re: Arkansas next year

Has no bearing on future games as I would have thought you learned last week. Obviously not. Y'all are talking about getting this or that prospect. Man, we are 2-3 deep at most positions with guys better than many of your starters having to wait in the wings. IF we win national championship, recruiting will gain an edge again. Other down SEC teams will begin to close in on you as well. If you don't win at least an SEC championship in two years or so, you could lose Peteino and suffer a Temnessee scenario as he departs for greener pastures. All conjecture of course, but damn sure plausible. Get the blinders off. This is big boy ball!

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Arbengal

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big boy football=2-3 vs us in last 5 years?

yeah we're real intimidated.

After that arse whippin you just took, perhaps you ought to LEARN about being intimidated! Haha. That was embarrassing to your program. Not a good thing. I understand that's difficult to face, but it doesn't change the facts. Y'all have got to get over the big game hump or it could become a legacy of your program in the Petrino era. I think you probably will, but it isn't going to be a cake walk.

A few thoughts on both sides of the coin, regarding improvement vs. deterioration.

1) The lines tend to be where SEC teams live or die; it is very hard to win if you can't compete on the lines. On the offensive line, it was absolute garbage through the early part of this year-- we're talking double teams unable to stop people at the point of attack bad. By the end, they were keeping Wilson upright better, and even managed to build a small semblance of a running game. It wasn't ideal, particularly when the unit had to be patched together with two anticipated starters being jettisoned from the program effectively after July. Defensively, the loss of Bequette will hurt early more than later-- the only sunny side to playing without the starting ends for most of the first half of the year is the amount of snaps seen by guys who weren't expected to be asked to contribute until next year or the year after. The front 4 defensively is going to be built from the middle out, in terms of talent, rather from the edge inward. The pass rush will take a step back, IMHO, but the interior is going to be much, much better.

2) The offense is designed to bring in WR and integrate them step by step. They may be a little less explosive on the perimeter overall, but they get taller than this year's unit, and more importantly, none of them have shown the signs of the drop problems that have affected Adams and even Wright at times that have cost Arkansas huge in big games (think of the 1st quarter of last year's Sugar Bowl). Chris Gragg quietly put together a very solid year, and came along most in the last month of conference play. That's going to change how Arkansas attacks the seams a bit.

3) Knile Davis. Like him or not, if he's reasonably healthy, he is an All-SEC type performer at RB. This year's Arkansas offense had a lot of things, but not the grind it out 25 carry a game guy who could not only hit the home run, but who could punish people for 4 or 5 yards at a time and keep the chains moving. Arkansas was among the worst in the league at converting 3rd and less than 3-- and that won't likely continue with a healthy Davis. Kiero Small will continue to be a terror, and will be Davis' best friend.

4) Redshirting. Programs that don't draw in super elite talent need redshirting to help provide depth. Arkansas redshirted 17 of the 25 signees counted towards this year's class, tied for the most in the SEC. These are the players who will be asked to carry special teams and scout loads.

5) Special Teams-- Even with the loss of Adams, the kicking game should be at or near the top of the SEC. The return game has potential, and will need to realize it.

Reasons for concern:

1) Linebacking depth is still non-existent. There will be no shortage of opportunities to win jobs in Spring Practice. This is the unit that will make or break defensive improvement.

2) Tackling -- while this team was a bad tackling unit, the best tacklers off of it are going to be gone. Someone is going to have to pick up the tackling load.

3) The corners are going to be asked to hold up more in pass coverage than this year; the decline of the edge rush will mean that a secondary's best friend is going to take time to develop.

4) Turnovers- this year's team was actually really good at taking care of the football, given the raw number of plays the offense ran. Turnover rates are likely to increase

To me, Arkansas is going to be a team that's better with a lead than this year's unit, but one that is slightly less likely to put up huge point totals. The ability to move the sticks should improve fairly considerably, but it will be needed to keep the defense from being gassed.

Linebacker injuries, and to a lesser extent injuries at CB and OT will be huge negatives. Davis' health can be the difference between playing for an SEC title and winning 8 games.

9 wins is a reasonable expectation for a floor. As always, the measuring stick will come in dates against Alabama and LSU. Potential ambush games are in Starkville (we play like hot garbage in Starktopia) and @Auburn. Less than 9 will be a disappointment; 10 will be a 'pretty good' year; more than that will be an unqualified good year.

It doesn't hurt that A*M is going into full bore rebuilding next year. That game has had minefield written all over it the past two years, and the Hogs have survived both, despite poor to middling performances. If Mullen leaves Starkville in a lurch, or if Tennessee continues to be a basket case, the conference road schedule looks to be one of the easier ones the Hogs will have had since joining the SEC.

Signs things are going well early: Gragg puts up big numbers soon. The defense finds a way to get edge pressure and gets to the QB. The running game shows signs of productivity before mid- October. You watch a game and hear linebackers mentioned by name regularly for making plays.

Signs that things are going bad: Turnovers show an uptick in the non-con schedule. The offense does not move the chains effectively or consistently early. Teams run the ball up the gut with productive results.

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or if Tennessee continues to be a basket case,

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Tennessee is no longer on the schedule. A&M has taken their spot in the conference schedule and we will be adding a new OOC opponent to take A&M's place.

Who cares about a dumpy team that plays in a dumpy stadium and has a pussy for a coach....

just saying

I'm expecting much more "F U, MFer!" from the piggie sideline

Speaking of dumpy- LSU is still in Baton Rouge correct?

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Offense should be as good or better. Defense will be the question mark again. Probably about the same, but I like that we get LSU and Bama at home.

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Help me- it's early. Is Tyler returnig next year?

Then with both Tyler & Nile Davis coming back, they should still have a good offense.

It's defense where they seem to have issues with the heavies(at least this year)...


I'd look for them to have continued success, though.