ESPN.com: Auburn overpowers Arkansas after Mallett hurt
Cameron Newton ran for three touchdowns and added another score through the air, as seventh-ranked Auburn outslugged No. 12 Arkansas, 65-43, in a wild SEC showdown from Jordan-Hare Stadium.
Also:
- ArkansasRazorbacks.com: Childs posts career night, Game Stats, Post-game Notes
- ESPN.com: Newton Leads Auburn In Shootout Win (Video)
- Chris Bahn: Razorback Defense Exposed Against Newton, Tigers, Two-Minute Drill
- Jim Harris: Auburn’s Newton Huge, But Arkansas Can Point to Other Areas That Hurt
- Matt Jones: Poor Execution Overshadows Wilson, Post-game Press Conference (Video)
- Robbie Neiswanger: Auburn Knocks Out Arkansas in Fourth Quarter
- Scott Faldon: Wilson Steps in For Injured Mallett
This is a developing story that will be updated soon. You can also get the latest breaking Razorback news by following @RazorBloggers on Twitter.
Can you say FLORIDA. We were hosed, even worse than last year.
What a great effort by a wonderful team. We should have won by 3 touchdowns.
Special teams need a bit of an overhaul. Newton is the next Bo Jackson and we still should have won.
Yea, special teams are in trouble. Can't win with 3 turnovers in the 4th quarter AND poor special teams play.
Can't have that many turnovers. Special Teams whipped our behinds. Ref's handed us a tough hand. Felt bad for the Team because they really battled. Too much to overcome.
Gonna have to petition the Sec for a different officiating crew (as opposed to any crew they would assign our game) especially if we're playing a undefeated team on the road again.
I'm proud of the boys. The team really battled today, even through all the bogus calls and cheap shots (how is the hit that put Mallett out not a horse collar? Also check out the way Auburn's defenders tend to drag their knees into the ball carrier when they tackle; this occurred repeatedly in the late going). Poor special teams play was particularly disappointing. It won't show up in the stats or the commentary, I'm sure, but the defense played well again. Offense was great especially when Tyler came in.
Speaking of which: I've been one of the posters who has been down on Tyler during his time with the Program and I'd like to say I was wrong. I can't imagine a tougher situation to put a young man in and he handled himself very well. I'll no longer have any qualms about putting TW in the game no matter the situation.
Very proud of this team as well. Talk about adversity.
I thought Tyler Wilson was fantastic. The interceptions were killers, but you can't really blame the kid – he was trying to go downfield to win the game.
I can forgive the blocked punt – that happens, but kickoff coverage was horrible – that really hasn't been a problem for us this year so wonder what happened there.
Newton is Tebow times 4. Unstoppable really, and the downfield blocking Auburn had was incredibly effective once he gets through the backers. Thought our defensive play calling could have been a little better to stop him. I think our linebackers were in coverage when Newton did his QB draws, which was almost every play.
I really think our D was too tired at the end, and after those 2 quick turnovers and the 'fumble' they didn't have time to breathe.
And the replay officiating was terrible, as is usual in big SEC games. I wonder how long that will go on before something is done about it. It's been at least 3 years where there have been significant blown calls that contribute to losses.
There are alot of things to blame here, and I HATE to cry foul on the officiating; but those calls were just too big. We're not talking a first down or spot of the ball, those were freaking touchdowns! And in both instances, the initial call was wrong. The goal line fumble was never called a touchdown until way after the play and Green was down all the way. This whole "overwhelming video evidence" needs to be looked at.
Well that was an amazing heap of deflating fun. I was able to catch the fourth quarter on TV, but followed the game on my phone for the first 3 quarters. I was shocked to see the score piling up the way it was. Not from our offense, but from theirs.
I know our defense has played better this year, but when I saw that Newton had over 100 yards rushing in the first half, I knew this was going to be a long day. What happened to stacking the box, putting a spy on him and making him try to beat us in the air?
I understand that our turnovers and those questionable calls occurred and didn't help things. I also understand that Auburn's starting position weren't too shabby, either, in some instances. And, yes, they have Malzahn calling the plays.
But 65 points!?! The game I saw was in the fourth quarter and the defenses were dog tired. But those 65 points weren't scored all in the fourth. It's year three now and while there have been some improvements on defense, I'm still not a fan of Willy's scheming.
All said, the Hogs played with some attitude yesterday. Especially after Mallett was knocked out. How about Wilson!?! I'm not sure if he'll be an NFL guy, but you can definitely see how a Petrino-system QB can operate a game.
We can easily get this season back on track with some adjustments and could still end up 10-2. Let's go boys, it's time to beat Nutt!
Ok, I just saw the replay of the Fannin fumble. Uh, how was there not enough evidence? That was a stripped ball. Pair that with the Green fumble and you have more lousy SEC officiating. Unfortunately it went against us, again.
Certainly we have to play better defense. We are still missing a few horses on that side of the ball. Special teams will get you beat. John L. needs to step up. You can't get ahead of yourself in play calling. Maybe Paul was the one who kept Bobby from getting to excited. Having said all that and, any of it will get you beat, I have to say this whole deal in the SEC of protecting the teams in line for the BCS is pretty distasteful. I can't help but wonder if Bobby is not getting the treatment a bit because Home Depot buys so much advertising. I thought it was pretty distasteful to see the officials actually cheating.
I'm very proud of the way Tyler Wilson played yesterday. I've been waiting for him to get his chance and boy, did he deliver or what?
Our Sts coverage was horrible, horrible, horrible, but still didn't quite beat the refs horrible, horrible, horrible officiating. When is enough going to be enough with these guys?
I hope LSU runs all over AU next week. LSU's front 4 will be a different animal all together for Newton & Co. this time around. Something tells me when Newton is forced to pass, AU's offense isn't really all that good.
Gonzo: I'm an LSU grad (but have very, very strong connections with U of Arkansas) but LSU is not going to stop Newton, much as I wish it. Newton is Tim Tebow and Vince Young rolled into one. No one is going to stop this guy unless it's injuries. Unlike the two other mobile darlings of the media, Robinson of Michigan and Pryor of OSU, Newton can consistently pass. He does what I wish Mallet would do more of, that is sprint out and wait for open receivers. I may be overly impressed but in previous games Auburn was wasting a down, other than to give Newton a rest, when they gave the ball to Dyer and Fanin. The best assesment of Auburn was on ESPN. One commentator said that without Newton, Auburn was a .500 team, wherein Holtz immediately said, without Newton they're not even that. Auburn must do what the Hogs must do, as Broadway has said, they have to match score for score with their opponents and be good at the end. The only team with a good chance to beat Auburn is Alabama. Now that game will really have national attention (and money). Coincidental with the reffing?
In case anyone missed it, I had previously said that to win the Hogs must stop Newton in the red zone. At the beginning they did that with Auburn settling for field goals. But the "fumble" call took the wind out of the Hogs' sails. After that they were a shadow of themselves. Poor tackling became worse. Dyer's run was due to broken morale and defenders just plain tuckered from chasing Newton. Ole Miss has a mobile QB in Masioli and I suspect the strategy will be the same. Stop him in the red zone and force him to pass; hopefully they will put a spy on him. Fortunately Masioli is not Newton, but he is quick.
I thought the Hogs fought well and hard with what they have. I have complained about kickoff returns and coverage before. First the tackling and positioning on kickoff returns is atrocious, just like last year. Second, aside from poor blocking, Adams does not know how to return kickoffs. He approaches it like the outstanding WR he is. Jukes and what is worse slows down looking for an opening. Kick returners look for the best angle and then quickly turn on the juice. Unlike punt returns you have more defenders in your face on kickoffs. Adams looks like a candidate for "Dancing with the Stars" I don't blame Adams, he is not experienced. But what on earth is J. L. Smith doing in practice?
One thing that occured to me after watching Wilson light it up, was that maybe Mallet is overrated. Don't get me wrong, Mallet is a talented guy, especially with the long throw, but it seems that much of Mallet's stats are because he has such superb receivers. Childs given space, is a nightmare for defensive backs. If he doesn't go in the first round of the NFL, they "ain't' looking at game film. The other receivers would be the first WR in rotation of any SEC team, and that includes the vaunted Green and Jones. Now this could have been a one trick pony. Auburn didn't have film on Tyler and didn't have a plan for him. That luxury can disappear fast. However, the fact that his teammates had confidence in him means that he has the ability to move the team.
Regarding the referring: I was surprised the the commentators didn't catch the horse collar on Mallet. I noted that we didn't get another TV angle on it. It was somewhat covered up by the defender, but the ref was standing right there.
Now I haven't calculated this, but what is the percent of the TV commentators making the wrong call on replays. My feeling is that they are pretty darned accurate. In this case the commentators were "overturned" twice. That should raise eyebrows. Of course, they gave the replay crew the out of "incontrovertible evidence" excuse to not overturn. A friend of my kids has an interesting theory: He says the SEC is like the WWF in that it sets up the best money-making and attention getting scenarios, such as a Bama-Auburn showdown. Certainly, that can be the only explanaton for the personal foul call last year at Florida. I don't go that far but that Florida call can have no other explanation (by the way what ever happened to that guy?). I do think that the refs know what the league would like and are afraid that a "bad' call the other way which might have them seeking employment elsewhere. One wonders if those calls would have gone the other way at Reynolds. These are boom boom decisions so not much you can do about it. If I were the Hogs I would be making a big deal, a very big deal about the horse collar no call and trying to get media attention about it. Perhaps the Hog fans could bombard the SEC headquarters with e-mails demanding an explanation.
Reffering is not easy. In the OSU-Wisconsin game there was an out of bounds hit on Pryor where the Badger player rolled under him. Replay showed that the Wisconsin defender had been hit by an OSU blocker who inadvertanly pushed him into Pryor. That penalty should not have been called. A few plays later, a questionable call was made on OSU. Aha, I thought, like basketball, a make-up call. The point here is that the refs were, properly, trying t protect star player Pryor and didn't see the block. So, I ask the question, why wasn't the ref(s) protecting Mallet?
A tremendously improved running game would give the defense much needed breathers. With our overhyped RBs, I now do not see it coming. Whatever that pistol is, it for sure is misfiring. I hate pistols that misfire! UCLA did well with it one game and then the next their pistol also jammed. The coaches' excuse was that Nevada had been running it a long time is why they can make it go. Perhaps. Perhaps not. Is the O-line blocking well for the run? Anybody know that answer? Gotta have good O-line blocking or the best running back is average. That is the question that I would like someone to answer. Is it the quality of our RBs, minus Johnson, or is it the O-line or is it the coaches' schemes. Without having any evidence, I tend to think that it is the O-line and the rest of the RBs without Johnson. I have never been impressed with the BIG back Green. Perhaps he can block but I am not impressed with him. I like Davis and tend to think that he needs to stay in. There again, I do not know how good he blocks for the pass and that is Arkansas' break and butter even though the bread was eaten and the butter melted down on the Plains. I await some "expert" analysis outside of Hall's lack of an analytical brain. If you cut his head open, you will only find John Robert Starr's notes hard wired into his head. Just a negative personality. Meanwhile, let's stay off our coaches. Wait and trust Coach Petrino as to whether anyone is doing a good job.
What on earth does Wally Hall's analyses of Hog football have to do with John Robert Starr? One can't accuse Wally of perpetual negativity regarding Arkansas. Personally, I frequently disagree with Wally but sometimes I don't. Perhaps you could give us some examples of Wally's unfairly getting on Petrino and other coaches backs. It's your dime and you can criticize Wally all day long but bringing in red herrings? A lot of contributors here probably don't even know or remember who John Robert Starr was.
Yeah, it should have been "bread and butter" but perhaps "break" is the better word. Some may say "We be broken." However, there be many broken teams out there, Fla., now South Carolina, etc. etc.
One of the defensive players said the unit was not on the same page … out of sync … IMO The scheme seemed to throw them off … Maintain gap control and wait will not jive with a team that prides itsself on team speed and gang tackling… seemed to be reluctant to attack after filling gaps … to enforce its will … Be physical at the point of contact … instead allowing AUs QB – whose bigger that 60% of UAs D starters – to dictate what he wants while UA LB's and secondary (small by SEC standards) sit in the creases while AU forces the issue. Too small and not a great one-on-one open field tackling team for that scheme… The ST's were "out to lunch" in this game. Must get tougher mentally on all fronts … Take the "us versus the world" approach. Prep for 11 against 15 every week !!! WPS… GHG!!!