Some random thoughts from Sunshine after watching the SEC Championship game.
The Good
- More records continue to fall. Monk’s second quarter touchdown brought his season total to 12 and his career total to 24, both Arkansas records for receiving TDs. Felix’s 57 yards rushing put him over 1,000 for the season (1,018), making Jones and McFadden (1,558) the first Arkansas tandem to post thousand yard seasons in the same year.
Antwain Robinson’s interception of Leak’s third quarter pass was the play of the day for the Hogs. Great play to catch it and score. At the time, it seemed to provide us with the momentum we needed to carry us to the end.- Weston Dacus’ interception gave the Razorbacks a much needed lift to start the third quarter. The Hogs capitalized with DMac tossing another TD, this time to Jones who was split left and uncovered.
The Bad
- The kicking game absolutely killed us. Missed 40 yard field goal left the Hogs wanting after a 12 play, 6:10 drive ended the first quarter. Six punts for a 29.3 yard average (net average of 24.5) — in a dome — is hard to do. The blocked punt gave Florida a gift touchdown, and our inability to stop the Gators’ fake punt were all key negative plays in the game.
- The “run-run-pass” sequencing of plays forced us into a ton of third and long situations, leading to our weak 4 out of 12 third down efficiency. Gotta throw on first down some, don’t you?
The Ugly
I don’t have the words to explain why someone would run backwards, inside his own four yard line and attempt a circus, over the shoulder catch of a punt in any game, much less one for a conference championship. The play provided Florida the momentum, and we never recovered. I’m not going to “pile on” though as I’m sure he’s hurting more than any of the rest of us can ever imagine.- For an offense that started off so well, and was so dominant through the middle of the season, we regressed the last three games…going all the way back to the MSU game. The once effective “Wildcat Package” ended up morphing into nothing but a bunch of gimmickry in which we tried to mask our real problem – ineffective quarterback play.
I cannot imagine Fish has not been told over and over and over: In that situation, "never, never,never, nerver ever, back up!!!!
Thank You Hogs For A Great Football Season!!! Go Win The Bowl Game….. Then Bring Us Home A "National Championship" Next Year…… One More Time…. "Who Let The Hogs Out! Onink!! Onink!!" ….. One More Time…. "Who Let The Hogs Out! Onink!! Onink!!" …. Love You Hogs!!!
Walking on Sunshine, it you really look closely, you will find that we piqued just before the South Carolina game. In our second halves of USC and Tennessee, we were just plain ineffective. We struggled mightily with Mississippi State but were good enough to win. LSU and Florida were poorly coached and executed games too.
Yes, special teams didn't do us any favors but neither did our defense. Nor the "experienced" quarterback. I am extremely disappointed in Casey's play this year (for not Nutt's decision to stay the course). I thought last year he did an excellent job on the last four games of the year. However, this year, he just didn't get the job done (along with others including Nutt).
If ever a coach is accountable for his own decisions, we are well past those now. It's time for Nutt to "Step Up To The Plate". In my book, he has a lot of explaining to do. Unfortunately, I don't expect him to do so and I'm tired of his "well I just had a feeling that things were going to change" or "that we were on the verge of…" stories.
Quite frankly, we were not just outplayed but out coached too.
As for Florida goes, they deserve the shot at the National Championship. As the old saying of "No guts no glory" goes – Urban just has the guts (fake punt at your own goal) – WOW! And we are left without the GLORY.
Finally, for all of you folks that said we didn't have a shot at the National Championship game… sure makes you wonder now what if we won against LSU and Florida… What if we had won???
I saw Fish interviewed. [edit] He apologized for dropping it, but he still doesn't seem to realize that the attempt to try to catch it was the mistake.
you nailed it on the wildcat package. The more the QB play dwindled (mostly with Casey playing) the more we went to wildcat which was most notable at Mississippi State, a game not on TV but being there I can tell you Dick struggled throwing the ball in the game and never seemed to recover.
What's the deal with Mitch? The guy does what is asked of him, throws one pick to start a game and is not seen for a month except to run a sneak. odd don't you think?
Yep, if we just had a quarterback that would make all the difference. If Mitch had played the receivers would actually be open all of the time. Damian wouldn't drop balls Mitch throws, because, well, not only does Mitch have touch on the ball while Casey's ball simply spins, the Springdale guys stick together. With Mitch playing, Fish would have known better than to try and catch that punt. No way LSU would have ran that kick-off back with Mitch playing. That bad snap and missed extra point? No way that happens if Mitch plays. If Mitch plays DMac doesn't hurt his ankle and those offensive lineman won't miss those blocks like they did against Florida. That blocked punt wouldn't happen because everyone will block better knowing Mitch is playing. The play calling would be better, because with Mitch playing Gus will call plays that suit us better – and Houston Dale better let him, because Mitch will be playing. Those top defenses in the country that LSU and Florida had would be putty in Mitch's hands. Our man-to-man defense will never get beat with Mitch playing. Playing Mitch is the key to our team being any good at all.
If we'd just play Mitch we'd be undefeated. After all, we were 8-0 with Mitch starting. Mitch is all powerfull. Why can't Nutt see that like we all do? Everyone knows he has something against Mitch – what I don't understand is how he gets away with this. Seems like somebody would do something.
Sorry . . . I'm just sick of all of this 'Mitch' talk. Quarterback is way down on my list of issues the past few games. We all need to remember that this team has way over-achieved and maybe try and be a little happy about that.
The deal with Mitch is that he is a freshman. He hasn't practiced well for weeks. I heard from the inside that the hope was that they didn't have to play Mitch as he hadn't had the greatest week in practice. I've turned over every rock I know and can't find any evidence that Nutt has it in for Mitch. I still wish he could have redshirted. I think he does to.
I just finished watching the Florida game on TV after having been there. Casey played his role pretty well. He made good throws for the most part. The quarterback position played well enough for us to win. That was the least of our problems.
As to the Wildcat package, the coaches fell overly in love with that and our offense lost focus and identity. I think it ended up being a distraction. It wasn't about trust in the quarterback, the Wildcat was more about trickeration and McFadden for Heisman.
Not developing a better passing game over the course of the season has hurt us. We don't have a capable downfield receiver other than Monk. I'm not sure that had to be the case, but that's how it has turned out. Shame on the coaches for that.
Geez….I think HogBlogger's a litle testy after driving the 11+ hours home from Atlanta. Although there's some good points mixed in there amongst the ranting.
Okay, I'm back. I can't take it anymore….
I'm felt a bit of dark-sider humor coming on when I read your quote Sunshine:
"For an offense that started off so well, and was so dominant through the middle of the season, we regressed the last three games…going all the way back to the MSU game. "
I want to apologize to Hogblogger ahead of time but here are my two cents…
Maybe I am just an M16 fan (I don't thik I am, I really do love the Razorbacks), but the question has to be heard.
Why exactly did we switch QBs in the middle of the best season the HOG have had in years? I contend that given the fact that we were basically a "run first" team, either QB should have been able to handle the job. How hard is it to hand the ball to DMAC and get out of the way.
I know we were promised a more balanced passing attack with CD and HDN felt he had "more experience", but I don't think we achieved that goal. Not that we should have been suprised. HDN does not like to throw the ball. That is obvious.
Once Dick took over, did you not notice that he spent more time as the season went on watching DMAC take the snap himself? I'm submit that HDN didn't trust his ability to get it done. Once again, if the QB is mostly in there to hand the ball off, why not put Mustain back in the game and give him a shot? That way he could get more "experience".
Instead we watched Dick throw one of his many off-line passes into the end zone to be picked off by Florida late in the game. By the way, for those who were truly watching, the TD pass to Monk was at least 5-10 yards short which is quite the norm for a Dick pass. Monk just made a great catch. Casey Dick is NOT a good passer and is now once again 2-2 as a starter (3-2 if Mustain doesn't start against SC so I'll give up that one). That makes him 5-4 over the past two years. I just love being close to .500 don't you? But we all know how HDN values "experience", well I've experienced more CD than I care too.
I just wonder what HDN has against Mitch Mustain? Something is up here boys.
Like I said before, I do think the kid is the real deal and it really pained me to watch this team fall on its on sword under an inferior QB.
You are correct in saying the Shibest and crew lost this game, but given a more balanced attack or at least the threat of a more balanced attack and we might have one the game. CD proved once again that he could not provide that balance. We should have given the kid a chance. Instead we lose out and Auburn ends the season ranked above us in the BCS poll.
What would have happened if we would have beat LSU and Florida? We will never know. HDN insured that during the SC game.
Hogblogger you took the words right out of my mouth and some of those fans of players may need to read that one more time.
Hogblogger, the point is that we were looking for a star qb, then we got one, and we don't play him even after he won how many games? Including a game winning clutch throw against Alabama, and a solid performance against Auburn. Casey Dick has no business any where near this level. He doesn't even have any business at the next level down. And what is more he has no intensity whatsoever. No emotion during or after either of those games. He didn't even look like he was embarrassed or ashamed after that LSU game. A real competitor would have been. Then again, a real competitor wouldn't have had that kind of performance. Mitch is not only good but he is a winner, and when you have a winner on the field it definitely can effect the other players performance.
Stephen, HJhog and Owassohog have to be from Springdale because I have never seen people go so hard for a qb to get in the game and hand it off. There has been a qb issue since the very first game. CD has put up more yards than M16 and all other stats are about equal in fewer starts. I do agree with you that M16 with a little more work would be the better qb but not this season the games we played with him as starter we could have won with KJack as qb it didn't take much playing against teams like Utah hand it off and get out the way. The games we have lost were not a result of qb play it was a result of bad special team and bad game planning from coaches and if you really think about it the games we won with M16 starting were not a result of outstanding or even average play from him.
Fact of the matter is that many folks are involved in the game. However, you will probably only hear from quarterbacks, running backs, some receivers, and kickers. Individually speaking, these guys will have good games and bad games during their careers. Mostly, if they are starting, they will have good games. If they don't, they are benched in favor of those that will have good games.
In this mix and in my opinion, the only position that really hasn't changed much is with the quarterback. You guys harped on stats earlier this year and I displayed stats that made both quarterbacks look good or bad depending upon which stats you looked at. Having checked after this game but Casey's stats didn't go up at all during his time as starting quarterback. Why? Who knows! They trended down almost on a downward slope. What else trended down? WIN/LOSS ratio!!! You can't ignore this FACT! Does it matter to me who starts – NO, if they are getting the job done (for their part) – again, it is a TEAM sport. But having said that, if the kicking game isn't going well then you have to make up for it with better defense. If the defense isn't working well then you have to make up for it in offense or kicking. And on and on…
Therefore, if Casey isn't adding to the offense (not saying that Mitch would) you HAVE to give additional time to Mitch. Just as you should give Casey as chance since Mitch didn't get the interception ratio down.
We had (I totally believe it) a chance to play for the National Championship! PERIOD – END OF STORY! We didn't get the job done as a TEAM. Why? Lots of reasons – probably. Maybe we were tired… maybe we weren't as good as we thought but we had improved weekly up to a point. Maybe Nutt didn't give his coaches a chance to do their part. Maybe Nutt didn't give the players their chance. Maybe the pressure was too great.
Our coach made changes (assumption is that for the "right" reasons) but those changes DID NOT HELP! I will not say they HURT but they DID NOT HELP the team. I've looked at the stats for both they are close enough to not be an issue of one QB over the other. More yards/start is not a valid comparison in my book!
Say what you want but as a fan (somebody that pays for tickets and is an alum) – I am entitled to voice my opinion on the subject as I see it. And the way I see it is that Casey probably should have played more at the beginning of the season and Mitch should have played more at the end of the season. I'm not really biased one way or the other. Looking at it how they played a dual quarterbacking system in Florida, I believe that it could have worked here. It is a REAL shame that we couldn't have used both effectively. That's the honest truth here and I believe those folks that of my opinion are really trying to say this but some folks are so clueless that they are making this into a my QB is better than your QB.
In the words of John Lennon… "give Mitch a chance!"
Dienhog, are you seriously saying that CDs play wasn't a major factor in the LSU loss? And then we take out Mitch after one interception on the opponents side of the field, while we leave in CD after a miserable performance and then a horrid interception near our own goal line? Oh, I forgot Mitch wasn't ready to handle the SEC, although somehow he could throw a clutch game winning pass against Alabama, and lead the helm in victories over Auburn, Vandy. Aren't those SEC teams? It makes no sense whatsoever.
The hogs live or die by the run. I don't understand why we do not pass the ball more to keep the defenses off balance. I am not a coach but all the offenses coaches must realize this. Why on earth did the Hogs sign so many receivers if they weren't even thinking about passing more. Most of the young receivers are probably asking the same question. Oh well, the hogs will regroup and hopefully come away with a victory against the badgers. A 3 game losing steak to finish the season sure would leave a bad taste.
Stephen, I am not saying that CD play was not a factor in the LSU game what I am saying is that the play calling and the LSU defense was a bigger factor you can't throw it to a receiver who is not open because of the basic routes called or obvious passing situations. As far as the so called clutch pass against Alabama it was a great pass and catch but we would not have been in that situation if it had not been for the two or three back to back interceptions. I am not building a case for CD because if we had other options I would bench them both I beleive HDN went with the qb that the offense felt most comfortable with. Its not a a surprise I was happy with the call to go with CD since M16 got the nod I was asking for another qb. I am happy to have M16 because know he is the future and a very good qb but this year he needed to watch because college is so much faster than highschool.
Dieinghog, "but we would not have been in that situation if it had not been for the two or three back to back interceptions."
I'm sorry but we have no way of knowing what would have happened had those interceptions not occurred. We could have missed the FG, fumbled the ball, flagged for penalties, punted, etc. To say those two or three is just caused it is making assumptions that can't be made. However, they certainly didn't help the situation.