Petrino Shows Character. Will His Team?

Bobby Petrino - AP Photo

Razorback coach Bobby Petrino is showing amazing signs of character in the shadow of his team’s apparent lack of intensity and heart on the field.

If Petrino can be believed, he is certainly at Arkansas for the long haul and committed to turning the program around. Read this from the Sporting News:

“We can’t panic,” he said. “We’ve got to make sure we stick to our beliefs, we stick to our fundamentals and how we’re going to build this program, and just keep grinding and working hard.”

The former Louisville coach, who lost only nine games during his entire tenure there, seems to have a good grasp of reality and what it is going to take to start winning:

“Those two teams we played (Alabama and Texas) — they’re pretty darn good,” Petrino said. “We’re not happy with the way we played. We want to play better. We want to get better. We will improve in a lot of areas, but we’re not going to panic because we lost those two games.” Petrino continues, “It is very, very important that we stick together, that we all understand that we’re 2-2,” Petrino said. “It’s not pretty the way we got beat, but there’s still a heck of a lot of football ahead of us, that we are a young team and we need to build and get better each week.”

Hopefully, we will see some of the coach’s attitude begin to spill over to his players on the field.

It’s Bad, Folks!

What can I say? The eyes of Texas were upon the Razorbacks this past Saturday as they completely dominated the hapless lot 52-10. It wasn’t even close! A program the size of Arkansas should at least be competitive in most contests it participates in.

What will Florida be? 72-0?

Meanwhile, Houston Nutt’s Ole Miss Rebels upset Florida. There’s got to be some irony there folks!

Payback Will Have to Wait!

From AJC.com

The Razorbacks made Alabama look unbeatable Saturday in their dismal showing against the Tide at home in Fayetteville. I am still not sold on Alabama’s invincibility and will reserve judgment until they play the Georgia Bulldogs this week.

Two interceptions thrown by Casey Dick run back for touchdowns didn’t make matters any better. Until Saturday I was hopeful that Bobby Petrino’s coaching genius would prevent teams like ‘Bama from running all over our young Hogs. I am now convinced it is going to be a long year unless the Hogs start playing SEC caliber defense.

What is ironic is that the Hogs were actually moving the ball against the Crimson Tide and had piled up more yards by halftime, despite trailing 35-7.

It looks to be a bumpy few weeks as the Hogs face four games against teams in the Top 10.

Razorback fans just need to suck it up and hang on for the ride and pray the young Hogs improve playing against much more experienced teams.

I’m sure Atlanta Falcon fans are loving the lumps Bobby Petrino is taking.

It’s Payback Time!

Remember what happened Sept. 15 last year? Alabama lucked out with a pass interference penalty to set up the winning touchdown after Arkansas had completely owned them in the second half. This year ‘Bama comes to Fayetteville. It’s payback time!

Hogs Must Use Week Off Strategically

Let’s hope the postponement of the Arkansas-Texas game due to Hurricane Ike will help our young Razorbacks better prepare for their game with overrated Alabama.

After two hard-fought games against opponents from a lesser division, it would seem the Hogs need every break they can get. They now get this Saturday off and an extra week to prepare for their Sept. 21 contest with ‘Bama. They’ll then take on Texas Sept. 28.

Who knows? Perhaps they can use the time to prepare their own “storm” against Alabama and bring them down to earth.

Another Thrilling Win…but it Ain’t Florida!

Arkansas Democrat

The Razorbacks pulled out another win from the jaws of defeat tonight, and this time it was 28-27 over a more talented Louisiana-Monroe team than beat overrated Alabama last year.

One has to wonder what will happen when Arkansas starts its stand against SEC opponents such as Florida.

Below is a recap from the Arkansas Democrat:

Arkansas survives upset bid 28-27

By ArkansasOnline

Saturday, September 6, 2008

In the end, history repeated itself. Arkansas again pulled it off in a dramatic fourth-quarter turnaround, this

time defeating the University of Louisiana at Monroe 28-27 on Saturday.

The victory keeps open the chapter on a long winning streak against non-conference teams at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.

The Razorbacks kept it interesting until the end, pushing 79 yards in 11 plays for a touchdown with a little over a minute left in the game. Louisiana-Monroe took possession and then tried for a field goal, missing it and essentially securing the Hogs’ razor-slim victory.

The Warhawks, which upset Alabama last year, led for most of the game, capitalizing on chinks in the defensive line armor. Again, line play was spotty on both sides for the Hogs. leading in the offensive game to several sacks of quarterback Casey Dick.

Still, Dick reached a milestone, becoming the first quarterback in Hogs’ history to post back-to-back 300 yard passing games.

Michael Smith, back after a one-game suspension, proved that he is an essential ingredient to the Razorback running game.

Freshman Joe Adams and sophomore D.J. Williams also made their presence known, the latter making a huge 76-yard gain in the fourth quarter that set up the Hogs for a touchdown on the next play.

Arkansas kicker Alex Tejada had a disappointing showing — hooking both of his field goal attempts.

Stay with ArkansasOnline for complete Razorbacks coverage, including photo galleries and video.

Read tomorrow’s Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.

Below is the box score from ESPN:

What Team Will Show Up this Week?

It's Game Day!

What will today’s second Razorback game of the season against an admittedly sub par opponent mean for the team?

I say they best win and win big.

That’s the only way they’ll begin to erase the perception they are one of the worst teams in the SEC West in 2008. A big win against Louisiana-Monroe – just like Auburn’s big win against them last week – will help the Razorbacks, but it is only a small, baby step until the real season begins Sept. 13 at Texas. A strong showing against Texas will show that Arkansas can still play with the big boys, despite being in a rebuilding season with a new head coach who is changing everything.

It is interesting to point out out that Coach Petrino’s debut last week against Western Illinois didn’t even warrant mention in the national sports media. I suspect there won’t be much said about Petrino this year until he does one of two things – lose games against lackluster opponents or wins games against SEC or ranked opponents.

We all know college football isn’t what it used to be. There is a tremendous amount of parity up and down Division I and teams even in lower divisions have excellent programs that can upset teams from larger schools.

In the SEC, which is arguable the best football conference in the nation, teams such as Vandy are making noise with their “upset” of South Carolina. I actually predicted Vandy would fare well against the Gamecocks and even possible beat them.

But the power programs like LSU, Georgia, Florida and Auburn – and some say now Alabama – still will dominate the conference because they seem to be more immune to rebuilding seasons like Arkansas is experiencing this year.

A Perspective on the 2008 Season :-(

Here’s SEC Sports Fan’s perspective on the 2008 Razorback season. According to them, it doesn’t look good. They say if Petrino wins 6 games he should be named SEC Coach of the Year. I believe Arkansas will win at least 6 games. If Petrino is as good of a coach as everyone says, perhaps it will even be 7 or 8.

Direct Link:
http://www.secsportsfan.com/ArkansasRazorbackfootball.html

It was ugly…but it was a win! :-o

I can’t say that the 2008 Arkansas Razorback football season started with much of a bang Saturday night.

It was more of a bunch of gasps…and in the end a whimper.

First year coach Bobby Petrino got his first win as a Razorback and saved face. Trailing the entire game against Western Illinois, the win wasn’t a lock until less than 2 minutes to go. That’s against Western Illinois folks. If it had been an SEC opponent, Arkansas would have easily been blown out…way out.

But remember, it WAS the first game under an entirely new system. Plus, we must remember that Arkansas is in a rebuilding season and has a bunch of freshmen starting this year.

A real bright spot was Casey Dick’s 300-plus yards through the air. Yes, you heard right, through the air. And Arkansas failed to break the 100-yard mark on the ground. Those stats alone should signal to everyone alone that it is a new day in Razorback history.

And as I said earler…a wild year it will be!