Almost immediately after Arkansas’ 31-27 loss to LSU on Friday, a text message was received from an Ole Miss fan.
He took exception to a comment in this space Friday wondering how LSU could have lost to Ole Miss, which lost the Egg Bowl on Thursday to Mississippi State.
He then blasted the Razorbacks for not winning and finished his little tirade with “Find someone else to insult. #karma #neveryield.”
I don’t get the # thing, never will, but to be honest, the text ticked me off.
It was juvenile of me to respond, but I was on deadline and he knew that. He knew I picked Ole Miss over Mississippi State. I also had an especially difficult week after putting my mom in assisted living, and he and everyone who reads this column knew that. Plus, I was trying to make sense of what I had just seen happen in Death Valley.
My response to him was pointed and included one profanity that I should regret, and maybe will someday.
Admittedly, the marketing campaign of #neveryield has started at the worst possible time. Not that it isn’t clever and a good idea, but no one really believed the Razorbacks would be better than .500 this season, and that would have taken luck.
However, to continue to exploit Jen Bielema’s #karma tweet, which she sent out after an early season Wisconsin loss, is ridiculous. She was treated with hostility when she stayed behind to sell their home before making the move.
As sure as Arkansas’ season was defined Friday evening, Coach Bret Bielema has come to realize what a monumental chore he has ahead of him. The Razorbacks football program is not going to be fixed in one year or two. There is not enough speed, size or depth. And discipline has come slowly.
Bielema started seven freshmen Friday against the No. 17 Tigers. Five of the seven - Hunter Henry, Dan Skipper, Denver Kirkland, Brooks Ellis and D.J. Dean - are true freshmen. Two other freshman starters, defensive tackle Darius Philon and cornerback Jared Collins, are redshirts. Another true freshman, running back Alex Collins, did not start but finished his season with 1,031 yards, becoming only the second Arkansas true freshman to exceed 1,000 yards, the other being the school’s all-time leading rusher, Darren McFadden.
Eight other freshmen - two true freshmen and six redshirt freshmen - saw action as reserves.
That’s according to the participation chart LSU released after the game. If it is accurate, and there is no reason not to believe it, 16 of the 50 players - and that includes special teams - were playing against the Tigers in a hostile environment for the first time.
Maybe that had a little to do with why this season was defined with 3:04 to play after Sam Irwin-Hill’s 65-yard punt backed up LSU to its 1.
LSU was down to using true freshman quarterback Anthony Jennings, a four-star recruit from Marietta, Ga., (his father was a defensive lineman at Georgia) whose previous game experience was three passes and 11 rushes.
That’s when a team has to decide whether it is going to find a way to win, or lose.
Jennings made the choice for everyone. He is what has been Arkansas’ Achilles’ heel for years, a mobile quarterback who can throw. Still, he had 99 yards to go.
Truth is, he not only made it look simple, he gave the Tigers Nation hope for next season.
When he took over for Zach Mettenberger on the previous possession, the Tigers had a false start, Jeremy Hill and Jennings each rushed for 3 yards, and LSU punted to give Arkansas the ball at its 25 with 4:56 to play. The Hogs eventually faced third-and-2,passed for 2, and then came the punt that put the Tigers at the 1.
It took just five plays to get to the Arkansas 49. But the Hogs defense bowed up, and with less than two minutes to play the Tigers were faced with third and 10.
The enduring image of Travin Dural getting all alone for that 49-yard touchdown pass from Jennings will haunt the Hogs for a while and live forever in LSU lore.
It wasn’t #karma. It was a team finding a way to win, which is something Bielema knows he has to teach his team. For the first time, he got the effort for almost an entire game, just not a whole game.
Sports, Pages 23 on 12/01/2013