we are 1-2, 0-1 in SEC. we are clearly not going to win the SEC, much less the NC. so our goals really to play well so we can have recruits believe in this staff so we can continue to recruit well for the future. I assume all of this as I post the question. I’m admittedly an avid fan but not a football guru, so I’m looking to you guys for sensible opinions.
AA: Positives: he’s a 5th year senior and played very well prior to the Auburn game last year, and played in general better yesterday than the first 2 games. our coaches and our journalist tell us that the team believes in him. good arm, decent mobility. accuracy was VERY good prior to Auburn.
negatives: hold onto the ball long time. looks at receivers. throws a lot of picks. ended the A&M game with bad INT into triple coverage on third down. (right after A&M’s true frosh threw his best pass of the game for TD in OT). body language and yelling at teammates has been terrible the past 2 games-not encouraging teammates, just yelling in obvious frustration. will be gone next year
Kelly: positives: big guy. runs surprisingly well for his size. strong arm. great on-field attitude with teammates, excited and encouraging. who knows about decision making
negatives: who knows, I’ve seen none
the other QB’s I’ve really never seen play, so I can’t say anything about them.
you can tell that I’d like to play Kelly at this point. I’d feel a lot better about next year if we have mainly returning OL and returning QB/TE/TB than if we have a very inexperienced Kelley returning to lead us. and this year is already trashed, so why not let him have a legitimate shot? at best, we finish 4-4 in SEC, which means at best 7-5 and a mid-tier bowl, so why not try the frosh? AA is by all accounts a great guy who will do well in life, but he sure has not made a great positive impact on our first 3 games this season.
So you want to punt the rest of this season, assuming that we’ll beat NMSU, Coastal and no one else (or maybe no one else) and play Kelley. Which is what would happen if we played Kelley. He’s got his little package, and he did OK with it Saturday, but he’s nowhere near ready to be Da Man. If BB did that he SHOULD be fired.
Kelly does not run well. I don’t know what game you were watching. He is slow as molasses. That package won’t put any fear in not one DC in the country.
AA, its a no brainer at this point. What the coaches are doing with Kelly is perfect. Design a few packages in small doses that fit him. He is a little slow but hard to bring down & can fall forward for 3+ yards. We saw what happened when they fully handed him the reigns on a pass play. Things got too fast too quick for him & he never saw the wide open man waving his arms that may have scored if he hits him with an accurate throw across the field no doubt. Instead he got happy feet & sacked.
But designing that little run pass play close up for a TD was great, small doses man at this point.
I wouldn’t make a change at this point in the season. Allen is much better as a polished passer, understands the offense better and is much more accurate. Kelley is fine for the Wildcat package for third and short or on the goal line. That’s a nice role and lets him get his feet wet.
Austin Allen, but the package of plays for Cole Kelly should continue to grow because it helps give Arkansas a better chance to win and it gets him experience for when he is the starter next season.
1972 was a very disappointing season in spite of the presence of a QB that was much more talented than Austin Allen. Joe Ferguson was benched in the final game of that season.
As I see it, there are a lot more areas of concern than QB play. Austin threw the interception in overtime, but he made the throws in the fourth quarter that gave Arkansas a chance to win. The offense played well enough to win.
I vote Rafe Peavy. That is if we can work a trade with the Ponies to get him back. If they need a kicker in the worst way, we’ve got one of those to offer.
Clarence I’ve thought about that quite a bit recently. Joe had WR problems his senior year too. Guys who had been so good the year before were dropping balls like crazy. Unlike this season, we started the 72 season with great expectations only to get drilled by one of the greatest college football teams of all time and never seemed to recover. TCU may not be the 72 USC Trojans, but they look pretty darned good right now. I still have hopes of a bowl season, but if that slips away, I hope a change is made and we start playing for next year.
This, but make those “small doses” a little larger–maybe a full one-third of the game. Plan for next year, forget this year. AA can salvage maybe a 0.500 season, and maybe a bowl that Swine would be proud to go to.
okay, following this logic you have basically conceded the entire year. To make this switch you have asked for, are you firing Bielema at the end of the year? Especially if there is a losing record? If his job is safe he still does not make this change, however, if no guarantee of safety, why would he? That would be career suicide for the man.
I would think the doses may get a little larger, since this was the 1st dose seeing Kelly in action this early in this season period. I bet no one saw that coming in the 1st place.
If for nothing else, to keep AA intact the rest of the season.