Some random thoughts after watching the North Texas game.
The Good
We finally seemed to use Felix Jones the right way on offense in this game. The quick passes in the flat worked well, and they were also an easy throw for Casey Dick. The reverse run by Felix for the first touchdown took advantage of his speed to the corner and featured some nice downfield blocking, especially by center Jonathan Luigs. In the end…seven carries for 132 yards and two touchdowns; and three catches for 48 yards. Yeah…that’ll work.- The touchdown by Robert Johnson was as good as any catch made by someone not named Marcus Monk in years. Just goes to show that some of the receivers who’ve been ‘written off’ can still make plays. The question now becomes…how often will they be given a chance to make another one?
The Bad
- Overall, the defense played a very nice game. Unfortunately, other than a 33-yard run allowed, the second quarter scoring drive by North Texas looked a little too familiar. For those who haven’t seen it, think ‘Alabama game winning drive’: Herring blitzes every down while UNT quarterback hits quick passes for easy first downs. We’ve certainly seen the movie ‘Attack of the Stubborn Defensive Coordinator’ a little too often this year.
- While it was good to see the passing game get more work, the yardage from the deep passes made it look a bit more effective than it actually was. Two of Casey Dick’s 12 completed passes accounted for 98 of his 210 passing yards. The mid-range passing game was basically ignored, with only one pass attempted (and completed) between 10 and 20 yards. Remember that when it’s third down and long in the upcoming games and we throw short of the first down marker…again.
The Ugly
- On a game where there was very little ‘Ugly’ on the field for the Hogs, we’ll pick a couple of things from off the field. For those who were there…could the new Razorback band public address announcer be more boring? The guy sounds like a cross between Steven Wright and Lurch from ‘The Addams Family.’ Man…we miss Larry Shank. A lot.
- Finally, while this article portrayed the ‘Black Shirt Protest’ as just a student thing, there were more than enough ‘old people’ wearing black shirts in all sections of the stadium to call it just a coincidence. Even after a nice win, the natives of Razorbackland remain restless.
TipsterHog, you missed at least one important Ugly – fumbling the ball twice at the goal line. That is unacceptable as we gave up what should have been 14 points.
I say leave the black shirts at home. If you must protest, protest the coaches, not the team.
I have to say that the wearing of a black shirt instead of our usual cardinal red is intended as a silent protest for a coach who has only lately been called upon to explain his actions on the field and off. The black shirts I saw at the game had no unseemly comments or hate messages and from what I could tell were just average people like you and me. Logic tells me that Houston Nutt's behavior with Malzahn and Mustain and others players that there is much to know about the real man. Frank Broyles is very much implicated in a long exisiting cover up if there is one and I believe that one exists. One more thing; I didn't hear one person wearing a black shirt boo or name call. What there were doing was what the red clad fans were doing, shouting and clapping and cheering our Hogs to win. A silent protest is better than a banner because you can see that they are individual fans and are quietly expressing dissent.
I don't think anyone thinks this is about the kids. This is about the coaches, period. This is an excellent team with a few big holes, but certainly with a little spunk and a break or two a good 8-4 team, 9-3 if Darren and Felix win one by themselves. This is about poor schemes, poor game management, poor play calling, and poor preparation, in short, basic coaching 101. Until Saturday, this team has not taken the field well prepared or failed to make big mistakes in basic areas of the game.
Passing still needs plenty of work but, we have another cupcake coming up. Lets see if we can get 60 per cent against a Division II team.
Very winnable games against Alabama and Kentucky would have us in the top 5 right now.
There were NO black shirts in our section! Gossip! Gossip! Gossip! Grow up or one day you will be on the other end of the smear attempt, as others have learned over the years.
That team coached by that psudo-great coach on the left coast's players had about 16 penalties. Where did the greatness go? Well drilled? Hardly. And playing a patsy in the Huskies, they win by a whisker! If they have top 5 talent, then you will have to agree that it has to be the coaching to barely win over a team such as Washington!And don't forget about the other top 5 talented team in the SEC going down to Auburn. Wonder why that pseudo-great coach can't get his top 5 talent to win over a lesser team? Grrr….must be the coaching!!
Blind, I am looking for your name to pop up as a candidate for the vacancies that will come at major D-1 schools! It takes brilliance to be able to break down a game without every having been in the practices or huddles! Don't have the play book memorized? What talent! Can't wait to see which big time university picks you as their next coach! Go Hogs! Go!
Defense, how about a few facts instead of the name calling. What is it that you disagree with? You think 53 per cent against UNT is pretty good is guess?
DWC…we don't fight each other here. If you've got something to add to the conversation, state your opinion.
If you can't figure that out, you need to move on.
Thanks Tipster, but, just a few facts for DWC.
21-0 first quarter against Bama without changing the scheme.
Outscored 35-9 by Kentucky to end that game and our 9 came on special teams. Our one offensive touchdown came on a long run, so, no sustained drives for touchdowns in the entire Kentucky game.
Felix runs 75 yards to the 7 only to give it to Darren 3 times up the middle and settle for a field goal. (Remember Vandy, this is the 05 team reborn.)
unable to make a first down or a defensive stop two weeks in a row in the 4th quarter.
Put green jerseys on every tailback in camp but get your one and ONLY reciever injured on the first day of contact in fall camp, essentially ending what little passing game you had developed in 3 years.
Everyone on this sight has played and watched football their entire lives. To suggest that you have to be Bear Bryant to see that this coaching staff is way too conservative, not very focused, and takes playing not to lose to new hieghts is not reasonable.
Until the other night this team had not come to play for 60 minutes. Maybe now they will.
Every year, it seems we get off to a slow start, when facing stern competition. We lost to USC 2 years in a row, not even giving the Trojans a competitive game. This year, it seems the defense was even more depleted than origionally thought. The D-line has been a huge diappointment, mainly because of disaplinary reasons. I honestly believed, with the help and leadership of these guys, along with Sr. MLB Weston Dacus, they would lead the way, until the inexsperienced, but talented OLBs and CBs came together. The reason Grant is playing CB now, instead of playing FS, is because his cover skills and exsperience are too important to ignore, while the D-line struggles to put any pressure at all, against passing QBs. These guys need to pull their head out of the sand, and be the leaders they were exspected to be. Until we get consistant pressure on the QB, the rest of the defense will struggle. N. Texas is nothing compared to the SEC, and we still can't find anything that resembles a respectable pass rush. I hope this changes before Auburn comes to town, because if it doesn't, just look at the Florida game tape, and that'll pretty much tell you what we'll be in for. GO HOGS!!!!!
Blind & DWC both have their points and counterpoints. The bottom line is, "Do you believe that HDN gives us $1 million+ in head coaching expertise and performance?" It is fair to say that the majority of fans do not believe he does accomplish this. Were we to be the AD at the UofA, I imagine we would all be looking for next year's head coach of football, but we are not, so we can just squabble about it——nicely, please!
There is more to coaching than what I am reading here. Name calling? Apparently, some folks cannot read their own posts if you do not think that name calling is what their posts are all about! I have read the name calling over and over again. They need to re-read their posts! Quit the gossip and you will see a change. My gosh! Some men talk about women gossiping but women do not hold a candle to some of these posts! They just rant over and over again.
Does HDN give us what he is being paid? Absolutely, there is more to his job than a score! And there is not enough pay that one can give a coach in this modern society. Some fans rant if they do not see high Stars by recruits name. Then, they boo their team and state that has no effect upon the team because they assert that the team knows that they are booing the coach! Try telling that to the recruits who have now said they know that some fans were booing the team as well as the coach. They are not stupid! HDN is doing a wonderful job with nurturing his YOUNG players. Witness how his team has full confidence in him and they are the ones that are with him almost 24/7. Surely, that counts in coaching. If not, then we need to shut the whole college thing down for it is not intended to be anyone's pro team but training of young men (and women in their sports).
You cannot have it both ways. Either Arkansas has recruited very high stars or they have not. Many of the posts have taken both positions…one day arguing how great our talent is and the next arguing that they do not have the talent. I do believe that in the past they were hampered by our AD's friend in Dallas and the NCAA dragging it out for years. HDN had nothing to do with that. HDN is coming out of that just now…witness the recruits that have signed on. Give him more time and you will see even greater talent. In the meanwhile, admit that HDN has done a great job and leave the off field innuendoes out of it and we can settle down to discussing football. He received SEC coach of the year for a great job. Get on the band wagon and leave the gossip out and support these young men.
Has out team gotten off to slow start?. Yes, sometimes. Has other teams done likewise. Certainly. And Auburn just may be one of those who supposedly has had top 10 talent. However, just because their are flaws in a team is no reason to keep attacking the coach and players. Have we developed a seasoned QB? We shall see. However, looking around the country, I do not see many great QBs, nor do you see very many in the pros. Why? In many cases it is because their defense is weak. Yes, offense has to help defense out but everyone knows that a great defense is a must and Reggie is a great coordinator for that job. QBs take time to develop and one has to use what talent they have. Defense and Offense must fit the talent and this coaching staff does a great job in doing that. With many fans, they will not be satisfied until the Hogs pass all of the time. Not even Tulsa does that under the new regime! Other than his conduct, my greatest disappointment in ex-coach Richardson was his inability to use the talent that he inherited (and it was very good). A great coach can take the talent they have and get the most out of them with the system that fits that talent. HDN does that. Hatfield was great at it.
Fumbling the ball at the goal line. From what I saw that was from trying to develop new players while playing North Texas. That is what the fans asked the coaches to do and they used a lot of new players. We need that development. New players were the ones to turn the ball over.
Dropped balls: I am wondering as a ref friend of mine as to whether the gloves are part of that problem. He states he sees it all the time with gloved players. Never played with gloves on; therefore, I cannot comment as to whether they affect the ability to catch ball or not. Any comments regarding that? Most pros seem to use them, but they likewise drop lots of balls. As far as that goes, that is just part of the game…dropped balls. Always has been and likely always will be. Dropped ball stats likely look more offensive to a running team since their passing stats will undoubtedly be lower than a passing team because of dropped balls.