The Hogs had an ‘all business’ look to them on the sidelines.  Not only were they up 14-0 on #1 LSU, but they had driven the ball 62 yards in 11 plays over five minutes of game time to score first.  And…surprise…8 of the 11 were rushing plays.

Then the snowball took off down the hill in a bad direction.  A face mask turned a third and six into an LSU first down.  The Razorback defensive line begin to play as if it had never occurred to the coaching staff that LSU might run an option play.  What should have been a huge sack for a loss turned into a casual throw-away after failing to close the deal by actually tackling the quarterback.

And then, after the LSU score changed the momentum a bit, Tyler Wilson takes a 14-yard sack on a corner blitz, which changed the momentum a lot.  Poor execution of a directional punt combined with terrible coverage in general led to a 92-yard punt return for a touchdown.  On the play before the punt return, record-setting senior Jarius Wright dropped a bullet into his chest that would have given the Hogs a first down.

On the next possession…surprise…Dennis Johnson doesn’t wrap up the ball with both hands while being tackled and is stripped.  Five passing plays later, LSU is in the end zone again.

The Hogs had a chance in the second half to tie the game, but a poor snap to Brandon Mitchell pretty much wasted that.  On the next possession, Wilson took another costly eight-yard sack on first down.

Let me give LSU credit — they were the much better team.  Yes, they had a few mistakes, but they were solid on just about every play.

Unfortunately for the Razorbacks, the ‘play good most of the time, but not all of the time’ habits of the entire year led to appearing to not be able to compete with both Alabama and LSU.  The shame is that there were many points in both games where they competed quite well.

You have to question the offensive game plan in both games.  The combination of play selection and Wilson holding the ball and taking sacks is not going to get it done against defenses of the quality of Alabama and LSU.  Hot reads and check downs appeared to be non-existent in both games.  You have to wonder why, after four carries for 21 yards in the first (only) touchdown drive against LSU, Broderick Green touched the ball only one other time.

On defense, gaps, angles and stunts have been issues in every game it seems.  The Razorback defenders seemed to be out of position a lot this year.  To appear unprepared to play the option or the smash pitch play (both LSU staples) AND to get caught in stunts over and over in the red zone — well, I think scheme has been a serious question mark in many games.

Why the punt coverage failed us in the two biggest games of the year is beyond me.

People can talk about a talent difference between the Hogs and Alabama / LSU, but the bigger difference to me is this: Those teams don’t make a lot of mistakes during the course of a game.  They play very fundamentally solid.  They play with great patience.  They are well prepared for the specific opponent.

The Razorback program under Coach Petrino has definitely stepped it up to become part of the national conversation.  Back-to-back 10-win seasons to cap his first recruiting class is amazing progress.  Like all Razorback fans, I’m thrilled with the overall results.

But…the Hogs probably have as far to go as they have come.  This year has been a great success, no doubt.  It has also been a great opportunity to learn what it’s really going to take to win a National Championship.

The SEC’s suspension and Kirk Herbstreit’s comments on the matter were unnecessary piling on.  In my view, Herbstreit is a “wish I had been” with commentary that is totally colored by whatever his (or ESPN’s) leanings are.  I noted he had little to say about the Ohio State debacle.  I avoid him for the most part.

Jim Harris’ comments about Razorback leadership could well be right on point.  I’ve said before that there is something wrong with this bunch that needs to get corrected.  Perhaps we will see the correction Saturday against USC East, but I’m concerned we won’t.

Why Greg Childs is not back to his old self is a bit troublesome at this point.  It’s obvious to me that the coaches got a bit tired of whatever it is and left him home last week to teach him a thing or two.  Whenever a coach starts explaining what a player “understands,” it means that player has been getting a few stern talks.

This game preview from Garnet and Black Attack is a pretty good analysis.  Note the last part of the post regarding momentum rankings.  You can see the full list here.  South Carolina places 6th while the Hogs are way down at 44th.

Which creates an interesting question.  Have the Hogs gotten better or worse since the second half of the Texas A&M Game?  With the performances against Mississippi and Vanderbilt, it’s hard to argue that they’ve improved.  Seems to me that they are on a slippery slope that is eventually going to catch up with them.

Yes…I know what the Hogs’ record is.  Yes…I know I should be happy with the wins.  Yes…this is much better than having Houston Dale with us.  If that’s all you have to say in the comments section, I’ll be very disappointed.

The thing is…we didn’t expect to see a team seemingly on the decline at this point in the year.

South Carolina is a very good team.  It will take that very good Razorback team that we thought we were going to have to beat them.  Those guys that showed up for Ole Miss and Vandy aren’t going to get it done.

The Hogs played just good enough at Vanderbilt to get lucky and win.  Having your opponent miss a chip shot field goal that would’ve sent the game into overtime is just lucky.  Take away the fumble and 95-yard touchdown return by Jerry Franklin and the Hogs get beat.

I expected another slow start for no other reason than the Hogs would put a lot of pressure on themselves (again) to “start fast.”  Too bad I wasn’t disappointed.

We saw the same things on defense that we have been seeing early in games.  Too anxious to hit.  Poor reading and reacting.  Running right out of their assignments to chase.  Lots of whiff tackles.

Again, we saw that the opponent’s offense had plays planned for our tendencies on defense.  Vandy’s TD pass on their first possession was a perfect example.  The 40-yard throwback pass (just prior to Franklin’s fumble return) was another.  It almost appears that the right formation and motion can trick the Hogs into playing a man/zone coverage combo.  That type of coverage usually doesn’t work out so well.

Although no one else in the stadium or watching on TV was fooled, the Hogs special teams got fooled on the fake punt.  Yard and a half to go, cover guys all on one side, short snap run to the other while the Razorback line apparently gave absolutely no thought of a fake or contain.  Outside end casually walked right out of the play towards the center of the field.

Speed — playing hard and fast — doesn’t do a lot of good if you just get to the wrong place quicker.

The offense struggles in strange ways.  Except for…wait for it…wait…luck.  Tyler Wilson should’ve had two, if not four, interceptions.  Underthrowing or throwing late on the long patterns is now the norm, not the exception.  Garrick McGee was preaching to Wilson about this on the ESPN “Depth Chart” show.

No doubt Wilson is one tough dude.  Unfortunately, it seems he needs to get popped a few times and get mad before he really starts to play.  His reads and receiver choices early in the game were a bit questionable — another norm, not the exception — leading to him enjoying Coach Petrino screaming at him on the sidelines.

As for the offensive line, I stopped counting ‘look out!’ blocks early on, and took note that a few times guys came through untouched.  This offensive line is still very inconsistent.  Many times they just get physically beat.

If Wilson and the offensive line are going to continue to start games half-asleep, the offense is going to continue to sputter early.

While Vanderbilt did their best to physically beat up the Hogs, the challenge was more than accepted.  We could, however, do without the silly personal fouls.  Wade’s slamming the guy on the punt return was just a poor play all around.  Being proud of leveling someone totally defenseless wasn’t very impressive, to say the least.  Regarding personal fouls, a few weeks ago Coach Petrino said, “we’ve got that corrected.”  Need to chase that horse down again.

Speaking of coaches…they need to take a hard look in the mirror.  They’re not exactly ‘out-game-planning’ anyone right now.

This was a game the Hogs were lucky to win. While it’s great to only have one loss at this point in the season, this ‘really good team that spends so much time each game not being a really good team’ is beginning to wear on me.

Emotion and game planning can only take you so far.  At some point, talent and overall preparation usually takes over and carries the day.

Change a few plays here and there and the Hogs either win by a bigger margin or get beat.  The jury is out if the result was actually from skill or luck.

So what’s the deal with these slow starts and second half comebacks?  Some things stand out to me that we’ve seen basically all year with this team.

The defense opened the game with a case of the stupids.  I’m not sure if the Hogs were under game-planned or over game-planned.  I’m not sure if they were asleep or overaggressive.  There were examples of both — many times on the same play.

What you did see was poor reading of keys and poor discipline in assignments.  The Hogs are easily blocked, run themselves out of plays, and tend to blitz themselves into no man’s land early in games.  Counters and cut-backs seem to find openings that shouldn’t exist.  The edges were totally open.  We have seen this since the third game of the year against Troy.  The first half of the A&M game was the same thing.

The Hogs also seemed to figure that, since Ole Miss couldn’t pass worth a flip, why bother playing much pass defense?  After all, that strategy worked against Auburn, where wide open receivers were constantly missed by the terrible quarterbacks.  Didn’t work this time.

In the second half, the Razorback defense becomes more disciplined and patient and these counters and cut-backs were no longer very effective.  Blocks were avoided and the ends contained.  Makes a big difference.

The opening offensive scripts have been, eh, offensive.  They have not worked well at all this year.

Ole Miss played defense on the opening possession with absolutely no consideration that the Hogs might run the ball.  They played defense on the second possession as if the Hogs were going to run on every play.  They were right in both cases.  To say we have tendencies on our first series would be a colossal understatement.  We have lots of tendencies.

The early line play was terrible on both sides of the ball.  The quick passing game was in slow motion.  Crossing routes that take 4-5 seconds to develop aren’t going to work very well.  Run support by the secondary was slow in the first half.  Linebackers kept getting out of position.  Containment was lost on many plays.

The level of intensity the Hogs play with changes a lot from the first half to the second half.  It is not so obvious at the first watching, but a more detail watching of the game is more revealing.

Fortunately, once the Hogs got over their initial game plans, made adjustments and went to their extensive bag of tricks and superior talent, they got the game somewhat under control.  Somewhat anyway.  I suspect the fear of screwing up the entire season also had something to do with it.

Going three and out at the eight minute mark of the fourth quarter was pretty sad.  Just for that, the dropped notch in the BCS was deserved.

Fortunately the Hogs have pretty good talent.  Overall they are extremely well prepared to play.  Unfortunately, they apparently have to feel that the season is on the line to decide to actually turn it on and play.

I’m not sure what is wrong with this bunch, but something is.  Something bad is going to happen along the way to LSU if they don’t get it fixed.

All the commentary and noise generated by the Hogs loss to Alabama has been interesting to me.

Comments about “not recruiting as well as Alabama” and “got out-coached” have been far too common.  Razorback media and fans rode the pendulum from crazy high expectations to “all is lost” with one football game.

As for me, I was worried, didn’t stop worrying, and had my worry turn into downright fear.  And as it turned out…with good reason.

So what happened and what’s going on?

Alabama more than dominated the Hogs physically as the game progressed.  Football is still a physical game.  The Arkansas coaching staff didn’t get out-coached, they got out-manned.  Offensive line issues combined with the losses on the defensive front puts a team in a position of playing with alternating hands tied behind their back.  Coaching makes no difference when you can’t physically execute.

The defense, all in all, isn’t that bad. Honestly, I’m okay with the defense.  Other than a few plays, the performance against Alabama was pretty solid.  With two men down our line is not what it needs to be, but it wasn’t that bad.  The screen and the two dump off passes worked because we were selling out to the rush and deep coverage and leaving part of the field empty — defensive calls that are understandable, but always carry some risk.

The Hogs special teams play is predictable and can be attacked.  Expect to see more special teams issues in key games at key points in the future.  I warned about this after the Troy game and I’m warning again.

Garrick McGee questioning the ‘competitive spirit’ of the team this week was a bit unexpected. Apparently he has been appointed ‘bad cop.’  But…

Coach Petrino’s comments about looking for an “identity” on offense are especially worrisome at this point.  Especially since we currently DO have a definite ‘identity’ on offense:  short passing because we don’t think we can do anything else.

Without a solid offensive line, it’s difficult to execute any offense.  And the Hogs’ offensive line doesn’t have the experience at this point to be “solid.”  Having said that…

There aren’t enough running plays being called.  I know people will think I’m crazy, but the Hogs need to run the ball more.  Put a battering ram into the game and run a few smash mouth plays.  Don’t worry about looking for yardage, just keep the opponent’s defense honest.  Even no gain stretch plays serve a purpose to set up play-action.

Go double tight ends, put in the fullback and run Kody Walker.  Be physical.  Give’em something to think about other than playing ‘bend but don’t break’ pass defense and knocking the receivers heads off after the catch.

My preseason predictions not only called for a loss to Alabama, but also a follow-up loss to Texas A&M.  My reason for these picks was my concern about the offensive line.  Hopefully the line will be more seasoned by the Auburn game.  If they step it up on Saturday, the Hogs can beat A&M.

We all got totally and unreasonably carried away about the potential of this year’s team.  Perhaps the coaches and the players did, as well.  With that said, there’s no reason for folks to get all negative about the program.  Yes…the Alabama game was bad.  But it shouldn’t be viewed as a commentary on the state of the program.

Sometimes when you get a little too high on yourself, you get brought back to reality.  And reality is that, without an offensive line, lot’s of things can go wrong in a football game.  Reality is that, when you get physically beat up on the football field, the game is probably going to go badly for you in a number of ways.

Everyone needs to get real.  The Hogs have a talented, but inexperienced offensive line.  This is not new news.  Time will correct this.

* – Robin Williams

You lose a game you think you really should have won based on an analysis of ‘could have’s’ and ‘should have’s.’  Then you circle the next year’s game on the schedule and the local sportswriters write about the fact that the game has been “circled”.

You spend a week in preseason preparing for that game — and the media talk about that, too.  Then one of your talented receivers is quoted in the press the week prior to the game saying, “We’ll put up a lot of points…”

More than a few fans are talking up National Championships.

Meanwhile, the opponent is quietly seething and preparing.  They know you have an offensive line that has been completely rebuilt and starts a true freshman.  The quarterback, while extremely talented, will be making his first SEC start in front of 100,000 of your rabid, extremely noisy fans.

The receivers, while probably the best group in the nation, will be forced into running short routes — as the pass protection will not allow longer routes — and catching the ball in positions to be hit hard and often.  History has shown that after a few hard hits, they cut routes short and disappear later in the game.

As for your running game?  They know you’ll hardly give it a chance.  When you do, they know you’ll struggle to block their front.

The opponent also knows that they have an offense that can and will run the ball on anyone, any time, any place.

Special teams?  They’ve seen your film and are not worried.  You can be blocked.  And tricked.

The opponent doesn’t just circle the game.  They quietly mark the spot with an “X.”  They’ve heard enough.  They will let their hits do the talking.

As Joe Frazier once said, “Kill the body and the head will die.”

The defense played ‘vanilla’ with soft coverages and only pulled out the real stuff for a few plays along the way.  Coach Petrino was only showing the offense he wanted Alabama to see, not the one they are going to see next week.

The Razorbacks are a much better team than they showed against Troy.

Really?

While certain parts of those first two paragraphs were true during the Troy game, I saw some other things during the game that I also think are true.

The offensive line is not ready for primetime against Alabama.  My worry from the beginning of the season has now progressed into downright fear.  It’s clear to me that the quick, short pass, possession-type of passing game that the Hogs are having success with is a cover-up for the fact that we can’t protect well enough to have consistent success with the mid-range and longer passing game.

With two weeks to prepare, the Troy coaching staff did their homework and the homework for every SEC team we will face down the road.  From the safety blitz — counting on Coach Petrino’s habit of going long after a turnover — to the well-disguised corner blitzes that plagued the Hogs all game long, Troy managed to vex the offense on many occasions.  Which clearly led to…

Tyler Wilson struggled more than I expected.  He is missing things in his pre-snap reads and struggling with his progressions.  One is leading to protection problems and the other is due to protection problems.  His pulling the ball down and running with it so much is a sign that he’s feeling lost out there.

The ‘pick six’ was a great example of Wilson simply missing the proper read of the coverage.

As Sunshine said in his post earlier today, Ronnie Wingo is beginning to ‘get it.’  He is hitting holes quicker and seems more intense.  Longer term, however, I expect to see more Kody Walker in the second half of games in situations where the Hogs need to run clock.

I saw things in the punting game that troubled me.  If not fixed, I expect that we will have a punt blocked or a fake punt used against us at some key point in the future.

While some see the second half as a ‘let down,’ I saw it more as a bad practice session.  The first offensive possession went pretty well, but the later possessions seemed more focused on working on the running game and showing a few wrinkles to keep future opponents off guard.

The defense definitely went into more of a ‘soft’ mode.  I think the coaches pulled back and then the players pulled back a bit more than the coaches planned.

Troy exposed some things that, stated in the positive, will hopefully make Alabama overconfident.  Stated in the negative, these things will have Alabama chomping at the bit.

So yes, I remain worried.  Better defense and special teams play will be hard-pressed to make up for the fact that the offense is not as good at this point as the offense was last year.

The Alabama game may not be very pretty to watch for Hog fans.

The “All 22″ view of the game — from both the sidelines and the end zone — is my favorite way to see the replay of a football game.  I really enjoy hearing Coach Petrino explain what is happening (or what is supposed to be happening) on the field.

For those of you that pay really close attention to the games, you know that Coach Petrino tends to not replay things that didn’t go quite as well as planned.  That fits exactly with what we’ve learned about Petrino — he really works the positives.

Which begs the question:  What are the positives we’re learning about this Razorback football team?

Overall, the program under Bobby Petrino is developing a “nice” (a favorite Petrino word) level of maturity.  It’s great to see continuity and growth rather than having the feeling (as we did for years) that each year was a brand new adventure full of angst, conversations about ‘bus drivers‘ and only one or two stars that the entire season depended upon.

This growth is really obvious in the play of the defense and special teams.  You get the feeling that this Razorback team can win games from the performance of these units even if the offense has a tough outing.

An overly simplistic (but unbelievably important) point is the fact that we are seeing a Razorback team that both knows where to line up and how to execute the plays that are being called.  We are not seeing very many missed assignments.  Players are playing very fast, with purpose, and without having to stop and think about things along the way.  The playbooks may be a city block wide, but apparently everyone knows what they are doing.

What’s really “nice” about the program is that there are quality players — ready to play — two to three deep.   The Hogs are like shark’s teeth.  The next one is ready to pop into place when needed.

Against the Lobos last week, the Hogs had the luxury of sitting players that were slightly dinged.  Others quickly stepped up.  The days of angst and anguish over losing one particular star are just a distant memory.

Recruiting news is good.  Outstanding players are attracted to programs that are going to provide quality opportunities to contribute.  Coach Petrino mentions a lot of names on his show.  It is obvious he places a lot of importance on the role that everyone on the team plays.

It helps that we have an offense and defense that prepares players for the NFL.  Really good recruits like that.

While this team has obvious ‘stars,’ even the stars play workmanlike roles.  Watching the pride players like Jarius Wright and Greg Childs put into their blocking assignments tells you a lot.  This is a team.  Every job is important.

I like how Coach Petrino puts different players in front of the press each week.  You can tell how mentally prepared these guys are by the way they present themselves both on and off the field.  Fundamentally, sports are about developing character and success traits.  It is obvious the Razorback program has this as a foundation.

Win, lose or draw, the Razorback football program is in excellent shape right now.  The guys really are doing “a nice job.”

The Razorback sports writing contingent easily found many amazing things to write about.  Chris Low at ESPN is thinking the Hogs look like a top 10 team.

As I was writing that last sentence, Tyler Wilson was being clobbered from the blind side on the fourth play of the game.  Yes…I’m watching the replay of the game on RazorVision.  Again.

I know.  This was just a glorified practice game.  Just a tune up.  It’s good to hit someone with another color jersey.

And Harry King said this rout provided no answers.  So why am I watching this game again?

I’m trying to figure out just how far away we are on the offensive line.

I’m also trying to figure out if Ronnie Wingo is really going to make a first-rate running back.

I’m really wanting to be less worried than I was when I wrote this post a couple of weeks ago.

You tell me about the offensive line and the rushing performance — should I be less worried or more worried?

Hog fans are anticipating a season that should rank right up there with the best the program has ever seen.  Excitement is in the air.  The RazorBloggers’ own HogBaller even predicted a National Championship.  (And no one told him that he was completely crazy.)

Bobby Petrino has brought attitude and expectations far different from those that were being voiced just prior to the retirement of Frank Broyles and departure of head coach and helmet-lover Houston Dale Nutt.

At the kickoff luncheon last Friday, Petrino exuded confidence and repeated his familiar “expectations” refrain.

“It’s OK to have high expectations,” Petrino said.  “Don’t let anybody tell you that you can’t win.  Don’t let anybody sell you short.  I think that’s what we learned as a group, as a football team, as a coaching staff, as a state.  It’s OK to have high expectations.”

Notice he’s not just talking there to the people in the room.  He’s talking directly to you and me — “as a state” — and telling us that it’s okay to believe.

And it’s true…the whole notion that Hog fans’ expectations should be to finish regularly at the mid-tier level of the SEC seems absurd today.  Almost as absurd as Chuck Barrett’s radio show commentary in 2007 that Houston Dale’s departure “would set the program back 10 years.”

But for me — you know…the guy that still hasn’t really gotten over the fact that I moved from my chair to the floor at the start of the 4th quarter of the ’69 Texas game and cost the Hogs the game — I’m a bit worried about this season.

I know what you’re thinking.  The defense is going to be even better than last year.  We are finally two-deep on the D-line with SEC-caliber players.  No doubt we have the best receivers in the nation.  Our quarterback is going to be accurate and mobile and could easily make everyone quickly forget about “Ryan what’s his name.”  Sure we lost a great running back for the year, but we have plenty of quality available to man the position.  The field goal kicker goes days without missing in practice.

So, why am I worried?

I’m worried about the offensive line.  If it doesn’t come together until midway through the season, the Alabama and Texas A&M games are going to be hard to win.  Lose those two games and the Hogs would have to win out and have a bit of help to win the SEC West.

While it’s true that we have outstanding talent that could make up an excellent O-line, solid offensive line performance is also a function of experience and continuity.  Our experience is a bit scattered and we have two freshman competing for starting jobs.  With all the juggling around in practice, we couldn’t even spell continuity if you spotted us everything but the vowels.

Adding to my offensive line worries are my usual Razorback worries.  Just when you begin to believe the Hogs are about to accomplish something really, really amazing and special, they let you down.  The Sugar Bowl performance last year did nothing to dispel this traditional worry.

There’s also the historic notion that the Hogs’ better seasons and performances have tended to come when little was expected of them.  Don’t forget that Sports Illustrated cover that proclaimed the Hogs preseason number one following the previous year’s most unexpected beating administered to Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl.

I want to be optimistic that the Bobby Petrino era will be different from the past.  Having and embracing high expectations feels really good.  I’m a huge fan of Petrino, as well as big believer in him.  This team has a great chance to accomplish really amazing and special things.

I really wish I could stop worrying.

“Will they also ‘vacate’ the money?”

From former Coach Jim Tressel’s standpoint, his fine of $250,000 seems to have been ‘vacated’ — apparently canceled and replaced with a retirement package.  Book advance certain to follow.

‘The’ Ohio State University’s Athletic Director Gene Smith’s statement that the ‘vacating’ of wins is a, “significant impact to those that participated” is ridiculous.  Players keep score on the field, not in the halls of administration.

Many of ‘The’ Ohio State University’s players are probably a lot more concerned with their tattoo and car hook-ups being ‘vacated’ than with wins on the field being taken away on paper.

Being a part of a BCS conference leads to money.  Players lead to wins.  Wins lead to money.

‘The’ Ohio State University’s players playing in the 2011 Sugar Bowl rather than being suspended was all about the ‘integrity of the game?’  Nope.  Better matchup leads to better ratings which leads to a better TV contract which means more money which primarily goes into the pockets of the people running the BCS bowls.

In a system that’s ‘all about the money,’ the only punishment anyone is going to understand has to involve money.  Not money in the future — punishment that goes only to the ones that inherit the mess left by others that escape with their money intact — but money that is directly associated with the crime.

If they really want to show contrition and repentance, ‘The’ Ohio State University should ‘vacate’ their Sugar Bowl money along with their share of any other conference bowl money.

Many Hog fans are certain that Mike can restore Razorback basketball to the ’40 Minutes of Hell’ style and success of Nolan and quickly return the program to the glory days.  They envision Elite Eight and Final Four appearances on a regular basis and the return of the Kentucky game to national status on Super Bowl Sunday.  Any other result is simply not within the realm of their imagination.

While I do believe Mike is a fine basketball coach, my fear is that there is no way he can possibly live up to these expectations.

College basketball has changed over the years since Arkansas won the National Championship.  Much of what made the ’40 Minutes of Hell’ unique to Nolan and Arkansas is now standard fare.  10-man rotations, periods of intense pressure defense, pushing the ball in transition, multiple 3-point shooters and a strong half court post game are par for the course for the better teams.

I’ve watched a lot of Mike Anderson teams and games over the past few years.  While some have been better than others, my take is that there are a lot of coaches out there playing version 2 or 3 of this aggressive style while Mike is still coaching version 1.  His teams tend to have the same issues most of Nolan’s teams had — poor rebounding and struggles in half court offense.

Of Nolan’s teams at Arkansas, only the 1994 and 1995 teams had the type of size needed to contend for the National Championship.  Without the contributions of the two seven-foot freshmen (Robinson and Wilson) at key moments, the 1994 team wouldn’t have made the Final Four.

No problem, you say?  It’s possessions that count?  Steals make up for poor rebounding?  Unfortunately, the ball handling skills of today’s players and their ability to handle pressure defense are much better than in the days of Nolan.  They have grown up playing against pressure defenses.

Mike Anderson, or whoever comes to coach Arkansas, will have their work cut out for them to make the program “nationally relevant” again.  Mike would have the added pressure of living up to a time that is now based more in nostalgia than reality.

Thomas Wolfe once wrote, “You can’t go home again.”  Looking for current success by going back to the past is a recipe for disappointment for everyone involved.

There are many strong contenders to be the next Razorback basketball coach.  I’m hopeful we take a good look around before we decide.

In yesterday’s part one, we agreed with John Pelphrey that this year’s team was “close” to winning four or five more games.  So what were some of the things that kept that success from happening?  Well, to start…

We Need a Few Big, Strong Men — With Powell obviously not at his physical or mental best, Sanchez hurt for most of the year, and lack of consistent roles for Bryant and Waithe, there was too much pressure placed on Delvon Johnson.  While he performed admirably, the overall performance at the post positions left a lot to be desired.

Overall, Arkansas’ post players seem to lack the physical strength needed to compete effectively on post offense.  They showed little to no technique or patience, resulting in many, many rushed and missed point-blank shots over the course of the season.  Many times the difference between “close” and success was due to lack of effective post offense.

In general, the Hogs do not appear to be as strong and well-conditioned as they need to be to perform at the level needed.  As many of you know, this has been a yearly criticism from us here at RBN for the entirity of the post-Nolan era at Arkansas.

Punishment versus Discipline — One of Coach Pelphrey’s main coaching techniques for most of his time at Arkansas has been “punishment” rather than “discipline.”  This shows up on the floor in several ways.

When players are in and out of the dog house, it’s difficult to put together effective rotations and game plans.  The combination of players on the floor often tends to be based not on who gives the team the best shot at success, but whoever we happen to not be punishing for some reason.

There were several players on the roster this year that never had a clear role: Bryant, Farmer, Wade, Waithe, Britt, Scott.  They would come and go from the rotation for whatever reasons.

“Punishment” leads to lack of effort and intensity by some players over time.  Players that are being repeatedly punished — especially for reasons they feel are unfair — will not consistently perform for a coach.  And the Hogs have certainly had their share of inconsistent performances.

Case in point: It’s pretty obvious that Marshawn Powell was not recovered enough to be playing early in the season.  So why was he out there?  Then there was the visit home situation where he returned late.  And then he won’t respond to questions about his “relationship” with Coach Pelphrey.

Players or Coaching? — While more better players can make a difference, many of the observations I’ve made are more about how the coach goes about working with the players than with the players themselves.

The performance of a basketball team on the floor is directly related to the approach the coach takes to the game and his ability to implement that approach during practices.  In simple terms, a team on the floor during games is a reflection of what is coached.  A team can lose and still be viewed as “well-coached.”

——–

I’m in the “underachieve” camp of thinking the Hogs were a few wins better than they ended up.  Yes, I think better strength and conditioning along with better coaching could have made a few games difference.

I believe John Pelphrey’s current approach to coaching his teams has to change and improve.  Otherwise, “close but not close enough” is all we should ever expect from his teams.

As many predicted, the Arkansas basketball team finished fourth in the SEC West this season.  According to John Pelphrey, it could’ve easily been much better.

“I am the head coach at Arkansas and we are getting ready for the SEC Tournament,” Pelphrey told Hawgs Illustrated on Saturday.  “Obviously I have been in this situation before in terms of building a program and I believe in what we are doing. [...] To me, anyway, it is evident how close we are to winning four or five more games this season and how that would be putting a totally different spin on everything.”

I think the Coach is right.  It was evident how “close” the Hogs were to winning four or five more games this season.  For those that are calling out for a new basketball coach, I think that is the point.  It certainly seemed like the opportunities were there.

Unfortunately, “close,” as they say, only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.

So what is it about Pelphrey’s basketball program that is causing it to fall short of expectations?  Here are a few questions and observations.

Setting Goals and Talking Up the Program — Have you ever heard any goals from Coach Pelphrey other than “play hard,” “overachieve” and NCAA Tournament?  This guy is not exactly a goal-setting public relations machine.

Offense and Defense — The offensive personality of a John Pelphrey Razorback basketball team consists of a lot of dribbling, emphasis on 1-on-1 play and an overall lack of ball movement.  Players would rather drive and get their shot blocked than drive and dish off for a layup.  Opportunities abounded all year to rack up more assists.

The defensive personality of a John Pelphrey Razorback basketball team is a soft man-to-man, overplaying the high post screen, featuring poor defensive rotations off the ball.  There is no real approach to a “pressure” defense other than a “let’s just get after them harder.”

Razorback fans look at the offensive and defensive personalities of the team and see the shortcomings.  After years of watching Hall of Fame caliber coaches, it’s basically like watching poor high school coaching.

There Were Positives as the Season Progressed — Rotnei Clarke grew up a lot.  That’s important when you figure out you have carry the whole team on offense.  There’s a lot of pressure involved in knowing you have to score 20+ points every night.

Julysses Nobles continued to mature and improve.  He doesn’t get mentioned much, but he was a pretty consistent key contributor during the conference season.  Marcus Britt moved closer to actually having a role and making a solid contribution towards the end of the season.

The return of Michael Sanchez improved the team.  He may have not brought an elegant game, but he brought passion, energy and desire onto the floor and made it obvious to everyone there was room to “step up.”

John Pelphrey is obviously learning on the job at Arkansas.  With his back to the wall, he did do some things differently to improve the performance on the court.  The question is, “Where was that back earlier in the conference season?”

Something to chew on for now.  More tomorrow on whether talent or coaching had more to do with only coming “close” to a successful season.

Personally, I don’t think the Hogs “overachieved” against Kentucky.  They played tough and with great purpose.  They had intensity.  They pushed through the point in the game where they usually chose to fade and kept going strong.  They “achieved” their objective.

Are you going to get that every game such that you always win?  No.  It’s not possible.  Should you get that most of the time?  Yes.  Toughness, purpose, and intensity are not occasional attributes to have to achieve success at anything.

The main reason the Hogs won this game is that they went out on the floor intending to do everything possible to win this game.  They played as if they dearly wanted to win the game instead of just showing up to get through it.  That attitude was the difference.

Based on the performance of this team in just a few key games, there’s only one conclusion you can possibly reach about this team:  it has spent quite a few games “underachieving” and being “inconsistent.”

Said nicely — maybe they are just beginning to understand the leadership and effort on the floor that it takes to win.  Said not so nicely — maybe they finally understood that the overall results from their efforts at ‘working hard’ were not being evaluated by the fans in the same way as they were evaluating themselves.

The game the Hogs brought to the floor against Kentucky is the game the fans will come see.  We fans don’t expect perfection.  We do expect intensity from start to finish of a game.  Eddie and Nolan trained us up to expect intense play on the floor.

Overall, the Razorbacks are actually in a pretty good position as the regular season comes to a close.  If they can keep up this serious, ‘backs against the wall’ intensity, it can make all the difference in the world regarding John Pelphrey’s love from the fans.

The Hogs could easily be 3-4 games better off in the win column had they brought something even close to Kentucky-type intensity to a few more games.  That also can easily be remembered by the fans.

If this team gets happy and fades out — as they’ve tended to do following accomplishment — then we know there’s issues that need to be dealt with.

If they choose to take this season to a big finish and Coach Pelphrey stays, I can be okay with that.

The performance against Kentucky confirms the double edge.  The rest of the season will determine which way the knife will cut.

“I think from our standpoint, last year was last year, the year before was the year before, so I’m dealing with right now and where we are today,” Pelphrey said.  “I appreciate how hard these guys work.  I know what we’re doing.  I know some of the things that are making us better all around.  I think we’re doing the right things to get that done.”

“That is what gives me optimism for the next seven, eight games and the SEC Tournament.”

Besides begging the question of, ‘What does any of that really mean?’…the real question is, ‘What is it about that perspective that is supposed to give us fans any optimism?’

I know…great recruiting class.  I’ve heard that.  Makes me think deep thoughts like, “Last year was last year, the year before was the year before.”  In other words…’Just wait until next year!’  Haven’t we been hearing this recruiting story for a while now?

But this story is different you say?  How?  Really?  That’s what you’re going with?

I know…it’s all the improvement we’re seeing in the performance of the team on the floor.  It’s visible in how the team is getting progressively better as we get deeper into the season.  The growth we are seeing in the floor leadership.  The on-floor hustle and effort. Improvements in offensive and defensive execution.  The obvious improvements in basketball IQ that give hope to better days.  The pleasure we’re getting from seeing the results of all the hard work these guys are putting in and how the young Hogs just keep getting better all around.

The fact that the coaching staff and team is doing the right things that are making Razorback basketball better just oozes out of this bunch in ways that can’t be denied by any casual, much less astute, observer.

Truthfully, if any of you are seeing any of this wonderful activity out on the floor fill me in.  It’s totally evading me.

As to next year’s recruits, if you can’t coach ‘em up, it won’t do much good to have them around.  But you know, this whole deal is really not about John Pelphrey.

It’s obvious he is in over his head when it comes to developing a basketball program.  He may be great for suspending people and holding study hall and talking about “overachievers.”  And spouting quotes that I’m certain he’s taking from some obscure passage in Alice and Wonderland.*  But he’s not proving to be useful if we’re going to bring Razorback basketball back to anywhere approaching it’s former state.

——

As for Jeff Long, that’s another story.  Yes, he’s been off doing his ‘football school’ thing, which we all appreciate.  It was nice that Bobby Petrino conveniently appeared and gave him an excellent jump start.

But now Jeff Long is actually going to have to demonstrate some leadership that doesn’t include one of the best coaches in America falling into his lap.  He’s going to have to be honest with the fans.  His stewardship of Razorback basketball is currently not taking advantage of a potential revenue stream that was once many millions of dollars annually richer that it is today.  He hasn’t offered up any vision or direction for the basketball program that gives anyone any idea about his perspective on things.

At this point, given the way the program is seemingly being managed (i.e. back-burnered), why would any good coach consider going to Arkansas?  On the face of things, the athletic administration isn’t doing an awful lot to indicate that they either care or have a grasp on the situation.

So far all Jeff Long has done is add annoying ribbon boards and vanity sideline seats while letting the the concourses grow yellow and stale, hike concession prices to rival 5-star dining, and made the notion of season ticket renewals become a novelty idea.

And, he seems to think the Arkansas fans that have grown with this program since the sawdust floors of Barnhill and the arrival of Martin Terry — the proud fans and contributors who helped build the ‘Basketball Palace of Mid-America’ and watched the program rise to become National Champions — can be corporate-talked into thinking all of this is what we should expect and deserve.

As far as I’m concerned, the story on John Pelphrey has already been written.  It’s time for this story to turn to Jeff Long.  Has he got what it takes to fix this?

I’m not sure he does.

*  “But I don’t want to go among mad people,” Alice remarked.
“Oh, you can’t help that,” said the Cat: “we’re all mad here.  I’m mad.  You’re mad.”
“How do you know I’m mad?” said Alice.
“You must be,” said the Cat, “or you wouldn’t have come here.”

– Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Chapter 6

I was a fourth grader when I first walked Bourbon Street.  It was New Year’s Eve.  Really crowded, wall-to-wall people, and really interesting stuff happening inside some of those joints.  I stopped often to gaze through any windows and doors I could find, only to be jerked away as we moved on down the street.  We walked several blocks away from Canal Street, then turned around and walked back.  I had one of those really long red plastic horns that I would periodically blow with all my fourth-grade might.   There was lots of yelling going on.

The next day I put on my red sports coat, red Colonel Sanders type tie that said “Go” on one side and “Hogs” on the other and sat on row 102 of Tulane Stadium at about the 20 yard line on the end where Chuck Dicus caught a touchdown pass.  We weren’t supposed to, but we beat Georgia 16-2 in the Sugar Bowl that day.

That night, we walked Bourbon Street again and I was even more obnoxious with that horn until it got taken away from me.

Oh yeah, and I rode in the elevator with Frank Broyles.

I spent the better part of a week in New Orleans on that first trip.  Discovered I loved the music there as well as the boiled shrimp.

Even though I’ve only been there a few times, New Orleans has always held a fascination to me.  Every time I visit, I go back to the lobby of what was the old Roosevelt Hotel and remember the white cotton ceiling, boiled shrimp, and the pagentry of that week.  I remember the riverboat trip, sitting on the tenth floor fire escape, and the crowd on New Year’s Eve on Bourbon Street.

I went back for the last Final Four that was held in New Orleans.  I retraced my steps through the French Quarter, my focus this time being on how much catfish, shrimp and oysters I could eat every day.

I’m not sure how the place got so much smaller, but then I’m not sure how I’ve gotten so much bigger, either.

When it chooses to be, the BCS is in charge of college football.

What really is this “Bowl Championship Series” that everyone speaks of?

Once upon a time, the traditional ‘powers that be’ of college football decided that the time had come to address the growing outcry for a playoff system to determine the Division I National Championship.  The ‘powers,’ recognizing that there is strength in numbers, agreed to play nice together and share their toys.

So, the ‘powers’ took their conferences and bowl game tie-ups and quietly began to chant, “ours, not yours,” rather than “mine, mine, mine.”

Any good plan needs a bit of misdirection or distraction to obscure the actual objective.  The ‘powers’ didn’t even have to work hard to create one.  The cry for a game matching up the top two teams in the nation served perfectly.

By joining in the conversation around creating the matchup of the top two teams — and finding it in their heart to facilitate the game everyone wanted — the ‘powers’ managed to keep their real objective off the radar.

You see, the notion of a Division I college football playoff meant that a lot more money — said recently to be as much as $500 million — could possibly enter the sport.  If this money were to be given out in a fashion similar to the NCAA Basketball Tournament, quite a number of schools would receive far more money each year than they get under the current BCS system.

The ‘powers,’ all the while chanting, “ours, not yours,” simply could not allow a system that could result in schools other than those in their conferences raking in more money.  Chaos — and a more competitive college football landscape — could result. Even worse, the power of the ‘powers’ would be at risk for severe dilution.

Thus we have the ‘BCS’ as it is today – a system designed to keep the majority of the money earned by college football in the hands of the six ‘automatic-qualifier’ conferences with their aligned Bowl games.  And out of the hands of everyone else.

What about the NCAA?  Aren’t they in charge of college athletics?

The Cam Newton decision and the decision regarding the Ohio State players has exposed the NCAA as a paper tiger when it comes to matters pertaining to BCS interests.  The risks of the ‘powers’ turning to the NCAA with their chant of “ours, not yours,” is too great.  Far too great for the NCAA to be making decisions in the last third of the season that aren’t in the best interest of the BCS.

Fortune, glory and control.  The BCS has it.  The NCAA doesn’t.

Fans can argue whether it happened on the long touchdown passes to Cobi Hamilton.  Or the 39-yard ‘hitch and go’ touchdown pass to Joe Adams on 4th down and three in the fourth quarter.

Some will say it was the 65 yards rushing by Knile Davis in the first half that made all the difference.  Others will say the Hogs’ defensive performance was the key.  No one will argue for special teams.

All very valid points.  But for me…it was the 13-play, ‘smash mouth’ drive that ate up just over six minutes of the fourth quarter.  That really pushed it over the top.

When it was all said and done, the better team won the football game.  The Hogs were better coached, in better shape and mentally tougher than LSU.

Expectations embraced led to expectations realized.

In three years, Bobby Petrino has managed to do what most thought was impossible at ‘poor little Arkansas.’  He has accumulated SEC-level talent and depth at every position.  The backup quarterback threw for over 300 yards against the number one team in the nation and the regular quarterback is going to leave early to be an NFL first round draft pick.

Once it was thought the Razorbacks could not possibly have an outstanding pool of receivers.  But now the coach can call “next” and a Cobi Hamilton steps up.

People can complain about Willy and the defense, but it’s an order of magnitude better in depth and speed than anything we’ve seen from the Hogs in a long time.

For the first time I can remember in my 40+ years of watching Arkansas football, the Razorbacks have a coach that doesn’t ‘poor mouth’ the team or throw players under the bus.  His favorite phrase is, “He’s done a nice job for us…”

For the first time I can remember, the Hogs don’t rely on emotional highs and ‘hope’ to win a big game.  They ‘expect’ to play well and win.  Other than the overall domination of John McDonnell and the glory days of Nolan, we have seldom seen this type of attitude and expectations brought to Arkansas sports by a coach.

A college sports program is going to be a reflection of the capabilities, ambition, motivation and expectations of the head coach — in that order.  If you doubt that, just take a look at the Razorback basketball program.

The Arkansas fair weather fans are getting what they wanted from the football program.  Do they really realize this?  Do they appreciate it?  Will they pay up to keep it?

Let’s enjoy and appreciate the great weather.  It has been a long time coming.  I’m hoping it will be quite a while before it changes.

There were multiple opportunities to fold on Saturday against Mississippi State.  In particular, the worst being the Knile Davis fumble on the Hogs last possession in regulation that put an exhausted Razorback defense in a terrible position.

State would ride the wave of momentum to a first down on the 15-yard line.  After a well-timed timeout by Coach Petrino to remind the players what was at stake, the Hogs’ defense stiffened and kept the Bulldogs out of the end zone.

Earlier in the year, the Razorback offense didn’t show up for the second half against Alabama.  After Broderick Green’s fumble at Auburn, the defense gave up the ghost and let Auburn roll all over them.  So what’s changed?

For this Razorback team, it’s officially serious business now.  Simply put, the Hogs have gotten tougher both physically and mentally.  Both coaches and players have raised their level of play in response to the ‘near misses’ and ‘could’ve, should’ve’ lessons learned earlier in the year.

It’s a 60 minute game.  An initial big burst on offense will not cause a good SEC team to fold.  The offense needs to pick up first downs on every possession.  Unless you are way ahead, an SEC team is going to keep running the ball at you to wear you out.  Bad things happen, but that’s no reason to let down.

The running game can’t be a vanilla afterthought, useful only in the 4th quarter.  Once the coaching staff got this into their heads, the running game results improved.

Halftime adjustments are very important.  The Hogs switched to a varied set of run blitzes in the second half against Mississippi State.  We didn’t see these type of adjustments earlier in the year.  Depth, maturity and desire on defense has greatly improved.

Everyone’s all out effort is important — the team is more than just Ryan Mallett.  The way the offense stepped up in the Auburn game after Mallett went out with an injury sent a message to the entire team that they had a gear they hadn’t been using.  Now they are using it.

Embracing expectations was a great start.  The players internalizing and performing against those expectations seems to be leading to a great finish.  Beating South Carolina and Mississippi State on the road were huge accomplishments.

LSU, seemingly with a guardian angel on their shoulder this season, will be a stern test this Saturday in Little Rock.  The Hogs have what it takes if they will just bring it.