Selected comments from the message boards at Whole HogSports.com:
On the Razorbacks wearing all-white uniforms, including helmets, against Eastern Illinois.
eaglehog5: White at home? How gaudy and uncouth. Why it’s positively LSU-ish. A major fashion faux pas I say. Like wearing corduroy after April.
gashog: Great! I like it.
Jhawg: Those white helmets are lame. They look like the Texas Longhorn helmet. They need a large red stripe down the middle like the Tennessee orange stripe.
Hawgjawbend: Let’s start focusing on winning and recruiting above all else rather than whatever “tradition” regarding uniforms some think we have. … Also, we need to root for the players wearing the uniforms, not the uniforms themselves. If the players are lackluster, then the color of the uniform doesn’t help any.
Colorado Hog: Makes a ton of sense on a sunny, hot day. Put on a red shirt and go out in the sun. Then put on a white one. It will take about 15 seconds to tell the difference.
Hogsrus: At the end of a winning game, I rarely (complain) about any of the colors being worn by the Hogs. Before the game, I might be a little more decisive about my preferences.
Razorwill: White helmets? Barf. All white at home? Don’t like. Doesn’t matter what I think, an old-timer here. Wonder if the statue of Frank will bow and shake its head?
JacksonReid: White unis at home and playing in-state schools (announced) all in one week. Times, they are a-changin’.
BluegrassRazorback: Win and it will be OK.
On preseason concerns about Arkansas’ depth on the offensive line …
bush hog: We have certainly had some issues under several coached during transitions, but I’m not sure I can remember a time with so many injuries/issues/lack of depth (on the offensive line).
A U Fan: My answer is last year. I thought our O-line was going to get Austin Allen killed.
Razorback fans play “what if” ….
ARKANSAS870228: What if Matt Jones was the starting quarterback during the Darren McFadden era? I think we win a national championship!
WorldSeriesofPorker: We could have Clay Henry, Dudley Dawson, Richard Davenport and Scottie Bordelon blocking for them!
EuroHog: Sure. What if we had Dan Hampton, Dennis Winston, Steve Atwater, Ken Hamlin, Billy Ray Smith Jr., Ahmad Carroll, et al, on defense on that team? Too bad it doesn’t work that way.
What’s the best case scenario for the 2018 season?
COHOG1: Everything I read seems pretty dire this year for a variety of reasons, but what is the absolute “best case”?
gashog: I try to stay away from “lower your expectations and be glad with poor to average” stuff. The bar is the bar. It doesn’t float up and down. You are either getting closer to it or farther from it. Having said that, I’m sticking with undefeated and a national championship and our own Netflix series about the season.
Buckhog: There is always a team that comes out of nowhere and has a surprisingly good season. That’s my plan for the Hogs. We have some good players on this team. If this team builds some confidence in the first few games, they will not be somebody foes want to play.
BobgHawg: The absolute best case would be 15-0 and Nationals Champs. Most likely, however, is win seven games. From what I read, most fans would like 6-6, but I thing seven is possible if not real likely.
BatonRougeHog: My best hope right now is that we win our first game. I’ll worry about the second one afterwards, and on and on.
doubtingbob: The team is nowhere good enough to expect over five wins. Our line is terrible, the defense is worse and we have no quarterback. When you have six quarterbacks, you have none.
What will the strength of the 2018 Razorbacks be?
BluegrassRazorback: I understand Arkansas’ defense may be a strength for this team. The offense will go the way the O-line goes. If I was an opposing coach I would attack the Arkansas O-line with stunts…
Bayouhog: … Let’s see how it plays out. I think the Hogs are going to be a good surprise this year, both offensively and defensively.
Swine Fusion: Much of Chad Morris’ offense, from what I can tell, is sniffing out the stunts and attacks pre-snap and defeating them with getting the ball out quickly.
WizardofhOgZ: For some reason that evokes images of the Houston “run and shoot” offenses from 30 years ago. They’d spread the field and then give the ball to a running back named Chuck Witherspoon who was about 5-7 and 230 pounds. He ran like the proverbial rolling ball of butcher knives through the spaces between defenders and put up some pretty big numbers.
Swine Fusion: Exactly. Except Houston didn’t use RPO (run-pass option). They just ran Spoon on draws to keep the D from dropping eight and doubling everybody. I remember Spoon well. He might only carry 12 times but he’d roll up the yards.
Score predictions:
MountainHawg: Hawgs 42, EIU 17. Biggest story line — Defense gets seven sacks, but our offense gives five.
eaglehog5: Hogs 38. Eastern Illini 14.
GentryRzrbk: 55-47, good guys.
sachawg: Mercy. If we give up 47, boy, it’s gonna be a tougher year than I hoped.
Dbhog: 45-28 Hogs.
white25: Take Goliath on this one. Arkansas 38, EIU 6.
adgebg: Hogs 45-9.
Buckhog: Hogs 54-7.
LDHog: Hogs 49-7.
Hogbacker: 42-10. Hogs’ defense scores twice. Let’s start off with a sign of what’s to come! WPS!
Georgia Hawg: Hogs 45-13. Running game goes hammer down and averages over nine yards per carry.
Bayouhog: Hogs 45-10. Regarding some of the above threads, if this team scores 30-plus on us it is going to be a very long year.
Hogsrus: 42-7 Hogs. I think our defense is going to surprise.
Hawginator: Hogs 42, Eastern Illinois 16. If the score is any closer than this, it’s going to be a long season.
SoArkHog: Hawgs 31, EIU 13. Kim Dameron will have his team fired up to play his alma mater and the game will be close for the first quarter-and-a-half. But late in the second quarter the Hogs begin to get their footing offensively and take care of business. While it’s only a three-score game, the defense shots down the EIU offense …
gashog: 56-21. Full tilt Pigfest!
Kstegall21: Arkansas 52, E. Illinois 10.
HoldenHogfield: 24-23, Hogs. We start out sluggish, appear unmotivated. A key defensive bust leads to long TD pass by EIU and we are down early. Team wakes up and takes the lead at half. …In the 4th quarter we tire, look visibly exhausted and the coaches get very conservative with play calls. … we give up a late TD, under a minute to go. Then we block a PAT, survive, barely. No backups play …. Fans go home grumbling. Coaches assure us that all is well and they seem very confident. Oh, wait. That was our LAST coaching staff.