Questions about players and coaches and everyone getting along – all valid. Questions about recruiting – all valid. Questions about the character and work ethic of some of the recruits from last year – all valid. The question of, “can Pelphrey really coach?” – valid. The question of players actually paying attention and applying coaching in the games – valid.

On a bright note, in spite of the fact that we can’t win a conference game at home lately, the voting for EA sports toughest places to play is going on.

EA SPORTS visited the University of Arkansas for the Kentucky basketball game on Feb. 15 to experience the home court atmosphere of Bud Walton Arena in order to develop a new feature in its NCAA Basketball video game called the “Toughest Places to Play” in college basketball.Over 100,000 fans participated in an online vote, selecting Arkansas along with Clemson, Duke, Syracuse, UCLA, North Carolina, Kansas, Florida, Pittsburgh, Illinois, Louisville, Maryland, Tennessee, Texas, and Xavier as the most difficult home sites to play.Producers of the NCAA Basketball videogame franchise have visited the home court of many of the final 15 schools to experience each school’s home environment on game day in order to capture and replicate the experience in next year’s NCAA Basketball game.

Wally Hall is now the public defender of Matt Jones. I’ve not heard of Matt complaining about the cost of beer lately, but I’m sure it has been on his mind.

Hopefully Razorback quarterback-to-be Ryan Mallett is giving thought to Matt’s troubles while he’s running the steps each morning. Media relations aside, I hear he’s otherwise been following pretty close to MJ’s footsteps. The fact that Petrino is taking a fairly stern approach to Mallett makes me a little more hopeful than I was previously that we will see him on the field this fall.

Monday night the Razorbacks’ women’s team (the former “Lady Razorbacks”) tips off in the WNIT. Coach Tom Collen made a lot of progress this year, winning five straight in the last half of the season. They made steady improvement after a rough start to conference play, highlighted by beating then 15th ranked Florida on the road. Ticket information is here. If you live in Northwest Arkansas I encourage you to get out to Bud Walton Monday night and call the Hogs.

Former Arkansas quarterback Matt Jones was arrested by Fayetteville Police early Thursday morning and charged with felony possession of cocaine, according to a police report.

Also:

• AP: Jaguars receiver Jones arrested on drug charges
• Robbie Neiswanger: Jones’ Career At Risk After Cocaine Arrest
• Alex Abrams: Former Coach, Teammates Stunned By Player’s Arrest
• Tom Murphy: Ex-Hog faces cocaine charge
• Wally Hall: There’s still time for Jones to salvage legacy
• Nate Allen: Former UA quarterback Jones arrested

Blogs

• ArkansasSports360.com: Former Arkansas QB Matt Jones Arrested, The Matt Jones Arrest: What They’re Saying
• Razorback Expats: Maybe This Would Have Helped Matt
• Jacksonville.com: Jaguars receiver Matt Jones arrested

Updated 7/11/08 8:05 a.m.

Houston Nutt:

(On facing Missouri State) “We have had a good camp and we are excited to play. We know it is game week and we are excited that it is here and we are ready to go.”

(On families of player from the state of Louisiana) “Both families are safe and have gotten out. It’s been a tough deal for the state of Louisiana.”

(On replacing Matt Jones) “The year before that we lost five junior to professional ball and that really hurt. We weren’t ready for that. When you lose a guy like Matt Jones, that really hurts. He did so much offensively for us and we will miss him a great deal.”

Also:

Ultimate Jaguars: Grab Bag and Jones gains momentum

Updated 8/26/05 9:05 a.m. – Added additional links.

All information taken from the 2005 Arkansas Media Guide.

During the time of Houston Dale, we’ve seen . . . .

• 5 out of the top 12 individual yardage rushing games.
• 2nd and 7th highest individual yardage rushing seasons.
• The 3rd, 5th and 6th leading career yardage rushers.
• 5 out of the top 12 passing yardage games
• 5 out of the top 12 passing yardage seasons
• Top 2 career passers in yardage, Clint and Matt. 2 of the top 4 if you want to eliminate Clint’s “non-Houston” years.
• 5 of the top 6 touchdown passes seasons, and the top 2 career touchdown passing leaders.
• Clint Stoerner holds the top three positions in number of passes attempted in a season, while Matt hold position 6.
• Clint is number 1 in career passing attempts, Matt is number 3.
• Clint and Matt hold 3 of the top 4 games with most passes completed.
• Pass completions for a season, Clint hold positions 2 and 4 (and 3, 1997), while Matt holds positions 6, 10, and 11.
• Career pass completions, Clint is number 1, Matt is number 3.
• Career total offense, Matt is number 1, Clint is number 2.
• Career touchdowns. Matt is number 1, Clint is number 2
• Clint and Matt combined had 9 games over 250 yards passing under Houston.

Looking at defense versus offense, and wins and losses in the Houston Dale era to date:

1998 — Yards given up per game, 306.4 total, 95.5 rushing

1998 — 9 wins, 3 losses, 4,333 yards total offense, 9th in school history (12 games)

1999 — Yards given up per game, 302.5 total, 100.8 rushing

1999 — 8 wins, 4 losses

2000 — Yards given up per game, 292.1 total, 139.1 rushing

2000 — 6 wins, 6 losses

2001 — Yards given up per game, 376.2 total, 148.7 rushing

2001 — 7 wins, 5 losses

2002 — Yards given up per game, 348.1 total, 113.6 rushing

2002 — 9 wins, 5 losses, 4,950 yards total offense, 2nd in school history (14 games)

2003 — Yards given up per game, 344.0 total, 157.0 rushing

2003 — 9 wins, 4 losses, 5,607 yards total offense, 1st in school history (13 games)

2004 — Yards given up per game, 397.2 total, 180.3 rushing

2004 — 5 wins, 6 losses, 4,337 yards total offense, 7th in school history (11 games)

29 conference wins versus 27 conference losses.

Overall record, 53 – 33.

You can draw your own conclusions. Not bad from where I sit. Obviously the poor defense in 2004 was the key stat. Average yards per game of offense in 2004 of 394 compares ok to 431 in 2003, 353 in 2002, and 361 in 1998.

You will note that the year 2000, the bridge year between Clint and Matt, had a great defensive performance but obviously the offense was lacking. Having a quarterback that can generate offense is certainly a key to success.

2005′s success will depend greatly on the play of the quarterback and the improvement we see on defense. It’s just that simple.

Also:

• Jaguars.com: Defense strong in win
• Ultimate Jaguars: Big debut for rookies, but offense stalls

To me, it always seemed like we were never using Matt Jones the right way. Of course, the “right way” might have been to run the triple option every play…but coaches who would do that (like Barry Switzer or Ken Hatfield) are either long gone or almost forgotten.

In truth, there was probably no way you could ever feel like you got “the most” out of a Matt Jones because anytime you thought you did, it always seemed like he raised the bar a little higher. Here’s hoping there’s someone still on campus that has that quality as well.