Former Razorback pitcher Scott Tabor on The Morning Rush about how tough it is playing Baton Rouge, how Dave Van Horn handles pitching.
Bud Light Seltzer Morning Rush Podcast – Behind Enemy Lines at LSU
Tye is “Behind Enemy Lines” this morning in Baton Rouge, LA, getting ready for the Razorbacks weekend series vs. LSU. Hear from the guys, plus Clay Henry and Scott Tabor, as they get you ready for Razorback baseball, plus recap last night’s NFL Draft.
Alabama, SEC, dominate NFL Draft first round at skill positions
If there are any doubters left about why Alabama dominates the world of college football, the first round of the NFL Draft should silence that.
For Arkansas fans, it’s also a pretty good indicator why they haven’t won a game against Nick Saban.
The answer is not just recruiting, which the Crimson Tide also dominates, but how Saban and his staff develops those players. That’s why everybody in the SEC West is really just playing for second place almost every year.
Schools like Arkansas and some others in the middle to bottom of the SEC pecking order brag about draft picks, but Alabama just notches first-round choices and keeps on going.
The SEC had 12 of the first-round picks with the Tide accounting for half of that. Most were either throwing, catching passes or trying to defend pass receivers or rush the quarterback.
With Alabama having six of the first 24 choices in Thursday night’s draft, that’s only two behind the Razorbacks’ eight first-rounders COMBINED since joining the SEC in 1992.
Since Saban came to Tuscaloosa, the Hogs have had three first-round picks and that was Darren McFadden and Felix Jones in the 2008 draft after Saban’s first year.
First-round NFL picks don’t have a thing to do with the number of stars in recruiting, but is more of a reflection of the development by a coaching staff after they get them on campus. Since Houston Nutt was the head coach, only one Razorback has been taken in the first round (Frank Ragnow in 2018).
As college football changed, Saban changed Alabama right along with it. A quarterback and two wide receivers from the Tide were taken in the first 20 picks of the draft along with a cornerback to stop the pass and an offensive lineman to protect the quarterback.
Saban is putting more offensive skill position in the early rounds of the draft than anybody along with secondary players (where he says he’s the highest paid graduate assistant in the country).
No running backs were early picks. The only running back in the last decade to win the Heisman Trophy (Alabama’s Derrick Henry) was taken in the second round in 2016 so that wasn’t particularly surprising.
Football at all levels is about passing these days … or being able to defend the pass. Whether you like it or not.
Pittsburgh finally took Alabama’s Najee Harris at No. 24, which Phil Elson more or less speculated could happen on ESPN Arkansas’ Halftime on Thursday afternoon.
New Jacksonville coach Urban Meyer took Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence first overall and grabbed his running back, Travis Etienne, right after Harris.
Expect more SEC domination on Friday night and a flood of picks Saturday.
Down the road we’ll see if the Hogs can start to develop players that get picked by the NFL.
Until the Hogs do have players getting drafted, they probably aren’t going to be competing for championships.
Sorry, folks, but that’s just the way it goes.
Holt on positive relationship among Hogs coaches in all sports
Democrat-Gazette writer Bob Holt talked on Halftime about the good relationship and camaraderie between the Hogs’ head coaches.
Carpenter thinks LSU opening up stadium could be factor in series
The Tigers will open the series with Arkansas to 100% capacity and no masks, which could play a role both ways, Bubba Carpenter says.
RECRUITING THURSDAY: Relationship with Utsey key
Defensive tackle Markell Utsey, a Little Rock native, chose Arkansas because of relationship with Barry Odom, Richard Davenport said.
Murphy thinks transfer portal opens door for big names
Democrat-Gazette writer Tom Murphy thinks the NCAA opening up the transfer rules will see some stars taking advantage of movement.
Bud Light Seltzer Morning Rush Podcast: What would you wear?
Tye & Tommy on what they would wear to the draft, picking Hogs, RD joins and more!
College football getting headlines, LSU opens up maskless
In case you were not aware, the NFL’s annual livestock auction starts Thursday and will run for three days and college football is working it to get headlines.
Give them credit, it’s a good public relations move, especially with LSU opening everything up including baseball, softball and track with the Hogs in attendance this weekend.
And no masks required and tailgating will be back in business as it should be everywhere.
Suddenly, the College Football Playoff is talking about expansion to somewhere more than the current four teams although not a soul has an idea how many it will end up being.
The most popular theory being floated, as Bill King of Nashville Sports Radio said on Halftime with Phil Elson on Wednesday, is 12 teams. That would be the eight conference champions and four wildcards.
The good news for the Southeastern Conference is that means Alabama could not make it to the league’s title game, still get in the playoff … or they could even put over half of the SEC West in there.
That scenario won’t happen but there have been a few years where if you wanted the best teams it probably should be happening.
The SEC also announced on Wednesday the lineup for 2021 Media Days in Hoover, Ala., July 19-22, and Sam Pittman will get his first appearance there on Thursday morning, the last day of the event. Last year’s event in Atlanta was a covid casualty.
In case you want to go ahead and plan your summer viewing, here’s the lineup the league announced:
Monday, July 19
Florida – Dan Mullen
LSU – Ed Orgeron
South Carolina – Shane Beamer
Tuesday, July 20
Georgia – Kirby Smart
Kentucky – Mark Stoops
Ole Miss – Lane Kiffin
Tennessee – Josh Heupel
Wednesday, July 21
Alabama – Nick Saban
Mississippi State – Mike Leach
Texas A&M – Jimbo Fisher
Vanderbilt – Clark Lea
Thursday, July 22
Arkansas – Sam Pittman
Auburn – Bryan Harsin
Missouri – Eli Drinkwitz
Following the theory there will be people in attendance, most of them will be gone by Thursday morning. That’s not unusual, by the way. When Saban finishes, half the crowd leaves, then Leach and Fisher will probably wrap up most of it.
It happens every year because Saban will be there on Wednesday. If the league wants to keep everybody for the full four days, put Nick at the end on Thursday and there will be a full four-day crowd.
And, finally, in a Wednesday news dump to avoid competing with the NFL Draft, LSU announced they are going to be at 100% capacity in Tiger Stadium this fall with no mask requirement.
It will start Friday when the Hogs come to town for a weekend series with the Tigers. Here’s the key part of the official release from LSU:
LSU Athletics, following the lead of Louisiana Governor John Bel Edward’s proclamation on Tuesday allowing for 100 percent capacity at outdoor sporting events, will move to full capacity at all outdoor sporting events effective immediately, LSU Director of Athletics Scott Woodward announced on Wednesday.
Masks will no longer be required at LSU sporting events held outdoors.
The move to full capacity at LSU outdoor athletic events starts on Friday night at Alex Box Stadium when the Tigers host top-ranked Arkansas. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. followed by a 6:30 p.m. start on Saturday and 2 p.m. on Sunday.
Other events on the LSU campus this weekend include softball hosting Arkansas for a three-game series beginning on Saturday as well as the nation’s top-ranked track and field program hosting the LSU Invitational on Saturday at Bernie Moore Track Stadium.
Fans will also be allowed to resume normal tailgating activities on campus with no COVID-related restrictions.
It will be interesting to see how long it takes other teams in the league to follow along with that, which was probably the most interesting news that came out.
Henry thinks Smith duo may be best father-son combo for Hogs
Hawgs Illustrated’s Clay Henry said Wednesday the Hall of Fame pair of Billy Ray Smith, Sr., and Jr., best family combination in Razorback history.
