As Robbie Neiswanger pointed out earlier this week, Arkansas has now thrown for 300+ yards 21 times in school history. Five of those have come in the 13 games under Bobby Petrino.
For longtime Razorback football fans, it’s still a little hard to believe. And with those years (and years…and years) of run-oriented history still fresh, you’ll have to forgive us when we chuckled at what Coach Petrino said after Tuesday’s practice.
“We’re just getting thin [at receiver]. We can’t afford to have another injury there, that’s for sure.”
Thin? Seriously? Yeah…because if we lose another one…we might only be able to complete passes to 11 different players in a game instead of 13? Only 300+ instead of 400+ passing yards?!
Coach Petrino is fairly new to these parts, so we wouldn’t expect him to completely understand. But you see here at Arkansas, Coach, we had formed a little different perception over the years about what the word ‘depth’ meant.
But now that’s all changed. Chris Bahn summed it up well in a column he wrote earlier this week.
Gone are the days when a single injury could derail the team and its hopes for the season. Remember the shockwaves that went through Razorback Nation when Marcus Monk blew out a knee prior to 2007?
Remember how fans and coaches counted down the days until he returned? Remember how people were convinced that Monk was the difference between BCS or B.S. bowls?
He’s not kidding. We were there at practice on the day that Monk was injured. You would’ve thought the world was about to end based on the glum faces of coaches and fans as they left the practice fields that day.
Now…the juggernaut just keeps rolling on. No excuses are made. If a receiver goes down in practice or a game, it’s a story for a day. And while it might give Coach Petrino some cause for concern, it doesn’t derail him…or the team…or the fan base.
Don’t misunderstand…like all Hog fans, we hated to see Lucas Miller, London Crawford and Chris Gragg go down with injuries. Two of those guys are seniors and surely want to cherish every game left in their college careers.
And all three have worked hard and paid the price and should be rewarded for that sacrifice with the opportunity to contribute on Saturdays. Certainly all Hog fans will be happy and excited for them (and the team) when they’re able to get out there again.
We just won’t be counting down the days anymore until they return.
TipsterHog, you are spot on with this assessment.
Wow what a difference a few years make!!! Remember when D Mac almost tore his foot off??!! I was going crazy at home, like i'm his father. When Monk blew his knee, i knew we were done. I'll be soooo happy when we can say next at ALL our postions. GO HOGS!!!
Aw man…DMac's foot…who didn't freak out? There's always going to be a few great players whose injuries would "derail" any fan base.
I take your point but, I think Bobby is serious. I worry more about defensive players. We are 10 deep at reciever and running back, when are we going to be 10 deep at linebacker and corner back?
NO COMPLAINTS THOUGH, I LOVE THE PETRINO ERA. Bobby can do it any way he wants as far as I'm concerned.
On the other hand,
you guys, like everyone else, have been totally silent on poor John Pelphry. Lots of good reasons to wait and see.
Scholarship athletics is a priveledge that comes with a free college degree. The U of A has a standard to maintain. It's not like this program is going anywhere fast. You couldn't find a better time to take the high road, and go ahead and begin to build a program from scratch.
Whatever legacy remained from Eddie and Nolan, as measured as that was at times, is long gone now. Unless you count the banners hanging from the ceiling, there is nothing left.
It is a hard thing to say sacrifice Pel's career or sacrifice some 18 year old kids, at least not right away, maybe just quietly, behind the scenes, as soon as practical. Give everyone a nice soft landing in their new life.
GolfHog…we really don't have anything new to say about Pel since HogBlogger wrote this…
http://www.razorbloggers.net/index.php/2009/07/so…
That was in early July. Unfortunately, things only seem to have gotten worse since then.
So, what about Billy Gillespie? Is he damaged merchandise now? Worth a look? Would he fit the program? We thought so at one time.
"Worth a look? Would he fit the program?"
No and no.
"We thought so at one time."
So did Kentucky. I'd rather we not make their mistake.
Pel's just fine.
Maybe its a good time to talk about Mike Anderson again. Or, to him for that matter. Heck, Nolan's available. Or, Notes.
I disagree that it's even remotely in our best interest to start talking to another propective head coach.
Pel shoud still have at least another 2 years minimum to turn the program around. If things go South after that, I think only then the possibilities of a change should be talked about.
I believe Pel's doing just fine at the momment. His players are a different story.