FAYETTEVILLE - Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema’s self-critique from the Razorbacks’ 34-14 victory over Louisiana-Lafayette on Saturday included red marks for his post-game victory procedures.
Bielema said he needed to be reminded about singing the school fight song after postgame handshake with Louisiana-Lafayette Coach Mark Hudspeth, and that he had to brush up on the song’s lyrics, which he has posted on a wall in his office.
Bielema, a stickler for details, had just about all aspects of game day covered in advance, but he didn’t dive deeply into the post-game process.
“I get mad because I didn’t cover postgame celebration, to be quite honest,” he said. “I know it came up in my notes, but I’m a big believer in never talking about a win [prior to the game]. I’m very superstitious about that.”
Asked about his first postgame celebration at Arkansas, Bielema volunteered a story about the only time he didn’t conduct a postgame handshake immediately after the game, which came in his first year, following Wisconsin’s 17-14 Capital One Bowl victory over Arkansas after the 2006 season.
“Ironically, the only coach I never shook hands with after the game was Houston Nutt,” Bielema said. “Because in the Capital One Bowl, I lost my mind after the game and started celebrating with my staff and players and felt terrible.
“And I went over and found Houston. He politely made me wait 45 minutes before he came out of the locker room. And I shook his hand. I realized that was a really bad. … There was no ill will. Just stupid on my behalf.”
Hurry-up slowed
The Arkansas coaches made adjustments in the second quarter and limited the damage by Louisiana-Lafayette’s potent offense, led by dual-threat quarterback Terrance Broadway. The Ragin’ Cajuns managed 274 total yards after gaining 136 on their first two possessions.
“I do think that our guys got in their head a little bit,” Razorbacks Coach Bret Bielema said. “I think mentally and physically we intimidated a little bit of their attack. A couple of nice big hits up front. I think our defensive line played well in the third and fourth quarter, which is what we love to do, and turned the game around for us and came up with some big plays.”
Flowers honored
Arkansas defensive end Trey Flowers was named the SEC’s defensive player of the week for his performance against Louisiana-Lafayette, which featured 5 tackles, including 3 tackles for 20 lost yards, 2 of which were quarterback sacks, a forced fumble and 2 quarterback hurries.
No sweat?
The Razorbacks persevered through temperatures in the 90s during Saturday’s game with no players needing attention for cramps or major dehydration problems.
“We started a hydration plan on Thursday that made them consume certain types of liquids,” Coach Bret Bielema said. “We kind of forced it down their throats Thursday, Friday, Saturday morning and Saturday afternoon. And to get out of that game and not have anybody have a heat issue during the game or cramping or sweating, just again shows me our kids are dedicated to the task.”16 down
Coach Bret Bielema lobbied for center Travis Swanson’s selection as the SEC offensive lineman of the week after Swanson notched 16 knockdown blocks while playing all 74 offensive snaps.
“I haven’t seen the SEC awards, but if he’s not the SEC lineman of the week, then I don’t know what’s wrong,” Bielema said. “To get 16 knockdowns is absolutely insane.”
LSU left tackle La’el Collins won the award after playing 79 of 80 snaps in the Tigers’ 37-27 victory over No. 20 TCU.
Injury report
Running back Jonathan Williams, who came back in the second half and scored on a 75-yard run after dinging his left shoulder, is “a little bit sore, but it shouldn’t be an issue moving forward,” Coach Bret Bielema said.
Safety Rohan Gaines, who had knee-to-knee contact with a Louisiana-Lafayette player on a second-half blitz, had a stiff knee, Bielema said. “We hope to get him back mid-week and hope to have him repping and practicing and to be ready for Saturday.”
Bielema said all other Razorbacks were OK.
Coaches awards
Coach Bret Bielema and his staff are big on giving out postgame accolades, which he shared with the media on Monday.
The offensive MVPs were fullback Kiero Small, who had a 10-yard touchdowncatch among his seven touches, and center Travis Swanson, who graded out strongly with 16 knockdown blocks.
Tailbacks Jonathan Williams and Alex Collins, quarterback Brandon Allen, receiver Javontee Herndon and tackle Grady Ollison all earned honorable mention.
The offensive scout team MVP was fullback Chris Jones, who came aboard after two-a-days.
Trey Flowers earned the defensive MVP title “running away,” Bielema said, while defensive tackle Robert Thomas and linebacker Austin Jones were honorable mentions. Linebacker Jerry Mitchell was chosen as defensive scout team player of the week.
Zach Hocker, the school’s new all-time scoring leader with 296 points, was special teams player of the week, and Dakota Baggett was the scout team’s specialist of the week.
Wheel appeal
Perhaps the most disappointing defensive play Saturday from the Arkansas coaches’ perspectives was Louisiana-Lafayette running back Elijah McGuire’s 31-yard catch on a wheel route to the Hogs’ 2, leading to an Alonzo Harris touchdown run on the next snap in the second quarter.
Linebacker Jarrett Lake was assigned to the back on the big play.
“That’s a learning point,” linebackers coach Randy Shannon said. “Jarrett got himself in the problem of looking back in the backfield and seeing the route, and he turned around and looked back and the guy took off.
“That comes with the experience of knowing you have to do your assignment and stay with it. Once it happened, he said, ‘I know what I did wrong.’ ”
Sports, Pages 17 on 09/03/2013