May 25, 2013

Ohio State 31, Arkansas 26 (Sugar Bowl)

January 5, 2011 by

Ryan Mallett / Solomon Thomas (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

ESPN.com: Ohio St. hangs on, tops Arkansas in Sugar Bowl

Solomon Thomas made an interception with 58 seconds remaining that sealed a 31-26 victory for No. 6 Ohio State over eighth-ranked Arkansas in the Sugar Bowl on Tuesday night.

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Filed Under: Arkansas Razorbacks, BCS, Football, Recap Tagged With:
  • OwassoHog

    Tough loss… but way to hang in there and make it a great game.

  • GolfHog

    It’s a process. You have to build the wall a brick at a time. Next year will benefit from the lessons learned by the missed chances this year.

    We were not ready to play. Bobby said it himself. They had been there before, we had not. When you make it to the BCS you have to play the big boys. Their defense was as advertised. We finally missed Childs.

    Great game all around. We just needed the scoop and score for the storybook ending.

  • GolfHog

    On a fourth-down play, possession changes as soon as toe meets leather. Arkansas could touch the ball and not lose possession. Only if Arkansas made a genuine recovery of the ball and then lost control would the Hogs have forfeited possession back to Ohio State. There was no risk of losing the ball on a scoop-and-score.

    • Jim Dogg

      Good observation. I thought that the announcers comment, especially from old pro Blackledge, that players were taught to fall on blocked punts was odd. I hadn’t heard of this. Coaches teach players to fall on fumbles where possession is important. On blocked punts it matters not who recovers the ball it goes over to the defense. Now, on fumbles coaches worry if linemen not used to handling the ball may pick it up to run, get stripped and the ball may stay with the offense. That could happen on blocked on punts, but not so close to the goal line. Lots of TDs scored on blocked punts (and fumbles). I don’t blame the player. He may have been off balance and/or overly excited for the moment. Good job getting to the ball, both blocker (especially) and the recoverer.

      • OwassoHog

        Bottom line is that we got the ball and were in position to score… didn’t get the job done so we lost!

  • SEC Fan

    The Razorbacks are a disgrace to the SEC. Please join the Big 12

    • GolfHog

      FAT CHANCE.

    • Soupdhog

      I can only assume you left this message on the Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee message boards.

    • T-towner

      You are a moron!!! Did you even watch the game? If our freshman scoops and scores with the blocked punt with a minute to go, what stupid comment could you then make about Ohio State? BTW, almost all internet morons are anonymous, so they can crawl back in their hole without having the balls to stand up for their stupid comments. So please crawl away.

    • Anonymous

      Sounds like a bitter LSU fan to me.

  • Jim Dogg

    Ohh so close. A blocked punt carried into the end zone would have closed the game. Pryor could hardly walk after his last down. Oh well. Here’s my unorthodox analysis of the game. The game had several critical moments, aside from the blocked punt not run bac, that hurt the Hog cause.

    1. Recovered fumble by Sanzanbacher in the Hog end zone. Razorbacks were there but the football gods weren’t kind. However, one must understand that if Pryor hadn’t fumbled the Buckeyes probably would have scored anyway (at that time of the game). Good defensive play by Razorback DB gone awry.

    2. Dropped passes. Receivers didn’t help Mallet’s cause.

    3. Lack of intensity in the first half. OSU looked workman-like and calm. Arkansas looked either uptight or maybe overconfident.

    4. Regarding intensity: Why am I thinking that Petrino went into the locker room and said, “Dammit guys, tackle!! Get a body on the guy and get to the ball.”

    5. The holding penalty on a Davis run that was going nowhere that put the Hogs 20 yards from a first down.

    OSU is a good team and played well in the first half. Arkansas came out in the second half and looked entirely different. Intensity returned. Arkansas’ comeback was helped by Tressel going ‘system”. Run the ball, run the clock, few passing plays that can get you in trouble. Arkansas stuffed runs at the line of scrimmage. The edge was there for Pryor and this was Tressel’s safety valve. Need a first down? Pryor on the edge. Arkansas just barely stopped TP on the play that preceded the fumble that gave the ‘Backs a chance near the 50. If the Hogs had walked the ball into the end zone at the end, newspapers in Ohio would be excoriating Tressel for going conservative and why didn’t he put the ball in TP’s hands for a sweep for those critical inches?

    Some good things showed up for the Hogs

    1. Kicking game. Hocker showed in can do it under the big lights. Breeding’s punting was better than excellent. I’m sure the latter was a big surprise to the Buckeyes.

    2. Kickoff and punt coverage. Wow. Did J.L. get his act together?

    3. Knile Davis is the real deal.

    4. Pass coverage was excellent. No pass interferences and those throws and catches by Pryor and his receivers were perfect. It was OSU’s receivers that showed up and not the Razorbacks’

    5. The ability to hold serve, comeback, and not get rattled is a tribute to the team and the coaching staff.

    6. When the defense plays hard, it plays hard. Tressel recognized it and complimented the Hog defense after the game.

    Lastly, I think that Pryor improved his NFL draft status. The announcers said they thought 5th round. They may know more than I, but some team that doesn’t need immediate help at QB may pick him because of his athleticism. Too good of a player to go 5th round. If he goes. I don’t see, at this point, how much those last 7 games (if the NCAA doesn’t back down) would help Pryor develope any further than where he is now. Besides if OSU comes up with a good replacement, it could get sticky to get TP back into the lineup. I think he goes, if the NCAA doesn’t back down.

    I don’t think that Mallet helped his NFL cause with this game. Good but mediocre (for him) performance. And that last interception can be interpreted as panicking with 50 seconds remaining and 4 downs to work with. No TJ Yates performance. Not knocking Ryan, just looking at it analytically. I was surprised that he didn’t try to scramble a little bit more in the game. And he didn’t look breakaway elusive if caught in the pocket. Mallet bragged that OSU would have trouble getting to him because he releases the ball too quickly. There were several times where I thought he should have gotten rid of the ball when he had time. Could use more seasoning. But what do I know, I never played QB except on a faculty intramural team.

    • http://www.razorbloggers.net rusty

      I know it’s a rant, but it was finally nice to see someone else (Jim Dogg) rather than a Buckeye fan acknowledge Tressel putting the breaks on is what also helped Arkansas’s comeback. For the record, Ryan Mallet is rediculous. Strongest arm I’ve seen in years. those drops killed Arkansas. Arkansas doesn’t drop balls, you see both offenses open up all day long… not just taking turns each half. I watched the Stanford game and I think Mallet is a better passer. Mallet will start soon in the pro’s and be successful. Ohio State has not had an arm like that in a very long time. Maybe Bobby Hoying but I still think Mallet’s arm is stronger. I never got a chance to see the kid from Mizzu.

      Yes, we Buckeye fans are appreciative of Jim Tressel and we do NOT want another coach, but he sure can give us all HEART ATTACKS. He puts the breaks on often when he thinks he’s up enough. It’s like dangling a carrot in front of your opposition. Yes, it drives us crazy. Look at Pryor and the offense’s stats when he has a two touchdown lead. He goes on protect the egg mode. I want to say Pryor threw ONLY 4 times the second half. I understand the move but 10-13 passes the second half i can deal with. It works 90 percent of the time, but I’m 41 now and my heart is not as strong as it used to be.

      Pryor’s overall stats are very similar to Cam Newtons. With less conservative play in 2nd halfs I wonder what his numbers might be. Yes, Cam has a better throwing motion but Pryor gets the same results. I think their completion percentages are almost even. I think passing percentage, Cam is 1% higher. Cam had many more running attempts than Pryor for the year. I feel Cam is a great runner but I think Pryor is a better runner.(maybe that’s my Buckeye glasses on but I looked at a lot of footage and that’s what I see) This is why Pryor chose Ohio State over Rich Rod’s wolverines. He knew Tressel would help him to be a passer. I don’t want a running QB but I think they should have had Pryor run more. He is crazy fast… faster than Cam. I know on official times Pryor has been slightly higher but compare the separation from defenders when they are on straight away runs. He’s not your scat back but with one step he is out of a defenders grasp. He uses a longer stride than Cam.

  • oldhawg

    The Sugar Bowl loss, while not good for the 2010 team or fun for the fans, may be good for the Razorback football program – and Ryan Mallet:

    Mallet and a few other Hogs will get lots of pressure from NFL agents to sign now. That would be a good deal for the agents and the NFL, since what the ESPN broadcasters said during the game is exactly what the NFL scouts watching the game said to themselves: “Ohio State has been in 5 BCS bowl games and it shows, and this is Arkansas’ first – and it shows.” The agents would get a nice fee on the trade, and the NFL teams would pick up Mallet and any others a lot cheaper than if all the perfect Mallet passes had been caught, and the bad passes – especially the last one – had been good.

    But if Mallet comes back and leads the Hogs to a better season and bowl finish next year, he will cost the NFL a lot more money – and the Razorback football program will be the better for it. Great quarterback, outstanding team – but the big game is what the NFL pays up for, not being great until the real pressure is on.

  • Jim Dogg

    If I may say it; Arkansas scared the hell out of the OSU fans. Moral victory.

    • Roll Tide

      :] doesnt matter. still lost! Roll tide

  • http://GonzoHog GonzoHog

    Tough loss, but I can honestly say I feel somewhat good about the fact Arkansas beat themselves more than Ofhio St. did.

    We couldn’t get out of our own way, which was evident early on with Ohio St.’s very first TD.

    I thought our run-defense against Herron was really good overall, but Pryor killed us everytime he escaped outside the pocket. Too much speed.

    Had our WRs not contiually dropped accurate Mallett passes, I have no reason to believe we wouldn’t have won this game.

    Looking forward to a great future with CBP and my Hogs.

    GO HOGS GO, BABY!!!!!

    • Wait What?

      Did you just admit a Big Ten team has “too much speed”? And here I thought this was an SEC team…

  • Soupdhog

    I may be reading too much into it, but in the postgame Mallett said it was a bad way to end the year. If his mind was made up before the bowl he could have slipped (or not) and said ‘career’.

    I think Mallett is fantastic – besides his athletic ability he is great for the public persona of Hogs football. He speaks well, chooses words carefully, is highly confident and doesn’t get into trouble (knock on wood). But with all of that I think that he has to win a few big games to have his NFL stock go up. Throwing the picks agains Bama, getting knocked out against Auburn, and the last pick against OSU hurts him. But he did win a big one against Georgia and LSU, so that is certainly a plus.

    Could be wishful thinking on my part, but given that we were a few plays away from the SEC and BCS championship games, and with all the talent coming back he may be back next year. Poor Tyler Wilson…

    • http://www.razorbloggers.net rusty

      This is an Ohio State fan saying there is nothing better than watching a gun slinger like Mallet. (Except when it’s against your team) It reminds me of sandlot football. Who did you pick for quarter back? The kid with the strong arm. the rest of us were receivers and the QB was not allowed to run. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll take Pryor in today’s college football world and the fact he is crazy fast, but it is fun watching that sball zipping around the field. With 3rd and 4th string defensive back in, due to injuries, I never felt safe. Mallet get’s a little more conservative with his throws he will make a great pro. I never felt comfortable even with the big lead cause of his arm and the way Coach Tressell likes to scare Buckeye fans by turning ultra conservative.

  • Dyeinghog

    My take away from the game is that I am so proud of what our team did. I thought that our coaching early on could have been better and our receiver could have done a better job at catching the ball. A couple of things I thought that could have been done to keep us in it early.

    1. After the very first drive a timeout should have been called to settle everyones nerves much like in basketball when the game is starting to get away. It was evident that the receivers and O-line were jittery and need to be calmed down.

    2. Although I knew we were going to pass on fourth and one I thought that we should have definitely add a play action to the pass or let our 6’6 qb reach it right over the top for the first. In my opinion it was a bad call.

    3. It was obvious early on that the blitzing was a horrible idea. I even mentioned to my wife in the beggining of the 2nd quarter that we should only rush 4 to try to contain and maybe throw in a LB every now and then for seasoning. Everytime we went all out TP would just out run us for 15. In the second half the longest runs TP had were off blitzes at critical times.My theory is go with what got you there. We got back in the game rushing 4 and keeping the LB back for protection against the run and the past so why would you blitz at critical times when we were doing so well rushing 4.

    4. Why have BG running kickoff back?

    5. Please and I mean Please find us a kicker who can at least get it 6 yards deep into the endzone. For the life of me I can not understand how Alex can kick it through the endzone at home and not away. The size of the field is the same to my knowledge and I know this didn’t kill us but still it irratates the heck out of me.

    6. Coach Mcgee should have had Joe Adams reading the self help books this off season to help calm him down because as good as he is he dropped to many critical passes and continued to jaw at any and everyone all game long. You would think after dropping 2 td passes he would find some humility.

    • Anonymous

      First: I agree with you about Mallet not running for the 4th and 1. He can fall forward two yards. I thought he would try to scramble a bit this game cosidering its importance. I was wrong. Pryor was the guy who went all out. Second: the reason that BP had BG handling kickoffs was simple. It was a reversion to last year (good hands and experience). You sacrifice a long return for reducing the probability of a fumble or other error. Not using Adams was to reduce the possiblity that Adams could get hurt qwhen he was needed as a receiver. When things got more depserate, Ray was substituted.

      • Jim Dogg

        there I go again, Anonymnous was me Jim Dogg.

  • GolfHog

    Tyler Wilson is locked in his room dancing a jig.

    Good Luck Ryan. Go Hogs!!