Some random thoughts after the Razorbacks’ win in the Liberty Bowl over East Carolina.
The Good
Good for kicker Alex Tejada, a guy who has long deserved to have some good things happen for him. As mentioned here before, we’ve regularly driven by and seen Tejada on the practice fields kicking by himself in the mid-July heat. It’s that kind of dedication by the players and coaches of this team that you like to see rewarded with success.- While turnovers forced by the Razorbacks made a very obvious contribution to winning the game, this team’s overall improvement in turnover margin has been dramatic. After finishing -9 in 2008 (102nd nationally), the Hogs concluded this season at +15, which currently ranks sixth in the country. The interception reads that Jerry Franklin and Tramain Thomas made showed they were well-prepared by the coaches for what they would see from East Carolina.
The Bad
- The Razorback offense looked very much the part of the ‘finesse team’ on Saturday. While the Pirates were setting up the pass with the run on their impressive 99-yard second quarter drive, the Hogs were setting up the pass with, well…the pass. What little running game that was attempted was stuffed for most of the game by an impressively strong ECU defensive line. If Coach Petrino is going to achieve the balance that he says he wants, there is much to be improved in the Razorback rushing attack during the offseason.
- How fortunate was Arkansas to win this game? Before Saturday night, only one other college team this season had won their game without converting a single third down. The Hogs’ futility was, we suppose, not too surprising since third down conversions were the Achilles heel for this Razorback offense all season long (54 for 162, 104th nationally). Which leads us to ‘The Ugly’…
The Ugly
- Of the 13 failed third down conversions on Saturday, one attempt stood out as the most frustrating to watch. Facing a third and one — one yard! — in the fourth quarter, Bobby Petrino called a nice play-action fake play that allowed Ryan Mallett to roll right. Standing right in front of him was tight end D.J. Williams WIDE OPEN for an easy, short completion. Instead, Mallett inexplicably chose to throw wildly downfield for an incompletion. Now…we normally don’t fault a quarterback for not finding a receiver that we, as fans, see clearly. But how do you miss a guy standing 10 feet in front of you?
THE GOOD – A bowl win, and a WIN is a WIN.
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THE BAD – The cold! ECU dealt with it (except for you know who) and we didn't (except for you know who).
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THE UGLY – There might just be friction between DJ and Mallett after all!!
I totally agree with the Ugly. I jumped up out of my chair screaming "What are you doing?" at Mallett. Personally, I would have inserted Wilson at that point. Mallett was not contributing and the MVP was bogus. A Pirate should have won it in my opinion. Our whole offense looked like it wasn't ready to play as evidenced by all the dropped balls. I know the announcers were trying to make excuses for the poor play by mentioning how cold it was, but sheesh, it wasn't 40 below, it was 20 and everyone was wearing sticky gloves.
There is more to the whole 'ugly' thing as you call out well in the 'bad.' The offense took a pretty big step backwards, or maybe sideways. Petrino thinks he is being smart not running into 8 and 9 man fronts. But, he is in fact, creating a finesse team that will not be able to convert third downs. We think what we see is aberation but, it is to a degree, intentional. Bobby wants to get the big lead and then run in the fourth quarter. Maybe he will get there. Or, he may start to wear out his honeymoon. After Nutt he should have another two or three years at least.
Mallett looked bad. There are other ways to take the ball out of his hands besides putting in Wilson. You can run the ball. Mallett ignoring DJ is just reflecting Bobby's own offensive philosophy of late. We might actually be better off if he did go pro. The way he is playing he is wasting all of the other talent on the field. I fear Mallett is not smart enough to be a good QB. He looks good against average teams but, he plays poorly against good teams. He probably needs two more years of work before going pro. He hid an average year behind his big arm. 8-5 is easily the least this team should have accomplished. They did not beat a single team they shouldn't have until lucking into this W.
Seven points; the offense scored seven points on a Conference USA team. By all rights, we should have lost that game. I'll stick with my comment of last week. This is not a team with Atlanta in it's near future. If we can get our tenth win in the Cotton Bowl or Cap One next year, that will be steady improvement. With our schedule we should. Bobby's recruiting looks very good. He should be able to compete in another two or three years.
MVP was M Harris for getting suspended which allowed Tramain to play.
Our lines got whipped all night long. I wonder if they were prepared mentally or just thought it was going to be easy.
Mallet said it best. I think we have the long ball down, we just need to work on the other aspects of the game. I think he (emphasis he) needs to work on the short ball. Take six or eight yards when it is open instead of trying so much for the long ball. He is not ready for the NFL and I would like to see someone like Brandon who can run and throw really push him in the Spring.
In sports, you take score, not pictures…
"8-5 is easily the least this team should have accomplished."
'Easily', huh? So I take it this was your 'worst case' prediction before the season started?
Pretty Close. I actually predicted 8 or 9 wins based on them winning a game or two they shouldn't.
I know I sound like I am down on Bobby and I shouldn't. I am still so glad to have him. I think the 41-9 record gave him a bit of a glow that is going to wear off. He had no players when he arrived and now he has a young team with a thin defense. None of that changes overnight. The 'Mallett to the NFL' talk is clearly foolish. He plays like a sophomore at best. But we have good schedules ahead and two more years of good recruiting will put this team where we all want it to be. That's all.
GolfHog I agree with most of your observations and wonder if we might be better off without Mallett next year. Its really starting to gall me that we allow a CUSA team to hold the ball for 38 minutes to our 22 minutes and its been this way all season. If Mallett is ignoring DJ and other shallow routes that is abuse of resources. Its also a waste of talent if Wilson and Mitchel don't get more reps and its a waste if we don't use the running backs more-we didn't run very many times. This whole pattern is wearing very thin and is really shortsighted. I don't think Mallett has the patience or the maturity to make it in the pros at this point but if he can't resolve issues he may have with other teammates then just wait and see what he is going to face at the next level. Mallett needs to humble down and grow up.
I just want to say I really like Ryan and I hope he reaches his full potential wherever he lands. Also I'm very thankful that Coach Bobby Petrino is our coach.
A number of critical things stood out to me. First, the obvious, where was Mallet? Out in the parking lot? I also jumped out of my chair when I saw Mallet ignore Williams for an easy third down conversion. I don't agree with GolfHog that Mallet ignored DJ because of Petrino's coaching philosophy. Petrino's philosophy, like any coach, is to win and not to screw up an easy conversion. Also, McGhee is calling the offense. In case no one noticed both Petrino and McGhee were very hacked off at Mallet when he came off, not only on that play but on several others. I would like to offer another theory which may seem far out, but what else would explain that play and others? He doesn't like DJ? Hey, he's thrown to DJ before, and the Back's weren't a comfortable two TDs ahead to throw into coverage. My theory is that Mallet was trying to get stats by throwing a longer pass to impress the pros. What ever the case, Mallet is wasting his time and the NFL advisory committee's regarding going early. What he showed at Memphis, is that he can't manage a game and has little grasp of the short game. (The last may explain why the Hogs didn't call more wide receiver and halfback screens). He also lacks touch on slants. Also inconsistent under pressure. Plus, if anyone looked at the other bowl games, there are a lot of outstanding QB prospects out there, especially at places like Texas Tech. Petrino and McGhee have a big project (or headache)on their hands. In fairness to Mallet, his receivers didn't help. That one easy miss by Wingo with open pasture ahead could have changed the game.
Second poor tackling…again.
Third, why did it take Robinson so long to adjust to the wide receiver screens? Ford continually couldn't get off his block and needed help. I think a lot of ECU's early offense was built on that play call.
Fourth. Looked to me that the Holtz's game plan was to stuff the run and let Mallet beat them. Almost worked. MSU tried the same but it didn't work. I think that the reason the running game didn't pan out was because of that strategy. They weren't stacking the front but they were moving their LBs up on the snap. It didn't help that Johnson fumbled on the first run, not exactly inspiring confidence with the coaches. I also think that Holtz wanted to put pressure on Mallet, but the OL did a decent job of giving Mallet time. Another possibiloty is that the ECU coaches were outguessing the 'Backs brain trust. the headline should have been the same as with Florida media after the Gator game: Great Escape.
Fifth.
Winning the MVP without converting a third down? Maybe it should have gone to Tejada, after all he did hit 2 field goals including the winner. Franklin maybe?
Sixth. I thought that the Hog's secondary did an excellent job of covering ECU's receivers. Although Pinckney is not exactly Tebow or McElroy. Both side's secondaries were helped by not having SEC refs. One game I saw had SEC refs and the coaches (and announcers)were beside themselves on bad calls and no calls.
Lastly, attitude and preparation in bowl games makes a big difference considering the amount of talent available to many teams. I agree with Swineherd, Arkansas wsn't ready (they're not that bad) but I was impressed with the lack of effort by all SEC teams to date, with the exception of Florida and Georgia, which finally woke up as the game went along. ECU wanted it more and they almost got it. (big mystery: Holtz not being courted for other head jobs and being ignored in favor of assistant coaches).
This was the first game I had been to since the Capital One Bowl in 2007. The announcers were right, it was COLD!! I can understand how that helps the team that can run the ball better. The hogs haven't ran the ball well all year so why start now against a CUSA team that came in giving up a ton of yards thru the air. I sat right in the middle of the ECU section of the stadium and let me tell you, they were fired up. It really appeared to me that fom the fans to the players, they just wanted it more. The liberty bowl is the best that ECU is gonna get so they have to go all out.
Mallett looked like crap, but hopefully it's just a fluke with him and the rest of the offence over looking a good team. We'll be ok. I'm certainly not ready to turn over the reigns to someone who has never started a game, especially with the schedule we have next year. Hopefully Mallett gets some really bad feedback from the advisory committee and wakes up. The sky is the limit, just check the ego and spread your wings! Here's to next year. GO HOGS!!!!
With all due respect, you guys that are wishing Mallett away next year and think we'd be better off without him are INSANE. You are talking about getting rid of an All SEC QB and Heisman trophy favorite that led the league in passing yards, TDs, threw few interceptions and had one of the top passing effeciency ratings in the country. It's incredible you want to off a guys head because of a couple bad games and missing a wide open tight end. But then again I am starting to expect this irrational behavior of 'fans'.
Sure he needs to settle down some, but that comes with experience and maturity. Also, as Jim Dogg points out his receivers didn't do him any favors – just like at Alabama, Ole Miss, LSU, and Florida. Remember key drops by Childs and Wright in those games? The point here is not that these guys are bad and need to go, just that they are still young and will get better and better with more experience.
Another key point that people aren't mentioning here is the relationship and timing between the QB and receivers. This can take years to develop, and it seems our guys have really gelled in this area. I'd like to see this continue at least one more year.
I think we agree more than you think Soup. All that you say about Mallett is true but, so is a lot of what else has been said. We blew out all of the teams we were supposed to beat and Mallett had great stats doing it. In big games, against quality teams and good defenses he clearly struggled and his stats showed it. There is no surprise there as far as that goes.
But beyond that is a team that goes deep way to often, can't make a third down, or hold the ball long enough to give a thin, young defense some rest. That is all fine for a sophomore QB. As you say, in many ways it is very good for a sophomore QB.
It is not reflective of a QB ready for the NFL. And, he had better become a Junior QB if we are not going 8-4 next year with a bid to the Music City Bowl. You think he will mature. Some of us wonder.
He has a great arm. Bobby has done a great job building the offense around him. But, the NFL has spit out plenty of talent that didn't have what it takes. So has the SEC for that matter.
Good points GolfHog. Of course no one knows for sure, but I'm basing my prediction on the difference between the Mallett at Alabama and the Mallett at LSU. Even though he had a rough first half at LSU, he settled down and got the team back in the game to give us a chance to win. He couldn't do that at Alabama.
I think Mallett played relatively bad in the bowl game, but so did a lot of other players across all Bowl teams (although 200 yards and a TD is not a horrible showing). I truly think that a number of teams see bowl games as a vacation where they get a flat screen tv and an Xbox, and it's all the coaches can do to keep them focused to put a decent product on the field. Add to that the month long gap between games, it's kind of an equalizer or more of a competition of focus than true skill. But that's another topic.
I hope that Mallett comes back and proves me right
A win is a win is a win. Sure does make for a cold hard seat when the weather and team match. That is COOOOLLLD. Always seems like we go long instead of using all of our receivers. No need in having a lot of outstanding receivers if Mallett will not use them. I think it is Mallett instead of the coach. This year and next should be his best game but right now I doubt that he will improve much. Some but not as much as we expect. So much for our coach being a quarterback trainer. Fact is that if a quarterback has talent, most any coach will tap it. A coach never knows how they will perform until they are a jr. or senior unless your last name happens to be Manning. As some coaches say, it may be that coaches get too much credit and not enough credit goes to the players. I am most disappointed with us having what appeared to be a great stable of running backs but they just do not seem to get through the line. Is it our schemes or running backs, or O-line that is causing our running game to be less than average. We started out the season "pumped" over our running backs and quarterbacks, but piff they disappeared. I expect Wilson will win the job by next fall. But the defense has got to become Big D instead of Little D for Hogs to have a chance to get even to the Cotton Bowl.
Did anyone see the recruiting projections on Rivals? It appears thus far that Ole Miss is beating us badly with recruiting. Just depends upon how strongly we finish. I am not sure that our performance in Memphis was any help in recruiting. A win is a win but the Pirates shold ha
Just a comment on the OL. There are two different blocking strategies for an OL. One for pocket protection and one for runs. They are not the same and require different techniques as well as different personell for each. Many teams, depending upon their offensive requirements, may concentrate on one over the other. Recruiting of offensive lineman imay even be slanted toward a particluar offensive philosophy. Practice time may be much more for one than the other. Some teams have an abundance of talent available that can do both, but for most it's a matter of specializing in one over the other. In the end an OL maybe better at one than the other. From my perspective the blocking of the Hog's OL is geared for protecting the QB, and in this case, Mallet. Even so, a good passing game should still set up the run. Didn't happen in Memphis. ECU stuck with its defensive schemes until proven not to work. Arkansas wasn't the only bowl team to get it's running game gigged. TCU couldn't get it's skill players in space in the Fiesta Bowl. The Frogs just couldn't adjust during the game. Petersen's a heckuva coach
The Good: We won.
The Bad: The way we played.
The Ugly: The way we won.
Obviously we need to run the ball better, but that will require a better offensive line than the one we had in '09. Same on defense: bigger, faster, stronger, better players, and better coaching.
I would like to see Mallett return, buy if he doesn't I won't fret. That'll be another year for Wilson or Mitchell or whomever. If the passing strategy is "bombs away on every play" as it has been the last two years, we won't gain much.
ECU was a much better team than I expected. I tip my hat to Skip Holtz and his players.