Gameday Extra

9.18.2021 123 S. Maestri Road • Springdale 479-361-2000 • www.sodpartners.com Where the grass is alWays greener. The Sod Store offers the highest quality grass and mulch along with topsoil, grass seed, and several different types of rock. We supply homeowners, contractors, and builders in the Northwest Arkansas area. All-America selection and the Outland Trophy winner. I got to know Phillips as the vice principal at Rogers High School. We had talks about his games against Texas. His teams went 3-0 against the Longhorns. He played in a rage in those games. My daughter Sarah, a star soccer player at Rogers, had an interesting discussion with Phillips. He called her to his office about a form for a college visit. She was going to attend a recruiting showcase event that was co-hosted by two Austin soccer clubs with games played on both the fields at St. Edwards University and the UT, although neither school was officially involved. The way the form was filled out was vague. My daughter just wrote that she was going to play in front of college coaches (true) on the UT campus. The idea was to get an excused absence. Phillips didn't understand. He knew Sarah's grandfather had a dislike for UT, just as he did. He couldn't fathom Orville Henry's granddaughter playing soccer for the Longhorns. "Does Mr. Henry know about this?" Phillips quizzed Sarah. "I don't like this one bit." Quickly, Sarah came clean. UT had no interest in her, nor did she in becoming a Longhorn. Phillips smiled, signed the form and slid it back to her. This was almost a decade after the Hogs had exited for the SEC, but Sarah knew not to wear anything close to burnt orange. She knew how to make a downward Horn sign and when to use it. Now, do they know what playing Arkansas means in Austin? Do they understand what the SEC is all about? Probably not, but they may have a better idea after the way the students represented Saturday night. Joe Kines, as Arkansas' defensive coordinator in 1990, told a Saline County Razorback Club what going to the SEC means. "Wear a raincoat if you sit in one of the first few rows at an SEC game," Kines said. "They slit your throat and drink your blood." Yes, they do. Those students in the first few rows skipped the raincoats Saturday night. But they did celebratory dances in Texas blood. That brings us to this week's game and our top 10 keys to victory. FORGET TEXAS The plan this week is to forget the Longhorns and get back to work. It's the Pittman way. Oh, that's easy to type, but hard to do. It was part of the discussion Wednesday when Arkansas athletics director Hunter Yurachek addressed the third weekly meeting of the Hawgs Illustrated Sports Club. Is there a way to recreate the atmosphere of the Texas game when the Hogs play host to Georgia Southern at 3 p.m. Saturday? "It's natural to have a letdown," Yurachek said. "No, we are not playing Texas, but we are the No. 20 team in the AP. As Razorbacks, it should be the mission to recreate the same energy for this game. Students and our fans should try to bring the same energy to the stadium." Pittman believes the former can be done. He did not speak for fans, but said he thought the work ethic of the program helps avoid a letdown. The Hogs played hard after victories last year, some that were highly celebrated like Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Tennessee. You do that with daily work ethic in practice, something Pittman thinks is the foundation of the program. The most common descriptive phrase used by players to describe this team is blue collar. That will serve the Hogs well against Georgia Southern. They are a 23 ½-point favorite, but their mission is to work harder in practice even as they prepare for a big underdog. "We showed the team on Tuesday three different recent games where teams had such a great win, and then the next week they got beat by an unranked opponent," Pittman said. "They got my subliminal pretty good about what can happen if you get lazy. You've got to do what got you there." RUNNING BACK DEPTH The old adage of never having enough running backs is true. As an old football man once told me, running backs get hurt. The other team tackles them on every play. So, it may not be long before the running back room seems empty, but it's full now. In looking for an Arkansas running back group that compares to this year's team, I went all the way to 1975 when the Hogs won the SWC. The group of Ike Forte, Jerry Eckwood, Michael Forrest, Ben Cowins and Roland Fuchs was deep and talented. The current group of Trelon Smith, Raheim "Rocket" Sanders, Dominique Johnson, Josh Oglesby and AJ Green has similar talent, although that 1975 group had more experience. It's also interesting to compare the quarterbacks. Like 1975 quarterback Scott Bull, KJ Jefferson can beat you with his legs. Bull had developed into a solid passer by 1975, something Jefferson still hasn't done on a consistent basis. It was just a few weeks ago when Pittman said one of the big goals of August camp was to find a No. 2 running back. When the season is over, how that backup developed might be the story of the year. Little did he know – and if did, he wasn't sharing it – the Hogs have plenty capable of playing that backup role. Johnson dazzled with some big plays, including a block on a big pass play on perhaps the biggest drive of the night, the one following a Jefferson interception. With all of the excitement over the young backs and the development of a No. 2 man, Smith is still the man. He's not only the best of the backs, he's also the clear leader in the room. He plays unbelievably hard. Don't be fooled by an average that's below that of his younger teammates. He has not benefitted as much from playing when the defense has been softened. He leads the team with 177 yards on a team-high 34 carries. That's a 5.2-yard average. Jefferson, the quarterback, is next with 162, but a higher 8.5 average. THE GAME PLAN No doubt, it's different this week. Georgia Southern offers a rare blend of option running and ball control offense rarely seen these days in the SEC. It's what the Hogs have known all summer. Pittman spent part of August camp working against a scout team running Georgia Southern's option game. He said you couldn't get ready for that style in two or three days of practice game week. He wanted more. It's the kind of stuff that has impressed Yurachek, who has Keys n Continued from Page 2 AJ Green (0) displayed his great speed against Texas. NWA Democrat-Gazette/Charlie Kaijo See KEYS, Page 6 NWA Democrat-Gazette/Charlie Kaijo

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