Here is what I think are the issues with the team and has been pretty much the same all season…
First offense…. It’s the freaking OL… and If you can’t see that I’m sorry. First they can not sustain physical line of scrimmage blocking for 4 quarters…. This has been exhibited time and time again…. I don’t care about hitting someone on a counter, or using finesse blocking to allow for a draw or a cutback , yes we can run the ball for chuncks when our QB is not accounted for by having an extra defender in the box, or our RBs hit a lane on a cut back… but to just line up and whip a DL, nope we can’t a lot of the time and especially in short yardage, goal line, or late in games… that’s the problem! Our OL, and TEs are below what they need to be…. I’ll give you a play in the 4th quarter that is a prime example…. When they sent KJ in motion and snapped to R Dub…. That was an attempt to off set the poor blocking , esp on the left side, by attempting to trick the eyes of the ends and LBers… not because someone got cute, because someone has to get cute… the OL has to get stronger and more physical!
Same thing on Defense…. Kansas In the first half attempted to attack our CBs, and that didn’t work well at all… they couldn’t run at all last night …but in the second half, Kansas started to attack our Safties , #15 and #17, also #7… I think Nudie gave up like one pass… but what compounds this is our lack of a pass rush, we can’t put pressure on the QB, for sure can’t be disciplined in our rush to maintain the edge… this allows the QB time to attack our weak safety play…. And boy did they and everyone else attack our safties , and our edge…. Until that’s fixed , we will continue to just be exploited….
Let’s see how these issues are addressed in the next 5 weeks in recruiting and over the next 8 months in the weight room…
Un-freaking-believable. We rushed for 394, gained 681, allowed zero sacks and you’re complaining about the offensive line??? With a true freshman thrown into the fire at right guard after Crawford got hurt?
I’ve been on this board and it’s predecessors for 25 years and read a lot of lame takes. This officially takes and retires the prize.
Maybe since it has been a topic that I have harped on for much of the season, but it sure looked to me that the four man front on defense helped our defense last night. Our pass defense was erratic, some pretty good and other times it seems the Kansas receivers were uncovered. Guess some missed assignments were to be expected and I guess that often times in bowl games the tackling is not as sharp as it should be. Really thought the linebackers played well and actually was pretty pleased with the defensive line, seems the Kansas line could not block them without rampant uncalled holding.
We need to surround McAdoo with some more athletic and physical secondary mates. While I appreciate the leadership and effort that Blair brought to the secondary, his physical limitations made him vulnerable. Not sure if he plans to come back and what next years depth chart will present, but it would be great to have more speed and physicality at out safety positions.
You dang right ! Yes after I’ve seen it time and time again over the season … until we have an OL that gets stronger as the game goes on, can get push when the box is loaded, can get push when it’s short yardage… yes I will complain about our OL and TEs blocking…
And bravo we didn’t give up any sacks , against Kansas with a brilliant mobile QB….
I think there is some validity to your basic point about the OL and TE needing to develop more sustainable, functional strength.
However, regardless of how strong the lines are and how long that strength can be sustained, the defense is still going to win sometimes if they roll enough people up close to the line of scrimmage. That’s true for Arkansas, and it is also true for everyone else in the SEC. That’s why it’s so satisfying when you can keep pounding them with the run-it’s really hard to do if the other team is well-coached and has decent defensive talent.
And I agree with that … and I’m not talking just about last night , this has been an issue all season… yes the defense will win sometimes, but we lost a lot of close games this year… seems to me in those games they won on ALL critical plays or points in the game …
You do have some good points about not being good at all at straight ahead, get out of the way, bull blocking. They don’t seem to be able to move anybody. They do some good things as well as all those yards attest last night. They can finesse block well. They are marginal in pass blocking. It is a good thing they have a strong , mobile QB that makes the stats look better.
I am more concerned about the Dline going forward. They did a good job against the run, but that was against Kansas. Everybody should look good against KS run game. Don’t know what that means. Last night was not a good judge of pass rush as holding and even take downs was not called.
I just do not see enough of real, game changing SEC quality linemen being brought into the program. All the fast, pretty boys are great. Have to have them, but I want to see more guys strike fear in the hearts of whomever is over them. That is the type Olinemen who say we are going through the A gap for 2 yards and there is nothing you can do about it. The 8 (you need at least 8) Dlinemen must be big, quick, fast and hate offensive players. I use to say they should have to be kept in a cage and poked with sharp sticks by people wearing orange shirts so when they are let out they have the right state of mind.
O line was not the issue last night. KJ had plenty of time. Offense was not a problem. Sorry.
Defense gave up too many open areas as you detailed. Kansas played with two tight ends and that required four man front and often with nickel at end. That exposed safeties.
Scherer decided to stop a terrific Kansas running game. Stopped it cold.
Rush was not bad but holding was allowed.
That’s what I saw.
I will add that safeties and nickel wore down in fourth quarter. Not much subbing there because of low numbers there.
Of course two plays heavily impacted how we feel about what we saw. Bad call on fumble that was not a fumble and failure on onside kick.
I thought KJ could have kept four or five times when he misread option. But no one gets that perfect not even Quinn Grovey, Scott Bull or Ron Calcagni. Dubinion’s decisions were not always perfect on where the hole developed against a slanting front.
Option and RPO leave players unblocked. If you read it wrong unblocked guy wreaks havoc and you feel bad about O-line.
But as far as assignments and physical level of play, I did not feel like I saw problems detailed by OP.
I zeroed in on line play a lot last night as I do a lot. I just did not feel there were glaring issues for the Hogs.
I was told practices were extremely physical in last two weeks. Players worked hard and accepted tough coaching. And they played hard.
Man, you have motivated me to write my own takes…on another thread. I am not going to criticize…you have a right to your opinion. And this is an opinion board. But I think you and I watched different games. No pass rush? Wow. Our pass rush was instrumental in some big plays, man. Our secondary played well early…but, imo, showed fatigue as the game wore on. 55 passes? That’s alot of chasing folks around. And we played only 7 that I counted…with the main 5 playing most snaps.
I will flesh out my thoughts later. Thanks for yours…but I sure disagree.
Aloha,
Hogs would have won in dominating fashion last night with a properly officiated game. The zebras kept KU in the game, even into OT.
I was pleasantly and happily surprised by how well Arkansas played despite the loss of approximately 24 players and eight starters. Thought CSP and his coaching staff did a marvelous job of handling an incredible challenge…a disappointing season, several ugly losses including Mizzou and all of the departures.
Hand salute to CSP, his staff and the young men who exceptionally well represented the state of Arkansas, the flagship Fayetteville campus, its students and fans. Those boys never quit and fought until they eventually won…despite the horrendous officiating.
UA…Campus of Champions
I thought the pass rush was particularly good - created pressure without flushing a mobile QB into space. That is usually the trade off for UA - pressure might create a sack, or it creates a 15-yard gain for the scrambling QB. That did not happen. Brilliant work by Deke Adams with his troops up ront.
I’ll point out, again: we were without Carter (all year) but also the #1 DT this year, Gregory (out due to surgery). Ball stepped into his place and was a beast. We moved Landon Jackson inside some. If he can gain and sustain the weight I like that move, giving us a long and athletic DT.
We seem good at finding good DEs. We may have to manufacture DTs.
Clay, we can agree to disagree… from the mid 3rd quarter until the end of regulation the OL, especially on the left side , and against a Kansas defense ranked about where we are nationally, stuffed our run blocking on short yardage…. And that has been an issue all year…it appears to me that time and time again when we need it , in short yardage, or goal line we can’t get it…
Now I’m sorry if this sounds cocky , but we should be able to bully a Kansas front in the second half of a football game… and I didn’t see it all that mucg…
Yes, I disagree. I thought the offensive numbers were incredible. They can get better in the line but those guys do not deserve to be hammered like you did. I watched them pretty closely. I think it’s sad to write that kind of a critique. I guess you wanted 500 rushing.
After reading some of this I probably need to log out here and stay logged out. I’ll fish more or on cold days, just tie more flies.
Today’s fans have a way of demanding perfection. I should understand it but I dont.
It’s worse than that. 681 yards is basically perfection (fourth highest in school history, highest ever against a Power 5 team) and he still ain’t happy.
Thought the Hog offense was good, especially pleased with the play of the offensive line. Yes, there were some times we did not control the line of scrimmage, but with the insertion of different pieces and the injury to one of those pieces, the unit looked pretty effective.
The focus on yardage records may become a little misleading, as it seems defenses are lagging well behind decent offenses, maybe more pronounced in bowl games, which is probably understandable. At least in the bowl games I have caught, wide receivers have appeared very wide-open and tackling not that sharp. Many have said that the proliferation of seven on seven during the summers has led to more developed throwing and catching skills, but why have coverage skills seemingly not kept up?
Anyway it appears the current trends in football will continue to break offensive, especially passing, numbers. I don’t remember being bored with the 17-13 games of the 60’s, but seems, just like me, they are becoming relics of the past.
The OL played very well in the bowl game. Incredibly well. Now granted, it took us 7 plays to score 5 times in 3 OT’s, but those 2 plays where we didn’t score got us first downs and very close to the goal line.
I have a hard time blaming the OL for the 15 points KU scored in the last 2 minutes.