If the midnight rain delay following a late start wasn’t enough, the SEC Network played a cruel joke on Arkansas fans earlier this month during the Razorbacks' epic win over Missouri State in the NCAA Baseball Tournament.
Some fans hoped the game would move to the SEC Network instead of the online ESPN3 option. When fans tuned SEC Network they found the program SEC Now and anchor Dari Nowkah throwing the broadcast to a program highlighting Arkansas’ 1998 football loss at Tennessee.
So not only did Arkansas fans not get to see the baseball game on television, they had to catch a glimpse of one of the crushing losses in Razorback football history. I am sure many turned it off shortly after Nowkah signed off and apologized to SEC Network colleague Clint Stoerner, the quarterback of that team whose fumbled late still haunts him.
With the baseball game still not started, I watched some of the football game. I remember that team fondly. I had just moved to Arkansas and covered most of the home games that year for the Benton County Daily Record. In his first year, Houston Nutt shocked the college football world leading the Hogs to an undefeated, top 10 showdown at Tennessee in mid-November.
The Hogs were loaded with athleticism all over the field. The offense was stocked with Stoerner and big-play receiver Anthony Lucas a long with a two-headed monster at running back with Chrys Chukwuma and Madre Hill. The line was big and physical with the late All-American Brandon Burlsworth leading the way at tackle.
The defense, though, may have been even more athletic with size and speed on the defensive line seldom seen over the next two decades. Local boy Ryan Hale, who played for the New York Giants, at tackle with Melvin Bradley and Carlos Hall, who also played in the NFL, on the ends. Big man DJ Cooper also played a big role on the line.
Jeromy Flowers, Randy Garner and C.J. McClain were big, strong and quick at linebacker with the freakishly lanky Quinton Caver coming off the bench. The secondary may be the best in Hogs history with longtime NFL players David Barrett, at cornerback, and Kenoy Kennedy, at safety.
As I watched the first quarter of that game, I noticed how dominant the defense was, matching the Vols’ big-time recruits step for step. The Hogs, were physical, lightning quick and unpredictable with defensive mad scientist dialing up funky blitzes as co-coordinator.
Seeing that "Code Red" defense flying around Neyland Stadium also reminded me how far Arkansas’ defense has fallen. Many of this year’s club couldn’t have made the two-deep lineup of that team. There is no question Arkansas’ unit could use that kind of athleticism.
Since 1998, Arkansas has boasted some great defensive units, from the 2006 team with an entire defensive line of Little Rock players to the unit that helped Arkansas to back-to-back appearances in the Sugar Bowl and Cotton Bowl in 2010 and '11, respectively.
The defense that Robb Smith coordinated in 2014 featured defensive linemen Trey Flowers, who now plays with the New England Patriots, and Darius Philon, who plays with the San Diego Chargers, and linebacker Martrell Spaight, who plays for the Washington Redskins, was very good.
Smith’s defenses the next two seasons were nowhere near as good. Everyone just figured that even with those players departing, Smith was a guru similar to Keith Burns and the Hogs would be that good on defense every year.
Wrong. The talent pool drained and Smith left for Minnesota last year under intense criticism.
It was easy to see, though, that schemes were only a minor part of the problem. While Bret Bielema has brought in some standout offensive talent over the years, he hasn’t loaded his defense with the same kind of athletes. Plus, there is no depth, another component that made that '98 team so good.
The lack of athleticism has become so problematic that new defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads changed from a four front to three down linemen to allow for more linebackers because good crops of defensive linemen have been hard to come by. However, it doesn’t matter what kind of scheme you employ if you don’t have horses. You can’t win SEC games with smoke and mirrors.
While I have a lot of respect for Rhoads’ ability, his best chance to be successful was to convince his boss to put an emphasis on landing defensive studs.
Arkansas has taken a step in the right direction by getting a pledge from highly regarded junior college defensive tackle Emmitt Gooden and Isaiah Nichols, a defensive lineman from Springdale. I have a feeling that when Rhoads was promoted from his secondary coach position, he discussed the importance of recruiting high-caliber defensive players. The other plus of elevating Rhoads is he is a good recruiter and has visited with players as a head coach from his days at Iowa State. The more involved he is in courting players the better the entire program is.
Arkansas has had some great defenses over the past 20 years. Some were more dominant than others, but the common trait they all had was an abundance of talented athletes that included some NFL prospects.
That is what has been missing from recent Bielema recruiting classes.