There has been a lot of back and forth and bickering about this past season and the upcoming seasons with CCM at the helm. I believe though that there is one commonality between all posters. We all HOPE Morris is successful in 2019 and each season thereafter.
Without a doubt, my expectations for a successful 2019 season (6 wins and a bowl) were higher before this 2018 season began than they are now that it’s over. That doesn’t mean that I “hope” CCM falls short in 2019. To the contrary, I hope, with all my being, that he is successful (5 or 6 wins) in the 2019 season. That means the Razorbacks will be successful. And, I hope that he will then be our coach for years to come because it will mean the Razorbacks will have developed a winning and successful SEC football program sooner than later. I believe that is what all posters on here HOPE for.
I’d say we are using the word “expectations” as having a very different meaning. My use of it is what I “expected” them to achieve on the field in 2019 before and after watching the 2018 season. Before this season, I “expected” them to go to a bowl (6-7 wins) in 2019. After watching the 2018 season unfold, I no longer “expect” them to go to a bowl next year. I have lowered my “expectations” (predictions), but still “hope” they make a bowl and surprise me.
My expectation for next year is a slightly better record than this year. This will be due to more play makers on the field and a more favorable schedule. I do not however, have much confidence in this coaching staff’s ability to coach players up or manage games.
I will just say I hope the future brightens. The possibility of a new seasoned QB next year (KB) for a semi fix for a year probably earns us 3 more wins than this year, could be more I hope. Oline permitting.
Or KB is a no show in the spring & we get our own new QB prepared & pray the Oline is more than somewhat better by next fall. The growing pains involved with all the new faces & we win 3 or more games than this year I will be ecstatic.
If they start 1-2 and lose to CSU again then Coach Morris will be in trouble. The way they lost to a horrible CSU team this year was just …well…completely unacceptable. To do that again at DWRRS is not something I think the coach will ever recover from in terms of buy in from the fanbase.
It would be catastrophic and I’m not exaggerating when I say that.
Catastrophic? I guess your definition of catastrophic is different from mine. Horrible would be the descriptor I would use in that situation (like this year’s experience) but it’s just football. Sometimes horrible gives a reference point (some Clemson fans need that reference point for example). It reminds me of a line from a mercyme song, “without suffering grace is hard to see”. The football program will survive another horrible season, although a winning season would be salve to a painful wound.
They won’t lose to CSU next year. As bad as we were this year, it took an unusual set of circumstances for us to lose that game. I will be shocked if we lose any of the non-conf games next year. I also agree with Jackson that if we do, Morris won’t recover from it. At least he won’t unless we win a bunch of conference games.
I can see us going only 4-8, but I think we’ll be somewhat better than that. Maybe only 1 game better, but I still think we’ll win no less than 5. Unfortunately, I don’t feel terribly confident about 6 or more wins. I can see a possible win at Ole Miss, but not too likely. I think we win either MSU, MU or both. Both lose their very good QB’s & we play both at home. (Well, MU at WMS). We should be better at QB, especially if KB comes here, but even without him, Nolan will have spring to practice & a year under his belt. Storey will be better.
My biggest fear is that we’ll still be deficient in the OL.
The thought that we could lose to Colorada State a second time reminds me of a story. A nearby football high school hired a new coach that changed things up in their usually successful program. After two or three loses, they played out of town and lost again. The new coach came home that night to find a “house for sale” sign in his front yard. If we lose to Colorada State in year two , I would put a similar sign in our Athletic Director’s yard. But until that happens, I am totally supportive of Coach Morris despite a first year of very poor coaching.
I’m not ready to make a prediction yet because there is no way to tell who is going to be on the team or not, but I have a hard time picking Colorado State to win here.
2 Touchdowns scored in each game (by the Hogs)
1-2 sacks by Hog defense each game
75% of offensive snaps with more than 10 seconds left on the play clock
Offensive Line improves each week as the young redshirt freshmen develop each week (expecting 3-4 of them to start)
Punter averages 40 plus yards per punt
Boyd to average 5 plus yards per carry with a 1000 yards rushing as feature back
QB to complete 65% of passes
4 passes thrown beyond 30 yards per game (complete or incomplete-stretch defense)
Wide receivers actually block on the wide receiver screens (or what ever you call throwing wide to the back receiver)
Field goal percentage of 75% with 90% on less than 40 yards
Same qb who starts the season as starter finishes the season as the starter (barring injury)
Those are my hopes and exectations for next year - I see those, I will not be worried about the record because the team will have progressed mightly.