Best web comments of the week

Arkansas mascot Big Red is shown on Saturday, Oct. 16, 2021, during the second half of play at Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville.

Selected comments by Razorbacks fans from the message boards at WholeHogSports.com:

Arkansas fans regroup after a disappointing loss to Auburn at home

neastarkie: I’ve waited to cool down before I posted anything on the game. It was by far the most disappointing game of the season. It changed my outlook for the final record back to 6-6 or more likely 7-5. However, I still see 8-4 as possible. … I still like the trajectory of this team. … At least football is interesting to me in 2021. It wasn’t so for about three years.

cody: I feel the same way. Thankfully, we now play something resembling football and look to be trending upward. … Here’s hoping for a magical end to the season and really magical offseason in the portal!

HogDoctor: Last month we were all giddy about our end of year potential after sweeping the Texas schools, but now reality sets in.

ricemab54: I think that we will win over UAPB, Miss. State, and Missouri. LSU is certainly a winnable game. … Remember how bad we were two years ago? This Razorback team is much better than expected and we will always have to play well to win an SEC football game.

razorwill: We might win six. Same as last year. Defense ran out of gas and we were gashed. The three-man front is no surprise. SEC coaches know what to do. I liked the four-man front today.

sdhog: I just don’t see us winning against MSU… our secondary is very vulnerable … LSU on the road? Nope. Missery? Maybe. We should but we should have beat them last year. I’m thinking we win five for sure, hopefully six, but only two SEC wins.

generalhog: I say we win the next five outright. These next two weeks couldn’t come at a better time. This team as a whole needs to regroup and figure some things out and we essentially have three weeks to do it and I think they will.

thehuntinhog: Every game left is winnable. That’s the good news.

dogen: This is ridiculous. Why do we even show up?. Just shut it down and let’s move on to basketball season. Seriously. Texas A&M beat ‘Bama. And we beat the Aggies. But it’s the freaking favorite line around here like the gospel that we cannot beat ‘Bama. We are incapable. No possibility. … Definitely a loser mentality. … I’ll say this: We can beat ‘Bama. Chad Morris couldn’t. But Pittman and KJ and this team can. It is a possibility.

rzbackangler: Yes, UAPB is a win. After that we can win any of them if we play we played against Texas. If we play like (against Auburn) than only Missouri is a likely win.

adgebg: 6-6 looks most likely unless we manage somehow to beat MSU. I just hope we do get to six wins.

eaglehog5: My 7-5 pre-season prediction is looking pretty accurate at this point, though I think 8-4 is far more likely than 6-6. That was a brutal stretch of four games we just went through. We need a cupcake and a nap, which is exactly what we’re getting.

thenotoriouspig: We were happy because we should have been happy. We are better than everyone else on the schedule except ‘Bama — doesn’t mean we will win them all… We got rocked by the clear No. 1 team in the country, lost on the road to a Top 10 team by 2 yards, basically, and then lost a game, today, with four starters out that we could have won had we caught a punt, not given up a strip sack TD and not gotten abused by the refs in our home stadium. We are a good team … But, sure. Let’s go back to the woe-is-me, inferiority complex stuff. … Until it stops, we will continue to be an afterthought.

ncschwartz3650: For all you who as disappointed: Of course you are, as I am. But you are not as disappointed as the players and coaches. And you need to put this all in perspective. We had not won an SEC game in three years before Pittman showed up. … Cheer up. As Nolan said, not all sickness is death. We’ll probably be fine. But fans losing hope for little reason won’t help at all.

brorodger: Injuries seem to haunt us at the wrong time. I’m still behind the team. A couple of breaks our way would be nice. We can still go to a bowl game. After the last few years, I’m going to be happy about it. We are heading in the right direction but it’s going to take time.

goldsurfer: As always, folks know better than the coach. That play didn’t work, so it’s a bad call! Our defense makes a stop (It’s a) great play, not the opposing coach made a bad play call. Armchair QBs, after the fact, I just find it very amusing. Three weeks ago our coaches was geniuses!

Should starting quarterback KJ Jefferson play against UAPB Saturday?

poochpunt: Does KJ really need to play this Saturday? Yes, it is his first full year and reps are important. I just don’t think this far along in the season taking hits unnecessarily will be advantageous down the stretch. I’m sure there’s plenty of other walking wounded that could use a three-week healing period.

youdaman: Yes, he needs to play. He’s still progressing as a quarterback. He needs to approach this game just like another SEC game. He needs to continue to get better each and every week.

hawgcotton: Understand your point but Sam Pittman has to win this game and best shot is to build big early lead and then start resting and letting other backups get experience. Unfortunately, due to depth and injuries, he does not feel comfortable depending on wholesale shift in starters until he knows the game is in hand.

ewest: He should salt this game away and boost his confidence. No way should we take for granted we win this game with the bus ride. Take care of business early and enjoy watching the others play the second half. This game should be fun, there is healing in that. We are not far enough removed from losing these kind of games.

cody: KJ will hopefully only play the first half. We need to get up by four scores, then let the (backup quarterback Malik) Hornsby run the show the second half. If the Hogs go up big early, then KJ and the other starters sit earlier. On defense, this is a great time to find some young playmakers. We have a lot of DBs on this team. Now is the time to figure out who is SEC quality and who isn’t.

ClayHenry: The fact that Hornsby has not been great is the reason you start KJ. Get the lead. Getting the lead is important for the rest of the team and getting others in the game. …Not starting KJ has merit. But getting the lead so others play has more merit.

neastarkie: Yes. Start KJ and get an early lead. While I expect to win the game easily, it’s possible to blow it off badly enough to lose.

oklahog: We saw what happened (vs. Rice) when you don’t take advantage of an out-manned opponent early. They scratch and claw a bit harder, and a bit longer, extending the time on the field for the starters. We desperately need to see the pups play and we desperately need to rest the starters.

tuschawg: I can see alternating series with them, starting with KJ (assuming a TD on the first drive). I can also see a scheme where Hornsby only throws, period, unless he’s forced from the pocket. In other words, it hardly does the Razorbacks any good to scheme Hornsby to run and not to take advantage of UAPB to develop confidence in his passing game. His first play should be a long pass.

hogbacker: Trying to decide who to play and for how long is a question that should be answered by halftime and hopefully by the end of the first quarter. We were calling last weeks game a must win, the one we are getting ready to play is the must win game of the season. Lose this one and we will be seeing the ghost of Chad Morris.

Predictions for Saturday’s game in Little Rock

LoudLoyd: Hogs get well a little ahead of the off-week: 52-13.

armyhog: I hope to see the young players play and get some experience. As long as the Hogs win and avoid injuries it will be fine.

neastarkie: Seems like I had 52-14 in another thread, so I agree with your prediction. Hogs can name the score so I guess it will be what kind of score they want to name. I don’t see them scoring more than 52 unless they can’t avoid doing it. I think by the end of the game we’ll see a whole lot of players getting some PT, so I wouldn’t be surprised if UAPB doesn’t manage at least a couple of TD’s late.