VIDEO COURTESY OF KNWA
Arkansas quarterback Cole Kelley talked about getting his first start against No. 1 Alabama on Saturday night.
KNWA VIDEO: LB Scoota Harris after loss to Bama
VIDEO COURTESY OF KNWA
Arkansas linebacker Scoota Harris led the Hogs with 12 tackles in the 41-9 loss at Alabama.
Hogs fall to Bama, but it could have been worse
Arkansas nearly won the second half against Alabama on Saturday night.
They held the Crimson Tide to just 13 points over the final two quarters while getting nine, but they were outscored 28-0 over the first two quarters.
The result was a 41-9 win by the No. 1 Tide and it really wasn’t that close.
Backup quarterback Cole Kelley got the start and Bret Bielema said later in the radio postgame the Hogs knew all last week he would be the starter.
Kelley didn’t do badly against one of the best defenses in the country, hitting 23-of-42 passes with only one interception.
“We got better and there’s nothing we can’t correct,” Bielema said.
Which is exactly what he’s said for going on five years now in what is getting to be a tired refrain for a lot of Hog fans.
If it can be corrected, why is it not being corrected?
He said last week this team “is not a million miles away from being where they want to be.”
If he actually believes that he’s lying to himself.
In a week where they played musical chairs with the offensive line and All-SEC center Frank Ragnow started at guard, it didn’t help much.
The Hogs rushed for 37 yards, but Kelley’s sacks lost 10 so they finished with 27 yards on the ground. Alabama ran for 308 yards, passed for another 188 for 496 yards of offense.
Ouch.
This is how lopsided the game really was: At halftime, Alabama was leading in total offense 275-111. On the ground, the Hogs had 8 yards.
Going into the fourth quarter, the Tide had 394 yards offense compared to Arkansas’ 180.
The best way to put it was Alabama was methodical in simply dominating the game.
THE POSITIVES
• Jordan Jones continues to show he is the best player to come out of Smackover to the Hogs since the Burnett brothers (Bobby and Tommy) in the early 1960’s. The youngest brother, Bill, graduated from Bentonville where the family had moved.
• Cole Kelley has a ton of rough edges, but is a better passer than Austin Allen and can handle the pressure much, much better.
• Either the juggling in the offensive line worked better (at least for pass protection) or Kelley made it appear better because the passing game was the only way the Hogs could muster any offense at all.
THE NEGATIVES
• The offensive line still can’t run block. Yes, I know it was Alabama, but still, an SEC team that is supposed to be built around being able to run the ball and “impose our will” should be able to generate more than 27 yards on the ground.
• Overall team speed is sorely lacking. There were times the Hogs simply couldn’t catch the Tide’s backs and the receivers beat the secondary too many times for it to be progress.
• The defense against the run is not good. The Hogs gave up 308 yards rushing.
• Overall, the defense isn’t helping an offense that could win some games down the stretch. Alabama doubled them in average passing yardage per attempt and completion and average yardage per play while running eight less plays than the Hogs.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Bielema should be good enough to realize what he can do with this team in the SEC and stop all this stubborn “we want to run” and all that.
He’s got some young, but very talented, skill position players. He’s got a quarterback that can throw the ball fairly adequately.
When Arkansas went to an up-tempo offense and stopped huddling, they moved down the field against Alabama (even before the Tide’s reserves came in).
As Nick Saban said back in the summer on ESPN when asked why the Tide went to a more up-tempo offense and stopped huddling, “it’s what the kids want to play and it’s also harder to stop.”
LOOKING AHEAD
Auburn is next Saturday night in Fayetteville and, once again, the Hogs get an SEC opponent that should be focused this week.
After the Tigers blew a 20-point lead down in Baton Rouge, Gus Malzahn won’t have to work much at motivation.
And Auburn is a very, very physical and good defense. Even worse, Kerryon Johnson had 125 yards rushing at halftime against LSU until Auburn fell apart offensively in the second half.
After that, the Hogs have to go on the road again to play Ole Miss, who hung 57 points on Vanderbilt.
The road doesn’t get any easier for Arkansas.
At 0-3 in SEC play this, Bielema is now 10-25 in his five years at Arkansas and 27-30 overall. To get to .500 overall in his fifth season (and get to a bowl for the fourth straight year), the Hogs will have to win at least four of their last six games.
Reports say Allen out for game against Alabama
No one is confirming, but multiple reports are saying Austin Allen won’t be the starter at quarterback tonight against Alabama.
A source close to the program told Hawgs247.com that Cole Kelley would start tonight against Alabama.
Allen started the last 18 games, but that ends after a shoulder injury he suffered in the South Carolina game this past Saturday.
All week long, Arkansas coaches (and players) have been coy about whether Allen would play or not, but no one talked about how well he was practicing.
Kelley will be the starter, according to sources, but Hogs coach Bret Bielema threw Ty Storey’s name out on numerous occasions during the week so it will not be a surprise to see him some.
It has affected the lines on the game in Las Vegas, too.
On Friday, the line was 30-30.5 points in favor of Alabama.
Saturday, the line moved to between 34.5-35.5 points favoring the Crimson Tide.
PREDICTIONS: Hogs not good against No. 1
There’s not many folks expecting Arkansas to stay within shouting distance of Alabama on Saturday night.
Even the hardest of the hardcore think this could be a huge blowout.
There’s been more conversation about Bret Bielema’s buyout than how close the Razorbacks can keep it against the No. 1 Crimson Tide.
While it would be nice to give some glowing optimism about the Hogs’ history of success against No. 1-ranked teams, well, there’s not a lot.
Arkansas vs. No. 1
1957 – Texas A&M, 7, Arkansas 6 (Fayetteville)
1961 – Alabama 10, Arkansas 3 (Sugar Bowl, New Orleans)
1962 – Texas 7, Arkansas 3 (Austin, Texas)
1963 – Texas 17, Arkansas 13 (Little Rock)
1964 – Arkansas 14, Texas 13 (Austin, Texas)
1965 – Arkansas 27, Texas 24 (Fayetteville)
1969 – Texas 15, Arkansas 14 (Fayetteville)
1970 – Texas 42, Arkansas 7 (Austin, Texas)
1973 – USC 17, Arkansas 0 (Los Angeles)
1981 – Arkansas 42, Texas 11 (Fayetteville)
1996 – Florida 42, Arkansas 7 (Fayetteville)
1997 – Florida 56, Arkansas 7 (Gainesville, Fla.)
1998 – Tennessee 28, Arkansas 24 (Knoxville, Tenn.)
2005 – USC 70, Arkansas 17 (Los Angeles)
2007 – Arkansas 50, LSU 48 in 3 OT (Baton Rouge, La.)
2009 – Florida 23, Arkansas 20 (Gainesville, Fla.)
2010 – Alabama 24, Arkansas 20 (Fayetteville)
2011 – LSU 41, Arkansas 17 (Baton Rouge, La.)
2012 – Alabama 52, Arkansas 0 (Fayetteville)
2013 – Alabama 52, Arkansas 0 (Tuscaloosa, Ala.)
2014 – Mississippi State 17, Arkansas 10 (Starkville, Miss.)
2016 – Alabama 49, Arkansas 30 (Fayetteville)
That’s a record of 4-18 overall, 1-8 over the last decade. The last Hogs coach to beat a No. 1 team was Houston Nutt in that three-overtime game against LSU in his final game.
But, realistically, the only hope for the Hogs is if the Crimson Tide totally collapses and suffers some injuries like Clemson had against Syracuse on Friday night.
That could happen, but we’ll know in less than 30 minutes of real-time watching if that’s a possibility. That’s about the longest time the first quarter should take.
If Arkansas can’t get first downs, they’ll be in trouble. They HAVE to keep the Tide’s offense off the field because nobody knows if the Razorbacks’ defense can come close to stopping ANY of their running backs.
You won’t get a score prediction here. The guess is it’ll be whatever the Hogs can hold Alabama’s backups to scoring.
And, remember, don’t blame the Tide if Arkansas doesn’t try to stop the backups.
BYU at Mississippi State, 11 a.m, SEC Network
This is the return game from last season when the Bulldogs went to Utah and lost, 28-21, in two overtimes, but it did give them some momentum as they went on to win three of their last six games and got to a bowl game with just five wins. They should win this one. Mississippi State 35, BYU 10
South Carolina at Tennessee, 11 a.m., ESPN
Will Muschamp has never lost to the Vols as a head coach. You read that correctly. He’s 5-0 and may move a coach to the No. 1 spot on the Coaches Hot Seat rankings if he thumps the Vols and Butch Jones (who is actually catching more heat than Bielema right now). Bye Butch. South Carolina 28, Tennessee 14
Auburn at LSU, 2:30 p.m., CBS
Well, we had LSU dead and buried, then they went to Gainesville and beat Florida. Auburn has an offense. Florida doesn’t. Not playing at night helps Auburn and Gus Malzahn keeps pace, although Clemson losing doesn’t help his CFP rating any. Auburn 28, LSU 14
Vanderbilt at Ole Miss, 2:30 p.m., SEC Network
This series favors the underdog. Usually the Commodores have played the role of spoiler, but this time the Rebels are the team nobody is expecting much from … which means they actually have a chance. It’s crazy, but so is this series. Ole Miss 28, Vanderbilt 24
Texas A&M at Florida, 6 p.m., ESPN2
The Gators are struggling and Jim McElwain may launch himself into the hot seat with a loss. Two straight losses at home will not sit well with a fan base that isn’t bothered by a buyout and expects wins. Kevin Sumlin is close to winning his way off the hot seat in College Station. Texas A&M 31, Florida 14
Missouri at Georgia, 6:30 p.m., SEC Network
This game will be over early. It’s a shame colleges don’t have mercy rules like the high schools do because this one should start under one. Georgia wins BIG
Reindl pitches Gray back to even Fall Series
FAYETTEVILLE — Junior right-hander Jake Reindl outdueled fellow junior right-hander Blaine Knight Friday afternoon to help Team Gray to a 3-0 win over Team Cardinal, evening up the 2017 Razorback Fall World Series at 1-1.
Reindl retired the first eight batters he faced before giving up a hit. He went on to throw a strong 5.2 innings with just two hits allowed, no walks, and two strikeouts on 73 pitches.
The Fayetteville native was Arkansas’ best relief pitcher in conference play last year as he compiled a 0.93 ERA, best in the league, over 29 innings with 34 strikeouts.
“I just had a lot of downward movement today with the sinker,” Reindl said. “I just ran that inside into their hands and most guys got a lot of rollovers. Anytime you can throw very few pitches and get back in the dugout, it helps your team out and keep the momentum going.”
Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn knew he was going to get a good performance out of Reindl after what he saw in the first two innings.
“Jake Reindl does what he does when he’s on,” Van Horn said. “He’s got a lot of tremendous movement and a lot of run on his fastball. He uses three different arm slots and just pitches.
“He doesn’t go out there thinking he’s going to strike out an ‘x-number’ of batters. He just wants to get outs. He had a couple of quick innings that almost allowed him to get six full innings in.”
After a dominating 13-0 victory two days ago in game one, Team Cardinal had a good opportunity to take a two game lead with Knight on the mound. However, Knight struggled early, giving up two runs in the first inning and throwing 30 pitches before getting his first three outs of the game.
Jared Gates and Heston Kjerstad both singled with one out before Grant Koch walked to load the bases. Then, Ben McClain hit a high chopper over the third baseman’s head which allowed Gates and Kjerstad to score easily.
In the second inning, a Jax Biggers double down the right field line was the best hit Team Gray got off of Knight. In the next at-bat, Gates singled for his second hit of the day. As Cardinal second baseman Hunter Wilson made the throw to first, the ball went wide, allowing Biggers to score for Team Gray’s third run.
Team Gray only managed five hits in the game, but got 11 men on base, utilizing six walks. Gates finished 2-for-5 with a run scored. McClain had the big swing of the day as he went 1-for-2 at the plate with two RBIs.
For Team Cardinal, sophomore Evan Lee followed up his strong pitching performance from Wednesday to go 2-for-4. Wilson had the only other hit for Team Cardinal.
Knight finished the game with four innings pitched, five hits allowed, two earned runs, two walks, and three strikeouts on 72 pitches.
“The first four hitters for Team Gray squared the ball up pretty good,” Van Horn said. “I think they frustrated Blaine (Knight) a little bit and fouled off a lot of pitches. I was proud of Blaine for bouncing back.
“In those last couple of innings, he was pretty good. He’s had a good fall. We don’t want him to try to throw 98 miles an hour. We just want him to get better, work on his mound presence, and get healthy and stronger for the spring.”
Game three of the Razorback Fall World Series is set for Sunday at Baum Stadium with first pitch scheduled for 2 p.m. and will be a seven-inning game. Freshman Bryce Bonnin is set to take the mound for Team Cardinal, while freshman Caleb Bolden will throw for Team Gray.
All games of the Fall World Series are open and free to the public.
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 – Sunday, Oct. 15 at 2 p.m. (7 inning game)
Game 4 – Tuesday, Oct. 17 at 1 p.m. (if necessary) (7 inning game)
Game 5 – Wednesday, Oct. 18 at 3 p.m. (if necessary) (7 inning game)
