Gameday Extra

10.10.2020 A selection of comments from Razorback fans posted to the message boards at WholeHogSports.com: THE MISSISSIPPI STATE FUMBLE THAT NEVER WAS … jhawg: I have not seen anybody talk about this, but Kylan Hill's first carry was obviously a fumble, yet the SEC refs confirmed the call of it not being a fumble. How does the SEC explain that? We have seen this type of call so many times against Arkansas that I guess the fans just blow it off. It could have cost us dearly, but in a play or two we converted an interception for a touchdown. Still, this sort of officiating is infuriating. What are these people watching when they review a call? I wonder if they are just looking at the rankings or the SEC standings when they make a judgment like this. neastarkie: I was mad at that call, too. The only reason nobody is making much of it is the INT just a couple of plays later. Still, it was a bad call. SwineFusion: Worked out better. A pick- 6 beats a recovered fumble. CAN ARKANSAS SCORE AGAINST AUBURN'S DEFENSE? bushhog: Auburn D always seems pretty salty. Hope our O keeps improving and hopeful for some O line push. ClayHenry: This is a good Auburn defense, but not at same level on the defensive line. Yes, they do give up more points. daboar : That's not what I saw during the first half of the Georgia game. Georgia ran against them much better than they did against our guys. Maybe some of that's home field. Still, Arkansas looked much better in game 2 than did Aubie. youdaman: Yes this Auburn defense is nowhere near as physical up front as what they've had the last couple of years. They can be blocked for sure. The field is going to be an absolute mess so I'm not sure about the footing … it may be tough to do much of anything on offense. … I love our aggressiveness up front. I got tickled at both (Beaux) Limmer and (Brady) Latham blocking their man way past the hole. They never give up! (Noah) Gatlin had his best game so far… so we're getting a little better up front. I think we just need to get some success to get confidence. Baumbastic_Hawg: We can hope that Chad's offense is as soft (mentally) as he had at Arkansas. daytonabeachhog: Check this out (from Twitter): 'The Auburn staff will be preaching to the players about how we cannot overlook Arkansas this year and this is not the same team as last year … all in front of Chad!' I would kill to be a fly on the wall. jmetsrule: I didn't really think about it this way. Talk about awkward meetings. I can just see the questions: Gus: 'Chad, what were there weaknesses on offense when you were there?' Chad: 'Umm…me.' Gus: 'Well, let's move on to special teams.' CAN ARKANSAS STOP CHAD MORRIS' AUBURN OFFENSE? eaglehog5: I'm afraid our D will not be conditioned enough to keep up the blistering pace. What is the football equivalent of stepping out of the batter's box? LDhog: The little bit I've seen Auburn play it's certainly not been left lane hammer down. jmetsrule: I could see the game being 10-7 either way at the half. I do think that the defense we've been putting on the field lately will stymie the Auburn offense that I've seen thus far. It just doesn't look that good. Of course, our own offense has sputtered at inopportune times.The problem with that is the amount of depth Auburn has. tuschhawg: Aubbie fan I play golf with daily says "Ya'll can have him back! He ain't no good!" stillgreghog: Tell him "no take backs!" hogsrus: The Aubie boards are saying this is their worst O-line since 2012… this is our best defense since around the same timeline. If our offense avoids turnovers, we could really make them hate Chad. SCORE PREDICTIONS FOR TODAY'S GAME. hog2009: 24-13, Auburn, but feels closer. LDhog: Hogs 24, Gus 14. That could prove fatal for the Gus Bus. georgiahawg: Arkansas 17, Auburn 13. This defense is for real…Auburn's offense struggles. We score enough to win including another defensive td this week. stillgreghog: I feel a lot better about this team this week than before (duh), but not ready to say we are 'there' yet. Auburn 31, Hogs 17. hogsrus: Hogs 24,Hanging Chads 21. Chad will be fired before the year is out in an attempt to deflect the heat on an overpaid head coach. coloradohog: I don't know what to take on Auburn. They have much more talent and speed. That alone should win. Clay and Matt say their lines, especially O-line, is down. We have good coaching on defense (not so sure about offense yet), but I fear their speed … Will our offense get out of its own way and start to play. The O-line is improved, but still behind. All of that said, my wild guess: Arkansas 24, Gus 31. Chad and Gus live another day. white25: Porkers 22, Tigers 18. The Damn Juke Box plays on. wizardofhogz: Auburn 24, Razorbacks 13. Defense continues to play very well, but the offense is still not able to move the ball consistently against an upper tier SEC defense. Snout: Gut feel. I hate it but, AU 31, UA 20. jhawg: Auburn 27, Arkansas 17 Hey everybody…The General has earned his stars. He was right for the first time in two years last week on his prediction. We won, and he said we would. Of course, he always says we will. generalhog: 31-28 Arkansas. harleyhawgidson: This assumes Treylon Burks and Rakeem Boyd are 100% healthy for the game. I'm two-for-two picking in the Pittman era and even got the spread on the nose last week, though I was two touchdowns too many for each team. If we have great weather this week instead of heavy rain, the same could be true this time. Here's to a two- game winning streak for the Hogs, and three-for-three for me! jmetsrule: 10-3 at the half with Auburn ahead. Things do not look good for our Razorbacks. Running is ineffective; Franks has thrown an interception and fumbled the ball. Pittman shows that he is able to make adjustments and reminds the team that they are only down one touchdown to a ranked opponent. At the end of the game, we're the ones who are smiling. The Auburn forums are burning to the ground; they break the servers with "GET RID OF CHAD OR FIRE GUS" threads. Never have cap-locks been used so frequently in thread titles. The final score: Hogs: 20, Auburn 17. ricemab54: Just a wild guess, but the dream lives one week. AR. 31, AB. 28. Defense gets a stop in last minute. Auburn misses a 53-yard field goal. Hogs win. sacketthawg: Hogs 31, Tigers 24. This will only be our third game with new coaching staff and system. This on top of no spring practice and only two pre-season scrimmages. We have lots of room to improve as familiarity with system develops and I expect to. suigeneris: Hogs stay within one score until the final minutes, but in the end it's Auburn 28, Hogs 17 as Bo Nix has his best game of the young season. armyhog: Auburn offense only has enough gas to score two field goals. Our Hogs come alive with Franks cutting it loose and Boyd runs for 150 yards. Hogs 21, Auburn 6. Auburn O-line has been terrible and our defense will have several sacks. Nix will throw at least two picks. On defense Auburn has their big DE hurt and if he plays he won't be 100%. We will see another good win! I just want to see our offense start to show they can move the ball. gashog: We enter this game with a confidence not seen vs. Auburn or anyone for that matter in quite some time. Our offense continues to improve along with our defense, I look for another D score this week as well. Having said that, I think we win in a shootout, 30 something to 30 something. cleverhog: Vegas says Auburn by 14; Total = 46.5. Therefore: War Chickens 30.25, Hogs 16.25. BEST OF THE WEB TURNOVERS With a wet field likely, holding onto the football will be a huge key. Arkansas lost the turnover battle against Georgia, and then won it against Mississippi State. A pick-six played prominent roles in the first two weeks for the Hogs. Georgia got one against Franks. Greg Brooks got one for Arkansas against Mississippi State's K.J. Costello. Ball security has been the focus of practices in both camps this week, with wet ball drills the routine. Who holds onto the football and avoids field position breaks that put the defense in a bind? QUARTERBACK PRESSURE Who can make the other quarterback uncomfortable? Auburn's Bo Nix is a solid runner and will flush from the pocket. So will Franks, although that's not his primary focus. The quarterback counter is one of the staples of the Malzahn offense. Morris used it while at Arkansas. It should be expected that it's a release for too many blitzes. Can the Hogs get to Nix without leaving their middle open for those quarterback scampers? Auburn does still have pass rushers. Big Kat Bryant, who wears No. 1, is the best edge rusher. But the Hogs will have to account for defensive tackle Tyrone Truesdell as well. Franks played better against State's defense. Briles, the offensive coordinator, seemed to have a better grasp of what his team can do in week two. Will there be some growth in the offense this week while avoiding the Auburn pressure? Arkansas quarterbacks had no time the last two years against Steele's defense. "We have not reached what we are capable of yet," Pittman said of the offense. "We are closer. The line played better and the wideouts played better. We have to continue to strain. "Our timing has to get better. It was better this week (in practice), but will it show up (in the game)?" MATCHUPS That's a great transition from the last key. Truesdale might not be Derrick Brown, the great nose tackle from the last four years. But he's still a load. Truesdale (6-2, 326) will move around giving all three of the UA interior linemen a shot at blocking him. How well can the youngsters (Brady Latham, Ricky Stromberg and Beaux Limmer) handle Truesdale, or will he push his way into the pocket to frustrate Franks. Latham, Stromberg and Limmer made improvement in the second week against a different style of front at Mississippi State. "The future of our offensive line is going to be better," Pittman said. "They have gotten better. "But you are still seeing freshman mistakes. But the good thing in the future, they will see some things coming. The only way to get there is to get game experience. I'm proud that they play hard. "The first week they played against probably the best front in the country. Then, last week, they played a moving, twisting front and played better." INTANGIBLES How do the Arkansas players view playing against Morris, their old coach? Many were recruited by Morris. Pittman was blunt about that early in the week. He said some "liked" Morris, and some "probably did not." That may be an over simplification. But it's a strange week because of the Malzahn-Morris dynamics. Malzahn isn't loved by Arkansas fans because of his flirtation when the Arkansas job has been open. Hiring Morris was a little salt in the wound, although it did save the Razorback Foundation $750,000 annually on the Morris buyout. Should it have been more? It's been sort of funny reading the Malzahn quotes about the obvious improvement in coaching he's seen in the Arkansas team. Is that a slap to his new coordinator, or just a compliment to the Pittman staff? It can't be one without the other. Keys n Continued from Page 2 Feleipe Franks looks to throw against Mississippi State. 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