WholeHogSports
LIKE IT IS : Cheers should replace jeers in coming weeks
Posted on Tuesday, September 25, 2007
URL: http://www.wholehogsports.com/adg/202435/
This morning, for the third day in a row since losing to Kentucky, the sun did come up.
While there is reason for some concern — note the boos aimed at the coaching staff when the game ended — the wheels have not come off the Arkansas Razorbacks’ football season.
Do not pull the plug.
Do not throw in the towel.
No, this is not a sunshine storm, but good news begins this Saturday night, which should be the first of five weekend celebrations.
Meaning by the time the Ol ’ Ball Coach, Steve Spurrier, rolls in with South Carolina and his bag of tricks, the Razorbacks should be bowl-eligible at 6-2.
Note, should be.
However, there are some things that have to be addressed, and today would be a good day for the coaching staff to start working on a few things.
For instance, the running game.
Yes, the finest infantry in college football needs some tweaking.
That is one of the reasons so many fans — incredible fans for 58 of the 60 minutes — left Reynolds Razorback Stadium and replaced their boos (that were not intended for the players ) with questions about the play calling.
Particularly in the fourth quarter with 7: 59 to play.
The Hogs were sitting on a rickety 29-27 lead and needed to eat some clock and get an insurance touchdown.
The Razorbacks were starting at their 33, thanks to a 26-yard kickoff return by Felix Jones, and 74, 015 were expecting some DMac fireworks.
They got Darren McFadden, but it was up the middle for 2, behind right guard for 6 and behind right tackle for 1.
Kentucky could not have been better prepared for that series, and all runs between the tackles for that matter, if they had practiced with the Razorbacks all season.
Of the Razorbacks’ 51 total runs last Saturday, far too many were inside.
P ut McFadden or Jones on the corner, and things can happen, like Jones going 73 yards to the Kentucky 6, or a 56-yard touchdown dash by McFadden.
McFadden is the most dangerous runner on the corner that anyone has seen in the SEC since Bo Jackson.
The Hogs ran outside 17 times for 222 of their total 338 yards on the ground.
The other 34 runs, twice as many, netted 116 yards or almost half as much yardage.
Obviously, that can be fixed easily.
Another area fans were concerned with, and rightfully so, was the third-down calls.
Arkansas converted just 7 of 18, but the amazing thing is the Hogs got first downs 5 of 7 times when they ran the ball.
All of these things should be obvious to the coaching staff.
Of course, the most troublesome statistic is that the Razorbacks have allowed 83 points in the past two games.
Give Reggie Herring credit; he said after the game they got their tails kicked.
Houston Nutt also pointed out some offensive breakdowns.
Yet, it was not the players being booed because they never quit.
They fought like WildHogs right up to the bitter end, and that’s another reason to believe this season is a long way from being over, or at least it better be.
The biggest warrior of them all, McFadden, might trade a victory for the Heisman Trophy every Saturday, but the truth is, he’s putting up the kinds of numbers it takes to win football’s most coveted award and games.
His performance against Kentucky was rock-solid.
He had 208 all-purpose yards, 173 rushing, 10 receiving and 25 on kickoff returns.
The only stat that hurt him was the one on the scoreboard.
It is very difficult for a player to get Heisman attention when his team is losing.
Saturday night, after the game, ESPN’s Lee Corso did not have McFadden in his top five, and Corso is a Heisman voter. A lot of people who rank the top five or 10 on TV and Web sites are not.
Short of an injury, McFadden and Jones will continue to give 100 percent on every play — even up the middle — and that’s a big reason the wheels have not come off.