Subscribe to the Newspaper
View the Online Newspaper
Welcome
Search: Site   Web
The Bottom Line ~ The truth, the whole truth

Archive for the 'Arkanas Razorbacks' Category

Once a rat…

December 12th, 2007, 8:37 am by patrickdonohue

dssyaxjnrkkifdb20071212053606.jpg

In case you hadn’t heard, Bobby Petrino bailed on the Atlanta Falcons after Monday night’s schlacking by the Bush-less, McAllister-less New Orleans Saints and took the head coaching job at Arkansas.

The Atlanta press have shown the veracity of their New York brethren in going after Petrino, calling him a quitter and saying that it wasn’t the downfall of Michael Vick or injuries that saddled the former Louisville head coach in the ATL.

In today’s Atlanta Journal-Constitution, columnist Jeff Schultz writes, “Bobby Petrino. Not a man. He’s running like a coward.”

The AJC’s beat writer Tony Barnhart says Petrino has “absolutely no communication and people skills.”

Simply put, Petrino is a rat. He jumped ship in the Derby City (not before trying to take Tommy Tuberville’s job at Auburn, whom had hired Petrino to work on his staff) for the glitz (and the cash) of the NFL but wanted none of the responsibility of being an NFL head coach. But worse than Steve Spurrier and Slick Nick Saban, Petrino didn’t even make it through a single year at the helm of an NFL franchise.  And that’s the guy you want to lead 18-22 young men in Fayetteville? No, thanks.

If there was any doubt that Felix Jones was packing it up and heading for the The League a year early, this seals the deal. Darren McFadden was a done deal but with Jones, Arkansas still had a viable offensive weapon. What about now? Who’s going to lead that offense in the future?  Casey Dick? You can’t be serious.

And what does this hire say about Arkansas football? Is this how desperate they are to win? I know after Tommy Bowden, Jim Grobe and Tommy Tuberville all declined the job, there must have been some scrambling in the AD’s office for some viable candidates but there are a lot of good coaches out there (Ron English, comes to mind) and none with the character issues that Petrino has. But this is really a reflection of how out of whack the expectations are at Arkansas. After the team won the SEC West, that fan base legitimately lost their mind and thought they were Alabama or LSU. With this hire, Arkansas has cemented its position as a second or even third tier SEC program for the forseeable future.

For the record, I do not, in any way, feel bad for Arthur Blank. He hired Bobby Petrino and he entrusted the future of his franchise in the hands of a young man that never exhibited any indication that he was mature enough to handle it and now the franchise is in tatters. As the saying goes, you made your bed, now you’ve gotta sleep in it.

Week 4 Viewer’s Guide

September 19th, 2007, 8:10 am by patrickdonohue

Looking at this week’s schedule, part of me is glad I will miss the majority of Saturday’s action during my trip to Orlando. I guess I’d compare the action, excitement and debate generated by all of the great matchups of week 3 to a Master and Commander-style naval war epic and what do we make of week 4? Well if the schedule is any indicator, it’s shaping up to be a splash fight between two slow-moving elderly folks aboard those plastic paddle boats where you are propelled forward by your legs. None the less, there are some games that are worth watching, if you really have nothing better to do.

Game of the Week: #12 South Carolina at #2 LSU - 3:30 P.M. - CBS

ad9d5b22-576c-447b-ae87-1d1ed9a512e2.jpg

I think it says something about the sorry state of early season college football when a team like South Carolina, a team that has one, count ‘em, one somewhat quality win to their credit is considered one of the top 15 teams in America. None the less Spurrier takes his Gamecocks to Death Valley for an afternoon showdown with the Bayou Bengals. The line on this one? Tigers by 16. Not usually what you would expect from a game between the 2nd best and 12th best teams in the country. This should give fans a pretty good idea of just how inflated USC’s record really is. I think the Gamecock defensecf6f86b1-0906-47a1-bec2-1e28fede5572.jpg will fair better than Virginia Tech’s defense did at slowing down the Tigers running game but I don’t think South Carolina has an answer for Early Doucet, Trindon Holliday and Brandon LaFell. If I were Steve Spurrier, I would seriously consider having backup quarterback Chris Smelley warming up and Baton Rouge General on standby when Blake Mitchell hits the field in Baton Rouge. Consider the following quote from Steve Spurrier in today’s edition of Columbia, S.C.’s The State newspaper:

“At times (with) our pass protection, we don’t block the guy,” Spurrier said. “We ‘offer’ at him a little bit. Next thing we know our guards are watching him go by.”"

Saturday, “the guy” that Spurrier is referring to will be Glenn Dorsey, you might have heard of him. He’s like the best defensive player in America and sure-fire, can’t-miss first round pick in next year’s NFL draft. The concussion-inducing proposition of the nation’s best defensive line going against one of the SEC’s most porous offensive lines is enough to make you tune in to see Blake Mitchell and his lame barbed wire, or tribal armband tattoo get knocked around a little bit. Expect the Tigers to win and win big.

O.G.I. - Other Games of Interest 

Washington at UCLA - 10:15 PM ET - Fox Sports 

A week after getting exposed as the frauds they are, UCLA head coach Karl Dorrell and his Bruins have Ty Willingham and the rebounding Huskies coming to town. Washington and their quarterback Jake Locker is a team that I find very intriguing and could pose some serious matchup problems for UCLA. The Bruin defense struggled last week to stop Brian Johnson and Utah and the similarities between Johnson’s strengths and those of Locker are striking.

#22 Georgia at #16 Alabama - 7:45 PM ET - ESPN

Can lightning strike twice? Can Nick Saban and the new era Tide beat ranked opponents in consecutive weeks? Forget about the rankings for a minute. Georgia is still a pretty good football team and Saban appears to have Alabama on the road back to glory (I don’t know about 16th best team in America but I digress). For Georgia, the formula should be real simple. Run the stupid football and limit turnovers. Get Knowshon Moreno and Thomas Brown the football early and often and repeat. Oh and make sure they don’t cramp up towards the end of the game. ‘Bama gave up almost 6 yards a carry last week in their pseudo-victory against Arkansas and had Darren McFadden not watched the end of the game from the sideline, the outcome of said game might have been different. If Matthew Stafford can take of the ball and not commit costly turnovers, Georgia has a real good chance of knocking Alabama back out of the top 25 and throw the brakes on the Tuscaloosa-based Saban worship — for this week at least.

#20 Texas A&M at Miami (FL) - 7:30 PM - Thursday - ESPN

I find this game interesting but not real interesting. Randy Shannon is trying to restore what is left of the legacy that was “The U” and Dennis Franchione is trying to keep the Aggies from becoming the fourth best team in the Big 12 … again. Franchione should have been looking at how Oklahoma’s offense dismantled the Miami defense and try to emulate that as best he can. Controlling the line of scrimmage will be huge for Texas A&M if they don’t want to get stung at the Orange Bowl.

Under the Radar Game of the Week - #21 Kentucky at Arkansas - 6:00 PM - ESPN2

In the words of Michael Scott, “Fool me once, strike one but fool me twice… strike 85652cef-ba9a-414b-be84-3b7756017516.jpgthree.” Last week, I thought Arkansas had every chance of beating Alabama and an atrocious first half inevitably cost them the game. Against my better instincts, I’m going with Arkansas to defend their home turf and shut down the resurgent Wildcats, who are riding  high after upsetting #9 ranked, intrastate rival Louisville last week. I don’t give Kentucky’s defense enough credit to be able to consistently stop Darren McFadden and Felix Jones despite that they gave up only 101 yards on the ground to Louisville. But let’s be fair, the Cardinals aren’t anywhere near as dedicated to a solid rushing game as Arkansas is and their 27 rushing attempts is proof of that. Arkansas defense particularly it’s secondary, which was dreadful last week against Alabama and made their receivers look like.. well, like Florida’s receivers, has to step up effectively defend Keenan Burton, Jacob Tamme and Rafael Little. Can they do it? We’ll see. But it is certainly gut check time for the Razorbacks. I promise though, if they don’t win this week, I’m never picking this team against another good-to-mediocre team for the rest of the year.

The Bottom Line on… Arkansas

July 25th, 2007, 9:06 am by patrickdonohue

liorujzmrrvtfrz20070725053550.jpg

The single biggest question for me surrounding the reigning SEC West division champions is what effect will all the off-season drama (See: former offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn leaving for Tulsa, Mitch Mustain and Damian Williams transferring to Southern Cal and a fan using FOIA to get head coach Houston Nutt’s cell-phone records) will have on this squad. Will they adopt an “us against the world” mentality and play with a chip on their shoulder or will all the drama of the off-season serve as a distraction, heap more pressure on the team and ultimately make Nutt a lameduck coach in what would be his last year in Fayetteville? We’ll see.

With his job on the line Houston Nutt has the benefit of having two of the best running backs in the SEC and in all of college football lining up in the backfield with Heisman front-runner Darren McFadden and Felix Jones. The Razorback offense should continue to benefit from the continued use of the Wildcat package in which McFadden lines up at quarterback with Jones at tailback. The more time that Casey Dick spends on the sideline the better. No position on this entire Razorback offense is more suspect than quarterback. With Mustain soaking up the sun in SoCal, junior Casey Dick has been named the starter, for better or worse. Dick will have to improve on a 2006 campaign where he posted a completion percentage of 49.2 and threw for 99.1 yards per game with nine touchdowns and six interceptions. If Dick struggles early, don’t be surprised if Dick gets the hook for junior Nathan Emert, who took some big steps during the spring. If you think the Razorback coaching staff has loads of confidence in Dick, consider this quote from offensive coordinator David Lee.

“Casey had an interesting spring at quarterback,” Lee said. “I thought he started off red hot and then really struggled for the middle part of spring practice and then came back and had a good spring game.”

“At the same time, the other quarterback (Nathan Emert) was really consistent, knew where to go and definitely pushed Casey for the first-team quarterback job with a great spring.”

The Razorbacks need something resembling a passing game to keep opposing defenses from lining up every down with 8 in the box to stuff the run. The teams wide receiver corps is a little thin with only 6′6″ senior Marcus Monk returning. Between converted quarterback Robert Johnson, London Crawford, Reggie Fish, Rod Coleman or Chris Baker, someone is going to have to step up and prove they can be a solid no. 2 receiver. The offensive line returns two starts including potential All-Americn center Jonathan Luigs. The performance of the line, especially its ability to effectively run block will be key to the success of the unit as a whole.

The Razorback defense is weak from front to back. Losing end Jamaal Anderson and tackle Keith Jackson and potentially losing tackle Marcus Harrison to injury could leave the Razorbacks with huge holes to fill on their defensive line. At linebacker, the Razorbacks will need Weston Dacus to do his best to fill the shoes left by Will linebacker Sam Olajubutu. In the defensive backfield, the Razorbacks are weak at the corners with what could be two of the SEC’s most underrated safeties behind them, in safety-turned-linebacker-turned-safety Matt Hewitt and free safety Michael Grant, who returns from a grisly knee injury in 2006. Freshmen could be expected to contribute in the defensive backfield, which could mean mistakes and some big plays. Expect this defense to finish in the bottom half of the conference in total defense.

Coming off their division championship, the Razorbacks face a hairy schedule in 2007 that seriously hinders their chances of making it back to Atlanta. They travel to Tuscaloosa, Knoxville and finish the season in Baton Rouge in the Battle for the Boot. Home tilts against Auburn and Kentucky could prove tricky but this team will live and die with how it plays on the road in hostile environments.

Bottom Line prediction: 8-4. I can’t imagine a universe in which Arkansas goes into Tennessee and LSU and comes out with a win. I’m also expecting the Razorbacks to drop two of three against Alabama, Auburn and South Carolina.

ADVERTISEMENT 
ADVERTISEMENT 
powered by
google
Search
        Search: Web    Site