Gameday Extra

9.4.2021 Here are some selected comments from the message boards at wholehogsports.com. RAZORBACK FANS DISCUSS THE SEC'S GAME CANCELLATION POLICY IN GOING INTO THE SEASON … SwineFusion: If a football team … can't play a game because of covid, the school that was able to play can submit a reimbursement request for financial losses, which would likely be due to losing a home game or travel expenses they can't get back. And if both teams can't play, they can BOTH be hit with forfeits. Greg Sankey can declare no-contest in exceptional circumstances, but it's clear he expects people to get vaccinated and play and will ding schools if they can't. mdw: Definition of exceptional circumstances = if Alabama is affected. LOOKING AHEAD TO THE RENEWAL OF THE RIVALRY WITH TEXAS… wizardofhogz: Yes, yes…I know our team must take care of Rice before they turn their attention to Texas. But, as a fan, I'm afforded the luxury of looking ahead. Elsewhere, someone made a post saying they only wore red shirts to Arkansas games, but were going to be sitting in a section of DWRRS for the Texas game designated "white" (for the stripe-out effect). So, he was going to get a white game shirt made up just for that game and was soliciting ideas for what to put on it. Here is my suggestion: Put the date and then: "TEXAS FAILS SEC ENTRANCE EXAM." worldseriesofporker: Be sure to include the hook 'em down so they'll know what to expect when they join the conference. FANS COMMENT ON THE NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS CUTTING FORMER AUBURN QUARTERBACK CAM NEWTON IN FAVOR OF MAC JONES, A ROOKIE QB FROM ALABAMA …. votan: Alabama once again beats Auburn! youdaman: I'm not surprised at all. Mac Jones looks like he's been playing a couple of years. He looks very comfortable already in the scheme. Obviously regular season will be a step up but he is one cool customer and is very accurate. DudleyDawson: The Pats were clearly not happy with the way (Newton) handled his covid situation, going away from what they called their campus and then having to miss five days away from practice. marcm: Not surprised here. He's never adjusted to the NFL. Night and day college versus NFL. MattJones: Newton was really good for his first five pro seasons, the final of which was the MVP year. The Broncos tamed him in the Super Bowl and he hasn't been the same since. FANS PREDICT THE FINAL SCORE OF SATURDAY'S GAME AGAINST RICE… LoudLoyd: It's game week! There was a day when a game with a team like Rice wouldn't strike fear into the hearts of Hog fans. But during the Chad Morris era, every team made our knees knock. I feel pretty good about this game, but I haven't quite recovered from the shock of Colorado State, North Texas, etc. So, Rice hangs in for a while, makes us all nervous, but we finally but them away in the second half. 34-21. wizardofhogz: Arkansas 33, Rice 23. dbhog: Hogs 38, Rice 17. Start slow but wear them down and pick up a couple of late turnovers in the second half for scores. sweetchildofswine: The boys are ready to roll and the excitement for Texas reaches a crescendo after whooping Rice. 45-14, Hogs. votan: Ark 23, Rice 17. LDhog: Hogs roll, 34-7. Defense creates havoc and (Arkansas) hits two FGs. armyhog: Hogs win! 35-6. youdaman: 30-16, Hogs. neastarkie: 31-21 Hogs win. harleyhawgidson: Interesting, so far in this thread, based on the scores posted, five would bet Rice and four would bet the Hogs based on the Vegas spread of -19.5. I'll make it 5-5. 31-10 Hogs. It's now also 5-5 for betting the over/under number of 51.5. jimbeau77: 33-13, Hogs. Tip the spread in favor of the Hogs. georgiahawg: Hogs go wild. Defense scores two TDs (Jalen Catelon pick six and a score by Bumper Pool). Hogs 38, Owls 6. lilhawg: We don't beat the spread, but we win, 34-17. cody: Hogs defense will blank the Owls in the first half. Offense slow in 1Q, but picks up steam by the half. All Hogs, all the way. Hogs 13-0 at the half, but come out on fire and torch the Owls in Q3 with 3 touchdowns. Defense falters and let's Owls on the board with 2 FGs. Final- Hogs 44, Owls 6. southpaw: 41-10, Good guys. Earthhog: K.J. Jefferson and the offense unleash the real Briles O. D is solid. Hogs 45-21. eaglehog5: Hogs 35, Owelettes 17. beefhog: 31-14, Hogs. eurohog: It's going to be hot Saturday. If we play uptempo and substitute quarters or so we will wear them down. This year we have depth. 48-17. stillgreghog: I sure hope it is a good guys a lot, baby birds a little. Picking a score on the first game is very hard. Heart says Hogs 42, Owls 10. My pessimistic head says Hogs 24, Owls 17. silverlakehog: The correct score is Ark 30, Rice 13. clarencetrice: Rice 21, UofA 34. Scavengerhog: Ark 35, Rice 10. sdgebg: Hogs win, 45-10. planohog: The Hogs keep the offense vanilla and work the running game as to not tip our hand to Texas. The defense comes up big. Hogs 48, Rice 17. bikehog23: I give more credit to Rice's defense, but we have too much on both sides. 27-10 Hogs. beachedhawg: I think higher scoring as they have a dynamic QB that will give us some fits. Ours will do the same to them. Close game until the 4th quarter. Hogs 35 - Owls 24. KenCarylHOG: Hogs 48, Owls 10. I actually think it will be worse, but I'll drop back to this score. Defense will get at least 3 turnovers. Offense shows off this years stars. 35-3 at half. SWHog: Hogs 31, Rice 17. white25: Ark 32, Rice 22. Porkers looking ahead. grimbald: Vegas has done a good job on this one. Hogs 41, Owls 21. bokoshe: 52-10, All Hogs. danny: I'm there with ya: Hogs 41-17. sdhog: Hogs 42-10. I think our defense rules this game and is going to be a real strength for us this year. pigfoot: Hogs 27, Owls 3. razorwill: 41-17, Hawgs. superhawgfan: Hogs defense is good. Owls have trouble scoring. Hogs win, 37-10. ohhmyy2006: Rice will be a formidable first game opponent. I'll take a slim win to ID our needs before playing Texas. blugrassrazorback: Ark 31, Rice 10. hogstetrician: Hogs win, 42-11. My all-time favorite final score of a Hog game. neastarkie: LOL. Hmm. I can only remember one such score. It was indeed a very good game. silverlakehog: Me too! Followed by 31-6. LAUNCH: Hogs 35, Rice 17. hognc: Luke McCaffrey gives us more fits than we expected and they drain the clock but we still win. Hoping for a pounding running game that limits mistakes but suspect we win it through the air. Closer at halftime….38-14 turn on the jukebox. jmetsrule: 44-12, Hogs. Snout: I think the kinks get worked out after the first few possessions. UA 38, Rice 10. bballhawg: Hawgs 43, Dish 10. lovemyhawgsforever: Rice 21, Hawgs 20, in a stunner. adgebg: Only if they are five-plus in turnovers. The only hope they have of avoiding a stomping is at least plus-three in turnovers. We will have to beat ourselves to lose this game. sdhog: We lose to Rice at home we can truly start focusing on basketball season. neastarkie: Rice is probably better than the point spread indicates. It's probably much better than most people think. However, I do not see us losing this game unless we really make some bonehead mistakes. Unfortunately, that can happen. Especially in the first game of the year. After the past 4 years of Razorback football, I take nothing for granted, but I'll be very surprised if we lose this game. I predicted a 10-point win. However, I'd think the odds of us winning by 30 are higher than us losing. BEST OF THE WEB JEFFERSON There still seem to be some doubters among fans or around the SEC about Jefferson's ability to be the difference maker for the Hogs. Teammates don't seem to be among them. The comments from players during camp suggest Jefferson is top shelf. Grant Morgan, team captain and anchor of the front at inside linebacker, said Jefferson deserves his captain's role as the leader of the offense. He said he's demonstrated with his play and his vocal maturity that he can lead that side of the ball. Jefferson has improved his accuracy in the offseason. Briles wants his completion percentage to jump over the 65% mark this year. There are signs from camp that he can do that. SPECIAL TEAMS This was a trouble spot last season, but much work has been done to improve in the offseason. There was heavy work done in the spring and in August camp. Special teams coordinator Scott Fountain will benefit from increased depth. The secondary is stocked with good tacklers at safety, cornerback and linebacker. That's generally where the cover teams draw players. The kickers have been solid in camp. Freshman Cam Little sparkled in at least one scrimmage. Punter Reid Bauer stepped to the front while top challenger Sam Loy missed time with an injury. The return game should improve. Nickel back Greg Brooks asked for and then won the punt return job. He's more than a center fielder, but has shown ability to field the ball anywhere it's kicked. He has ability to make coverage miss and gain yardage, something the Hogs didn't do last season. On kickoff return, speedy LaDarrius Bishop has stepped up. He may be the team's fastest man. PHYSICALITY Both coaches wake up in the morning talking about physicality and winning the battle in the trenches. Rice coach Mike Bloomgren likes to refer to his approach as "bully ball." Pittman doesn't talk like that, but he probably doesn't shy away from pointing to physicality before any practice. If you wont hit or you back down, you probably move to the back of the line on a Pittman team. Who will win the hitting match? The guess is that it will be the Razorbacks, the SEC team. But it's worth noting that these are not shy Owls. BIG-PLAY RECEIVERS Can the Hogs find some big plays if Treylon Burks doesn't play? He has missed most of the last three weeks with a heel bruise. Even if he's medically cleared to play, Pittman is reluctant to play anyone who hasn't practiced. That makes Burks highly questionable for the game. Are the Hogs ready with big- play replacements for one of the SEC's ultimate big-play receivers? Pittman thinks the Hogs will be fine either way. Trey Knox has had a solid camp. Tyson Morris has stepped up. De'Vion Warren seems to be 100% after knee surgery. John David White has sparkled in scrimmages. It is interesting that the Hogs might be without two players who in the spring were expected to be starters. Mike Woods is at Oklahoma. He and Burks were both starters in the spring game. Those who have covered practice have seen solid play from freshmen Bryce Stephens and Ketron Jackson. COVER CORNERS This is where Arkansas seems to have improved the most. It's the key to being able to call more blitzes. Odom has to feel like corners and nickel backs can play tight coverage to send blitzes, especially one or two of his three safeties. Brooks and Trent Gordon are excellent nickel backs. Safety Malik Chavis can also slide to nickel and play like a corner. But the key is the emergence of Bishop as the corner opposite Montaric Brown. Both are solid and among the team's most improved players. Backup corners Devin Bush and Hudson Clark are better than what the Hogs have started at corner in some recent years. DEPTH This is where the Hogs should really be improved. There are options almost everywhere in one of the deepest teams in the offensive and defensive front since the Houston Nutt days. There have been times the Hogs have been unable to field a backup offensive line in the last three seasons. Tight end is probably the one position where depth is a concern. Blake Kern and Hudson Henry have missed significant time in camp, enough that running back Dominique Johnson worked some at tight end and quarterback Landon Rogers asked to move to the position. There is good depth at running back, too. Trelon Smith sat out two weeks with turf toe, but is now full speed. He's got help in true freshman Raheim "Rocket" Sanders, a 225-pounder who has learned to run inside behind his pads this camp after mostly taking the outside cut in the spring. Josh Oglesby is another good option at running back. He's a converted track man with speed to go the distance. The depth at running back and improved play in the offensive line give Pittman confidence that there will be a running game. In the first media briefing in August, Pittman was asked about offensive mindset. He does not want to rely on a slant pass to convert third- and-1 or make a yard on the goal line. "We are going to turn and hand the ball off," he said. That's all possible because of more depth everywhere on the team, the reason practices can be physical without a fear of losing a key man to injury. It's the final key to this week. Can the Hogs turn and hand the ball off on third- and-1 to move the chains? Keys n Continued from Page 3 www.innisfreeseniorliving.com "Treating you like family" NOBODY'S PRICES OR CARE CAN COMPARE IN NWA! Innisfree Senior Living We are cheering on our College Team this season! GO TEAM! 300 Innisfree Circle • Rogers, AR • 479-636-7363 Thanks for voting us the Best of the Best! $ 65 NOW HIRING QUALIFIED THERAPISTS & ESTHETICIANS FAYETTEVILLE 3557 North Shiloh Drive 479-571-3689 ROGERS 2603 W Pleasant Grove Rd 479-633-8340 Mon-Fri 8 am-9 pm | Sat 8 am-9 pm | Sun 10 am-8 pm *Offer valid for first-time guests only. All session times include a total of 10 minutes of time for consultation and dressing, which occurs pre and post-service. Additional taxes and fees may apply. Each location is independently owned and operated. ©2021 ME SPE Franchising, LLC. All rights reserved. ME-DNLD-1969-00-002-8.5X3.625 NWA Democrat-Gazette/Andy Shupe Arkansas showed first-year improvement under Barry Odom in 2020. The Razorbacks might show more this year with a full complement of defensive linemen that will mix up looks.

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