May 22, 2013

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly — Vanderbilt

October 31, 2011 by

Some random thoughts after the Razorbacks escaped with a victory on the road over Vanderbilt.

The Good

  • Jerico Nelson / Jordan Rogers (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) While it’s frustrating to coaches, players and fans alike that this Razorback team is not playing its best football right now, getting a win on the road in the SEC is always good.  Vanderbilt has not defeated a top 10 ranked team at home since 1937.  The Hogs were certainly glad to leave Nashville without becoming the answer to that trivia question.
  • Kicker Zach Hocker continues to be solid in the clutch.  As we all found out the hard way during the 2008-09 seasons, winning close games requires having a field goal kicker that can deliver under pressure.  Hocker came through again on a day when his counterpart across the field showed there’s still some “Old Vandy” left under new head coach James Franklin.
  • Honorable Mention:  At a crucial time late in the fourth quarter when the Hogs’ offense sputtered (see “The Ugly” below), punter Dylan Breeding boomed a 50-yarder to pin the Commodores back to their own 10 yard line.  ….  We’re still not sure how Tyler Wilson made the game-tying two point conversion pass while being chased and falling backwards.  A great play by Wilson and by Jarius Wright making a tough catch in the end zone.

The Bad

  • No excuses should be made for Marquel Wade’s vicious hit on Vanderbilt punt returner Jonathan Krause.  Because of how other situations have been handled in the past, we have every confidence that Wade will be punished appropriately by Bobby Petrino.  And for those Hog fans upset with the way Wade has been vilified by ESPN and other media, get over it.  That’s the “gotcha” news media world we live in today and whether it’s completely fair to him or not, it’s not going to change just because Wade is a player on our team.
  • Honorable mention:  As has happened far too often this season, Tyler Wilson got hammered in the backfield several times on Saturday.  Whether it was several different offensive linemen whiffing on a block or Wilson waiting for a slow developing play to run, the offensive game plan and execution certainly didn’t do enough to account for Vanderbilt’s aggressive blitzing defense.

The Ugly

  • Bobby Petrino (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey) While the Hogs continue to have issues finishing off their opponents, there are things they can do better even if they’re incapable of getting a first down.  With 4:37 left in the game and a three point lead, the Hogs’ defense did what everyone wants them to do — force a punt after a 3-and-out by the Commodores.  So…time to milk some clock, right?  Inexplicably, however, the offense began the series running the no-huddle.  After rushing for no gain on first down, the Hogs immediately lined up and snapped the ball with 21 SECONDS left on the play clock.  After a short completion, a final Vanderbilt timeout and a 1-yard loss by Ronnie Wingo Jr. on third down, the Hogs had “milked” all of 1:34 off the clock.

Of course, we can’t possibly mention everything that was “Good, Bad and Ugly.”  What did we leave out?

Filed Under: Arkansas Razorbacks, Football Tagged With: , ,
  • tomahog

    plenty of negative talk has been said about the hogs play but lets get talk about the good. It seems that every week we have a player being named SEC player of the week. We are 7-1 and just won two SEC road games. We have 3 home games and should win them. Yes we can play better and that should be the goal but the fans should give these hogs their due and be hog happy.

    Good-Hogs win

    Bad-Some fans attitudes

  • Jay

    Where has Lonnie Gosha disappeared to?

  • http://www.sethgunderson.com sg

    I’m really down on Willy right now. I haven’t seen one game this year that we had a good game plan for. I think some people would blame the players and their lack of intensity. But with the second half adjustments that Willy is extremely capable of, then I can’t knock the players that much.

    Missing tackles is one thing. But, allowing Vandy to have four TD plays that averaged 26+ yards/play, that’s not good.

    • http://www.razorbloggers.net/ HogBlogger

      I think the players on defense, if anything, are a bit too intense and agressive. Just not in a positive way.

      I do think the scheme has to be questioned. There are obviously some significant flaws that we see opposing offenses taking advantage of.

  • Carolina Hog

    I bet Bobby Petrino is about to lose his mind!

    • OwassoHog

      Agreed… maybe Willy too!

      • HogChaser

        I”m not sure it’s Willy’s mind that he’s about to lose…

  • OwassoHog

    Bad

    And for those Hog fans upset with the way Wade has been vilified by ESPN and other media, get over it. <— assuming that we should “get over it”!</B>

    Bad2

    Not getting to hear directly from Wade on his side…

    Ugly

    It’s the “gotcha” news world we live in today and whether it’s completely fair to Wade or not, it’s not going to change just because it’s a player on our team. <— having to live in a “gotcha” news world!</B>

    • GolfHog

      I gotta go with Tipster on this one. It’s football 101 since junior high. You don’t hit a defenseless punter returner. YOU must know where the ball is. If anything, this should be a discussion about bringing back the two yard halo rule.

      • Jim Dogg

        Amen Golf. If Joe Adams had been hit like that the bloggers here would have been calling for the gunner’s head. Get over it. It’s done. There have been worse personal fouls called on Razorbacks but this one was deserved. I have a problem with out of bounds penalties. Should have an immediate review to determine if the ball carrier was in or out. How hard could that be on quick replay? One foot in, ball carrier can be hit (not of course helmet to helmet, but even there the player being tackled can theoretically tuck his head down to draw a foul.) Hogs have got to get rid of these personals for cryin’ out loud.

        The biggest bad for me has been that in the last two games the defense has allowed the opponents to go the distance with only a few minutes remaining to win or tie the game. This looks like a bad trend, one that’s going to eventually jump up and bite the Hogs.

        My biggest frustatration has been people saying that Vandy should have won the game, including a national announcer and my cardiologist (a Vandy and UA grad). Vandy should have TIED the game, but the Hogs were ahead and there were enough mistakes on both sides of the ball to even things out.

    • Swine-O-Mite

      Being aggressive in a football game is great, but that hit was dangerous and uncalled for as the Vandy player was not in a position to be able to defend himself. The penalty against Wade (and our team) was the right call. I would have an easier time defending Wade’s motives as just a mistake if he hadn’t celebrated and acted like a jackass afterward. What part of potentially injuring an opposing player while getting a penalty called against you deserves celebration? Furthermore, he continued to show poor judgement all the way to the locker room. I’m not saying he’s a bad kid. He just showed very poor judgement on Saturday. Hopefully he will learn from this incident and move forward. Wade is a tremendously talented athlete. Let’s acknowledge wrong doing where it exists but also offer forgiveness so that a young man does not have to be defined by his mistakes.

      • OwassoHog

        Again, I won’t after the after hit celebration so much as he thought it was a great hit. On the way to the locker room, no excuses for that.

  • BL

    Good – Wilson’s TD throw right before half and 2-pt conversion throw – money!

    Bad – It seems the past few weeks when the offense is struggling to get going that they revert to the Houston Nutt 5-and-out passing patterns. Either that or 3-yard crossing patterns. The playbook seems a lot more vanilla this year. Maybe not, just seems that way.

    Ugly – I’m glad that was the last game of October as I’m sick to death of pink towels, wrist bands, ankle tape, gloves, mouthgear, etc. I’m all for supporting breast cancer awareness, but how does getting sports teams to wear pink accessories help the “cause”?

    • http://www.razorbloggers.net/ HogBlogger

      It’s hard to throw the ball down the field when you are not confident you can protect the passer.

      • GolfHog

        We can’t.

      • Swine-O-Mite

        I agree with HogBlogger on the down field pass comment. Those plays take a little more time to develop than what Wilson typically receives. Poor pass protection can reduce a play book in a hurry.

        I’m also tired of seeing pink everywhere. I’m all for breast cancer awareness, treatment, and research for a cure, but I fail to see where college sports teams wearing pink items helps to facilitate any of these goals.

  • soupdhog

    Good – this teams resilency

    Bad – defensive game planning. Should have had 8 in the box and let Vandy beat you in the air

    Ugly – the offensive line. Gotta get Wilson more time for receivers to get open

  • Mark Hopkins

    Can’t help but agree with owassa hog. We’re all hog fans here… But try getting off your high and mighty “toldja so” horse and see, he wasn’t trying to do anything bad. Look at the whole story, gentlemen.

  • GolfHog

    I’m kinda with Soup here. This a pretty good team of fighters, they’ve got some talent. I think Willy does have a tendency to outcoach himself and has had since day one. Any suspected improvement on defense was strickly wishful thinking. We not only don’t have good depth on the D-line, we can’t stop the run. And, our problems on the O-line were not exaggerated. We are pretty average. When Wilson does finally have time to go deep he usually underthrows the reciever just enough for the knock down.

    Bobby is an aggressive guy. This team plays with what might be characterized as too much aggression. Only, I think it more just taking the good with the bad. All those stupid plays that look like poor coaching are most often just play that is too aggressive, not under control. It’s who we are. It also accounts for all those broken tackles and long runs.

    We should make it to Baton Rouge 10-1. After that we are going to have to be a team of destiny. Hopefully three weeks at home will settle this team down and they will start to play their best ball of the year. Otherwise it’s the year of ugly.

    We shouldn’t feel like the lone ranger. Fans at SCar, Georgia, Auburn, Tn, Ole Miss, Miss ST, and Kenucky feel our pain. We’re just the least ugly of the bunch.

  • uvahog

    How is it “gotcha” journalism for pundits to criticize Wade? Seriously, I’d like to hear the logic behind that. The hit was questionable, but the celebration was inexcusable. Anytime you hear someone bemoan “the ‘gotcha’ news media world we live in today,” it is simply an excuse for people to gripe about the press attacking someone they like (e.g. the case of Sarah Palin). I believe the peak of “yellow journalism” was at the end of the 19th century, so don’t fool yourself into thinking that today things have gotten worse.

    • GolfHog

      All things old are new again. Except for sports blogs and the comedy channel it’s hard to find the truth these days.

    • http://www.razorbloggers.net/ TipsterHog

      uvahog…you’re right…maybe “gotcha” isn’t the right way to describe it.

      But when a play that had nothing to do with a game’s outcome leads off the highlight of that game on ESPN…when it’s given the full “ESPN Axis 3D” treatment so you can see the crushing hit from all angles…it’s certainly sensational journalism.

      The days of yellow journalism may be over but one principal from that time still remains: If it bleeds, it leads.

      • Roadhog

        Good: We take our sports journalism seriously here: Good grammar. Great taste. More fulfilling.

    • Razorblade

      Everyone is criticizing Wade’s behavior after the hit…but in my opinion that is evidence that he truly thought the returner had caught the ball and was attempting to advance it. Realize that he didn’t call for a fair catch and then abruptly bolted upfield. I just don’t think Wade the kind of player that would purposely hit a defenseless player. Definitely a 15 yarder and i don’t have any issues with the ejection as a precaution.

      I’m also not going to put the victim on trial…but what exactly was he thinking anyway? If he lost the ball or misjudged it that badly…shouldn’t he at least call fair catch. Dunno…weird.

  • shadowwarrior

    Simple. Play like this next week and south carolina will kick our butts! I really don’t think our off line really care about tyler if they did they wouldn’t keep throwing lookout blocks! Oh man my bad sorry you almost got your ribs broke AGAIN! And can our corners please stop getting beat like a drum. Tackling? Are you kidding me. Basic tackling taught in lil league. Wow. But we got a win.

  • HB_NHB

    A couple of things that I have been noticing this year

    1. Tyler Wilson is not near as good as Mallett. He doesn’t have the arm strength, and honestly I don’t see him being as accurate either..Somebody mentioned that our playbook is a lot more “vanilla” this year. I agree with this, as this can be attributed to two things…running game still not up to par, and Wilson not being able to be accurate on the deep ball which opens up the slants to the middle like Mallett was

    2. I have said it a million times, and I will say it again…This defense will never get any better with Willy as the D coach…His defensive game planning before games is old, which is why our defense gets outplayed in the first half…Sure he can make adjustments at half, but adjustments at half when you are down by 3 is one thing..adjustments when you are down by 7 to 17 in the SEC is a whole different ballgame…We will never be a true BCS contender with his defensive gameplan.

    3. How in the world would anybody consider this team #7 in the BCS standings…75% of the teams in the top 15 would most likely beat us…I hate saying what I just said, because I want nothing more than for the Razorbacks to be ranked #1, but this is not a #7 caliber team…

    • shadowwarrior

      Wow I agree with you 100 percent on all points. Thought I was the only one noticing tyler is not accurate on deep balls.

      • http://www.razorbloggers.net/ HogBlogger

        So, on Wilson. He is different from Mallett. I think better under the conditions that we have had this year. Mallett didn’t play very well at all under adversity in the pocket. Mallett didn’t throw the long ball very well either with a defender in his face. As I wrote in my Sunday post, Wilson is under-throwing or throwing late on the long passes. Definite issue. I don’t think it is due to arm strength – although I agree Mallett has the stronger arm.

        Mallett missed reads as well. He didn’t he the check down many times when he should have.

        All in all, I think they both are excellent quarterbacks. Both have flaws. Mallett had much better protection than Wilson is getting. That’s a big deal.

        I agree it is hard to see how we are #7. Call it the “Petrino effect.”

    • JayTownHog

      That’s what a sugar bowl will get you.! As well as only losing to Alabama and Auburn and beatng LSU 3 out of 4 years. They will keep us in the top 10 till we go down.

    • Jim Dogg

      (1) Arghh or LOL. Wilson is considered the best QB in the SEC. He leads the SEC in passing. 176 passes without an interception. Insofar as Mallet is concerned how quickly some forget. Do you not remember his performance of lack thereof in the Liberty Bowl? And Mallet had one season under his belt. Wilson is still learning. Wilson and Mallet are different in many respects. Mallet could throw the ball longer, but then longer than most humans. Mallet was no ballerina in the pocket but Wilson can be a threat, especially in the red zone, to bootleg it. Insofar as judgement is concerned, you forget that some of Mallet’s decisions may and did cost the Hogs games (remember Alabama?). Wilson is a lot tougher than Mallet and Mallet would never have gotten off his long throws with this year’s OL. Remember what Wilson did with that OL against Auburn? He should be given a season before final judgement is made. So get off Wilson’s case.

      (2) It seems that Arkansas’ defense has gone from bend but don’t break to bend and break. How much of this is due to Willy or the defense’s abilities I don’t know. I see poor tackling and not getting bunches to the ball. Reaching instead of getting a body on the ball carrier. As Les Miles has said that the key to good defense is getting people to the ball (sic) and as a Bama player has said that LSU has lineman that can reach out and bring people down. Not so with the Hogs. I think that this defense was overated, and maybe experience in itself might be overrated, but bend but not break with this personell is not working especially in the beginning and at the end of the games. (However, the defense has had its moments, very good moments in fact, so I don’t mean to sound totally down on them)

      (3) “75% of the top 15 teams would beat us.” Let’s see that would be put the Hogs at 10 (actually 10.5). 7 or 8 is not far off. Arkansas’ position is in great part due to the respect that the media has for the SEC which in great part is the respect that they have for LSU and Bama. Arkansas is considered to be the 3rd strongest team in the SEC. You can argue any which way you want but final results are on the field. And on the field matchups and preparation count more than poll standings.

      • Jim Dogg

        Opps. Forgot. Mallet also started for Michigan, which should have counted for some experience. Carolina, as far as football IQ is concerned it comes with playing. Give Wilson some time. Next year the Hogs will be predicted to be in competition with LSU for the West title and Wilson wil be part of that assessment. I agree that Mitchell has potential and I wonder if Petrino has more in store for Brandon this year as Miles has and will have for Jefferson. Personally, I think that with Jefferson and Shepard back that this give LSU an edge over Bama. Without them, I think that Bama would prevail.

  • Carolina Hog

    Nothing like a subpar performance from the Razorbacks to bring out the “Hog fans”. There are people on here the last two days that I’ve never seen before. Why is it, that after a good win there are about 3 comments and then after a rough game there are 30+ comments per post? Its nice to root for a team with such high expectations that we complain about a 7-1 team that is replacing its quarterback, mackey award winning TE, All-American RB, and three offensive linemen from the previous season. My how things have changed. Go Hogs!

    P.S. My glasses are not rose colored. I have fully noticed the issues mentioned here, but some of this is over the top coming off of a win.

    • Jay

      To your point, I think we all underestimated the effect of having to replace three offensive linemen going into the season. Granted, they were not all americans, but they were solid. I wonder if the coaches regret blowing Smothers redshirt? Probably not, as that just happens from time to time. Freeman seems to be pretty solid, but Peacock is still struggling a lot.

      We need to get the ball to Cobi Hamtilton more, too.

    • shadowwarrior

      A win no matter what is always great. But the goal is to win and get better as the season goes. You should not be worried about basic football skills ie tackling this late in the season. But I love being. U and 1. And they way they fight till the end is awesome. But do u really think playing the way we are right this minute we will beat lsu?

      • Carolina Hog

        No, but we just need to beat South Carolina this week.

        By the way, the assessment of Tyler Wilson is dead on. He underthrows a lot of balls that could be touchdowns. The 2 pt. conversion to Wright looked like a Ryan Mallett throw.

        I still think it will be a miracle if Tyler Wilson makes it through the season and if he doesn’t I think Arkansas will go into next year with a bit of a QB controversy because Mitchell is damn good. I think we are learning that not only do we miss Mallett’s arm but perhaps his football IQ even more.

      • http://www.razorbloggers.net/ HogBlogger

        Carolina – we like the comments. Makes things more interesting. A blog is a conversation.

        Jay – when I was writing post early in the year being “worried” about the offensive line many readers commented to tell me I didn’t have a clue what I was talking about. It has turned out the offensive line has influenced every part of the offense. Yet, we are still hanging in there.

  • william p

    Wade got caught up in a mess. First the punt was awful, short and in the sun. Second the returner totally misplayed it, didn’t clearly signal for a fair catch, and then took off full speed right at Wade. Third, Wade was playing recklessly as he has all year and bearing down full blast on the returner.

    I’ve read some people say he hit him with his head. Others say it was his shoulder pads. I leave that to the gods to decide.

    And finally I don’t get where all the celebration criticism comes from. He bounced around a bit then off the field. He’s been called thug and trash and cheap and dirty. I see what he did after that play after 99 percent of the plays in college football.

    His “mouthing off” was uncalled for, but for a 19 year old who thinks he’s right, wow, I know I mouthed off plenty when I was 19 and thought I was right. Of course, I was!

    Yes, he made a dumb terrible play entirely exacerbated by the unique circumstances of the short punt, the poor play by the returner, and his own recklessness.

    The sun came up today. Get a grip, Wade haters. Next year when he’s catching 60 passes and scoring 10 touchdowns I’m sure you’ll all change your tunes.

    • Razorblade

      I agree that is was a weird set of circumstances and I’m just glad the Vandy kid was okay.

  • Carrmaduke

    How did we get spoiled so damn quick? Two years ago we would have given our left nutt to win 2 SEC road games in a row. Now we do it and bitch that we didn’t look pretty getting it done. We bash our record-breaking QB because he isn’t perfect. We are 7-1 and ranked #7 in the BCS and some of you are appalled and can’t understand how the idiot voters and computers could rank us that high! Holy hell people! We are pretty dang good. Period. I expect us to come out Saturday and prove it against the #9 team in the country. But I guess a lot of you think USCe will either beat the crap out of us or maybe they are overrated like we are…

    Enjoy the team we have!!!

    • GolfHog

      TOO TRUE.

      Our defense takes some hits because other coaches know they have to push the envelope and score as many points as possible. We’ll be just fine. We are a young team again. Next year is our year. This year is only 10 or 11 wins.

  • Roadhog

    Good: Congratulations, Vandy, you outplayed us and got the moral victory. Now you know what moral victories are worth. You’re all grown up and can play with the big boys now. You punch above your weight. Now get off your butt and pull your weight in this conference. Nashville is a great town!

    Better: We’re back home in the Razorstate for three weeks to consolidate our position in the BCS before we go down and kick some Bungles booty.

    Bad: Defensive coaching. In a recent game on a pass play the ball bounced off our corner’s back, without him ever seeing it, an embarrassing event for any self-respecting ball player. Many times our corners don’t even look for the ball before it hits the receiver in the hands. That’s why Marquel hit the punt returner: he lost the ball. Petrino acknowledged it: “Maybe we need to change the way we teach that.” Ya think?

    Ugly: We didn’t take the lead until 6:53 in Q4. As in all these come-from-behind games I’m sitting here fretting–knotted stomach, knitted brow–wondering whether this team is worth spit, for the whole game. I’m getting too old for these nail biters. I’m twisted up as bad as Petrino on the sidelines, waving my notebook. It takes me several units of nerve medicine to pull through some of these contests, and the recent early starts only compound the side-effects later in the day.

    I can’t wait to hear the Hogfans in Razorback Stadium again.

  • Hog At Birth

    I’m not defending the defensive woes, but that was a pretty decent Vandy offense. Georgia has a top ten defense, and guess how much Vandy put up on them…28. I would like to see the stats on our second half defensive performances compared to the rest of the nation. I’d put money that it’s in the top 15 if not top 10. They’ll come around, and SC is about to find that out the hard way.

  • R. Lindsey

    Hey, who taught you guys to write so good????

    • Roadhog

      Uof A Department of English (AKA Pig Latin).

    • http://www.razorbloggers.net/ TipsterHog

      Ha! You should know RL! :)