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Punishing Tide

September 18, 2007 by HogBlogger 

A final recap of Saturday’s loss in Tuscaloosa and some things that need to be improved quickly this week.

The offense actually began to be okay as the game progressed.  I was pleased with Casey after he got going.  The playcalling got better, as well.  But the first quarter set of plays was so basic that you really couldn’t expect much.

Darren McFadden (AP Photo/Butch Dill)Had we let the offense stretch its legs a little more against Troy, it wouldn’t have taken so long to get going against ‘Bama.  In the SEC, however, you have to be able to play a ‘punt back-and-forth’ game and win.  So having to punt a few times early is not unusual.  Having your defense give up 201 yards in the first quarter is unusual.

The problem I see with the offense is that the running game is pretty much between the tackles.  The zone blocking schemes mean less ‘big play’ opportunities.  We aren’t making folks play us sideline to sideline right now.  We got the odd bounce-out on Saturday night, but nothing was really designed in a way to get our backs on the corners.  Last year we gave defenses a boat load of stuff to prepare for.  This year — not so much.

DMac was as amazing as ever.  But if we continue to use him like that, he’s going to get hurt.  Alabama made no bones about it — their goal was to hit him and punish him.  Mission accomplished, as he finished the game on the sidelines.

Felix or Michael Smith must have a hole to run through or a corner to get around.  Those two aren’t ’smashmouth-type’ backs.  It appears that there’s really nothing designed specifically for Felix in this offense.  We lined him up wide maybe three times the whole game.  And Peyton Hillis hardly carried the ball at all.

Casey Dick / John Parker Wilson (AP Photo/Butch Dill)We seem to be depending heavily on pulling linemen to block in our running game.  The problem is…our backs ‘hit the hole’ so fast, they end up running into the back of a pulling lineman because he can’t get to his spot fast enough.  Go back and watch the replay…you’ll see this happened on several occasions.

However, all that doesn’t matter if your defense is going to give up 201 yards of total offense on 16 plays in the first quarter.  If that’s not corrected, Kentucky will torch us on Saturday.  28 points will not be enough to beat them.

Oh yeah, the team that ran the ball best…and stopped the run best…and that won time of possession…lost the game.  Just like several of the losses we’ve had recently.

Did I mention that the Razorback defense gave up 201 yards of total offense on 16 plays in the first quarter?

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Comments

16 Responses to “Punishing Tide”

  1. T-towner on September 18th, 2007 2:18 pm

    This is an interesting review and analysis:
    http://www.arkansasbusiness.com/sports_article.asp?aID=99702.38694.111822
    All this said and done, Monday morning is the realm of 20/20 hindsight. There are a bazillion plays that could have been called, but only a few work with proper execution. In HDN’s defense, we did get one first down after the kickoff with the same stupid coaches and the same inept players against the certified world-class defensive genius. We just needed two first downs, not one. Who is going to nail Nutt for not telling Michael Smith not to run out of bounds on his first down run? Anybody? Anybody?

  2. BlindHog on September 18th, 2007 2:29 pm

    Reggie is usually a pretty big talker. You haven’t heard much out of Reggie in a while.

    We talked about all of the question marks on this team for several weeks now. Secondary is now number one. D-line and a good pass rush might still be in there and of course with Monk and Cleveland out reciever is on the list. It’s plenty early. Lots can change. The coaches can coach these boys up and heroes can emerge. A win over UK is now pretty much a must win although there are plenty who say our offense will control the game. Cornerbacks are now at a premium. How many do we have on the committed list for next year?

    As the rest of college football moves to the spread we will stay behind with huge smash mouth linemen and a 5 deep stable of running backs until we just get run off the field. And to think how close Dale came to having it all in place. He is clearly a very lucky man. If he could only get out of his own way.

  3. Carolina Hog on September 18th, 2007 3:57 pm

    Get over the spread. We had 38 pts. and 450 yards. Notre Dame runs a pretty sophisticated pro style offense. How’s that working out for them? We lost a heartbreaker on some calls that are easy to question in retrospect. Move on! Go Hogs!

  4. Reason Rules on September 18th, 2007 10:18 pm

    Nothing about Notre Dame is sophisticated.

  5. Reason Rules on September 18th, 2007 10:19 pm

    Most games lost come down to a few plays and a few calls. That is what we do all week, discuss those.

  6. BlindHog on September 19th, 2007 8:09 am

    Yeah we got 38 points and 450 yards running Darren 33 times until he finally had to leave the game. Want to guess how many games he will last at that pace. Just imagine for a minute where this team would be without Darren.

  7. Jim Daly's Mom on September 19th, 2007 9:05 am

    Carolina Hog rules! You guys get over it.

    We run the ball. That’s what we do. We’ll worry about next year when it gets here. As for now, we run the ball and that’s how we’ll win. The play action passes worked great and will continue to work because of our run threat. HogBlogger is right we DO need to hit the outside more.

    This is a different ballgame if DMac is in there on the final drive, if Fish catches the ball, if Crawford holds onto the ball, or if the ref doesn’t call that crap pass interference call. I know, I know… if’s and but’s candy and nuts… but it’s true.

  8. Carolina Hog on September 19th, 2007 9:09 am

    Blind,
    I’m going to kick my own ass if I have to listen to one more person say “where would we be without Felix and Darren” or “where would Houston be without Matt Jones and DMAC”. What coach outside of Pete Carrol wouldn’t have a crappy record if you removed their best player off the team. Take Troy Smith off OSU, Vince Young off of Texas, Hershel Walker off of Georgia, Andre Woodson off of Kentucky etc. Take your pick. I’ve never seen a group of fans try so hard to explain away anything that could be taken as a positive.

  9. BlindHog on September 19th, 2007 9:16 am

    Every game played Saturday could have been won by the other team If different things had happened.

    Y’all have been around Nutt too long.

    We didn’t come to play, we didn’t execute, we got out coached and we lost.

    If things had been different we won have won. If things had been very different we would have blown them out. If we had won all those games last year we would have been national champs.

    If we don’t come up with a better game plan, share the ball, and play defense it is going to get ugly pretty quick.

  10. BlindHog on September 19th, 2007 12:25 pm

    I’ll give you an IF though. IF they had run more of the offense against Troy where Reggie could have dropped a few and London could have learned to put the ball away so you won’t drop it they would have done much better on Saturday.

    YOu can’t just develop a passing offense in practice. You have to actually throw the ball in games.

  11. HogBlogger on September 19th, 2007 3:28 pm

    Jim Daly’s mom - If ‘we run the ball, and that’s how we win” then how come we lost?

    Caroliina - you brought up Notre Dame, we didn’t. No fair bringing up things we didn’t even say and then criticizing us like we did.

    As well, I never mentioned the spread. I just pointed out that we weren’t using the whole field. Go back and count the plays to the left as compared to the plays to the right. I did. Look at every formation. I did. Watch the blocking on every play. I did. In stop action and slow motion, most plays 3-4 times. I watch a lot of detail.

    For instance, the first Alabama punt bounced and the 10 and a half yard line. Peyton Hillis should have made a fair catch right there. Bad play.

    Casey has been throwing the slant high in practice all year. The pass everyone is saying Fish should have caught hit him on the back shoulder pad. Almost impossible to catch. Poor throw.

    Line blocking - the running plays developed way too slow for the speed of our backs. Too many counters. Too much zone blocking. Backs running into linemen or not waiting for blocking to develop. No one blocking the linebackers and safeties. Spread or no spread, these blocking schemes will not lead to as many big plays as the schemes used last year. No promoting anyone, ‘just saying’ this is different and here is the effect.

    All that said, the defense lost this game in the first quarter. Jim Harris is right, the ‘book’ on Nutt and Herring is pretty solid. We are way too easy to prepare for(again).

    As to the corners and holding — how many times did I mention that in the practice reports? A bunch. You play like you practice. That’s on the coaches.

    And, I don’t like the coaches throwing the players under the bus. Things like ‘Casey could have run’, or the cornerbacks are just inexperienced. The players are doing what they have been coached to do.

    Our running game has been great. We need to pass better. Our defense is 85th in total defense and 97th in scoring defense. Defense is what everyone need to be talking about.

    Blind - Amen on the passing comments. As I’ve said before, we won’t get better at passing until we work on passing in the ‘easy’ games.

    But, if the defense doesn’t get better in a hurry it is not going to matter how good our offense is.

  12. Carolina Hog on September 19th, 2007 3:54 pm

    Hogblogger, the spread comment was in response to Blind’s comments not yours.

    “As the rest of college football moves to the spread we will stay behind with huge smash mouth linemen and a 5 deep stable of running backs until we just get run off the field. ”

    I enjoy watching the spread offense run by a team that does it well but I think some that post here believe its a panacea. That’s just not the case. The same can be said for so-called offensive geniuses like Charlie Wies which is why I brought up Notre Dame.

    Blogger,
    I couldn’t agree more that the defense is where we need to focus. Its the 2nd game of the year and regardless of its shortcomings the offense is doing enough ot win games if your defense is doing its job. Its early, things will get better.

  13. Reason Rules on September 19th, 2007 9:20 pm

    The spread is fun to watch. Personally I am looking forward to Saturday’s game just as much to see Kentucky pass the ball as I am to hopefully watch us win.

    The point about not passing the ball is you cannot recruit good receivers if passing is an after thought. You cannot crush the dream some of us have of having a balanced offense like Florida and have good crop of receivers and good running backs. Percy isn’t crying because he doesn’t get 33 carries a game. His goal is to get to the NFL, not get himself killed in college.

    Maybe Charlies problem is he stinks as a recruiter. After all he has been playing with someone else’s players the last few years.

  14. petetohouston on September 20th, 2007 3:54 am

    Don’t ya wish your Q/B was alot like mine? Don’t ya? Don’t ya?……..

  15. GonzoHog on September 20th, 2007 7:15 am

    I don’t think Charlie has any problems with the recruiting, considering he has the #1 recruiting class verbally committed at this time, but back to the Hogs; I’m not so sure I’m that quik to agree with HogBlogger about bouncing outside with the run. That’s just too “black and white” for me to swallow. Offenses will take what the defense will give them. If a defense has good speed to the outside, such as Bama’s did, then what since would it make to go outside and get caught for a 1 yr. loss, instead of just running over the tackle, and picking up 5-7 yrds with good time of possession ball control. You seen what happened when FJ tried to bounce it outside a couple of times. This philosiphy would work with a slower D-line, and weak outside LB support, but I didn’t see that against Bama. Bama was quik with the D-line, but a little undersized, so it probably made since to try and pound it up the middle lke we did, since there was knowone to clog up the middle. I think we’ll pretty much do as we please against the WildCats. GO HOGS!!! BEAT KENTUCKY!!!!!

  16. T-towner on September 20th, 2007 9:35 am

    Suggested reading:

    http://www.tulsaworld.com/sports/article.aspx?articleID=070920_2_B1_spanc70263