* Flat out, having Ryan Mallett in the game gives us the best chance at winning. That's not a knock on Tyler at all — but changing QBs at that junction wouldn't have been on Petrino's mind at all. A Matt Jones type QB would've been best on Saturday.

* Mallett throws hard? Of course he does. And I don't disagree with Mr. Jackson in that he should finesse his throws a bit more. But watching the game, there were times that Mallett had to wing the ball to a WR to get it over a defender's head. And the dropped balls are unforgivable. If you get your fingers on the ball, it should be a catch. And yes, Mallett is pretty smart when it comes to throwing the ball away, or placing it where no one can catch it — but no more winging it across field, please.

* Yes Petrino's forte is offense and the deep pass, but he stresses balance a lot. Saturday's game showed a lack of balance because our OL and running game was inept and our short passes were non-existent. When our running game is going, the pass action works really well.

* Speaking of the OL, my guess as to why Mallett was in shotgun a majority of the 4th quarter was because he needed an extra 3 steps on the DL that was having their way with our OL. Why we didn't try a string of screens to slow them down is beyond me.

* DJ Williams, I think, only had one throw go his way. Without re-watching, I think DJ was blocking all game long. But I am getting tired of the announcers being in awe that DJ is listed as a major player only to yield nothing worthwhile on the field.

* I really want Willy to succeed and excel in the SEC — but his scheme this week was bad and I'm really suspect on his coaching. He's the Defensive Coordinator and Secondary Coach — our Secondary is our weakest link and when he blitzes with the corners, it becomes even more susceptible. I think if we lose 2, or more, of our last five — he's gone.

* I agree 100% with the notion that we're still a super young team and have much room to grow. It's very easy to forget that notion when you have a great game versus the #1 team in the country and follow it up with a lousy one. It usually takes 3 years to turn a program around. Let's get momentum on the rest of the back stretch, kick butt at recruiting again and have a monster year next year (when our schedule should be a little more forgiving).

At the end, the team with the most points wins. Your opponent can't score points if they don't have the ball. Part of the game is playing keep-away.

One of the ways Nutt wins is with ball-control. If he had a great passer and receivers and knew how to use them, for a more balanced attack, he would be awfully hard to beat.

I will never like Nutt and Broyles and Rick Shaeffer and that Jesus-lovin' crowd, because they tried to impose their religion upon the Razorback athletic programs. And I think that is where the football program jumped the tracks in the late '70s, and eventually the basketball program, too. I'm hoping we can get away from that with Long and Petrino, but I don't know where they stand with that. Regardless, they need to keep it to themselves. Religion is one of the things people hate Tebow for–or rather, for his display of it. Same for Nutt and Scheffer and that crowd.

Defense does win championships, especially in the SEC.

Also, the WRs had their worst game by far this season.

I will say though that Mallett was responsible for some of those throws.

When your only throwing a 5 to 10 yard route pass, it's not nesessary to throw a rocket to the WR with man coverage playing back with plenty of room. I don't know if Mallett's thinking here is to give the reciever time to run after the catch or what, but obviously, just making the catch and moving the chains should be the 1st priority in that situation.

Before the season started, there was a lot of talk about the possibility of Tyler Wilson getting a lot of quality playing time, but there was still a concern of him not taking the snap from under center well consistantly.

I haven't heard anything lately on how that's coming along, but I can sure tell you that we needed a good steady dose of his accuracy in the short passing game yesterday.

There must still be some issues there, otherwise, I think Petrino had a perfect opportunity to put Wilson in by the end of the 3rd qr.

Did anyone else notice that Mallett was in the shotgun the majority of the 4th qr? This is where Wilson is at his very best, so i'm a little confused as to why we didn't see him in there.

We were obviously going to pass the ball and probably need a 2 minute drill had we pulled within a TD with the way Nutt likes to run down the clock. I believe Wilson could have done well in that situation.

I'm sure I don't know how hard it is to catch one of Mallet's passes, but I kinda think Keith Jackson might know. All-American, All-Pro: That why I cited him, from the radio broadcast. I'm not saying the loss is on Mallett; I referenced the offensive scheme, lacking in short, high-percentage plays. That's coaching. Everybody seems to think Astronutt outcoached Petrino, in all phases of the game. I never heard anybody, in all the commentary, dispute that.

I've played several sports in my time. I'm an old guy now, and my game is pool, for money. In all of them, ball-control is the name of the game. Petrino is a cowboy, a riverboat gambler, at least in this stage of development.

1. Make no mistake, defense does win championships (especially in the SEC), even if your offense is anemic. In the past years, look at the championship teams? Sure wasn't Texas Tech. Florida and LSU have had decent offensives but outstanding defenses. This year, look at Bama, LSU and Texas – they are both in the hunt and what makes them great? Thier ability to hold teams to very few points and to get stops when they need them. If you can do that, you don't have to expect much of your offense week after week. If you can't do that, then you're in a shootout, which can be tough based on what you can control with your offensive schemes. Our offense scheme is fine, guys. I'm 100% convinced that until we can put a competitive defense on the field we won't be in contention for a championship.

2. Don't put this one on Mallett…sure he was off on a few throws, but what QB isn't? He didn't miss wide open receivers – our receiving corps were horrible yesterday. Wright's dropped pass when he was wide open for a TD? Child's drop when he turned to run upfield? Crawford's inability to pull one in? And don't get me started on our OLine. They couldn't block the run, and Mallet had no time to throw and was constantly either running out of the pocket or taking a sack. And quit whining about how hard Mallet throws the ball. How long has this been happening, uh about 2 years? You think the receivers could learn how to catch a hard ball by now (that's what she said)? Don't get me wrong, I love Childs, Wright and Salters….they just had a bad game – which I attribute to youth.

3. The possession where the 51 yarder by Tejada was called off killed us. I put that one on the coaches. Why didn't any of the coaches call time out with the clock running down? Mallet took a sack rather than throwing it away to put us out of decent position to score. Two delay of game penalties on one drive is inexcusable. Sure, Mallet's got to manage this but the coaches have to pay attention too.

I've come to expect little from our defense each week. I still think this is on Willy – the scheme against Ole Miss was horrible. The difference between this game and the others is that our receivers were unreliable for the first time all season, really. I attribute this to youth…playing in a high pressure game on the road is tough. I think the loss to FL played more in this than others suspected.

Don't forget, we were in this game despite a horrible showing. I look for a strong showing and confidence building now that the toughest part of our schedule is over.

Man, can't wait until next year when these guys grow up a bit more!

Let's hope that the next 3 homes games provides some motivation for the team.

We were flat, no doubt. But, your schedule is your schedule. You can't ask the kids not to get up to try and beat the gators and, you can't expect that not to have an effect the next week, especially for a young team that is learning the Petrino system. His expectations are so high each week. I don't know how that is going to work in the SEC. But, Georgia Bama back to back and then Florida Ole Miss back to back a few games apart is tough business for a bunch of freshmen and sophs.

That was Mallett's 10th start in college football. No, he did not play well. We were calling for Wilson in the third quarter at our house just to give Mallett a break and see if he could spark the team. Petrino loves the big arm. The long ball is his best throw.

We were outcoached a bit on both sides of the ball. But, they had two weeks and we had Florida. Willy is going to be fine. He just needs a couple of more players.

And of course you have classic Hooty. He has an easy week before to prepare and get his team sky high. He is in his shell for their big games against South Carolina and Bama but allows the OC to actually prepare a game plan once there is nothing left to play for; the best 8-4 coach in America. None of that would have worked if we had been just average. We would have beaten them easily if we had played our normal game.

Some pundits say defense wins championships. I don't know about that. Offense is the part of the game in which you have possession and the opportunity to control the ball and the clock, if you can control yourself. Lately Arkansas has been losing because of lost opportunities, lack of execution on offense. They don't know how to handle the blitz. I don't see the variety of offensive plays necessary to compete in the SEC. The conference record shows that. Unless Petrino develops a ball-control offense the Hogs will not be competitive in the SEC.