11:15 – Mike Irwin
1:15 – Connor O’Gara
Hogs Fall in Southwest Classic; What Plays Determined The Game? Alabama Week Starting Call or text, 877-377-6963
Bud Light Morning Rush Podcast: Arkansas falls to A&M 23-21
Tye, Tommy and Chuck on the loss to A&M, Albert getting to 700, bouncing back against Bama!
The Gimme the HAWGS Chuck Podcast E11: Clay Henry joins to recap the A&M game
Clay Henry joins Chuck Barrett just like the old days.
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Hogs fall in latest rankings ahead of facing No. 2 Bama
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas is out of the Top 10.
With Alabama coming to town next weekend, it’s a big mountain for the Razorbacks to just stay in the rankings.
After blowing a 14-0 lead, then getting out-scored 23-7 over the last three quarters against Texas A&M, the Hogs fell all the way to No. 20 in the Associated Press poll and 19th in the coaches’ poll.
“Alabama was going to be a big game whether we won tonight or we didn’t,” Hogs coach Sam Pittman said. “It’s still going to be a big game. So, we’ve got to get back.”
It’s not surprising he is confident. A coach has to feel they are going to win every game they play or they are doomed.
And October is here.
The second-ranked Crimson Tide come to town Saturday and it’s the only home game until November.
After that will be road trips to Mississippi State and No. 19 BYU before an off week, then a trip to Auburn.
Ole Miss is the only other ranked team on the remaining schedule at No. 14.
“A lot of people spent their hard-earned money to come and watch us play and we’ll be ready to play,” Pittman said after the loss to A&M. “They’ll be fine. They’re hurting right now, but they’ll be fine.”
The Hogs will play Alabama at 2:30 p.m. Saturday afternoon on CBS and fuboTV. You can also listen to the game at HitThatLine.com or on ESPN Arkansas radio 99.5 in Fayetteville, 95.3 in the River Valley, 96.3 in Hot Springs and 104.3 in Harrison-Mountain Home.
There’s more than enough blame to go around on this one
ARLINGTON, Texas — There will be talking heads wailing to the heavens about “what-if” for a week.
It’s a waste of time. To quote the cowboy John Dutton from Yellowstone, “it don’t matter.”
In usual Arkansas fashion, the 23-21 loss to Texas A&M on Saturday night will be placed on coaching. The usual pecking order on that for this game will be Sam Pittman, then KJ Jefferson and, finally, Hunter Yurachek (don’t ask me because I’ve never figured out why the athletic director is at fault.”
Most of that will come from the Lunatic Fringe in Razorback Nation that is a small, but loud group.
Don’t blame the play-calling, either. That’s the most ridiculous thing some of us in the sports media do. After the play’s over we all know if it worked or not. Every great “play-caller” has some blunders he’d like to have back.
“I’m not questioning the calls,” Pittman said later about anything offensive coordinator Kendal Briles decided.
He’s on the headset and has veto power. Ultimately, any blame sits on his shoulders because that’s what he gets paid to take.
“We’ve got an offensive coordinator— a damn good one — and whatever we decide we’re going to do, we do it as a staff,” Pittman said. “I wish they would’ve worked, but they worked in practice.”
It doesn’t matter now. It’s not really an absurd notion that every game coaches think several times, “well, that didn’t work out like I thought.”
But nobody on the staff coached KJ Jefferson to lose the ball or misjudge a leaping attempt a couple of yards short.
Nobody coaches a kicker to hit the upright.
Defensive backs aren’t taught how to be out of position and whiff on a touchdown that is badly under-thrown in the end zone.
“Well, I didn’t like the ones where we tried to run stretch and we lost a yard,” Pittman said. “I didn’t like the passes we overthrew. I didn’t like those,” said Pittman. “I didn’t like whenever we ran inside zone and got a yard. I don’t like them either.”
None of that was coaching. It was execution, which is worked on every day in practice and sometimes it doesn’t happen in a game.
“If kids did everything you coached them you’d be 15-0 and undefeated,” Pittman said about Jefferson’s fumble that ended up being a 98-yard scoring return the other way. “It’s human. They’re human. Certainly, that was one of our emphasis. We had six of them from the week before. He wanted to score, and it happened.”
Don’t be quick to blame Cam Little, either.
“He’s distraught, but he didn’t mean to miss it,” Pittman said. “It just didn’t go through. We had a lot more opportunities to just that, you know. It came down to that play, and we were just unfortunate.”
Yes, the coach was defensive from the onslaught he probably heard at the end of the game (he’ll likely never admit that) and what he knows is coming.
What everybody seems to forget is Texas A&M was favored by 2.5 points at most sports books.
Hog fans and media types spent all week wailing about a lack of respect or “idiots being wrong.”
Sometimes, though, when the books have a number you don’t agree with, you might want to consider if they know something we don’t.
And that might just be the Aggies have a lot of talent.
Sooner or later, they were going to figure things out.
They did Saturday night.
Hogs’ Sam Pittman disappointed after loss to Aggies, but knows who’s next
Razorbacks’ mistakes costly in a 23-21 loss and it shouldn’t have come down to Cam Little’s try at end of game.
Hogs’ Jadon Haselwood, KJ Jefferson after loss to Texas A&M
Razorbacks’ offensive players after struggling after hot first half against Aggies on Saturday night.
Hogs’ Simeon Blair, Bumper Pool after loss to Texas A&M on Saturday night
Nobody pointing fingers at anybody after missed field goal at end hands Razorbacks first loss of season, 23-21, Saturday night.
LIVE BLOG: Little’s field goal at end clangs off upright; Aggies win
ARLINGTON, Texas — It’s a hot day in North Texas, but no problem in AT&T Stadium as a packed house showed up for Arkansas-Texas A&M in a big SEC game on ESPN.
The Aggies won the coin toss and Arkansas gets the ball first.
First Quarter
1Q 9:44: Texas A&M doesn’t look like a particularly good team on either side of the ball and the Razorbacks take advantage of that with a 26-yard run by KJ Jefferson setting up a 32-yard pass to Ketron Jackson. It looked too easy. Hogs 7, Aggies 0.
1Q 5:25: The Aggies’ defense seems to be playing to the level of their offense as the Hogs are eating up yardage in chunks and Jefferson finds a wide open Warren Thompson streaking behind everybody for a 56-yard scoring strike. It’s almost looking too easy. Hogs 14, Aggies 0.
Second Quarter
2Q 8:45: Devon Achane breaks free for a 63-yard run to set up a 10-yard scoring pass from quarterback Max Johnson to wide receiver Evan Stewart as the Aggies finally get some offense. Hogs 14, Aggies 7.
2Q 3:11: Okay, we’ll try and describe this one. Jefferson terribly mis-judged his jump nowhere near the end zone at the 3 and fumbled, when Tyreek Chappel and Demoni Johnson took it away at the 18 and the result was a 98-yard fumble return for a score. Then the Aggies messed up the extra point to avoid tying the game. Hogs 14, Aggies 13.
Third Quarter
3Q 11:41: The Aggies start off much stronger in the second half, taking the kickoff and needing just six plays to go 75 yards in the first 3:19 and Achane give them the lead on a 9-yard run. Aggies 20, Hogs 14.
3Q 3:48: The Hogs better figure out something to do on offense or they are going to have trouble. The Aggies are moving the ball and both quarterbacks have thrown for 135 yards thus far. It’s the most Johnson has thrown for A&M in a game this season. They stop the Hogs on downs, then open lead on a 31-yard field goal by Randy Bond. Aggies 23, Hogs 14.
Fourth Quarter
4Q 10:05: Hogs finally get bleeding stopped and put together a drive, going 74 yards in 13 plays with Jefferson making a good read at the mesh point and ran into the end zone using 4:49. Aggies 23, Hogs 21.
The Hogs had a shot to get back in front, but Cam Little’s 42-yard field goal attempt banged off the right upright near the top and the Aggies ran out the clock.
Final: Aggies 23, Hogs 20
ANDY’S PICKS: More and more people picking Aggies today
ARLINGTON, Texas — On the surface, being confused over why the Texas Aggies were the betting favorite against Arkansas was normal.
But the line is going up.
A lot of that is due to more money being put on A&M. Before you over-react, that doesn’t automatically mean it’s fans plunking down junior’s college fund on an Aggie win.
While every Aggie I have ever known over 65 years is a little different, I’ve never known one to be dumb or broke. Their engineering school is one of the best in the world.
In sports, though, they have this unique ability to somehow under-achieve what their ceiling might be on an alarming basis in a wide variety of sports.
With a staggering start through three games, lay people think they have A&M figured out and, if you go by the numbers, you come away with the Hogs in a close matchup.
Throw all that in the trash.
Aggies coach Jimbo Fisher knows it’s conference time now. Suddenly players that were suspended are now going to be active for the game with the Razorbacks on Saturday night. Injured players are coming back.
They’ve settled on a quarterback that has played in the SEC before and he fits the mold of a Fisher quarterback. He won’t be great, but he will mostly make good decisions and find ways to put the ball in the end zone.
The Hogs are going to have to come up with some different things this week at AT&T Stadium or it’s going to be a frustrating weekend for fans, who were squirming last week in a 38-27 win over Missouri State when the Hogs were trailing going into the fourth quarter.
Look for A&M to try and exploit the Hogs’ secondary issues. Not necessarily with a barrage of deep passes, but they have some speedsters that can run against some soft middle openings and things could get interesting.
The Aggies have a game plan the Hogs ran against an SEC opponent. The Hogs are guessing what surprises A&M might have (or, more likely changes). Fisher wasn’t going to show everything in a non-conference game.
That loss to Appalachian State doesn’t mean a thing on A&M reaching Atlanta.
Look for the Aggies to throttle the Hogs’ offense enough for an offense to show some speed and things they haven’t displayed in the non-conference.
Texas A&M 38, Hogs 31
SEC Picks for Week 4
Not a lot of really great games this week around the league but that will change when the calendar rolls over to October next week.
If there was ever a weekend to point towards adding a ninth conference game to everybody’s schedule this might be it, but this one would make fans want a 10th one.
Kent State at (1) Georgia: Speaking of not showing much, Kirby Smart probably just wants to win this game by whatever he has to and get ready for the conference games. Georgia 52, Kent State 17
Missouri at Auburn: Maybe an elimination game for Eli Drinkwitz at Missouri and Bryan Harsin at Auburn? Auburn 42, Missouri 28
Bowling Green at Mississippi State: Good grief … another exhibit why meaningless non-conference walk-over games should be eliminated. Mississippi State 41, Bowling Green 12
(20) Florida at (11) Tennessee: This game might be for second place in the SEC East and we’ll find out if the Gators can be for real this season or not. Florida 24, Tennessee 21
Tulsa at (16) Ole Miss: Exhibit B in the argument to improve scheduling. Ole Miss 42, Tulsa 21
Northern Illinois at (8) Kentucky: Exhibit C in the on-going argument (don’t worry, there will be more). Kentucky 45, Northern Illinois 28
Vanderbilt at (2) Alabama: While it’s tempting make this an Exhbit D, Vanderbilt is still in the league, so we’ll just have to consider this a bye week scrimmage. Alabama 51, Vandy 10
New Mexico at LSU: Exhibit D in the argument (oh, we’re not at the end, yet). LSU 63, New Mexico 7
Charlotte at South Carolina: Now we have reached Exhibit E and the final one. These games are really ridiculous and it’s hilarious to see some people actually look at the numbers. South Carolina 48, Charlotte 21.
