LITTLE ROCK — A double barreled college football prediction with a money-back guarantee — the team wearing white will snap the ball a ton of times in Chad Morris’ first Red-White game, and there will be fewer points than in his initial spring game as SMU head coach.
Regarding the first point, Morris said: “I want to set a record for plays in a spring game” and that record must be north of 100.
Concerning points scored, in 2015, the SMU defense tallied 55 and lost by 25 in a contest that included all sorts of inflated scoring opportunities, particularly for the defense. Whether the format was an admission that Morris was desperate to encourage a talent-shy defense or he was trying to attract fans with the promise of a high-scoring game, or he was learning on the job or all of the above, oodles of points were available.
In addition to the traditional touchdown and two-point conversion, the defense also received 5 points for a turnover, 3 points for a three-and-out or a blocked kick, 2 for any drive that was stopped and 2 for a lost yardage play.
Subliminally, a defensive celebration was encouraged almost every time a running back or a receiver was tackled because the offense received 2 points for every run of at least 15 yards and every pass of 20 yards or more.
Despite the likelihood of mucho points, only 5,000 fans showed up. In subsequent years, Morris reduced the points available and the finals were 45-35 and 24-21.
At War Memorial on Saturday, a fourth-down stop, turnover or three-and-out is worth 3 points, a blocked kick 2 points and a lost-yardage play 1 point.
With minimum effort, one conclusion is that Morris is confident that gimmicky scoring is not needed to attract Arkansas fans.
At a minimum, the goal on Saturday should be to top 36,055 — the announced attendance for the Razorbacks’ rout of Florida A&M last August — although Morris has mentioned 50,000-plus more than once.
If the weather forecast of highs in the low 50s and a 50 percent chance of rain is accurate, a crowd in the mid-30s would be commendable.
Razorback fans that bemoan the future of Arkansas games in War Memorial should feel compelled to show up. After all, this is an opportunity to impress both the head coach and athletics director Hunter Yurachek, neither of which has first-hand knowledge of support for Razorback games in Little Rock.
If that’s not enough incentive to attend, start with first team vs. first team — “good on good” is Morris’ description.
Specifically, how about a first-hand look at the Arkansas version of the go-go offense, the quarterback competition between Ty Storey and Cole Kelley, a secondary that has been praised by coaches, the potential replacement for center Frank Ragnow and a long list of relatively unknown pass catchers.
On top of all that, the entertainment is free. Fans simply walk up, walk in, watch and leave when they want.
Personally, it seems fans of SEC football in general should be more interested in Arkansas’ spring game than the other two contests to be televised Saturday.
Morris’ “left lane … pop the clutch … hammer down” quote about offense piques the curiosity, and defensive coordinator John Chavis’ successes at Tennessee and LSU are also a factor.
The other two spring games Saturday involve Ole Miss opposite Arkansas, and Auburn immediately after on SEC Network.
In Oxford, there is great interest in four-star quarterback Matt Corral, who committed to Florida and coach Jim McElwain in July, but flipped to the Rebels after McElwain was canned and former Ole Miss quarterback Shea Patterson transferred to Michigan.
At Auburn, quarterback Jarrett Stidham is a known quantity. Besides, the telecast is smack in the middle of the coverage of the third round of The Masters.