English: Trust, not Hogs, big problem

— Eastern Michigan Coach Ron English said the Eagles are going to have to learn to trust their coaches before the program will finally start winning.

Eastern Michigan fell to 0-8 under the first-year coach after Arkansas beat the Eagles 63-27 on Saturday at Reynolds Razorback Stadium. The Razorbacks (4-4) had 589 yards of total offense and scored 21 points in each of the first three quarters.

“I think they’re all right,” English said of his impression of the Razorbacks. “I don’t think they’re great, but they’re OK. Obviously, we’re not great, but I don’t think they’re great either, being honest with you.”

English said the difference between the teams was more in discipline than talent, and that lack of discipline was an unspoken statement that the Eagles don’t yet trust Englishand his staff’s coaching.

333848

http://focus.arkans…">

“We don’t do what we’re coached to do,” English said. “Until we get that resolved, we’re going to have the same results.”

English said Arkansas didn’t do anything unexpected in the game. Arkansas scored on a 78-yard pass and a 99-yard run, as well as scoring on an interceptionand blocked punt.

“They didn’t do what they were asked to do all the time,” English said. “That’s what teams do. A guy like [Bobby] Petrino is going to challenge you in terms of your discipline. He did some things, not that we haven’t seen them. They were exactly what we practice but, under the lights, guys have to respond like they’re supposed to do.”

Eastern Michigan defensive end Brandon Downs agreed that the Eagles have to learn to follow their coaching. He said Arkansas’ big plays were a result of his team’s poor execution.

“Everything they did, we prepared for,” Downs said. “A coach like Coach English hasbeen around football for a lot of years, [and] when they tell you to do something and you don’t do it, the only thing it can come down to is a trust issue.

“We’ve just got to stop thinking what we see and do what we’re coached to do.”

The Eagles gave up a season high in points, surpassing the 56 they allowed to Central Michigan on Oct. 10. English said the lessons learned from the Arkansas loss will come when the Eagles study the game film.

“What they’re going to see on the tape is, how many times did you get outathleted?” English said. “How many times did a guy run by you or made you miss or what have you? Mostly, itwas blown assignments and issues like that.

“When you start trusting, we’ll start having success, and that’s reality.”

English, a former defensive coordinator at Michigan, said there is not much talent difference between most of the teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision. Despite Arkansas’ blowout victory, English stuck to that assertion.

“It’s just football, because I’ve been around it so long, comes down to execution,” English said. “The talent level in this country, if you look at it, there are maybe three or four teams who are a lot better than everybody else. Then there are a bunch of teams that whoever plays the best is going to win.”

Sports, Pages 36 on 11/01/2009