FAYETTEVILLE — Follow along as Bret Bielema, Dan Enos and Paul Rhoads review the Coastal Carolina win and look ahead to LSU.
Bret Bielema
— Always easier to grade after a win than a loss. T.J. Hammonds was offensive MVP. Colton Jackson played one of his better games. Jake Hall played his best game, was the defensive MVP. Both of the late hits on QBs were good teaching moments. The refs told him Sosa Agim's probably wasn't roughing but they had to call head-to-head. Connor Limpert and Ryder Lucas were special teams MVPs.
— Coastal Carolina controlled time of possession and limited Arkansas' opportunities.
— Cheyenne O'Grady will be back and ready to roll. Was really sore the day of the game.
— De'Andre Coley and Britto Tutt will hopefully be back.
— Cole Kelley got his toe stepped on and has "extreme turf toe." Is in a boot but should be fully functional. Austin Allen practiced last week and is 100 percent cleared. Didn't want to put him in that situation, wanted to keep the flow of the offense.
— They'll find out exactly how healthy everyone is at QB. Told Austin he'd probably be in. There wasn't a better guy on the sideline with Cole in. Leadership has been outstanding. Got on the offense for a drop.
— Allen has been involved in practice. Everyone expected him to play. His practice reps made everyone feel good. There's a concern with it being at LSU and his first game in a month, but he's comfortable with him taking any or every snap.
— Tremendous respect for Matt Canada. Lot of multiple looks. Tries to keep it simple even with it looking complex. Very good at playing to players' strengths.
— Had a lot of people he was talking to when he hired Jim Chaney instead of Canada.
— We talk about playing in front of our home crowd. Don't address crowd size. "I appreciate all the people that stayed." Didn't even really take notice of the empty seats. "I knew we were going to play a non-SEC opponent.
— Strategic stuff like starting QB and how much T.J. Hammonds will play will be kept in-house for a strategic advantage.
— Winning The Boot twice in a row got the team excited and not keeping it last year hurt. Kelley will have to control his emotions.
— Not saying Kelley will start but he could.
— Little bit of making a bowl game came out in the Auburn prep, told them they could get to 8-4. After that, not as much. "You just concentrate on the task at hand."
— Saw Hammonds was electric as a true freshman. Didn't know where he'd play during recruiting but leaned toward RB and started him there. Had ball security issues and knowing the whole offense. Had the SEC's leading rusher last year, plus Devwah Whaley. To maximize the roster in the spring, moved him to WR. He wanted to jump to WR. Felt good going into the opener. Quite a few plays designed for him, but he had a knee surgery that prohibited his ability to play the first 2-3 games. Had a foot that got stepped on that limited him 2 more games. He's been very, very good. Been at RB for three weeks. Had about 5 practices to learn RB and be full scale in it. Has been above expectations.
— If you only get the guy a ball a certain way when he's on the field, it's counterproductive. He has an awesome attitude.
— Doesn't think the early kick will matter. "We just play the schedule in front of it."
— LSU is very physical.
— Derrius Guice runs with a great demeanor. Has "the whole bag of tricks." Have a couple guys in their rotation this year.
— Gave Johnny Gibson honorable mention offensive MVP strictly because of the fumble recovery.
— The Austin Cantrell at RB package came about when they lost Rawleigh Williams, their true big back. Came about when they started to put in Steamboat, but then they used Kelley there. Cantrell had done everything in high school. Using Jeremy Patton more at TE has cut down on Cantrell's workload and helped him.
— Canada is very creative and opportunistic. Changes looks every week but stays consistent with calls.
— Kelley hurt his toe late in the second quarter. Missed some deep balls, but was accurate with the game on the line. Some of the plays he made were after it had been injured. "He's chomping at the bit to get out there and practice tomorrow." Had more of an effect on Sunday.
— Better to have Kelley lead game-winning drives than the alternative. The offensive production for first and second-year players is at a level he hasn't seen before in this program. To have the trust of your teammates is big.
— Coastal's throws were a lot of one-on-one stuff based on what they run. Held them in check on the final drive. The first two quarters, defense was a little on its heels. Responded very favorably and are very coachable.
— Pass defense had been one of their strengths. It's just a cumulative effect. Not having depth has hurt in practice. They've had to move guys over there just to get through. "It's something we have to address, especially in recruiting."
— Sosa Agim is very dynamic. Good at running. He can run down and tackle things when a lot of guys don't necessarily have that ability. So many of those second-year dynamic players. Deon Stewart, Hammonds, Hayden Johnson, Hjalte Froholdt, Austin Cantrell, Scoota Harris.
Dan Enos
— Played really well. Had four first-half possessions, two touchdowns, a field goal and a holding call that sidetracked one possession. Had a huge mistake with the turnover in the second half, but were able to overcome it. Was a great teaching moment. Had some big plays. Kelley missed a wide-open guy on a post for a TD and they had to punt, which was disappointing. Great resolve being down 38-25 and coming back to win. Lot of young guys on offense, including at QB.
— Hammonds picked up a CB blitz on protection. Have 3 RBs they feel good about. Only had 60 plays. If you have more, you get more guys plays. If you only have 60 plays, it'll limit touches. Good news is they averaged 9 yards per play.
— Will see where both QBs are heading into this week. Kelley got most of the reps last week, but Austin will probably feel better this week. Going into tomorrow 50-50.
— Lot of guys on the team dealing with injuries. Both QBs have been going through rehab.
— The pass to Nance was supposed to be a bubble but he got too deep on his route.
— Tough for anyone to come back after a month off, but Allen has played a lot of football. If anyone can handle it, he can.
— LSU is very talented, as you would expect. Very big inside on the DL. Good DEs. Their LBs are playing at a very high level and a very good secondary.
— Arden Key played really good against Alabama. Explosive, powerful and disruptive.
— Played outstanding against Alabama. They've got really good players. "I expected that game to be a close game."
— Wasn't here when they recruited Cantrell, but Barry Lunney Jr. brought up that he carried the ball well. Used him in practice one day and he hit it downhill. Did a good job. Had a ball security issue, but as far as hitting and understanding it, did a good job. Will probably see it more moving forward.
— Louisiana kids will be very excited.
— Haven't been to LSU at 11 a.m.
Paul Rhoads
— Tackled smart. Didn't have many busts. So why didn't it feel like they played well? Had 45 yards in penalties on the first two drives. Gave up too many balls in the secondary. Got beat at multiple spots and in zone and man. At the end of the game, they made plays. Have to do that consistently to have a chance this game.
— Having Coley back helps keep Josh Liddell fresh. Having Tutt helps CB depth.
— Thinks the Louisiana guys going home is huge.
— Thinks LSU will try to go deep again this week, but they have to stop the north-south run game first to force them to do that. Alabama did that. They have big, good-looking WRs who can make plays.
— Guice is a tremendous back. He'll be right at the top of the list of best backs they've faced this year. They may have as good a 1-2 punch as Alabama and Auburn. He's a complete back. Catches it well, runs with power and speed, can make you miss.
— Doesn't know what to make of LSU putting the backup QB in for Danny Etling last week. Etling got hit but looked fine on the sidelines. He's a good player. If there is a change, it'll be the same offense, which starts with the run game and those backs.
— Agim is a powerful, explosive kid. At that position, it's very important to the defense. Can be a playmaker.
— Hall plays with urgency.
— Been to LSU once with Auburn. College Gameday was there.
— Don't go on many family trips without stopping by a stadium. Excited to play at Death Valley.
— Combination of technique issues by CBs on deep balls and Coastal players making plays. Timing of when you look, timing of when you punch. On the fade to Henre' Toliver to start the second half, they were chicken fighting and he didn't have time to make a play on the ball