Gameday Extra

10.3.2020 A selection of comments from Razorback fans posted to the message boards at WholeHogSports.com: REACTIONS TO ARKANSAS' 37-10 LOSS TO GEORGIA IN THE 2020 SEASON OPENER … bushhog: Let's not act like we didn't know the challenge of getting of the mat. For whatever reason, we are where we are. Have to dramatically improve talent. Have to improve special teams, have to get an O-line with push, etc. What's new? We unfortunately know what dead last means. Only question to me is whether we have an administration and coaching staff that gets it. I believe we do. And that is why all is well. MattJones: The depth of talent will take awhile to build up, but I felt like I saw a lot more effort yesterday than I've seen for most of the past couple of years. That's what I was most interested to watch yesterday. I think that kind of effort will win some games this year. holdenhogfield: Agree Matt, if that had been Nevada, we likely would be 1-0, and discussing the issues we need to correct prior to conference games. What a wild year this is. SwineFusion: (QB Felipe) Franks has to play better regardless of the opponent. He missed open receivers and decision making looked shaky at times. Georgia had something to do with that but I think he'd tell you he can do better. eaglehog: Lack of speed and lack of depth still a big problem. Speed deficiency was most obvious on special teams. I think 2 1/2 quarters of competitive football is about what we can expect in most of these games. jjhog: I will take it! Georgia had the better athletes in some spots and made the plays but we look a lot better than the last couple of years. bluegrassrazorback: Not trying to be a sunshine pumper but I'm pretty happy with what I saw. We got some lucky breaks from a UGA team that was very sloppy and helped us a lot in the first half … The thing I loved most was the fight in this team. guyinhawaii: I was incredibly impressed by Georgia's punter Jake Camarda. I thought he was the Bulldogs MVP against the Hogs. …He did an amazing job of turning the field over, never allowing the Hogs any quality field position. HOW DID ARKANSAS' NEW-LOOK OFFENSIVE LINE DO AGAINST GEORGIA? youdaman: When I saw we were playing Georgia for the first game I cringed because I knew that this was the worst possible team to play to open up a brand new offense and two or three new starters on the offensive line. … We really did not play that poorly as the stats would look. There is nobody going to run the football on Georgia! oklahog: That's about what I saw — interior held their own, but right tackle was overwhelmed by the speed/ athleticism. Left tackle seemed to be "thinking too much" vs. knowing and just playing. Tight end was not an asset. …I was fearing worse, actually, so I am feeling good right now. hognc: Spot on. Had the same observations. They've got to come up with something better for right tackle. Too bad we don't have any cupcakes on this schedule because I believe this line could move some inferior opponents. Unfortunately there aren't any. IS ARKANSAS AS BAD AS ODDS MAKERS SAY? MattJones: The perception of Arkansas right now is a bad football team. The perception of Mississippi State is a good team based on the way it beat LSU. Perception is going to influence the odds makers, who aren't paying attention to the minute details of a football team…. I saw a lot of things the other day that make me think the Razorbacks are better than they have been the last two, maybe three years. But even improved, Arkansas might not be better than anybody in the division yet. …South Carolina, Kentucky and Missouri play a much weaker conference schedule. If Arkansas was in the East, I think there is a good chance it wouldn't have been winless the past two years. bobghog: The odds makers are only interested in one thing, getting exactly half of gamblers putting up money for the each team which gives them max profit. They are not interested in who is good, etc. neastarkie: I think we're much better than the past two years. Unfortunately, much better than that still isn't very good. We could be the worst team in the SECW and still be a top 40-50 team. DudleyDawson: Having lost 20 SEC games in a row and 29 of its last 37 overall, I would say that the current state of the program is indeed "that bad." I do see some hope for the future, but previous staff proved to be over- matched although it did bring in some talent. I think the new coaching staff is a solid one, but is fighting uphill with the current talent and depth on the roster. While I am not sure how many wins - if any - that translates into this year, I do think we will see improvement because of those in charge of the program now. They have a lot to undo from those that were in charge of it. rayzorbackerii: We have begun to rival South Carolina pre Lou (Holtz), except they lost 21 straight to everyone; only 18 in SEC, so we are record wise worse than those guys who were the laughingstock of the conference. I'd schedule us for homecoming every chance possible. One week does not predict a season, but it is hard to be confident in one win absolutely. lovingthosehogs: To answer the original question, no! You all remind me of Tennessee fans. We played the No. 4 team and probably the best defense in the country. If you told me we'd be leading at halftime but had some silly mistakes that cost us the game, I'd been over the moon. hogbacker: Are we that bad? Yes. But for the first time in several years I do see a light at the end of the tunnel and it's not the midnight train from Georgia. It's Coach Sam Pittman and staff showing improvement right now. Our coaches have their work cut out for them but I have confidence that they will make us a competitive team once again in time. ncschwartz3650: I agree this is not an instant fix, especially in regards to quality depth. Nevertheless, I saw a lot of promising signs and a lot of fixable errors. I would not label this team a bad team on the basis of one game (or more precisely, one second half). And I would not label MSU a great team on the basis of one game either. Baumbastic_Hawg: One thing that we do know, Moo U's defense is not the UGA defense. Now, can our offense step up? That is a great unknown. SCORE PREDICTIONS FOR TODAY'S GAME AT MISSISSIPPI STATE… dbhog: Bell Ringers 49, Hogs 28. jhawg: Cow College 45, Hogs 24. generalhog: 31-28, Hogs. georgiahawg: MSU is always a tough game for us at Starkville. Coach Mike Leach had them on fire in his first game at LSU. This should be a shootout. Rakeem Boyd goes over 130 yards and Treylon Burks get's two more TDs. MSU goes over 500 yards and we go over 400 yards. MSU 52, Arkansas 41. hog2009: 55-35, State. razorwill: I believe Odom will come up with something to at least slow them down. That said until proven, Briles offense and play calling are a huge question mark. Special teams will be better. Arkansas 35, MSU 31. longtimehog: State 63, Hogs 17. jmetsrule: Leach gets massive yardage against us with the air raid, but we continually stymie him at opportune times and frustrate him in the red zone. Boyd gets on track and rushes for 105 yards and two touchdowns. It's surprisingly a lower scoring game than we would think because our rushing attack actually keeps the offense on the field for a bit more time than it did in the first game. Franks throws a pick early, but he settles in and tosses two TDs. Arkansas pulls the upset. Arkansas 28, MSU 24. harleyhawgidson: I believe we will all be pleased with Briles' play calling after this game is over, since our offense won't be playing against about eight or nine eventual NFL starters. I believe that Odom will have a defensive scheme to at least slow down the air raid. I also expect to see a couple interceptions by our D. Hogs 35, MSU 28. white25: Porkers 40, Dogs 39. Hogs top the dogs. holdenhogfield: He's to imagine Leach scoring under 42. They always have great d-line and athletes. Hard to imagine us scoring over 24. I won't even mention special teams. 42-24, Cowbells. redporkhustle: MSU 76, Ark. 13. We're still making pedestrian QB's look like Heisman contenders. MSU has a good QB. I'm worried they might throw for 1,000 yards. jimbeau77: Odom returns more defensive players this week. Hopefully we don't lose any others on either side. Arkansas 34, MSU 30. lilhawg: We must get some sacks and interceptions to be able to have a chance. The offense hopefully will have much better field position this week as well. Still, I don't see how we can stay with them at this point in time. MSU 42, Hawgs 24. BEST OF THE WEB 6. THE DUMP DOWN: That's Costello's bread and butter, the safety valve toss to running back Kylin Hill. The key matchup in the game is Hill against UA linebackers Grant Morgan and Bumper Pool. It's no secret that the Hogs could not tackle Hill last year. The 5-11, 210-pound senior made 234 yards on 21 carries. Last week against LSU, Costello flipped it to Hill eight times for 158 yards. He had a 75-yard scoring catch in the third quarter to give MSU the lead for good in its 44-34 victory. 7. TURNOVERS: The Hogs lost the turnover battle, 3-2, last week. The recipe for winning on the road is to win that battle. They have to do better against State. The man to watch in that regard is redshirt freshman safety Jalen Catalon. He stripped loose a fumble against Georgia and has consistently produced turnovers with heavy hits in fall practice. He was the Hogs' best tackler behind the linebackers in the opener. He promises to get plenty of chances for big hits against State's over-the-middle passing game. 8. ADDED DEPTH: It could be that the Hogs have a few more bodies available in the secondary and perhaps with the pass rush. Out last week probably because of covid-19 testing was cornerback Micahh Smith and Devin Bush. Also out for presumably the same reason was end Mataio Soli. Safety Joe Foucha sat out most of the first quarter after missing a week of practice because of quarantine, returning only for Thursday's last full practice of the week. The question mark is Jack end Dorian Gerald, slowed this week by an ankle sprain. Soli and Zach Williams are Gerald's backups. Of course, there could be surprises late in the week. SEC covid-19 testing continues all week. Who makes the trip is anything but transparent. 9. POTENTIAL SHOOTOUT: It's hard to imagine the Hogs getting into a shootout and winning after scoring just 10 points last week, but Georgia may have the best defense in the nation. Can Franks generate a total package on offense with a still green offensive line that can roll up and down the field against State's defense? It may be required. Costello has shown he can do just that. He was clicking on all cylinders at Baton Rouge. He recognized coverage changes and easily adapted. He checked to zone plays when needed, but mainly ripped LSU's man coverage all day. It should be a big day for the Arkansas secondary. With defensive coordinator Barry Odom coaching the safeties, look for this group to have an important role in keeping the MSU receivers from getting the big play deep. Offensively, Franks has to find the Arkansas wideouts more often than last week. Trey Knox wasn't used, partly because he didn't get open against great press coverage. Look for Boyd and the tight ends to be used in blitz situations. State will overload the line at times and Franks has to burn those blitzes. 10. SPECIAL TEAMS: Coverage on punts and kickoffs must improve for the Hogs to pull the upset, simple as that. Arkansas did not get off blocks as they were rolling down the field in coverage situations against Georgia. The Bulldogs were just more physical. Return specialists usually had clear sailing. Pittman said Monday that will improve and he intimated Wednesday that there would be several personnel changes on cover units against State. Twice kickoff man Vito Calvaruso had to make a tackle at midfield to save a touchdown. Punter George Cartan didn't produce any hang time on one line drive that was easily returned. The Hogs worked hard on special teams in preseason, but found covid-19 quarantines robbed them of key players for weeks at a time. Several players out in the first game were on special teams and now back in their spots. "Nobody understands what happens with covid-19 (protocols)," Pittman said. "We spent a lot of time on special teams, but Georgia was big and physical and we couldn't get off of them. It will be better Saturday." Keys n Continued from Page 2 MASSAGE | FACIALS | STRETCH PLEASANT GROVE 2603 W Pleasant Grove Rd Ste 114 FAYETTEVILLE-AR EAST 3557 Shiloh Dr., Ste. 5 Best of Northwest Arkansas the FAYETTEVILLE 3557 N Shiloh Dr | 479-571-3689 ROGERS 2603 W Pleasant Grove Rd | 479-633-8340 M-F 8a-10p | Sat 8a-10p | Sun 10a-8p * Promotional offer ends October 31, 2020 at participating franchised locations and only while supplies last. Qualifying payment along with entering into a Wellness Agreement with the applicable franchised location is required. 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