Gameday Extra

11.6.2021 Here are some selected comments from the message boards at wholehogsports.com. SOME FANS SPENT THE RAZORBACKS' OFF WEEK SPECULATING ON WHERE THE HOGS MIGHT GO FOR A BOWL GAME … coloradohog: The Hogs will need to change their ways and start playing some defense for that to happen. They will have to go 3-1 the rest of the way. If they play defense, that is very doable, but defense is something they have not played in a long time. Hope they can. hollywoodbeachhog: Outback Bowl would be awesome. Supposed to drive to NWA for Christmas. Could stop in Tampa on the way home. But they never seemed interested in us in the years we've been good enough to go there. neastarkie: None of these predictions mean anything at this point in the season. … It's easy enough to pick the very top ones – UGA as the No. 1 seed in the CFP is a pretty safe pick – and it's easy to eliminate teams who've lost 5-7 games. But us? No way to know. adgebg: My concern is getting to six wins. Beyond that it only gets better. At 6-6 we would likely not be in a Texas or Florida bowl. At 7-5 we might slip into one of the lesser ones there. At 8-4 we would likely be in a much more prestigious bowl. HOW DOES ARKANSAS' TALENT COMPARE TO THE REST OF THE SEC? bayouhog: IMO, the Hogs are in the bottom three teams in conference in talent. This is not a knock on the players, as it is more a testament to how good the coaching staff is. Not only have we been low on SEC talent but I think we have also whiffed on a couple of players the last two classes. Maybe cut down on so many walk-ons. ClayHenry: Cut down on walk- ons? Never. You have only 85 scholarships. To get to a 120 roster, you always take walk-ons. hawgjawbend: He's talking talent, not caliber of team. He's mostly right. These walk-on linebackers and corners we have try hard, but they are not really big, fast SEC players. beefhog: It is pretty obvious we are getting everything out of the players we have and more. It is an uphill battle and if you go look at the recruiting rankings for the next two classes it doesn't get any easier. hogbacker: The CSP era is still in its infancy and I continue to believe he's the guy for the job. Recruiting and coaching up your players is the only way to get where you want to be, if you do things the right way. Half the teams in the top 25 would be lucky to be in the same place we are if they played our schedule and had a head coach with one year experience … SCORE PREDICTIONS FOR SATURDAY'S GAME AT HOME VS. MISSISSIPPI STATE … jhawg: I don't see us as a favorite. The offense will need to be on point. Our pass defense is just plain bad … no rush and no coverage. It has been bad since Jalen Catalon was not healthy. Home field will need to be big in this one. Arkansas 38, Mississippi A&M 35. sdhog: I see us losing this one… I hope I'm wrong but I see it as a high scoring affair with us coming up short. Hogs 41, Dogs 52. coloradohog: The Hogs defense has been beyond bad for at least a month and has been watching on most pass plays. They put no pressure on the passer and have tackled very few runners for short gains. They normally look like bullfighters. That is not a good combination playing MSU. The offense should be able to move the ball. Can they score as well? AR 36, MSU 52. generalhog: Arkansas 63, MSU 24. That is all! harleyhawgidson: 48-28, Hogs. MS ST comes in here full of themselves after beating an over-ranked KY team. They get some reality knocked into their heads as the Hogs win handily. BEST OF THE WEB Ken Anderson and David Sanders manned another tackle spot, but Dunn played a lot of nickel scheme with an extra safety without that tackle. "It was beautiful stuff," Washburn said. "Joe Lee would come in at 3 a.m. and be ready for the staff with our plan. He made the game plan by himself. No one else said a word. He'd go home early Monday with 10 No. 2 pencils and come back and hand us a sheet of paper Tuesday with what we were doing and it didn't change. There was no input from any of the rest of us; all Joe Lee." Some of the magic was in the effort from the players. Washburn said players always worked hard for Dunn. It's part of what he sees watching Arkansas now. "I have come to like watching Arkansas under Sam Pittman," Washburn said. "I'm pulling for them because of how hard they play. You can see effort. He must be a good guy." Conley sees the same thing. "I see energy," Conley said. "I see it from the defense. This is the best D-line group I've seen in a while at Arkansas. The offensive line is progressing. I see good running backs. "The secondary has had injuries, but I see a lot of great young talent there. I think the future is great. I think players are bought in and recruiting is going well." That leads to the first of the keys to victory, that magic that Dunn brought to his players, the ultimate weapon in any sport. ENERGY The Hogs were in energy overload mode early in the season, but they were worn down by the time they got to the open date. The combination of playing Arkansas-Pine Bluff and a week off should do wonders for Pittman's team. The Hogs play hard, but there is just so much energy in the tank. They may have been running on empty at the end of eight straight weeks of games. Pittman has talked about starting a winning streak in November after the open date. Energy is the starting point. On his weekly radio show Wednesday night, Pittman indicated his plan of lightning the load over the previous two weeks in practice seems to have worked. Players looked fresh. "Today was a nice practice," Pittman said. "We practiced really well. "We still have some guys a little beat up, but if practice is any indication, our legs are fresh and we are ready to go on a run." TURNOVERS Both teams are solid in ball security, both at plus-3 in turnover margin. The Hogs have gained 10 and lost seven. Mississippi State has gained eight and lost five. "We need more (takeaways) than them," he said. "We've been good with ball security. Certainly, our defense will have an opportunity for some (turnovers). We need tipped balls. Our linebackers have to get in (quarterback Will) Rogers' throwing lanes. We need a pass rush to move him. "We have really made a big deal on whoever wins the turnover battle wins the game. Hopefully, it will be us." THE RUN Arkansas will run more than throw. Mississippi State will throw more than run. But both teams have tried to become more balanced of late. The Bulldogs leaned more heavily on the run in last week's win over Kentucky. The Hogs average 249 yards rushing, fourth nationally. The Bulldogs allow just 89.4 on the ground, fifth nationally. Something has to give there. The Bulldogs throw for an average of 370.9 yards, fifth nationally. The Hogs allow just 167.5, eighth nationally. So which team can make its strength hold up? Mississippi State ran the ball a little more last week than typical for a Mike Leach-coached team, but Pittman indicated it may have just been because the Bulldogs had the lead. NOVEMBER Arkansas fans have long repeated the favorite Broyles quote, "They remember what you do in November." But Arkansas players have broken it down to a week-by-week thought centered on the four Bs. Ricky Stromberg, speaking on Pittman's radio show, said it's been the saying in the locker room for the last two weeks. "It's the four Bs," said Stromberg, junior center. "We talk all the time to make it about those. "This week (against Mississippi State), it's about a bowl game. Then, it's the Boot Trophy (against LSU), then 'Bama and then it's the Battle Line game (against Missouri)." Indeed, it starts with the bowl game thought. The winner of the game becomes bowl eligible because both enter at 5-3. PROTECTION This comes back to the pass rush, with the asterisk that defensive coordinator Barry Odom is not likely to find a defensive end like Conley on Eric Musselman's basketball team. But he's got a good one in end Tre Williams, if he's healthy. Williams was a beast against Texas A&M, but not so formidable since. Mississippi State has given up 13 sacks; the Hogs have allowed just five. The Arkansas defense has 13 sacks. So it likely will come down to who can pressure the other quarterback. Washburn provided an interesting unconfirmed stat last week: an offense scores only 47% of the time when there is a sack on a possession. That was likely an NFL stat, but I'd think it might be higher in the SEC. "Probably so," Washburn said. "But I like this Arkansas defense, minus one Steve Conley type. I have not watched Mississippi State, but I think this Arkansas defense can get after the quarterback a little better than the last few I've seen." It may not be that the Hogs have to sack Rogers. Pittman said, "We just have to move him off of his spot," and drop linebackers deep enough "to tip some balls." PENALTIES This is interesting because both Arkansas and State have struggled with penalties this season. Mississippi State is 13th in the SEC; Arkansas 12th. They flip as far as average number of yards with Arkansas just a little worse. The Hogs seem to have gotten a handle on penalties since a horrible game at Georgia when there were five flags on two plays. TACKLING This key is about which team can tackle best in space. That's the idea of both offenses, to put ball carriers into space. Arkansas does it with the run-pass option. Mississippi State has an Air Raid passing game that features the dump down. Arkansas had success with a three-man rush last year, dropping eight and setting linebackers deep. "We have to rally to the football," Pittman said. "Our (defensive) team is totally bought in." The Bulldogs are unique on offense with two backs often set on either side of the quarterback. That can help them in pass protection, or it may be that they offset blitzes with wide passes. "They will flare both backs out of the backfield," Pittman said. "They will do that on third-and-2 when most teams run in the A gap. They dink you and that's the style of Coach Leach." BLOCKING Yes, that's always a key, but the Bulldogs' defense is a unique scheme with linebackers set directly behind lineman in an effort to protect them from blockers. "Defensively, (MSU) has a great scheme and great linebackers," Pittman said. "They have a different stack to their linebackers and we have to be ready for that. We have a super offensive line coach and we think we are." THE UNKNOWN With what amounts to two weeks to prepare, it's unclear what new wrinkles Arkansas might have added for the November stretch run. Could some young players be ready to contribute? True freshman wide receiver Bryce Stephens might be the most likely candidate to gain added playing time. He was elevated from the scout team to second-team slot receiver this week. "He had a really good practice (Wednesday)," Pittman said. "He's becoming more comfortable with our offense and catching it better. He was a state champion (in Oklahoma) in the 100. He's got speed, a lot of talent." Pittman also praised offensive lineman Devin Manuel, although it would seem improbable that he'd see playing time. Pittman said, "He's coming on." THE BEST PLAYER The last key and probably the most important one each week is how offensive coordinator Kendal Briles utilizes wide receiver Treylon Burks. Bothered by a foot injury all season and held out of practices last week, Burks still has managed 42 catches for 717 yards despite double coverage. Radio host Chuck Barrett told Pittman that the game just "looked easy" for Burks the week before against UAPB when three of his six touches went for touchdowns. "It is easy for him," Pittman said. "That's why it looks so easy. UAPB came with a total blitz and left him one-on-one. When they blitz like that, someone has to get open early and he can do that. They had no safety in the middle of the field." State is unlikely to commit that kind of suicide, but it may be interesting to see what Burks can do after a week of solid rest. Pittman said he's looked good in practices this week. Keys n Continued from Page 1 Photo by David Gottschalk Joe Lee Dunn (with red shirt) kneels during a 1995 game with head coach Danny Ford in the background. www.innisfreeseniorliving.com "Treating you like family" NOBODY'S PRICES OR CARE CAN COMPARE IN NWA! 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