most, if not all, of the NCAA’s allegations involved ‘Houston Nutt’ and his staff. At the time Coach Freeze made these statements, he was fully aware that they were patently false, yet he continued to make such statements, severely damaging Coach Nutt’s reputation. … The protection of Coach Freeze became the University’s Number One priority in dealing with the NCAA investigation.”

Being in Oxford for the past year, that was the spin those connected with the football program were trying to spin. I know. I heard it firsthand for a year.

With the Rebels appearing at SEC Media Days on Thursday, the timing of the lawsuit’s public release will make things interesting on the last day.

The guess here is a lot of the crowd that normally would halfway home by the time Hugh Freeze got to the biggest room will be hanging around.

Especially with his best friend in the SEC, Auburn’s Gus Malzahn, coming on right after him. Remember, it was at Media Days in 2014 that Malzahn and then-Florida coach Will Muschamp ducked into the back of a small bar-restaurant off radio row.

That may have been the groundwork for Muschamp becoming the Tigers’ defensive coordinator the next year.

Interestingly enough, South Carolina — and Muschamp — will also be at Media Days tomorrow.

Get ready for an interesting day.

And Houston knew EXACTLY when to drop this grenade into Ole Miss’ lap.

 

Ragnow named to ‘Rimington’ watch list

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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NEW YORK — A day after representing Arkansas at SEC Football Media Days, senior center Frank Ragnow was named to the fall watch list for the 2017 Rimington Trophy on Tuesday.

The award is presented annually to the Most Outstanding Center in NCAA Division I-A College Football.

Ragnow had previously appeared on the award’s spring watch list in May. He is the seventh different Razorback to be named to the Rimington Trophy Watch List over the award’s 16-year history.

The seven different Arkansas centers have combined for 12 appearances on the watch list with Jonathan Luigs winning the award in 2007.

Ragnow was named the nation’s best offensive lineman and best run blocker and a first-team All-American by Pro Football Focus (PFF) for the 2016 season.

He helped pave the way for running back Rawleigh Williams III to capture the SEC regular-season rushing title with 1,326 yards and provided time for quarterback Austin Allen to throw for an SEC-best 3,430 yards.

Williams topped the century mark seven times on the ground, while Allen tallied four 300-plus yard passing games.

The Razorbacks manufactured 428.4 yards of total offense per game, highlighted by five games with both 200 yards rushing and passing.

A native of Victoria, Minnesota, Ragnow graded out as the top center in the nation by PFF twice in 2016 after his performances during wins over then-No. 11 Florida and at Mississippi State.

He graded out as a top three center in five of 12 regular-season games and earned an 80 percent grade or higher from PFF seven times.

According to PFF, Ragnow didn’t allow a sack for the second straight season and decreased his total number of pressures allowed from 19 in 2015 to just 12.

Ragnow also was named SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week on Sept. 18, 2016, for his efforts in his start at right guard against Texas State.

He graded out at a career-best 92 percent and helped Arkansas rush for 226 yards and three scores in the 42-3 win.

Ragnow has made 26 straight starts heading into his senior campaign with 14 starts at right guard and 12 at center.

The Rimington Trophy committee uses the following three teams to determine a winner:

• Walter Camp Foundation (WCF)
• Sporting News (SN)
• Football Writers Association of America (FWAA)

Since its inception, the Rimington Trophy has raised over $2.9 million for the cystic fibrosis community.

The award is overseen by the Boomer Esiason Foundation, which is committed to finding a cure for cystic fibrosis and has raised over $130 million for the fight against cystic fibrosis.

Arkansas’ All-Time Rimington Trophy Watch List Members
Frank Ragnow — 2016, 2017
Mitch Smothers — 2015
Travis Swanson — 2011, 2012, 2013
Jonathan Luigs — 2006, 2007*, 2008
Kyle Roper — 2005
Dan Doughy — 2003
Josh Melton — 2001

*-2007 Rimington Trophy Recipient

Razorbacks first up at SEC Media Days in Hoover

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Arkansas’ contingent of Bret Bielema, Austin Allen, Frank Ragnow and Kevin Richardson II were on a plane and headed to Alabama early Monday morning.

They arrived safe and sound and were on radio row, a gauntlet of radio stations, many broadcasting live, before going upstairs to the larger rooms.

Commissioner Greg Sankey started things pretty close to the scheduled time of 11:30 a.m.

Allen named to watch list for Maxwell Award

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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PHILADELPHIA — The Southeastern Conference’s top passer from 2016, Arkansas senior quarterback Austin Allen, was named to the watch list for the 81st Maxwell Award, the Maxwell Football Club announced Monday.

The Maxwell Award, named in honor of Robert W. “Tiny” Maxwell, has been given to America’s College Player of the Year since 1937.

Last year in his first season as the Razorbacks’ top signal-caller, Allen immediately made his mark by leading the SEC with 3,430 passing yards, including a league-best 2,291 in conference play, in 2016.

He finished with 25 touchdown passes, which ranked second in the conference, completed 61.1 percent of his passes (245 of 401) and boasted a 146.04 passer rating.

His 3,430 passing yards and 25 touchdown passes each ranked fifth in single-season school history. Of his 25 touchdown passes, 19 came inside the red zone, which led the SEC and tied for 10th in the FBS.

The Fayetteville product threw for 200-plus yards in 11 games, including four 300-plus yard performances in SEC play.

Allen is one of three student-athletes who will represent the Razorbacks on Monday at SEC Football Media Days in Hoover, Alabama, joining coach Bret Bielema and fellow seniors Frank Ragnow and Kevin Richardson.

Arkansas will be the first school to make its rotation through the SEC Media Day floor, participating in multiple interviews with various media outlets from 11:35 a.m. to 2:20 p.m.

What to watch during SEC Media Days on Monday

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Alongside SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey, Arkansas will kick off the first day of SEC Football Media Days on Monday at the Hyatt Regency Birmingham — The Wynfrey Hotel in Hoover, Alabama.

Head coach Bret Bielema and senior captains quarterback Austin Allen, center Frank Ragnow, and defensive back Kevin Richardson II will represent the Razorbacks in front of more than 1,200 credential media members in attendance and a national TV audience.

Arkansas will be the first school to make its rotation through the SEC Media Day floor, participating in multiple interviews with various media outlets from 11:35 a.m. to 2:20 p.m.

SEC Network will air more than 30 hours of coverage from SEC Football Media Days from Monday through Thursday.

The network’s coverage will be anchored by SEC Now: 2017 SEC Football Media Days and The Paul Finebaum Show each day, with both programs featuring prominent guests including head coaches, and reaction to the latest news and buzz of the annual college football kickoff event.

Bielema To Kick Off #SECMD17
Bielema will join the SEC Network set between 11:55 a.m.-12:25 p.m., before taking the podium in the main media room at 12:55 p.m., immediately following Sankey’s opening press conference at 11:35 a.m.

The press conference will be aired live in its entirety on SEC Network and can also be streamed online via WatchESPN.

Full Day With Bielema
SEC Network’s Peter Burns will travel with Coach Bielema and Razorbacks from Fayetteville, Arkansas, to Hoover, Alabama.

Burns and the network will be with Bielema, and the players, as they prepare for and complete their media tour. Segments of the behind-the-scenes feature will air during Bielema’s time on the SEC Network set and throughout the day. The main feature will air on a later date.

SEC Network On Site
Former SEC football standouts-turned SEC Network analysts Greg McElroy, Booger McFarland, Marcus Spears, and Jordan Rodgers will be onsite for the network throughout the week, appearing both on SEC Now: 2017 SEC Football Media Days and The Paul Finebaum Show.

Dari Nowkhah and Laura Rutledge will share hosting duties on SEC Now: 2017 SEC Football Media Days.

Hogs to meet Golden Flashes in 2020

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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FAYETTEVILLE — On the heels of adding a home-and-home series with Notre Dame to the 2020 and 2025 schedules, Arkansas has announced a home game against Kent State to its 2020 non-conference slate.

The week prior to the Razorbacks’ first-ever meeting with Notre Dame on Sept. 12, 2020, in South Bend, Ind., Kent State will visit Arkansas on Sept. 5.

It will be the first meeting between the two programs and the fourth current Mid-American Conference (MAC) program that Arkansas has ever faced.

Future Arkansas Non-Conference Schedules
• 2018 — Eastern Illinois (Sept. 1), at Colorado State (Sept. 8), North Texas (Sept. 15), Tulsa (Oct. 20)
• 2019 — Portland State (Aug. 31), Colorado State (Sept. 14), San Jose State (Sept. 21)
• 2020 — Kent State (Sept. 5), at Notre Dame (Sept. 12)
• 2021 — Missouri State (Sept. 4), Texas (Sept. 11), Georgia Southern (Sept. 18)
• 2025 — Notre Dame (Oct. 4)

Bielemas welcome baby Briella Nichole early Saturday

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Like a good football wife, Jen Bielema managed to bring the newest Razorback fan into the world before SEC Media Days.

Early Saturday morning, the Hogs coach sent out a tweet about the new arrival.

Briella Nichole Bielema weighed in at 7.8 pounds.

“Beyond anything @jenbielema & I could ever dream of as parents,” Bret Bielema wrote in a tweet announcing Briella’s arrival.

Bielema will be gone Monday as he will be the first coach up at Media Days in Hoover, Ala., following commissioner Greg Sankey.

Hogs to be featured school July 24 on ‘SEC Takeover’

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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For the third consecutive year, the SEC Network is handing the reins over to the 14 Southeastern Conference schools for a two-week stretch. Beginning Monday, July 17, each school will exclusively program 24-hours of the network with classic games, films, ESPN original content and school-produced content.

Arkansas will be featured Monday, July 24.

During the SEC Network Takeover, the schools have the opportunity to create an entire day of its greatest moments. Each school’s appointed date and a preview of the original content or events that will be shown that day can be found below:

Monday, July 17 – Kentucky 
Kentucky’s upset against highly ranked Louisville in 2016

Tuesday, July 18 – Tennessee 
Tennessee breaks its 12-year losing streak against the Gators during their 2016 meeting

Wednesday, July 19 – South Carolina 
South Carolina’s men’s and women’s basketball teams remarkable run in the 2017 NCAA Championships

Thursday, July 20 – Auburn 
Auburn vs. Alabama (2013)-the “Kick Six”

Friday, July 21 – Georgia
Vamos Perros Costa Rica (Georgia)

Saturday, July 22 – Vanderbilt
Vanderbilt’s win over Virginia to claim their first NCAA Baseball championship (2014)

Sunday, July 23 – Texas A&M 
Aggies defeat their biggest rivals, Texas, in an emotional game after losing 12 students in a tragic bonfire accident (1999)

Monday, July 24 – Arkansas 
Arkansas’s 2012 win over Baylor to advance to the College World Series

Tuesday, July 25 – Mississippi State 
Mississippi State’s rise to the women’s basketball national championship title game, led by Morgan William’s buzzer beater shot to end UConn’s 100+ winning streak (2017)

Wednesday, July 26 – Ole Miss 
Ole Miss softball’s first-ever SEC Championship victory over LSU (2017)

Thursday, July 27 – Florida 
Florida Gators claim their first-ever baseball national championship (2017)

Friday, July 28 – Alabama 
Alabama reaches the College Football Playoff for the third year in a row and dominates Cinderella story Washington in the last ever college football game played in the Georgia Dome (2016)

Saturday, July 29 – Missouri 
Missouri defeats Syracuse in an overtime game to reach the Elite Eight for the first time in over 20 years (2007)

Sunday, July 30 – LSU 
LSU gymnastics claims another SEC Championship (2017)

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