Last season, we finished 5-7, with some close wins to teams that weren't supposed to be all that good.

This season, we beat the teams we were supossed to, and beat them convincingly, and we almost pulled off wins in Gainsville and Baton Rouge.

I think that says a lot about how much this team has improved.

Next season, we should be that much more improved again.

I see a 9-3 season coming, or possibly 10-2, with a good BCS bowl.

I think the interception got Mallett off onto a bad track and he just didn't play very well the rest of the first half. He was pressing. Team play many times is very much a reflection of the quarterback's play.

The play calling put Mallett in some bad situations against the blitz. I think Coach Petrino needs to show a little more patience on offense on the road. He adjusted well the second half. Needed to adjust before the first quarter was over. The SEC is tough. You are not going to blow people out in the first quarter very often.

Mallett is a hard worker. Leaf was not. The thing they share is seemingly not always knowing that playing quarterback is about a lot more than just being able to throw the ball hard.

Remember that, based on size and physical skills, Drew Brees has no business being an NFL quarterback. Neither did Joe Montana. It's very much a head game with a certain amount of physical skills being table stakes. Mallett's poor performance on the road has been all about the head game.

HogBlogger: Were you implying the team was "unprepared"? I think you nailed it when you said we were "not playing fundamentally sound," meaning, I think, a deliberate style you have to play on the road to compensate for fan noise. The Hogs did improve fundamentally throughout the season, except for a few lapses.

"Playing 'frantic' doesn't work in any sport, much less football," states the case aptly as to why Mallett wasn't connecting with his receivers or they weren't hanging on to his passes very well. Earlier in the season somebody said, "The game is starting to slow down for Ryan Mallett." Of course the game doesn't slow down; they player's mind speeds up as he acquires more routine thoughts and motions. If Mallett develops that kind of mind, the poise, the composure, to stand in the eye of the storm, he will be a great NFL QB.

If hope Tejada's replacement is a good tackler.

A kick from the right hash mark, 26 yard line has to go through goal post that are, based on angle, effectively only 78% as wide as the goal post a kick from straight on has to go through.

So, the kick Tejada attempted was 22% harder than a kick from similar distance from the middle of the field.

When you consider that Tejada draws the ball normally, the margin of error got even smaller. When you worry about drawing the ball you sometimes hit it straight. He missed by maybe two yards to the right on a well hit ball that didn't draw at all.

For him, that was an extremely difficult kick. Had the kick been from the left hash mark his margin of error and comfort level would have gone up quite a bit given the fact that his natural ball flight is a draw.

Yes, I know, he's supposed to hit all kicks from that distance. However, if you chart his misses you'll find he's much less accurate from the right than the left side of the field.

As for the drops – we've seen that when the quarterback and the receivers get uncomfortable and start pressing the drops increase dramatically.

I'm way pleased with the coaching. I'm just pointing out that there are aspects of it that need a bit of tuning.

Mallett may have an NFL arm, and his decision making greatly improved over the course of the year, but he still has big issues at times. I'm not sure yet whether he's going to turn out to be Peyton Manning or Ryan Leaf.

http://www.sportsknowhow.com/football/field-dimen…

Hash Marks:

NFL Hash marks are the narrowest of all the levels of football play. They measure 70 feet, 9 inches from the sidelines and are 18 feet, 6 inches wide. (same as the width of the goal posts)

High School: the width of the hashmarks are 53 feet, 4 inches

College: hashmarks are 40 feet wide

Goal Posts:

As mentioned before, NFL goal posts are 10 feet high and 18 feet, 6 inches wide (same as NCAA)

High School: Goal posts by contrast are 10 feet high and 23 feet, 4 inches wide.

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The ball was spotted at the 26 yard line for the kick. OwassoHog can do the math on the impact of the hash marks on the target width.

I don't think I really got down on the coaching staff. We are way ahead of where we were under Houston Dale. I think if you'll go back to past post you'll see I was pretty hard on him at times too.

I do agree with you that the punt return was the biggest one play of the game. And, I agree that kick coverage has not been great this year. During one game this year the kicker made 5 tackles in a row on kick-offs. That's not a good thing.

I stand by my comments in the post. Other than at Florida, the offense was terrible on the road. If you have any doubt, "better look at the stats." As to Willy – even he was second guessing himself. Jefferson was bad under the Ole Miss pressure the week before on the last possession.

We edited out my 'laundry list' of things that I saw wrong against LSU. It was pretty long. In spite of all those things, we "nearly won" or "had it won," whichever you prefer. A major point that I wanted to make was the loss was not just Tejada's fault. The whole team had a role in it.

Go back and look at our games with Alabama, Texas and Florida last year if you can stand it. How much better are we on both sides of the ball? This sounds really, really bad, but——-WHAT 'TIL NEXT YEAR!!!

Same thing applies to the field goal post. Based on college hash marks being where they are and the relative position based on the yard line you are at, it becomes harder to hit the field goal at certain distances and angles. Your point of entry has definitely been reduced on some attempts.

If you think about it, why do some teams try to put 3rd down into the middle of the field… it's to make the angle a non-issue with the kick!

I still think we have a long way to go with Special Teams. I also think we have to get better defensively. I am not just talking players. They weren't the ones that decided to go prevent on the last drive. They weren't the ones that called for a sky kick (special teams/head coach).

I really think we are getting closer to what we all want. I think next year will be harder than people think, because people will be ready for us and there will be no sneaking up on anyone.

I am really anxious for the red shirt that played basketball for awhile to compete with Tyler for backup QB to see how good he is.

I would love to pull in some line recruits and a couple of physical playmakers in the secondary.

How many redshirt freshmen are there that will be able to contribute next year?

*I wonder if some of the boo birds here that are down on Petrino and Robinson are still festering about Nutt's leaving. Sorry guys, from an inexpert opinion, next year Arkansas will be up and Ole Miss down, relatively speaking. Nutt loses McCluster, and unless Nutt finds another Dexter, I don't think that Snead has shown the cability to carry a team. 2010 maybe a bad year for Nuttaholics, but who knows?

SEC defensive coordinators play as many men in the box as needed to stop the run and dare you to throw. Bobby is just taking the dare. He'll adjust, he'll learn. But he will always want to score on every possession. Field position, time of possession, protecting your defense, I fear that that is all a thing of the past. We'll see.

I suspect you are right about Willy too. He is trying to do too much. Bobby may be encouraging that as well.

Arkansas has had great kickers in the past. This is why you don't give kickers a scholarship until they prove themselves. Tejada needs to move to a lesser conference for a second chance and open up that slot.

But…

In the SEC the premier teams have the defenses to win lower scoring, close games. We have a very exciting offense – and one that will win in the SEC. We do not yet have a defense that will win us a 21-17 game, let alone a conference championship. We can beat the South Carolinas and Auburns 49-42, but we cannot count on our offense alone to beat Alabama and LSU.

I hope that Petrino will focus some extra attention to the defense during the off season. Do what it takes to pull it together.

Special teams is another – but geez – do we even know where to start?

Football season is so fun, I hate to see it leave. I already look forward to next season – the schedule looks great, the boys will be another year better, another off season stronger, faster. Yep, in 2010, it's hard, hard to be humble.