Inexperienced SEC QBs Bode Well for Hogs

Harry King

Harry King, sports columnist for the Arkansas News Bureau, has a run down of the problems some SEC teams are having nailing down a strong quarterback for 2010. Will this help Arkansas win games? We can only hope!

Here’s an excerpt:

“At Mississippi State, there is no decision about the starting quarterback for 2010. At Auburn, the winner of a four-man competition is a former backup to Tim Tebow who played at a junior college in 2009. At Georgia, Mark Richt had only one choice. At South Carolina, Steve Spurrier is dissatisfied with the obvious choice.

Those notations are particularly significant for Arkansas because the Razorbacks play at Starkville, Auburn, Athens, and Columbia, and Arkansas has not won a road game in the Southeastern Conference since Nov. 23, 2007, at LSU. To win nine this year, Arkansas likely has to win at least two on the road.”

Read Harry’s column here.

A Blistering Assessment of Bobby P

Andy Hodges of the The Hog Country Blog has posted a rather blistering assessment of Razorback Coach Bobby Petrino. He doesn’t think Petrino has proved anything since joining the SEC. Here’s an excerpt:

Bobby Petrino better be as good as many of the fans in Hog Country hope. The reality here is I hope he is, too. Wins are much more fun to write about than losses.

Despite what some in the media will tell you, there is absolutely no track record in The Great Playcaller’s past to think that the future is bright farther than what should be a banner year in 2010 (at least 10 wins should the minimum expectation for fans with the offensive firepower).

Read the rest of the post here.

How Bobby Petrino Came to Arkansas

This is an interesting listen. Click on image for audio.

Hogs Have Great Recruiting Week

By Blake Stansbery of Born Hog Wild.

The Arkansas Razorback football team has had a very good week.

In the past week they found out that starting quarterback Ryan Mallett and starting tight end D.J. Williams would forgo early entry into the NFL draft and return to play for the Hogs.

The Hogs also got some very good news on the recruiting front.

First the Hogs received a commitment from 2011 star quarterback Brandon Allen. Allen is the son of assistant coach Bobby Allen.

Just moments later the Hogs received a commitment from William Russ. Russ is a kicker/punter from Shreveport Evangel. Russ should be able to provide an immediate impact on kickoffs and punts for the Hogs. His punts averaged close to 45 yards for the season, and he routinely kicked through the end zone on kickoffs.

The Arkansas coaching staff looks to keep the positives flowing this weekend when they host their largest group of official visitors of the year.

It is being reported by Richard Davenport, The Recruiting Guy, that the below recruits are scheduled for official visits this weekend. These are subject to change, but currently each player has reported he will be here for his official visit this weekend.

CB Deonte Welch of Williston, Fla.

TE Brad Hefley of Joplin (Commit)

OL Jordan Rainey of Joplin (Commit)

OL Cam Feldt of Pilot Point, Tx. (Commit)

S Darrell Smith of Port Saint Joe, Fla. (Commit)

DL Sean Watson of Panama City, Fla. Rutherford

Ath. Jatashu “Big Tex” Beachum of Dallas Maceo Smith (Commit)

DL Jeremiah Jackson of Hoover, Ala. (Commit)

TE Garrett Uekman of Little Rock Catholic (Commit)

Ath. Julian Horton of Norcross, Ga.

RB/LB Braylon Mitchell of Heber Springs (Commit)

WR Maudrecus Humphrey of Hoover, Ala.

LB Courtney Gaston of Fort Gibson, Okla. (Commit)

The nine committed players should have a good impact on the visiting recruits, and the Razorbacks are looking to close the 2010 class on a strong note.

The return of Mallett, many believe, should give the Hogs a boost on the recruiting trail and has optimism for 2010 at an all-time high.

With signing day fast approaching, this weekend is the first of many to come with high attendance of official visitors.

The weekend sets up perfectly for the official visits. With a home basketball game the recruits will get a chance to meet the fans and see what Arkansas fans are all about.

Hatfield to Speak in Texarkana

Ken Hatfield, the winningest coach in Arkansas football history, is the guest speaker for the annual Little River Chamber of Commerce banquet Feb. 4.

The banquet will be in the Barbara Horn Civic Center at the Cossatot Community College in Ashdown, Ark.

Here’s more about Coach Hatfield at Wikipedia. Read more in the Texarkana Gazette.

New Year Hog Predictions

I’m not really good at making predictions, but I’m going to take a stab at a couple in this brief post.

Prediction No. 1 – The Arkansas Razorbacks will beat East Carolina in the upcoming Liberty Bowl, and perhaps convincingly. While the game will be close in the first half, the SEC battle-tested Hogs will prevail over the talented East Carolina team in the second half.

Prediction No. 2 – Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett will decide to stay and play one more year before turning pro. While Mallett is a promising NFL prospect, his stock could potentially go through the roof leading the Razorbacks to a 10 or better winning season in 2010. Heck, if he plays well, he could easily be in the running for the Heisman! Playing another year under Petrino will only make him better.

Prediction No. 3 – Whether predictions No. 1 or No. 2 pan out or not, Arkansas will be much improved in 2010 and will start the year in the Associated Press Top 25.

There you go. Now all we have to do is sit back and see which of my prognostications come to pass.

Happy New Year!

Hogs Hope to Break Streaking Bears

Arkansas talks about its important contest with Missouri State, which is 10-0 on the season with wins over Auburn, Tulsa and Arkansas State (video link via Arkansas Online).

http://www.arkansasonline.com/videos/2009/dec/20/3750/

Facts About the SEC Championship

Tony Barnhart of the AJC provides some good information about the SEC championship game which will be played this weekend.

Here’s an excerpt:

Only one running back this season—Dennis Johnson of Arkansas—has rushed for over 100 yards against the Florida defense. Florida is No. 8 nationally in rushing defense, giving up only 89.2 yards per game and 2.9 yards per rush. Florida has held four straight opponents to under 100 yards rushing. Alabama is No. 2 nationally in rushing defense, allowing only 77.08 yards per game and 2.62 yards per attempt. No running back has gone over 100 yards against Alabama’s defense this season.

Read all of Barnhart’s post here.

TSN Picks Hogs Over LSU

This is from The Sports Network (TSN). Writer Jeff Frank is picking Arkansas over LSU on Saturday:

The most underrated team in college football

By Jeff Frank, Contributing Editor

Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) – Go through the AP Top 25 and you will not be able to locate a certain SEC club that has a chance to finish in a second- place tie in its division. This particular team is also surprisingly absent from the top 38, if you count the “others receiving votes” portion of the poll.

The Arkansas Razorbacks are the only team in the country to not only stay within single digits of Florida but to have a fourth-quarter lead against the undisputed number one team in the country. The Hogs could have very easily won that contest in Gainesville, or at the very least sent it to overtime, if Alex Tejada hadn’t missed a pair of makeable field goals in the second half.

Bobby Petrino’s club, perhaps emotionally drained from its fantastic effort that Saturday, failed to capitalize the following week at Ole Miss, a game the Rebels owned from start to finish. However, since that contest, the Razorbacks are 4-0, outscoring their opponents 194-84, and quarterback Ryan Mallet has been on fire, completing 78-of-107 passes for 1,295 yards with 13 touchdowns over that span.

Arkansas is having an extremely similar season to the one that transpired in Oxford last year. The Ole Miss Rebels not only gave Florida a tussle in ’08, they beat the Gators, and just like this year’s Razorbacks, lost two straight games in October.

Ole Miss then reeled off five more wins to end the regular season at 8-4. If the Hogs can defeat LSU this Saturday, they’ll be 8-4 as well.

Speaking of LSU, the Tigers were abused at home last November by Ole Miss, 31-13, rushing for just 37 yards. It’s doubtful they’ll be held to that low a number against a weaker Arkansas defense, but they’re now down to their fourth- string tailback with the latest injury to Keiland Williams. The senior is out for the year after getting hurt in last week’s incredible game against the Rebels, a loss that could carry over into this week’s game.

Arkansas will certainly not be scared of LSU. The Hogs have fared very well against the Tigers lately, winning the previous two meetings.

Last year, the Razorbacks prevailed, 31-30, holding Jordan Jefferson to just nine completions in his first career start. They also shut down the Tigers’ running game, limiting Charles Scott and Keiland Williams to a combined 74 yards.

Two years ago in Baton Rouge, Arkansas won in triple overtime over the eventual national champions, and back in ’05, lost by only two as 16.5-point underdogs.

After finishing with only five victories a year ago, the Razorbacks have a chance to win eight games in Petrino’s second season and they’ll do just that with the upset win over LSU.

Take Arkansas plus the points.

(NOTE: Arkansas-LSU graphic from the Fayetteville Flyer. Check out their Arkansas-LSU game article here).

Tonight Will Tell

Tonight’s game pitting the Arkansas Razorbacks against the Louisville Cardinals will reveal a lot about where the Hogs program is … and is headed.

It is best at this point in the season to put all off season distractions aside and concentrate on the matter at hand – that is competing and winning basketball games…especially in the Southwestern Conference.

Pelphrey has to know that he might have two more years to turn the Hogs around return the program to elite status.

Actually, the dispatch of several key players of a week or so ago will be a good test of how mature – and how well coached – the young team is.

Tonight will tell.