After knocking the rust off last week versus Tennessee Tech, the Razorbacks look to correct a few things this week against the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks. The 6 p.m. kickoff on Saturday will be televised on Fox Sports Net (FSN).
While the Hogs were warming up last Saturday against TTU, Louisiana-Monroe was one of two FBS teams sitting at home suffering through a week one bye. Twelve straight weeks of football now await head coach Todd Berry and his Warhawks.
Berry (29-60, 9 years overall) is in his first year at ULM after replacing former Hog assistant Charlie Weatherby, who went 31-51 in 7 seasons in Monroe. (Interesting sidebar: Former Dallas Cowboy and All-Pro defensive tackle Leon Lett is a first year assistant coach for Berry, coaching the defensive line.)
While the Warhawks only return 10 starters in 2010, they do return quality at the skill positions. Senior quarterback Trey Revell (6-4, 222) is a run-pass threat who racked up over 2,100 yards of total offense and 17 TDs last year. He is bolstered by senior running back Frank Goodin (1,126 RuYds, 13 TDs in 2009), who was recently named to the Doak Walker Award watch list.
On the defensive side, ULM runs a 3-3-5 scheme employing a hybrid “Hawk” position. Without a doubt, the bell cow is junior defensive end Troy Evans (6-2, 263). Evans, an All-Sun Belt performer from 2009, is a quality pass rusher who tallied 6 1/2 sacks last season. He will be a good test for Hog offensive tackles DeMarcus Love and Ray Dominguez. Junior strong safety Darius Prelow is also a big hitter, as well as an All-SBC performer.
On special teams, watch out for #22, Luther Ambrose (5-9, 173), in the return game. Ambrose has tremendous speed and was an All-SBC selection at kick returner, averaging 21.9 yards per return in 2009.
They won’t say it, but this is a rebuilding year for the Warhawks. Over half (23) of the players on the ULM two-deep are freshmen or sophomores, with just 13 seniors on the entire roster. While Monroe is a FBS upgrade over Tennessee Tech, they are picked to finish in the bottom half of the Sun Belt. So expect the score to be whatever Coach Petrino wants it to be.
All in all, though, it should be a fantastic week to be in Little Rock with all of the RazorRock activities scheduled. Seventeen various events — culminated by a Friday night pep rally and live music at the Riverfest Amphitheatre in the River Market — should get the juices flowing.
The early line has the Hogs favored by 34. And oh, by the way…don’t let ‘em forget who the “real home team” is. Go Hogs!
Not much to say that this blogg didn't. But I have some questions that the commenters here might want to respond to. (No, I'm not going to rag on Petrino and McGee – Roadhog might just be a Nuttaholic and was very disturbed by the JSU win). What I'm going to say may look irrelevant to Arkansas, but it does have something to do with what happens at the end of the season, both with the Championship and BCS bowls. It has to do with Reggie Bush, the Heisman, and who should have the championsp rings, USC or Auburn. The "Experts" on ESPN argued about this, and I know that they are much more knowledgeable than I, (but I think that anyone could have done a worse job with the NFL Lions than Matt Millen) but some of their comments were inane and poorly thought out. What does this have to do with the Hogs and the SEC? — patience. (Personally I thought that Vince Young was screwed and was victimized by the Midwest and East Coast writers who hate Texas – think Bush but not Reggie). The experts all agreed that Young should now be offered the award but weren't sure that he would take it. But the most interesting comment was whether USC should be stripped of their National Title and that it be given to Auburn. Now if Auburn were given the championship that would increase the number of recent championships that the SEC has won strengthening the arguement that the SEC champ should be given a chance to defend its championship. The experts got themselves tied up in knots over "fairness". For example, USC players of that time should not be penalized for the actions of others. Baloney. I like Ocam's Razor and cut to the most simple solution. The championship should be stripped from the Trojans. They would not have won without Bush and even when they had Bush they lost it the next year to Texas. The present victims seem to be the USC players who are innocent of the former shenanigans and can't play in a bowl for 2 years. The USC AD was fired presumably with good reason but ole Pete went to Seattle for bigger and better bucks. To me it would be more fair to strip the former USC team and rescind the probation on bowls for the present team. Or at least give the present players the right to transfer next year without prejudice and given an extra year of eligibilty (might resuscitate Mustain's career). Of course that could be a "death penalty" or sorts but what was bad for SMU should be bad for USC. And what about fairness to Auburn players and Tuberville? That wasn't brought up by the "experts". Seems sinple to me. Punish those were there at the time, not those who are there now. Kiffin is obnoxious but fair is fair. As has been said, no man is an island – Bush, Heisman, Auburn, SEC, and even possibly Arkansas, if it wins out. Consider that in 2005 Bush-led USC put it to the NuttHogs 70-17 who were going to a 6-5 season. A win with another team would have given Arkansas a 7-4 record and a bowl game. What say some others out there? .
jimdogg, I agree with you that Sunshine's blog post says all that needs to be said about the ULM game. Normally I wouldn't rise to the bait "Roadhog just might be a Nuttaholic and was disturbed by the JSU win." But since the blog post wil probably be more intresting than the actual ULM game itself, I decided to respond. Should've gotten to it sooner, but I've been busy for a while.
Yes, I think Nutt was and is a great coach: the best Arkansas has ever had. He's Frank Broyles and Danny Ford rolled into one attractive package, with enough Lou Holtz thrown in to make him a little "Nutty." Houston did a very generous and gracious thing by letting Jack Crowe win that game.
No, really, seriously, just for the record: I did like Nutt when he first became coach of the Hogs. He brought a lot of youthful energy and enthusiasm that had been lacking for many years. But I came to dislike Nutt as a person before I came to dislike his style of play and other shortcomings on the football field. I disliked him because he wore his religion on his sleeve, for one thing. But that was the thing in those days: Broyles selected for it.
The reason I found these websites and blogs in the first place was that I was frustrated with Nutt and I was looking for support for my feelings. I felt gratified to find that so many fans shared my dislike of Nutt. I'm glad he's gone.
I was glad to see Jack Crowe win against Nutt. It seemed like a kind of redemption in a roundabout way.
I don't spend any time hating on Nutt, and I wish him well, except when he plays Arkansas. If Petrino hangs around very long he will probably feel the wrath of fans unless he keeps the program strong and wins championships.
We actually had a losing record that year. I believe it was 4-7. Damn, did USC blister us. Worst Arkansas game, ever. I supported Nutt at the time, but he probably should have been fired after that season. All in all, I think this is too much focus on the past. Let's focus on the here and now. Go Hogs!
I'm still trying to figure out how some believe Auburn should be crowned NC for that season.
They were pre-season #17 to begin with. This is the only reason they finished the regular season at #3.
Now, with that in mind, Auburn never played in a NC game and beat a runner-up team, so how in the name of football kingdom com do they all of a sudden become national champions? Don't they still have to play and beat the same team USC did?
I believe that the "experts" felt that an undefeated Auburn, although ending in 3rd, was more deserving of the title than a team (Oklahoma) that got blown out 55-15, which brings up the question as to whether the loser in the title game should automatically be given 2nd place.