The Good, The Bad and The Ugly — Ole Miss
October 27, 2008 at 8:16am by Walking on Sunshine
Filed under Arkansas Razorbacks, Football
Some random thoughts after watching the Ole Miss game.
The Good
- Let’s start with D.J. Williams, who had 10 catches for 129 yards, including a big 41-yard reception on the opening drive. Williams and his knee looked healthy for the first time in a few weeks. His 10 receptions in a game were the most by a Razorback in 24 years.
- The Fayetteville crowd came to play. The loud and raucous fans were wild down the stretch as the Hogs tried to rally. “The crowd was great,” Petrino said. “Our fans have been great all season.”
- Finally, we give the Hogs special teams unit a ‘good’ for the first time this year. Sophomore linebacker Aaron Fenton made a nice play to recover the onside kick with 1:07 left. And the kick by Alex Tejada was perfect…skimming the turf, then bouncing up before the scramble ensued. It was flawless execution that gave the Hogs a chance in the waning seconds.
The Bad
- The ‘Shay Haddock experiment’ may be coming to a close. After the defense held the Rebels to a three-and-out to start the game, Haddock’s missed 34-yard field goal would have given the Hogs the early lead and kept the momentum going. It’s worth noting that Alex Tejada was warming up (kicking into the net) as Arkansas’ final minute rally expired.
- It’s too bad that an official had to decide a hard-fought game instead of letting players make plays. The pass interference call on London Crawford should have been a no-call, as both he and Ole Miss cornerback Marshay Green were both leaping for the ball. Interestingly, the side judge closest to the play didn’t throw his flag. The line judge, who was following some distance behind the play, felt the need to make his presence known.
The Ugly
- Similar to the Florida game earlier this year, the Hogs squandered a chance in the third quarter to take the momentum by going three-and-out after junior safety Rashaad Johnson’s pick of Jevan Snead. A failed reverse to Joe Adams yielded a first down loss of seven yards. After two incompletions, a punt of 30 net yards into the end zone let the Rebels off the hook.
- Instead of running off the field at halftime and taking the fans ‘reception’ in stride, former Arkansas assistant Danny Nutt chose instead to encite the crowd by waving his arms and asking for more boos. Nutt was the only person from the Ole Miss team above the age of 25 (at least that we saw) who thought this was appropriate behavior. It was a certainly a reminder of how fortunate we are to have grown men leading our team now.
Back in the old SWC days Arkansas fans were convinced that officials from Texas (any of the other 8 schools) were out to get the hogs. Many a big game turned on a big ‘call’ by an official.
The last two weeks are reminiscent of those days. Two very close games where the outcome was effected if not decided by the officials instead of the players. All of those shift penalties at Kentucky clearly slowed momentum and cost points. The end of the ole miss game is obvious but, it goes as far back as the first drive. After that wonderful catch and run by Williams the intentional grounding call killed an early drive and an early lead. The replay clearly shows Casey a stride beyond his right tackle when he release the ball. It was a close call but a bad call. It should have been a no call.
Yes, we are young and growing and need to learn how to win. When you are last in the league you don’t get the top officials. Sometimes you have to beat the officials too. Overall the officials have been much better in the SEC than the old SWC but, still, I hate to see the games most needed by this young team turn on bad officiating.
I cannot believe in the bad or the ugly, you didn’t mention this guy. He fell several times and whenever they needed a big pass play they toasted him.
Isaac Madison
# 24
CB
If we are going to single out Case or DJ when they don’t do well as in past weeks, we certainly should have mentioned his play.
I think Wallace was the guy that Madison was covering in the game.
Wallace is supposed to able to run down in the 4.2s I think.
This could have been a bad mismatch speed-wise.
Better recruiting by better coaches will help fix this problem in the near future. I really believe that.
No issues with that Gonz, just saying if we pick on key guys from time to time for performance, this guy deserved a mention.
Reason, no doubt Isaac had a tough game. It was obvious that everytime Ole Miss needed to make a play, they looked for that mismatch.
We try pretty hard on this site to not rip into players. Pointing out problems in performance or execution is one thing. Getting on a guy for not being as good an athlete, or being as fast as the guy opposite him is another.
One of Paul Petrino’s great sayings is “the film is your resume.” That says it all.
Sunshine
Oh I do agree with you Reason. There’s no doubt it would just be fair.
Guys like Dick and Williams are exspected to carry this team this year, so when they goof, it get’s everyone’s attention.
Usually, when these guys goof, it’s more costly to the team too, so most of the time when guys flying under the radar, like Madison, make a mistake, it doesn’t get noticed near as much, but in this particular game the big catches that Wallace made were huge.
speaking of someones “film resume” poor offensive lineman #72 is probably due for a rough day after his performance.
Reason…Sunshine was going to mention that but decided there wasn’t any need to restate the obvious. Everyone who watched the Ole Miss game saw it…even people who aren’t as into football as we are.
Obviously our ‘Good, Bad and Ugly’ posts aren’t meant to be a complete list of all the good, bad and ugly things that happen during a game. We’re always going to leave something out.
These posts are nothing more than a short (emphasis on short) list of ‘observational commentary’ about the things we think are worth recapping. You’re more than welcome (as you did) to add to our list.
I am just saying it is quite obvious Casey was not recruited to be a passer but a bus driver and we have ripped into him before.
I think when a guy falls down and can’t even face a ball when it is coming his way he deserves a little grief if anyone does. That is performance and execution. He is from Dallas Carter, he can take it. Remember “Friday Night Lights”, those dudes are tough.
If I had to pick someone who allowed a big play by the opposing team any time they needed it, I would be calling his number this week.
Just my two cents. Actually in the current state of affairs, my one cent.
Judging from what I saw of Tulsa last night, we’ll be calling his number (and a few others) next week too. :^( The Golden Hurricane completely rolled over UCF and it wasn’t even close.
It must be said, that Tulsa offense was supposed to be running here the last three years with Mustain at the controls and Damian Williams making the big plays. It was a good idea. None of the drama had to happen at all. We could be leading the nation in total offense and playing in the BCS.
Blindhog lets be real here. Tulsa’s conference is not the SEC so all we can do is speculate where we would be the last three years with that offense. Maybe we would maybe we wouldn’t. I dont feel Tulsa could beat Texas, OU or Okla. State right now. Arkansas however, probably will go down as a win for Tulsa. Alabama vs. Tulsa a different story. If you disagree thats fine but I still think Tulsa’s numbers are inflated due to lack of competition.
I think Tulsa would roll it up on the Tide as well but I must admit I’m not very impressed with Bama thus far…I don’t think they’d do the same to many others in the top ten though.
Hogfan: I watched the Tulsa- UCF game also. Must have been we were watching a different game when you said it wasn’t even close. UCF kept it competitive until the second half. In fact I was surprised that it was that close in the first half considering the numbers Tulsa has rolled up. Tulsa’s slower start may have been due to 3 things: (1) Adjustments were made in the offense at half time which means that Malzahn is a coaching genius. Tulsa has started slow at times and comes roaring back (2) Tulsa may have had Arkansas on their mind and were distracted (3) either point or neither . However, .UCF had beated Tulsa the last two times they played – last year UCF had a NFL quality running back. UCF strategy was to run the ball and keep it out of the hands of the Tulsa offense. Without Johnson on Sunday it eventually didn’t work . However, much of the UCF offensive efficiency in the first half was due to UCF’s freshman QB Calabrezze (sic) who scrambled for critical yards and got out of tough situations. That kids a comer. Tired in the last quarter tho. One of the contributers here mentioned recrruiting, so I ask where did Tulsa get their recievers from? Outstanding receptions were the order of the day for Tulsa – could be practice too. Insofar as Arkansas is concerned, Tulsa can be had on the ground and in the air., The Hogs will just have to figure out how to score more points – this shouldn’t be too hard since every “expert” knows that the spread can;t work in college. Big problem, as I see it, is unless Arkansas can generate a pass rush, Tulsa’s recievers will gash the Hogs secondary, bad. Petrino knows this:; should be interesting to see how he approaches it.
I don’t disagree. I do think you have to say that Gus and the HUNH is for real. All things being equal, including SEC type recruiting which would have been the downfall at Arkansas, it will work anywhere. Texas Tech has finally built its spread into a national power and they did that in Lubbock for goodness sake.
Tulsa hasn’t seen anyone close to Arkansas this year. Even in a down year we should have the better players by a good margin. This is likely to be a track meet. I think we have learned enough to score on Tulsa.
As a fan, it felt so good to be able to express my “freedom of speech,” as the prodigal son returned home last week. The sacrificial feast (hog) was slaughtered, but not with a fight! Instead of a ring being put on his finger, the “golden handcuffs” served him well. Forgive? Maybe…but never forget!
Correction…WITHOUT a fight!!!
I watched a little bit of the Tulsa vs. UCF game this weekend, and I have to say, even though I was somewhat impressed with the Hurrican, I was also left very unimpressed with the play of UCF.
It’s kind of hard to guage this one. It really is.
Tulsa lead’s the country in offensive output, while possibly playing one of the weakest defensive conferences in the country.
Arkansas, while looking like the sacrificial Hog of the SEC, continues to get better overall, but still manages to come up short on the scoreboard, against maybe the best overall defensive conference in the country.
Does this mean it pretty much equals out on the scoreboard this week?
Who really knows.
Tulsa is a decent football team at best. but make no mistake, thier no Texas Tech.
Our main problem right now is how are we going to replace Elton Ford, who is out for the season, and who is going to step up for Adrian Davis, who is basically our best and most consistant pass rusher?