Some random thoughts from Sunshine after watching the ULM game.
The Good
- A win, is a win, is a win…good thing, though, that we weren’t playing South Carolina, Tennessee or LSU this week! For the first time this year, the Hogs seemed to look past the current opponent in anticipation of the November games to come. Can’t blame them…I was, too.
- Great job by Michael Grant, who put some off the field troubles behind him, and came away with three picks during the contest. Grant flippantly surmised that Coach Louis Campbell took him out of the game to keep him from getting a fourth – which would have broken Campbell’s school record of three interceptions in a game.
- The Hogs escaped with no serious injuries, with Marcus Harrison’s ankle sprain the only one of note. Looks like “all hands on deck” for next week at South Carolina.
- ULM senior deep snapper Cody Bauman must have had money on the Hogs minus the 37. His two snaps, which sailed into the stratosphere, turned the momentum and started the Hogs on their way. Unfortunately Bauman was replaced, and the Hogs failed to cover.
The Bad
- The defense did their part (six turnovers) in trying to move Arkansas back into the realm of respectability in the area of turnover margin. But the offense didn’t get the memo, as they gave it away three times on their own.
- We should applaud the move to work on the downfield, over-the-middle passing game, but is it too late? We’ll find out in the next few weeks. 10 completions out of 23 attempts for only 97 yards and two interceptions says it all about why fans were suggesting the Hogs might need to work on this aspect of the offense against weak-sisters the last two weeks.
The Ugly
- Why Darren McFadden has suddenly started posing after scoring touchdowns is curious. The “Mr. America Look” drew a warning last week. But after scoring his third quarter touchdown this week, it got him a 15 yard unsportsmanlike penalty. Brushing this off because it was against an inferior opponent is unwise. Here’s hoping Darren will go back to the classy, “tossing the ball to the ref” move after he scores for the remainder of the season.
DMac is the Best back in the SEC and his flex is adored by the student section weather it be at DDR or WM. He started it last year and until now the officials have let it fly. There can be a lot worse celebrations than the flex it shouldn't even be that big of a deal, but hey if there is something fun about a TD celebration the Refs always want to prove they are the real top dawgs on the field and flag it… Lets remember Reggie Bush used to throw up the "X" crossed arms last year after he scored and nothing ever happend to him… oh those consistant ref's
Word is Darren "said" he won't do it anymore. I don't think there's anything wrong with it myself… I wouldn't do it, but hey, I'm not Darren McFadden.
As a ref myself, i call BS on your "real top dawgs" comment. The rules state that no celebrations are to be allowed. If you desire the choreographed celebrations of a few years ago, then start your own league and allow it. Most people don't want to see that stuff anymore though. If you allow small things, then people try to take a mile and you are right back to what you had.
As far as Bush from last year, was he celebrating in the end zone with teammates? The fans? Or was he doing the "X" as he was running back to the sidelines. If D-Mac is throwing the ball to the ref and then posing as he is running back to the sidelines, there would probably be no flag.
I think he did it because he was home in LR. It's not like it really hurt the team that he did it.