LIKE IT IS: UA defense shows up when needed most
By
Wally Hall
Sunday, January 3, 2010
MEMPHIS — Often maligned and criticized, Alex Tejada redeemed himself Saturday night for any and all previous misses.
In overtime, he split the uprights from the 37 and gave the Arkansas Razorbacks a 20-17 victory and then, and only then, did the masses of hogcalling fans head for the exits as Tejada sprinted downfield in celebration.
The fans might have gotten exactly what they wanted - a victory, and proof that their quarterback, Ryan Mallett, who completed 15 of 35 passes for 202 yards, needs another year of college football education despite being voted MVP of the Liberty Bowl.
Saturday night, though, the heroes were an undermanned and exhausted Arkansas defense that laid it all on the linetime after time.
No excuses. No complaints.
For most of three quarters, they bent but didn’t break, but thanks to a very poor second period and a Razorbacks offense that never got in sync, they went into intermission trailing 10-0.
At that point, it didn’t seem likely the Hogs could come back, but in the third quarter, the defense redeemed itself and put the Razorbacks back in the game.
First it was Jerry Franklin who grabbed an interception and returned it 31 yards to the East Carolina 20. Three plays later, Tejada gave the Hogs their first points with a 25-yard field goal.
Less than four minutes later, Tramain Thomas, who started at free safety in place of suspended Matt Harris, stepped in front of a receiver for an interception and raced 37 yards for the touchdown and a tie.
When regulation ended tied at 17, the defense had been on the field 37:55.
In overtime, they stepped up one final time, and when East Carolina’s Ben Hartman missed his third consecutive field goal, it was time for Tejada to bring some sunshine to a bitter-cold night.
East Carolina was so dominating in the second quarter that the Razorbacks were lucky to go into intermission trailing by 10 points.
In the Pirates’ 13-play, 99-yard drive to take a 7-0 lead, they looked more like Alabama, the pride of the SEC, than they did the pride of Conference USA.
East Carolina dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball so thoroughly that it looked like a well-oiled machine and turned the Hogs into a spitting and sputtering offense that finished with only 283 yards of total offense.
When halftime finally arrived, the Arkansas defense had spent a bone-freezing 18:12 on a field, where the wind chill factor was down to 20 degrees.
The Hogs were so up and down on offense they didn’t convert a single third down in 13 attempts. And while one of the promises had been the Hogs would get D.J. Williams involved early and often, he didn’t see his first pass until the second quarter. When he tried to take the hard, high fastball and turn to make the first-down yardage at the same time, he dropped it.
Midway through the final period, the junior tight end was open on a third-and-1, but Mallett tried to force it to London Crawford for an extra 16 yards and the pass was incomplete.
The hard, very cold truth is the Pirates may have been the better team Saturday night as they won almost every statistical battle but the one that counts the most - the one on the scoreboard.
The largest crowd to ever wear one color in the history of Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium came out hard and loud but was stunned into silence by the great play-calling and precision of the Pirates in that second period.
Arkansas held East Carolina to 25 first-quarter yards and then gave up 157 in the second period as the Pirates used play-action screen passes to move downfield almost at will.
After the two interceptions in the third quarter, Skip Holtz backed off the passing attack, but the Pirates had continued success on the ground.
But when the defense had to make a play, it did.
The Razorbacks started 2010 with a victory, and a gutsy group of seniors, many of whom arrived amid one of the greatest dramas in school history and survived, had their first bowl victory.
Sports, Pages 27 on 01/03/2010
Comments
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Texastwostep says...
Zero for 13 on third down. A record thats likely to live in infamy from here to eternity. Not only were Razorback fans exposed to poor execution
but terrible play calling. Mix the two
and we are looking at a team that should have been beaten by ten points or better. Lets hope we learn from this debacle and come back strong next year.
January 3, 2010 at 9:04 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Hog_man says...
Do you think this had anything to do with a new offensive coordinator??
January 3, 2010 at 9:25 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Hogfan1509 says...
In the game I watched our defense looked almost nonexistant. If not for two errant throws we would probably have been blown out! ECU QB deserves more credit than our defense I think. Don't know if the problem is with our scheme/def coaches or our players but we are definetly lower tier defensively and that needs to change. Think the offense was a victim of themselves, over confidence and a much better than expected opposition! But, we won, and tomorrows another day, I'm sure coach Petrino knows better than anybody what is needed and will work hard to get is done! High note for me is that Lou Holtz (did you hear him dis the Hog fans on ESPN) has a major craw in his throat over this, LOL! Go Hogs!
January 3, 2010 at 9:37 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
musiccityhogfan says...
Wally, why are are always trying to put a pretty face on our defense? We ranked last in the SEC, allowed almost 400 total yards against East Carolina, which, by the way, was our average of yards given up after 12 games this season (401.8). We cannot give up this kind of yardage every game and win championships. I don't know why Petrino continues to keep this defensive coaching staff. I know that their have been some bright spots on defense (Florida game), but you can't argue with the stats.
January 3, 2010 at 11:20 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
musiccityhogfan says...
Wally, why are you always trying to put a pretty face on our defense? We ranked last in the SEC, allowed almost 400 total yards against East Carolina, which, by the way, was our average of yards given up after 12 games this season (401.8). We cannot give up this kind of yardage every game and win championships. I don't know why Petrino continues to keep this defensive coaching staff. I know that there have been some bright spots on defense (Florida game), but you can't argue with the stats.
January 3, 2010 at 11:25 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
scavengerhog says...
I didn't catch Lou Holtz's comments about Arkansas fans, but this was one of the ugliest wins I can recall. The bright side of it is that maybe Mallet will realize he needs another year of maturation. He has tremendous talent, but needs to learn to play percentage ball in spite of his abilities.
Regarding the defense - I admire Petrino, who like Holtz, thought principle was more important in his decision to suspend three players (two of them defensive players). That decision will pay off down the road with future players who will think twice about making a selfish choice. I respect integrity and so will future players.
January 3, 2010 at 11:52 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
hawg65 says...
Mallet gets the MVP with a terrible night? The MVP should have gone to ECUs sr. tailback that had over 150 yards against a sloppy defense.
January 4, 2010 at 9:18 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
RichHog says...
8-5 with a high powered QB most likely coming back combined with a young defense that can only improve, I'm thinking 10 wins next year. Hey, we have only witnessed 1 ten win season in past 20 years. Hog fans should be excited and take the ugly wins when they come. 4-0, 5-3, 1-0 = 10-4 in 2010. If the defense improves, we could be playing for an SEC championship. How many times in the past 17 years has that been the topic of Razorback conversation in January. The program is on the rise!!!!!!!!!
January 4, 2010 at 10 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
hogwild says...
Wally Why do you always sugarcoat everything. We had better fire our pathetic defensive coordinator. Our defense sucks. We were playing E Carolina for God's sakes. And your comment that Tajeda's made field goal redeemed himself for any and all previous misses? Wally you are a joke. The Florida miss and LSU miss are not redeemable you idiot. Problem is we have to put up with this bad field goal kiker for one more year. I say kick him off the team, but let him stay in school to get his degree because his kicking career should be over.
January 4, 2010 at 12:31 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
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