Squandered Away
September 23, 2007 at 3:52pm by Walking on Sunshine
Filed under Arkansas Razorbacks, Football
Say what you want…there is no good way to ’spin’ what happened to the Razorbacks on Saturday. The fans in the stadium who were the angriest seemed to be those who were somehow surprised by the eventual collapse of the defense and the inept passing game and playcalling.
Many more used to be angry…but now they seem to be leaning more and more towards apathetic. The time has run out on the Houston Nutt Show…once a prime-time hit, but more recently a drama that turned into a comedy on Saturday night.
And it’s Nutt’s ‘hangers-on’ assistant coaches (minus Tracy Rocker) who will eventually be the anchor that tows him under.
Back in July, we took a lot of heat here at RazorBloggers when we ran our three-part series that questioned the ability of offensive coordinator David Lee to change his spots from an option guru into the savior of the passing game.
Now we’re three games and two losses into the season and still waiting to see the debut of that ‘pro-style’ passing attack. But amazingly, Lee seemed surprised by the inability of the passing game to achieve results Saturday night.
“We’ve got to be able to throw it when everybody knows you’re going to throw it,” Lee said. “I thought we were over that hurdle. Obviously we’re not.”
Over the hurdle? Huh? What in the world has he seen that would make him think that?
On the other side of the ball, Reggie Herring seems hell-bent on forcing a square peg into a round hole. He doesn’t have the cover guys to play man in the secondary…but continues to try to do so. All the while ‘bringing the house’ at every opportunity. That combination leads to nothing but the chance to return about three times as many kickoffs per game as you need to practice.
The safeties on Saturday night (Hewitt and Woods) combined to make 27 tackles. When your safeties are your leading tacklers, something is wrong. As for Herring, he doesn’t think it’s a problem with the scheme. It’s always about “guts and want-to.”
The word I heard most from fans leaving the stadium Saturday night was “squandered.” The effort of players like McFadden and Jones the last two weeks has been lost away forever. Fans are growing tired of seeing the product these coaches are producing given the talent they have.
And continuing to wonder ‘what could have been.’
“Squandered Away” is NOT how I’d describe this game but then there are plenty of folks out that still believe in the leadership of this program! We’ve now lost 5 out of the last 6 games in which we probably had better than a 50-50 chance of winning. Thinking back about it, I’m amazed that we beat Troy!
Thank God for North Texas and UT-Chattanooga being on the schedule as this might be the last time we will play over 500 ball. While Auburn is struggling now, I’m expecting them to give us all they’ve got when they arrive in Fayetteville.
How would I describe it???
Pathetic!
Excellent assessment, Walking on Sunshine. In both games HDN and Herring played (coached) not to lose rather than playing to win. Once we get a lead, we play conservatively and do not continue to play as if we are behind.
Last week I saw the weakness in the secondary and the tenativeness once we got the lead. Last night I thought we had overcome that hurdle. Nope, same old thing happens again. I agree Herring continues to play man coverage when he either does not have the athletes to play this way or does not know how to coach man defense.
One of the recaps of the game quoted HDN as saying “blame this loss on me” and, yes, that is where I squarely place the responsibility.
It is going to be a loooooooooooonnnnnggggg season. I doubt we can count in the win column the Ole Miss and Miss State games. Forget Auburn.
One other observation. Notice how shots of Coach on the sidelines show him as agitated, out of control and in a state of panic, much like a caged animal.
Of all the pathetic moments in the game, one that speaks volumes to me is the point in the second quarter where Felix breaks a 75 yard run to the seven yard line only to settle for a field goal and then recover a fumble on the kickoff and get nothing. The best backs in America and we get a measley 3 points when we could have put the game away.
Is there anyone out there left to defend this play calling? Are we supposed to believe that this is David Lee?
Dale seems to believe he can fool the opposing DC by doing the same thing over and over again thinking that they will never believe he is that stupid. Well, the word is out. They believe.
I agree BlindHog. No farther into the game than what we were at that point, and I was already irrate!! We were playing against a team that can put up bigtime numbers, and our defense is suspect at best, and Houston goes for 3. I would much rather take a chance on Kentucky’s defense trying to stop D-Mac, Felix, or Peyton, inside the 10 yd. line, than to kick 3 measley little points, and then let the WildCats start the next series at the 25 or 30. If you don’t go for it at that point, after looking so good getting there, and getting everybody so pumped up, you look weak, and under-confident for a team touting the best backfield in the country, not to mention you give confidence to a defense that shouldn’t even be worthy of the thought!! My son’s Midget League football coach isn’t that conservative. Mr. Nutt, you need to get out of the coaching business. You have way too much talent to be 0-2 in the SEC, especially when you should have won both of them!! Anyone who has witnessed my posts in the past, knows that I’m not a fare-weather-fan, and that I have always given HDN the benefit of the doubt on most occasions. Let it be said, here and now, I am through. Why? Because when David Lee was brought here after the Malzahn ordeal, I honestly thought Lee would be in charge of calling the plays. Boy was I wrong!! What I have actually seen is a repeat of the previous 8 years before Gus was even hired. Nutt will be gone if he doesn’t run the table. Even the most loyal Hog fans know that’s not going to happen!! Let’s hope Jeff Long is up to par at season’s end.
Maybe we can get Wanstat.
Yes… we have great coaches! Now let’s look at this again. Perhaps, you do not realize that this is not a professional football team but these are young men growing and learning and who have feelings as human beings. Many are even Freshmen. Surely, you are not so blind as to not know that Monk is out because of surgery on the knee. He has been out since prior to the season commencing. Cleveland is out. Did you not know that? McFadden sits out two critical offensive series in Alabama game because of concussion. Did you miss that also? Five Razorbacks are hurt by the virus…including Jones and McFadden where it showed on their game strength and dehydration with at least one of them vomiting. Do you not realize that shows up big time in the second half of a game. Don’t you know that? Ever been dehydrated? Ever had a virus? I have. Oh, and yes…we found a receiver only to lose him to a broken arm. And oh yes, how about the player (won’t mention name) that was left behind because of hitting an Alabama player with his helmet? And I feel sure that this young man has learned his lesson, albeit we missed him on Defense. Apparently, some of you folks do not comprehend anything! Do you have ANY analytical ability? Prove it! I am of course assuming that no one has been diasgnosed with dementia or alzheimers. If so, I apologize. Many of you appear to be such whiners that perhaps this site should be called the Whiners Blog rather than the Razorback Blog. And, oh yes! Many of you are the very ones who BOOED these young men as they left the field Saturday night, while they were tired and had given what they had on this particular night. Shame on you! You need to grow up!
I now recognize you! I know who you are. Why did I not recognize you before now? Silly me! Talk about alzheimers! Your modis operandi is in full view! You are that person who shows up at PeeWee League and yells and curses when junior drops the ball or the ref calls your kid out. After all it is such an important game!
And of by the way, you are also going to be the one who yells and screams that our talent is sub-par whenever ones that we are recruiting turn away because of your BAD behavior. Who ever BOOS a young man should be caught on the Homeland Security Monitor, kicked out of the stadium with ticket order rescended. I do not agree that just because you bought the ticket you have the right to dinegrate these young men. Try doing it to their face and you may find yourself in netherland. Think for a change!! Or maybe someone should get a life filled with things other than sports! It is not life or death…just a game. It is not any more important than a backyard game! GO HOGS! GO!
Hey DWC, how do you defend a “coach” that refuses to throw downfield, down two scores with under 4 minutes in the game? A COACH would try to win the game, not give up on the team. A score and a onside kick while unprobable, would have given us a chance. Put down your crazy pills!
What about Norm Chow?
Give it up Defense. The play calling was terrible. Dale himself said the team only played 2 1/2 quarters. Whose responsiblity do you think that is? What about the performance and schemes on defense? Guys rushing on special teams when it wasn’t called? What is all that about? Do you actually think that this team looks well coached?
I’m glad you love Dale. Someone should cry when he is gone. Most of the fans, fairweather and otherwise, are done, including my wife, who is sure she could call better plays than Dale just by not calling the same play over and over again.
With Michigan and LSU available after Jan 1 there will be alot of dominos to fall. We won’t have a shot at anyone until at least Jan 15 and the we will have to take someone from down the list. We should have pulled the trigger last year.
What about Lloyd Carr?
Defense, are you Theresa Prewit or perhaps Frank.
Nobody was booing the kids, it was the coaches that were gettting the boos.
Injuries are part of the game and you have to have the depth to deal with them. We don’t have much at receiver because we can’t recruit enough talent there because we can’t throw the ball or even commit to developing a passing game. I didn’t boo anybody and never have but the refs.
The your comments read, you are the one that is yelling.
Defense Wins Championships, you need to get some glasses or something! The vast majority of folks have been down on the coaching – and rightfully so. They aren’t using the talents of the team, calling the right plays, ensuring discipline, etc. – bottom line is they are accountable and have FAILED.
If you haven’t figured this our in 10 years, you never will!
Defense – you need to calm down. You are taking all of this way to hard. Fans are fans, players are players, and it is all just a game. I don’t like the booing either. You don’t know that anyone on this site boo’ed. That was a pretty arrogant and hateful rant you threw out there. Should I define you by that?
Have whatever opinions you want about the football. Leave the readers and commentors out of it. You have about as much of a clue as to what you are talking about as you think those folks booing do.
Geez… now Michael Smith is in trouble
I sure hope his story is true about not knowing. This program is starting to look a whole lot like the Oklahoma Sooners and Dallas Cowboys did when they both went into the toilets due to integrity issues.
And for the record, no – I don’t believe Nutt was behind this!
You bite your tongue about the Dallas Cowboys my friend. As for the booing, I, for one, don’t see what the big deal is. What ever happened to the notion of positive production positive response, negative production negative response. We had the opportunity to get at least 3 points before half time, but instead gave up 7. Should we have been running with under a min to go in their territory with a giant leg kicker? There is a lot of “more creative strategies” many other coaches would of utilized in that situation. I remember Spurriers famous press conference where his USC-east team lost, but the fans still cheered for the “effort.” He let them know that this is about winning and nothing else and to never cheer a loss again. If we do something dumb, i.e. end of the first half, then we should let the coaches know. I’m sick of this lets pat them on the back and say better luck next time mentality. With the facilities we have and the recent instate boom we could be more than “just Arkansas.” Ironically, only one constant is making sure that doesn’t happen. The product Nutt put out for the fans needed to be booed and that happened. Get over it sounds a bit harsh but that’s what I think would be in your best interest.
The sad part is, if we win the next 2 games like were supposed, we’ll still be a team that’s recognized as a 3-2 team, that hasn’t played anybody in the win collum. When Auburn comes to town, the Tigers will be hungry, since they’ve played so poorly in recent games. They will key on D-Mac, and Nutt will try and give the ball to him more than he need’s to. Even if Monk is back, Nutt is still a liability for the way he calls the game. This game will probably go down to the wire, maybe even OT, because Nutt won’t have the awareness to put the Tigers away early if he has the chance to. Silly play calling and inconsistantsies as a team, because of poor preperation will play a major role in this game. I only hope we mix it up a little in the next 2 games offensively, to put the game away early, and not have D-Mac still being keyed on in the 4th qr., when he should be sitting on the bench. If Monk is back, then our passing game should be improved. If our offense doesn’t look any better then than it does now, then it will be obvious to any fan who’s really calling the plays. Something tells me Nutt’s putting way too much imphasis on padding the stats for D-Mac to win the H. trophy. I don’t think he’s smart enough to see what damage this is doing to the rest of the offense, and frankly, he probably wouldn’t admit it if he did see it.
I don’t want to seem like I’m just here to defend Nutt, because I am very upset about some of the coaching tendencies that are prevalent year after year under his regime. However, I have to admit that I do see some differences in the play calling this year as opposed to previous years. We’re still conservative, especially when we are up with anywhere less than 10 minutes in the 4th quarter. My stomach hurts when we are in that situation because I know what’s coming…3 and out, 3 and out, until we’re down again. But in the first 3 quarters, there are some slants and outs and flares. Everybody claims we have way too much talent to lose. I partly agree with that. We don’t have any talent at QB and WR. If you watch the game again, there were plenty of overthrown balls and dropped passes. There is a shining moment here or there, but now we’ve lost Crosby! With DMac and Felix and less than 100%, I don’t know how well anyone can expect us to do. Can you imagine how many yards they would’ve had had they been 100%!?!?
As far as the booing goes, I don’t agree with it. If you’re dissappointed in what you saw, so be it. I think it takes some class to hold that in. When you boo, the kids don’t know it’s not directed at them. Coaches don’t need to here the booing to know that they’ve done a poor job (the Roughing the Kicker was unacceptable…I thought they took Shibest off the special teams assignment!) The other teams or recruits here this, it will only hurt the program. I know losing is unacceptable, but I’m pretty sure they know that too.
BTW, I’m an optimistic person and am playing devil’s advocate here, so don’t hammer me too hard.
YOU PLAY TO WIN THE GAME!!………..I think some coach said that……..
I love the coaching regime we are under but it is getting real frustrating. It’s frustrating losing game we are supposed to win. I don’t agree with “let’s get rid of the coach talk” until after the season is done and the story plays itself out. I will say this, it’s time to put up or shut up now. Thank God for North Texas and Tenn-Chatt………..
I no longer as a fan want to hear “we didn’t finish” or “we didn’t execute”.
That’s why gassers are ran in practice. That’s why up downs are done. Those are fourth quarter exercises. We all what the problems are on the defensive and offensive sides of the ball. Heck, everyone in the country knows are weaknesses. The challenge for our coaching staff is to continue to preach ball security when we have it and ball ownership when it’s in the air in the secondary. We just need a win to stop the bleeding. These kids need to get one under the belt!!!!!
GO HOGS GO!!!!!!!
Coach: Will you still love me if I don’t win?
AD: Yes, and I’ll miss you too.
Yep, we’ve got North Texas and Tenn-Chatt coming up – a chance to get that running game ramped up and feel really good about ourselves. We could work on our passing, but no need when you can run the ball like we can. Besides, we need to hold some things back for the big games coming up at the end of the season. Don’t want to show everything we have. We just need to be able to execute it when we have to. That’s what practice is for.
Hogblogger:
Your tongue in cheek is making your face look like a one-sided, distorted chipmunk. Would you believe that there are many out there who will not get your sarcasm? Good points.
I noticed that the attendence was 74000 plus.Thats the bottom line. The only stat the administration is interested in.
If we go 7-5, 6-6 this year – will a new AD remove a 10 year coaching icon?
Think about how sweet next year will be without 5 & 25.
Thank God for Pelphrey. Time to go back to the 1990s where we try to get up for a couple of football games – then just count the days till basketball season.
d.black,
Want to guess how many will be there the next two weeks? I’ll even grant you some slack with the Little Rock game as this will be the first of the year there not to mention a smaller stadium.
This Saturday’s game with North Texas will probably be in the 63-65K range (if that high).
RazorEE
Your off the mark with the roughing the kicker being unacceptable. That was neither bad coaching nor poor play. It was the result of two players going as hard as they could to make a play. Broyles is always talkiing about “bad” luck. In this case that is what it was. That one player would inadvertantly knock a teammate into the kicker. When you are trying to block a kick you are focused on that kicking lane, not other players.. Great effort, but it turned out badly. No one’s fault. Getting at least one personal foul penalty a game is what’s not acceptable.
Also, quit using Dick as a scapegoat for defeat. The kid can throw the long ball and has thrown TDs. He has enough problems dealing with own lack of confidence based on a game plan that is playing “not to Lose”. I don’t think John Elway or Dan Marino could get anywhere with the inexperienced receivers that Arkansas. has (That is not a rap on the receivers, per se, but on poor preparation and teaching by coaches). Some of the same responders here who don’t like booing and say we should get behind the team (and we should, the season’s not over yet) are some of the same one’s hatefully criticizing Dick. Get Over it. Dick didn’t give up all those points, Herring’s defense did. If I had to give reasons for the poor man coverage, it would be (1) not enough respect for UKs passing game and (2) Out of touch with reality in terms of his secondary’s abilities. Let’s keep cheering the Razorbacks on whatever the record and act iike those loyal, long suffering Gamecock fans who fill that stadium up at Columbia no matter what..
Dale has still got a 7-5 weedeater bowl or even an 8-4 Cotton with a couple of upsets. He will get his usual meaningless ’signature’ win at SCar or Tenn and then lose the bowl game. All will be well again in hogland. We can give him next year off and take the 4-7 while he rebuilds and in another couple of years see a good team get oh-so-close only to…………………
Say it with me……………
Wait Until Next Year!!
Just another 10 years of this until we get that BCS slot.
At the rate we are going, we stand a great chance of being the champs of the Sumbelt Conference. Even if we win the next two games, it will not mean a great deal since they are lower level division I teams. DMAC, or anyone else at Ar., will never have a chance of winning the the H if we continue to play teams like this. Stats don’t mean much when you are supposed to win by playing teams below your level. Why not bring on ASU? At least they are playing a real schedule, albeit it above their head.
I was not one that booed at the end of the game but I feel the vast majority of those that did were definitely not booing the team but rather the coaching or should we say the lack of coaching and decisions made by them. It is the responsibility of the coaches to not only teach fundamentals but to teach and inspire the players.
Nutt has fantastic talent at his disposal. He had all the components of what could have been a National Championship team when he had Mustain as well. But with his pig headed (please excuse the play on words) attitude about a running game achieves all we now have the lack of a top knotch passing game to compliment the run. Nut made commitments to Guz Malzahn which he never fulfilled–so he left. He has apparently made similar commitments to David Lee and is again failing to follow up on his word. With Frank Broyles leaving perhaps we will see some changes that have been long in coming. We should have helped Nutt pack his bags to go to Nebraska last year instead of rewarding him with more money and a new contract for bringing the shame and humiliation on great team that he has.
Couple of things: I didn’t boo at the end of the game, because I was already headed home in disgust.
It is sad that many of you hang your hats on wins and losses vs. character and integrity of the person teaching these kids. I have been calling for HDN’s job for two years now, and doing so not because of his shortcomings as a coach (though there are many), but for his shortcomings as a leader of young men.
It’s not always about wins and losses, however it seems for many of you it is….
OTHOG1, said “At the rate we are going, we stand a great chance of being the champs of the Sumbelt Conference.”… maybe the right answer is to find a quick opening on the Notre Dame schedule!
I don’t pay 40 bucks a ticket for my family to go to the games so kids can be educated. That is the University’s responsibility. He ceased to be a leader for my kids when he calls Donna a couple thousand times at all times of the day and night for several months. He ceased to be a leader when he lied to the Springdale Crew about running the Spread then ran them off when they got wind of his real plan. He quit being a leader to my kids when his wife forwarded a disparaging e-mail about Mitch to her friends saying it was funny.
We go to see quality football. How bad is it when we hope for cupcakes to get our confidence back. That would be like going to work and feeling good about yourself because you can turn on the light.
HDale is gone because he has divided the Hog Nation so much he can’t be the one to bring it back together. He doesn’t have the pebbles to take responsibility for anything other than blaming his quarterback or some Freshman he has asked to perform before he is ready.
This is so disappointing. All the pieces, including the schedule were in place for this to be a really fun season. Now, we are left to argue over the scraps—-like, who is the most moronic.
So from the comments, I can see that you, now, years later believe the Star ratings from Rivals do not matter. You believe that Dale with his much lower stars (as a result of the NCAA) should be winning the BCS championship, just as they could have last year! Amazing! Yet, next spring these folks will be back with their stars a blazing. Only thing, the stars will possibly not be as good because recruits just very well may have heard the Boos of our young men. Even kids know better than to boo. You think that our players think that you were booing the coaches? Think again! If things had gone for our players to end end, there would have been no boos. Coaches did not enter the game one time.
Now that Tuberville’s team is losing…I do not hear you, as you have in the past, moan for him! Amazing! He was a great coach in your opinion and now you leave him out of the equation after he begins to lose. Yes, he is a good coach but not better than our own. And yes, if his fans leave him alone, he likely will rise again just as our coach will. However, he now has a big elephant in the room to deal with! The equation has changed for him. And let’s not forget about Butch Davis. You no longer mention him. Could it be that his team is losing even in a weak conference? He took over a Miami team that was loaded in talent and rode it into the pros but did not last. Yet, you wanted him for your coach. Just like West Virginia fans did with old Bobby Bowden. They wanted him gone as he was building. He finally had enough and moved to winless Florida State. The rest is history! It took West Virginia many, many years (about 20 years) to overcome it. Quite frankly, I am scratching my head wondering why all of the wanna be coaches don’t immediately quit their jobs and call some big name program and tell them that their coaching credentials are sparkling and that you have the perfect solution to coach at a big time university. Defense Wins Championships! Just ask the guys at Tulsa, who thought that they had a great offensive and defensive team until they played a true D-l school. Get behind your team and quit whining! I gave you the facts. Now, act accordingly. It will increase your longivity in this life by reducing your stress, and just might increase your happiness!
GO HOGS! GO!
Jim Daly Sr.,
Just so it’s understood, the coaching on that field goal play WAS unacceptable. I’m not down on the kids…they did nothing wrong, like you say…they hustled and did their best. Why were we not in safe punt mode? We were up by more than 3…they could’ve faked it. I’m no fan of rushing from both sides , but that’s another story.
Shibest has always sucked and anyone sticking up for him is out of thier mind or related to him.
Uh, Defense
Who was it that said that Tulsa had a great defense? I’m serious, please give me a quote from someone other than yourself. It certainly wasn’t the Tulsa sports writers after the Hurricane gave up 47 points to BYU (but still won). Also, quit disparaing other teams. I have two names for you, Joe Kines and The Citadel. If we didn’t have Jones and McFadden I’d be worried about Chattanooga.
DWC: These kids are young men, going to college. I believe they are smart enough to recognize that fans are tired of the same ‘ol, same ‘ol stuff they’ve seen many, many times in recent years. It is frustrating to be a part of a program that’s getting booed at thier own home games, but they know where the blame is going. How could you not know with all the drama that was in high gear back in January? As far as the stars are concerned, in the spring, there is no garantee these kids will sign with Arkansas. Do you not think some of the talented recievers, we got verbals from are not watching? Where is the pro-style offense they exspected to see? I’ll tell you where. It was on the opponents side of the ball!! (BAMA & UK) These kids want to believe in something, and I’m sure thier still looking. Tennesse doesn’t have much defense, but they are hard to stop on offense, and they will be back in Warren Ark., make no bones about it. We also have some kids we are after in other states, on the defensive side of the ball. 1 is from Kentucky, 1 is from Bama, get my meaning? If a kid has no confidence in the committment he’s made, he will change his mind, or at least re-open his recruiting. It was hard for Mustain to decide to stay at home last year, but everyone now knows that the hiring of Gus was the only reason he came. Nobody is going to commit to a university because he thinks the HC is a dork. That lack of respect is what caught up with Nutt, and others will take notice of this too, when it comes time to sign on the dotted line. Also, don’t blame me for simply stating the truth. That is something that should never be ignored, wheather good for the program or not. Trying to make exscuses for Nutt doesn’t cut it anymore. He’s calling the plays AGAIN, which is evident by what we’ve seen the past 2 games, at least on 3rd down anyway. Starters being hurt at the WR positions is no exscuse for dropping the ball. They weren’t recruited because of that skill, I’m sure. Poor preparation is what I’ve seen so far, and the HC is Houston Nutt. It is said, that a dog will take on the personality of his owner. that philosophy also holds true with organized sports. Our team has inconsistantsies, because the HC is inconsistant, and to add insult to injury, he never completely takes blame for anything that’s gone wrong. Any coach, with any integrity, with any kind of true coaching ability, and confidence in himself to make changes, will take full blame for the failure of his team. Nutt will repeatly make exscuse after exscuse to make amends for his own failures. Is this what we want our kids to learn as future leaders? Blame it on the other guy? Yea, let’s go ahead and support Nutt. That’s the kind of leadership I’m looking for!!