Ouch! Oh man! That one stung, badly.
Two missed FGs and an ill-timed turnover on a late-game drive that coulda/shoulda/woulda won it for the visitors, turned out to be the tale of the tape on Saturday evening, as our beloved Arkansas Razorbacks fell to the Rebels of Ole Miss in an SEC slugfest, 41–35, down in the Magnolia State.
Six puny points were all that separated these two border rivals, after the final horn blew, and what a game it was! Other than Scott Starzyk’s inaccuracy (x2) and Jalen Brown’s greasy fingers on that fateful and final drive, both teams turned in nearly flawless performances. Unfortunately, the Rebels’ report card was indeed error-free, while the Hogs stumbled thrice and, boy, were they costly.
We owned the time of possession by a whopping six-plus minutes, secured four-more first downs, successfully converted nine of 12 third downs, out gained Ole Miss by 50+ yards and only punted once. Usually, all of that adds up to a resounding victory and glorious ride home.
Just not this time.
When special teams are less than spectacular, and the defense surrenders 40+ points on the road – teams get beat, and such is so.
Many Arkansas fans I conversed with prior to the Ole Miss game (and the entire season for that matter) were concerned about the defense; and well, I now understand why. Too many times Travis Williams’ band of headhunters gave up huge chunks of yardage and, consequently, had a hard time keeping the Rebels from scoring. When you surrender 41 points to a Top 25, ‘tis hard to come out on top, especially in their house.
But, man-oh-man. Once their QB1 went down we were so poised to win this match up.
The Pittman Bus will again hit I-40 East on Saturday, en route to Memphis this time, to face a-currently-ranked-and-proud University of Memphis team. Personally, I doubt the Hogs will have much trouble defeating the Tigers,’traditionally a basketball school. For that matter, I seriously doubt that any American Athletic Conference schools would be able to handle the Hogs and particularly Mr. Football’s offense on any given Saturday. Ideally, Defensive Guru, TWill, will right his ship and turn things around for these final nine games. If not, it may be a long-and-final year for ol’ Sam and company.
But I hope not. My heart of hearts still firmly believes that he is the correct coach to lead this University of Arkansas football team back to the promised land it once occupied, as long as he hires and retains quality assistant coaches, which he doesn’t seem to have a problem doing.
‘Cept for special teams coach, Scott Fountain. He came with Pittman and has continued to under-impress ever since arriving on campus. Sure, there have been some quality kickers on board (Cam Little), but that’s about it. The return game has been 100% absent during his tenure and does not seem to be improving. Saturday was no different.
After the Memphis game the Hogs head east, down I-40 again. This time to Knoxvegas, where the Volunteers of Tennessee eagerly await with revenge on their minds. The high-flying and highly ranked Vols took one on the chin here last season when the Hogs managed to beat the Vols, thanks mainly to former back-up QB, Malachi Singleton, who has since transferred.
Adios, amigo.
So instead of opening conference play with a decisive dub, the Hogs find themselves back behind the dreaded eight ball. If anything, battling Ole Miss down to the wire will only improve the team’s stock and confidence, but what a bulky and cantankerous pill this loss was to swallow (there simply ain’t enough Red Drank in the entire Natural State to wash this it down). Dreams of running the table in September and having ESPN’s Gameday on hand when Notre Dame comes to Fayetteville in early October have vanished. But all is far from lost. This is still a dang-good football team that will prevail in the end. All we need is for Lady Luck to shine her ever-loving light on our way.
So until then, hang with your homies and soak up the love, cuz it is on the way. And once the bulk of the schedule unfolds – we shall know, once and for all, just how good this team is. I believe.
WooPig!!!