Hawgs Illustrated Gameday Extra
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1490595
9.24.2022 Best of the weB According to SECStatCat, a website dedicated to SEC football analytics, Smith has been targeted a team-high 23 times and leads Texas A&M with 122 yards after the catch. The site also indicates most of his targets have come on out routes, corner patterns and slants. "Executing the game plan, executing the plays (is key)," Smith said this week of what would take the Aggies' offense to the next level. "Of course everybody plays a role, and we've just got to make sure that we're all on the same page. Execution is the most important thing." Rocket sandeRs Asked after accounting for 242 yards of total offense and two touchdowns if he was making a statement nationally, Arkansas running back Raheim "Rocket" Sanders responded with a quick, "Yes." He did not expound any further. His play is speaking for itself. Only a sophomore, Sanders may very well be one of the top NFL prospects to take the field in AT&T Stadium this weekend. Arkansas' staff and fans are sure glad the back cannot turn pro until after next season. On a national stage and in an NFL stadium, Sanders, with a productive game, can jump from high-quality SEC running back to one of the country's premier players. From an Arkansas perspective, and thanks to a strong start to the season, he has already found himself in the same breath as Darren McFadden. Through three games in 2007, his second Heisman Trophy runner-up season, McFadden had 575 yards from scrimmage against Troy, Alabama and Kentucky. Sanders has 557 yards from scrimmage through three games this season. Could an explosive showing against Texas A&M vault him into the Heisman Trophy conversation? Only time will tell, but the opportunity is there. "I expected him to be a really good player," Pittman said of Sanders. "I don't know if I expected us to use him as much as we have. … He probably hits his stride faster than he was last year because he's seeing things quicker, which allows for those longer runs." The Aggies have allowed 154.3 rushing yards this season in wins over Sam Houston State and Miami, and a loss to Appalachian State. The Mountaineers rushed for 181 yards and the Hurricanes totaled 175 on nearly five yards per touch. According to PFF, Sanders has 12 runs of 10-plus yards and made 14 defenders miss a tackle. "He's a real good player," Arkansas receiver Matt Landers said this week. "Always taking care of his body. "He does everything right. He's somebody you can depend on." RetuRn Game Both of these teams have already shown the capability for a house call in the return game. Against Appalachian State, Texas A&M running back Devon Achane returned a kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown. Achane is a speedster who was on a 400-meter relay team with Arkansas quarterback Malik Hornsby in high school that ran the nation's second- fastest recorded time. He has the speed to out-run the Razorbacks' coverage unit if his blockers can create the running lanes. He is averaging 39.6 yards per return this season, boosted by the long touchdown return. But even if you take that return away, Achane still has a respectable average of better than 25 yards. Smith, the receiver, is a threat in the Aggies' punt return game, but has not had many opportunities. "We were fortunate enough to take Smith out of it last year because our gunners got down there and got on him," Pittman said. "We've worked extremely hard on that." Arkansas' Bryce Stephens had last week's biggest play with an 82-yard punt return that gave the Razorbacks their first lead in the fourth quarter against Missouri State. Stephens was a 100-meter relay champion in Oklahoma as a high schooler. Penalties hurt Arkansas on Stephens' first two returns last week. Gains of 34 and 10 yards were wiped out. Pittman praised the job freshman receiver Sam Mbake did on Stephens' touchdown return. Mbake made a key block to neutralize one of the Bears' gunners. "In any of these overfilled returns, you want to cut the space down," Pittman said. "(Missouri State) couldn't do it because we did such a good job on their two guys that were supposed to get there the fastest, and then there was a lot of space out there." Keys n Continued from Page 2 Here are some selected comments from the message boards at wholehogsports.com. what aRkansas fans expect fRom texas a&m's offense. eaglehog5: Could be just the thing a struggling secondary needs. Their passing game looked a little better with Max Johnson last week. He's a decent QB with SEC experience, but he does not strike me as the kind of guy who can put a team on his back and carry them. What's more, the Aggies have had some protection issues. It would seem that at least on paper, this is a pretty good matchup for our Defense. LDhog: From the brief looks I've had at their offense their O-line didn't look in sync to me. armyhog: I don't think Johnson has the accuracy to blow the Hogs away passing. He couldn't earn the starting nod at LSU or Texas A&M. The Aggie O-line hasn't been great and it will come down to tackling on short passes to stop them, along with stopping the run. danny: I cannot imagine that A&M has a worse offense, after three weeks, than we faced against any of our first three opponents. I sure hope we're better now. armyhog: Our pass defense will improve with Myles Slusher on the field. eaglehog5: Well they did only score 14 points on a defense that has given up 28 and 63 in their other two games. And they only put up 17 vs. Miami. With Slush back, I like our chances. missouRi state tuRned in an impRessive peRfoRmance in its 38-27 loss to aRkansas. eaglehog5: Certainly an impressive performance by the visitors from Springfield. Gotta think playing before a huge and hostile environment will help them in the playoffs. The crowd noise in Brookings or Bozeman or Missoula won't seem quite as intimidating now. Could still be a problem in Fargo, under that noise- trapping roof. I wish them well. Someone has to be FCS National champs. Might as well be them. MattJones: I bet they would welcome Saturday's weather if they are sent to Brookings or Missoula in December. eurohog: Who cares? They're a decent regional school whose fans hold a grudge against us, jealousy of our success, and harbor an inferiority complex. I give them no quarter and no validation that they can use in recruiting. MattJones: The next few weeks should tell us some about how well Missouri State will compete nationally in the FCS. The Bears host No. 2 South Dakota State this weekend, then go to North Dakota, which is the team that eliminated them in the playoffs in the spring of 2021. On Oct. 8, they host Southern Illinois, which just upset Northwestern in Evanston but has lost both FCS games it has played. Interesting side note: SIU's defensive coordinator is Jason Petrino, Bobby's cousin. poochpunt: I would like to see Missouri State win it all. what does the close Game aGainst an fcs opponent mean? coloradohog: I thought our defense was poor, but not this poor! Somebody better figure out how to play on the back end. Just bad, but I had much rather have a bad win than a loss, and they were looking at a big L. … We knew Bobby would be able to move the ball on this poor defense, but not like that. The rest of the SEC is rubbing their hands together. Danny: Very glad we won because I don't think we're as bad as we looked. In advance, who would have thought the Hogs would have three turnovers to Mo. State's zero? Simply, our offense needs to win our games. stillgreghog: I thought our biggest problem was very poor tackling. Not the only problem (the back side passes for big yards after catch drove me crazy) but man, if we tackle just the same as we did the first two weeks, it makes a huge difference. I have a hard time believing that MS's backs a receivers were actually better runners than SC or Cinicy. holdenhogfield: I expected BP to score some, so I put money on them with 28 points. I never ever ever expected our offense to suck that much. Three turnovers to zero? O-line cannot block for A gap runs? And our offensive coordinator never ever realized that. Part of me is really frustrated with our coaches and our players. Part of me realizes that a mark of good teams is to win despite not playing well. Certainly our coaches have a lot to work with heading to the Gaggie game. Beautiful nights in Fayetteville, i cannot remember a better crowd for a small division team, in my life. If the team had played as well as the crowd, we would have won 63-17 or so. poochpunt: Gotta give Missouri State credit. Their QB is a good one. They had receivers running in all directions. Our tackling was poor, but a lot of that had to do with Missouri State's skills at wide receiver. youdaman: Tackling was atrocious for most of the game. I actually thought the coverage was good most of the night. We're getting some interference calls that are not going our way and they very easily could. Petrino offense is always challenging because they make you cover sideline to sideline which puts you in a lot of one-on-one plays and we simply tackle so bad that we let them gain a lot extra yards. This defense grew up in the fourth quarter though, and they refused to lose this ball game! We will have to be a lot better tacklers next week because A&M has some ball players that are really fast and hard to tackle. lovemyhawgsforever: Petrino game planned very well. Probably been preparing since last spring. Gotta get Slush back to stabilize the secondary. Dejai9: The biggest negative of this game for me is that our reserves didn't get any playing time. Of course i thought we would've put them away, but knew Coach Petrino wanted to prove a point and would have a great offensive game plan.On KJ Jefferson's fumble, i thought there was a fase mask penalty right before he fumbled that the refs missed. That could've changed everything. At the end of the day, we won a hard fought game that just a couple of years ago our guys may have given up when it was 0-17. Proud of the growth, we have to get better. oklahawg: Missed tackles plus YAC were the most game problem. Handed away 10- 14 points with fumbles. No telling what the bobbled pass to Knox (intercepted) would produce, but at least a punt flips the field. Score 14 more and its a totally different game. We gave up yards, but we also eliminated a pesky run game and a mobile QB. Lots of QB pressure the last third of the game, leading to big sack numbers. Fans have to learn to look at stats like "passing yards" in context. fans pRedict the scoRe of satuRday's southwest classic Game Between aRkansas and texas a&m. pavlovhog1: With 5 seconds to go, it's 0-0 with the Aggies first and 10 on their own 2 yard line. At that time, a drunk-as-Cooter- Brown Jerry Jones gets up and falls against the plexiglass in his box. Jimbo turns around and says "what's that grunt?" Aggie coaches hear "lets punt." A stunned Max Johnson backs up to his end line only for the center to snap the ball over his head. Hogs win 2-0. At the press conference, Jimbo says "I said grunt not punt." All the Aggie coaches say, "Well, we're all just grunts around here." A grinning, glassy- eyed Jerruh says, "I called that grunt brother." Sam says, "Put Blind Boy Grunt on that dam jukebox!" georgiahawg: Cam Little field goal in OT wins it 27-24. stillgreghog: Heart says: Hogs 31, Aggies 21. Head says: Aggies 27, Hogs 21. They have more talent. I don't think that is debatable. We have a better coach, IMO. Better Johnnys and Joes beat better X's and O's usually. twobitboar: I wish I had a good feel for this game but I don't. Could go either way. I guess that's being a master of the obvious. superhawgfan: I think it will be a close game. Hard for me to think we can beat them two years in a row especially with a possible game day in Fayetteville on the horizon. Hogs prove me wrong, win 31-24. youdaman: Hogs 27-20. They have a very athletic group that will be the hardest defensive line to stay in front of… Briles will have have to come up with a great game plan to move the ball consistently against them. white25: Ark rallies from behind. UA 29, TAMU 26. jimbeau77: Gonna be interesting to see aTm's sluggish offense against our beaten up secondary. Plus KJ & crew against the best defense we faced yet.17-13, Hogs. Bballhawg: Better QB, better coach and smarter fans equal Hogs 27, Team for Sale 24. NOW HIRING QUALIFIED THERAPISTS & ESTHETICIANS Thanks for voting us the Best of the Best! FAYETTEVILLE 3557 North Shiloh Drive 479-571-3689 ROGERS 2603 W Pleasant Grove Rd 479-633-8340 Monday-Saturday 8 am-8 pm | Sunday 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 $ 70 intro rate massage* Best of Northwest Arkansas the Now offering: CBD EnhanCEmEnt OptiOns & COmprEssiOn LEg sErviCEs 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 Everyone in the stadium knew the football was coming the receiver's way. It was Klein Oak's best chance to keep hope alive. The team's quarterback, facing heavy pressure, dodged a would-be tackler then took a hit as he lofted a pass that looked more like a punt. In that moment, the game appeared over. "But Nudie came from the middle of the field," Glenn said, "and there was nothing but the opponents in this area, and he ran all the way to the sideline, like 30-40 yards. He jumped in front of all those kids and grabbed the ball for a first down. We went on to score on that drive." Defensively, he faced one of his toughest tests in a playoff game against Rockwall, which featured Ohio State star receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba on the perimeter. Smith-Njigba had 7 catches for 95 yards and 1 touchdown in his team's 37-27 win. McGlothern held him to three catches for under 50 yards, Glenn estimated, when the two were matched up. Against powerhouse Allen High the previous week, Smith- Njigba erupted for 15 catches, 258 yards and 5 touchdowns. Glenn's star held his own. "He manned Smith up the whole game then went over and started for us on offense," Glenn said. "That kid is a baller. He's a really good receiver. Nudie did it all by himself and covered him up the whole game. What he can bring to a football team, everybody knows he's athletic as hell, but his FBI – football intelligence – is extremely high. "He has instincts and football IQ. It's so natural to him. It's easy for him, it really is. When you look at him, people look at the measurables and he's got really good speed, he's long, he's athletic. But look at him diagnose routes." Glenn speaks with great confidence when projecting McGlothern's future. He played college football at Texas A&M, where he was a first-team All- Big 12 selection in 2000. He played in the NFL with four franchises from 2001-07. He has an understanding of all it takes to become and remain a pro. In his lifetime, there have been a select few players who Glenn immediately knew would one day play in the NFL. One was Ed Oliver, the No. 9 overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, and the other was Louisville receiver Tyler Hudson, who also played at Klein Oak. McGlothern is in that class, too. Glenn compares him to 11- year pro and longtime Seattle Seahawks corner Richard Sherman, but faster. "His football IQ is amazing," he said. "He's going to play on Sundays, I guarantee you that. My brother (Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn) played 15 years in the NFL and I played seven, so I can kind of see that deal. He's going to be one of those dudes who plays on Sundays." Pittman views McGlothern, who had a hamstring injury against Missouri State, as the prototype cornerback in today's game. His ball skills help set him apart. Opponents this year have completed just 3 of 14 passes for 19 yards when targeting McGlothern's assignment, per PFF. The longest completion against him is 12 yards. PFF numbers also show he allowed two or fewer catches in a game six times last season at LSU, including against the Aggies. Texas A&M completed 2 passes for 31 yards on 5 targets. Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher remembers the corner well. "He's very instinctive," Fisher said. "He's long, he's athletic, he has really good ball skills, he can see the ball, judge the ball, uses his length and size to get up on you and man you. For a big guy, he plays off coverage very well, like the first pick he had in the Cincinnati game. "A lot of guys who are big and long have a harder time playing off. He doesn't. He's done a really nice job." He has brought a level of attitude and flair to the cornerback position at Arkansas that had been missing for a while. McGlothern n Continued from Page 3