Some random thoughts from Sunshine after watching the Ole Miss game.
The Good
- Good teams smash the hopes of mediocre, upset-minded teams early on. Saturday was a good example of that with Felix taking it to the house, and the Hogs following that up with a quick TD on their first offensive possession. 14 points in the first 5:17 left Ed and the Rebels wondering what the post-game meal on the bus was going to be.
- Great to see Peyton Hillis back and involved in the offense. Hillis’ six catches, and his rushing TD were much needed as Ole Miss stacked the line to stop McFadden.
- Jacob Skinner - two of four punts inside the 20 helped us maintain the field position advantage that we enjoyed the entire afternoon. Nice job.
The Bad
- Would someone please explain to me what we were trying to do on the last drive of the first half? As our good friend, and regular RazorBloggers commenter Butch Davis would say, “Houston snapped that playbook shut,” and was determined to sit on the lead the rest of the way. Let me be the first to say…the HUNH is dead.
- The complete abandonment of the “middle of the field passing game” will cost us down the road somewhere. The safe passes to the flats and sidelines should remind us of the recent past when someone else was calling the plays. Continue to pay attention to this aspect of the passing game in the weeks to come.
The Ugly
- Trying to watch Ole Miss QB Brent Schaeffer throw the ball down field was painful to say the least, and left me wondering: “How did these guys beat Vanderbilt?”
- The public address announcement immediately after the game informing fans of the “milestone of Arkansas becoming bowl eligible for the first time since 2003″ was embarrassing, and bordered on the insulting. Can we please get past the point where we are asked to celebrate winning six games in a 12 game season?
Maybe Houston thought it was the end of the second half instead of the second quarter.
Whatever it was, it was pitiful.
I just can not completely agree. I thought what he was doing was playing to the defense and ensuring that there was no time left on the clock. ANd but for a couple of plays that should have gone 10-12 yards rather than 8 we would have stopped the clock to move the chains. I do wish we had gotten to the line sooner. I wish he had called the timeout one play earlier. But they were in the referees face calling timeout and did not get it for some reason for an additional 8 seconds. If the pass to Cleveland had gotten 10 yards instead of 8 we would have had time to call a couple more plays and I think we would have thrown down the field more then. I just do not think you will see the no huddle until SC or Tennesse and no even then if it is not needed. Doesn't really matter. I was happy to go in up 21-3 without them even sniffing the ball. We had pretty much been in control the whole game and there was no reason to give them any momentum at all.
I'm okay with the passes into the flats and sidelines for now. I understand you point, but until we run up against a team that takes that away from us, it is working for good yards. I'm sure the Tenn and LSU will have it covered better than Ole Miss, but until someone steps up and stops it down, I say go for it. It is safe, but it has also been quite effective so far this year.
Like I said in my prediction for the week, "keep pounding it down their throat until they figure out how to stop choking on it". BOY … that sounds like a phrase from an old friend talking that used to work with Tipster and me, but you get the idea
I know, safe is no fun to watch, but when you are winning 38-3, why take chances?
The HUNH sure appears to be dead. If we don't see it this week then we're just not going to see it. Strange things are going on with the passing game. I guess I'll just trust the coaches are doing the right thing. My big concern — still — our secondary.
Did anyone really think we would see the HUNH when we got into the season? Anyone who wants to face the facts will know that Reggie, yes I said Reggie, put the end to that. There was an article in a Northwest Arkansas magazine back in September that talked about HDN and Arkansas football. Reggie made some comments in there about the HUNH offense and it was obvious by those comments that 1) He does not like it in any way and 2) He is obviously the mouthpiece for HDN on this subject.
I like winning ballgames but everyone knows there is a storm brewing in the sense that someone is going to come along and force us to pass "DOWN FIELD" and when that happens if we are not successful, the cards will begin to fall "again" and the message boards and talk shows will once again fill up with disgruntled fans.
Right now HDN is gambling and hoping that he can make his way through this season without all of that happening. We will just have to see.
Truthfully I think HDN is ok with 8 win seasons and making it to Taco Bowl. I want atleast a 10 win season we can do it but not without a bigger threat from our passing game. It seems to me everything else is progressing except the passing game and I know teams are watching and noticed how Ole Miss in the second have stuff the run. I just feel CD is the bigger threat as far as passing goes.
I hate to ever refer to UT, but In a pinch, Casey Dick could be our Major Applewhite. The man can play.
The good thing is that the hog's are winning without hitting on all cylinders. We've got an extra gear, and that's good cause we're going to need it. The best thing about this team: they know they are good enough to play with anyone…AND they know they're not good enough to take anyone for granted. Hopefully that translates into a team that's focused each and every week…and they've show us what they can do when that happens.
Good comments. I had mixed feelings about the end of the first half. Goal #1 was not to have to punt it and risk a block or return and giving Ole Miss hope. If you come out throwing and fail, you are setting yourself up for a score and then another score after the half.
But, after the first down, I thought we did poorly getting ourselves into scoring position. This is the third time this season we have been in this spot and gotten part of the way down the field but not converted. Our philosophy is simply too conservative — put a knife into them. If you play not to lose, the players tend to sense that and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Oddly, this was the closest 38-3 game I have ever seen. Three near TD's that convert and the game would have been much different.
As for all the comments about the HUNH — abondoning that shows me that Gus is a much better coach than I thought — if it really worked against SEC or NFL talent, you would see more coordinators doing it. I'm glad we aren't running it, although i would have at least expected it for one drive at the end of a half or heaven forbid if we are behind. I'm sensing that if we were down in the second half we wouldn't run it.
I imagine HUNH is a terrible nightmare for Herring while keeping the defense off the field for long periods of time is his dream come true.
As a fan I would like to see it some of the time but not as a steady diet. Situational – as after a turnover or a long gainer.
As a former coach, I would prefer to ram it down their throats, using 3 to make 10.
HUNH is like the Wishbone. Great for mashing teams with inferior talent or inferior coaching. Not a whole lot of that in the SEC.
Pigormortis – if the hurry up no huddle doesn't work in the NFL, then what is it that Peyton Manning and Carson Palmer are running much of the time? Isn't Indy undefeated so far? I think they were 13-0 at one point last year. Doesn't Indy run the one back stretch play about half of the time? Wasn't Edgerin James a 1,000 yard rusher for multiple years?
Okay, you're right, we aren't Indy.
It was a very close lop-sided game, I agree. Hit a few passes and it was a close game. I was fine with what we did before the half. I would've been fine to have started the two-minute drill after we reached mid-field too.
Obviously they either think Mitch doesn't need the practice or they don't trust him. The answer will eventually reveal itself.
I totally agree on the 'playing not to lose' comments. It's like that careful golf swing when you are telling yourself not to hit it in the water.
Shannon – It is hard in modern football to run the ball all the way into the endzone unless you are just way better than the other team. I think emphasis on the run is very important. I like the possession passing game. I don't like throwing fly patterns as the only alternative to out patterns.
The philosophy behind the HUNH is nothing like the wishbone. Tell Indy they are playing inferior teams with inferior coaching every week and I'll bet you get an argument.
And I agree that Casey Dick can play. If we need to go to the passing game in a big way I suspect he is the one we will see on the field.
I think Mitch has show that he can complete passes down field. By the time we get to SC and Tenn he will have 3 more games of seasoning. Ole Miss was outmatched after we went up 14-0. Getting Mitch comfortable with some additions to the offense looked pretty positive to me. We have not run the swing pass to Hillis very much this year and the screen passes were much more effective. Then we showed people a different look with the ball being pitched directly to McFadden. I am not sure how that plays out in the future since they know he is not going to pass but it works for Florida and Tebow and I'll bet it was phase 1 of some else run out of it. As for other teams noticing that we are not throwing it downfield I hope they are. I hope they see the passes to Hillis and the screens. I hope they do stack the line. Ole Miss did not single cover Monk all day- LSU and Tenn will. No one covered Hillis to the flat- and when they do with a linebacker we have more room in the middle. Let em keep looking.
Give Indy Oakland or Arizona's QB and receivers and what do you get?
Why does everyone seem to think the HUNH is going to put the Defense on the field for a significantly longer period of time? Part of the strategy behind the HUNH is that you get to the line, read the defense, and make a playcall…you're not necessarily snapping the ball early in the playclock…you're just making it so that the defense can't substitute. If we continued to run roughly the same run/pass mix out of the HUNH, why would the DEF be on the field more?
That's exactly my thinking WillHawg. It can be HUNH if necessary, but most of the time it's just NH which keeps the same defenders on the field. Oh and by same defenders I mean the opponents…not our defense
WillHawg, razorblade: Gus admits in his book that the HUNH is going to lose the TOP battle. He says that TOP doesn't necessarily equal success. He also says that the coach needs to work with his defensive coach and adjust their scheme so that it focuses on forcing turnovers and to not worry about giving up big plays because your offense is going to make more big plays.
you can see Malzahn's influence throughout the offense, I just don't think we have to run the HUNH. It's a nice offensive technique but we haven't needed to use it except for the scoring drive vs. USC.
And i do not think you run NH until the offense has jelled with all the new schemes and assignments. That takes a half a year at the least to happen. The NH is a problem if you are going three and out. The same pressure you put on the defense with the hurry up is also placed on your players- to a degree. The huddle and walk to the line at least gives you some time to think over your assignment. Kind of the difference in pulling into a regular parking space or trying to parallel park. ONe you have to think about and one you don't. If you parallel park enough you do not have to think about it either but you do have to practice it a while. If a busted assignment costs a first down then no huddle really does impact TOP and the defense. But as the players get more comfortable then they do not have to think as much. Just like Mitch in the passing game.