From the Bench

Petrino Climbs Ladder of SEC Coaching Rankings

Robert Shields

The Razorbacks continue to play basketball, but the same question remains -- if the Hogs lose, does anyone even know anymore? With that in mind and since no one cares about basketball this season, let’s stick with football until there is another player suspension in basketball. So here goes my third-annual ranking of SEC coaches. Unlike other writers who pull this gimmick, I flip the script and do mine in reverse order.

12) This spot goes to Lane Kiffen at Tennessee. Oh but he left so this now goes to the guy that replaced him named Dooley. Somehow, Tennessee thought getting rid of the guy that brought them their only national championship in decades and was only one year removed from almost winning the SEC Championship game for Kiffen was a good move. I doubted it a year ago. Firing guys that win you national championships is never a good idea. See Nolan Richardson.

11) Bobby Johnson, Vanderbilt. After getting ranked high by me last year, he and I came back down to earth. It is difficult being a good coach at Vanderbilt because the reality of your talent eventually takes hold. I still think he does well with what he has in such a difficult conference.

10) The coach at Mississippi State. It does not matter who their coach is because he is going to get ranked around this spot regardless. I do feel that Dan Mullen may one day be a quality coach, but it’s difficult to win at Starkville. It’s just not as difficult as it is in Nashville with Vanderbilt.

9) Rich Brooks, Kentucky. He deserves to be higher by virtue of continuing to take Kentucky to bowl games even as their fans stop worrying about football in November when the round ball rolls out onto the court. He has made Kentucky a very competitive school in football and that is very hard to do. But if you haven’t heard, he retired, so game over in Lexington.

8) The Auburn coach named Chizik or whatever exceeded my expectations, which were very low. Their offense was flashy at times and then stalled at others. He was No. 12 last year being the two-win coach out of Iowa State. We will see how he and his offensive coordinator do as other coaches become more familiar with them.

7) Steve Spurrier, South Carolina. His SEC record at South Carolina is not spectacular but it’s one of those difficult places to win in the SEC. He is not considered the coaching legend he once was. But maybe it’s more a reflection of where he is than who the coach is. Could he have moved up if he had gone to Tennessee? I think yes.

5) Bobby Petrino, Arkansas. I know it looks like I jumped a spot, but you will figure it out in a minute. Going 8-5 moved him up from No. 8 last year. I expect he will move up next season. The lack of defense is haunting, but I hope and believe that will improve.

5) Houston Nutt, Ole Miss. We will see how the Rebels are next year as the team becomes more and more a product of his recruiting. But so far he has put it on the Hog fans who ousted him by beating Arkansas and going to the Cotton Bowl two years in a row. Will that continue?

5) Les Miles, LSU. Maybe he should have left for Michigan. I know the Wolverines fans wish he would have. He will be on the hot seat soon if he keeps getting only a couple of plays off within a minute when his team is trying to run the two-minute drill. His teams are loaded with talent. Many are starting to claim the DeSabanization of the Tigers has taken place with Miles’ teams. He should have beaten Nutt, but at the same time he should have lost to Petrino. These three coaches right now are dead locked. We will see who separates from the pack next season.

3) Mark Richt, Georgia. He has very talented teams and the reemergence of Florida after Ron Zook has made his job more difficult. With his coaching, Georgia is always difficult to beat. Richt seems to do everything the right way. You can’t ask for much more than that. He has earned this ranking this year almost by default. I just hope Georgia fans don’t make the same mistake that others schools such as Auburn have by running off a quality coach just because he isn’t winning the national championship every year.

2) Urban Meyer, Florida. Winning two national championships, one could still easily rank him at the top. The fact he quit and came back -- and his situation on the team is still slightly in limbo -- make him second right now. We will see how his near departure affects the program in the future.

1) Nick Saban, Alabama. He is the best. Whatever Alabama is paying him was worth it. A coach does make a difference. I give him even more props for being able to stomach the Alabama fans he has to put up with.


Auburn fans, my e-mail address is fromthebench@yahoo.com

Project Playoffs: 2009 post-bowls final standings and seedings

Standings in realigned conferences with seedings for a 16-team playoff. Seedings are derived from the Massey Comparison Rankings, which take every poll and computer rating into account. There is no reason to consider the BCS rankings as the ultimate authority for determining the top 16.

First-round match-ups:
16 USC at 1 Alabama
15 Nebraska at 2 Florida
14 LSU at 3 Texas
13 BYU at 4 Boise State
12 Georgia Tech at 5 TCU
11 Iowa at 6 Ohio State
10 Penn State at 7 Cincinnati
9 Oregon at 8 Virginia Tech

Click here for a full explanation of Project Playoffs.

Southern
1 Alabama (14-0)
14 LSU (9-4)
Ole Miss (9-4)
Auburn (8-5)
Tennessee (7-6)
Mississippi State (5-7)
Southern Miss (7-6)
Vanderbilt (2-10)
Memphis (2-10)

Southeast
2 Florida (13-1)
12 Georgia Tech (11-3)
Miami (9-4)
Clemson (9-5)
Georgia (8-5)
Florida State (7-6)
South Carolina (7-6)
South Florida (8-5)
Central Florida (8-5)

Mid-South
3 Texas (13-1)
5 TCU (12-1)
Oklahoma (8-5)
Arkansas (8-5)
Texas Tech (9-4)
Oklahoma State (9-4)
Texas A&M (6-7)
Baylor (4-8)
UTEP (4-8)

Northwest
4 Boise State (14-0)
9 Oregon (10-3)
13 BYU (11-2)
Utah (10-3)
Oregon State (8-5)
Air Force (8-5)
Washington (5-7)
Colorado (3-9)
Washington State (1-11)

North Central
6 Ohio State (11-2)
7 Cincinnati (12-1)
Notre Dame (6-6)
Michigan State (6-7)
Purdue (5-7)
Michigan (5-7)
Louisville (4-8)
Illinois (3-9)
Indiana (4-8)

Atlantic
8 Virginia Tech (10-3)
North Carolina (8-5)
East Carolina (9-5)
Kentucky (7-6)
Wake Forest (5-7)
North Carolina State (5-7)
Duke (5-7)
Virginia (3-9)
Maryland (2-10)

Northeast
10 Penn State (11-2)
Pittsburgh (10-3)
West Virginia (9-4)
Connecticut (8-5)
Navy (10-4)
Rutgers (9-4)
Boston College (8-5)
Syracuse (4-8)
Army (5-7)

Midwest
11 Iowa (11-2)
15 Nebraska (10-4)
Wisconsin (10-3)
Missouri (8-5)
Northwestern (8-5)
Minnesota (6-7)
Iowa State (7-6)
Kansas State (6-6)
Kansas (5-7)

Southwest
16 USC (9-4)
Stanford (8-5)
Arizona (8-5)
California (8-5)
UCLA (7-6)
Fresno State (8-5)
Arizona State (4-8)
Hawaii (6-7)
New Mexico (1-11)

From the Bench

Annual Report Card: Petrino Makes the Grade

Robert Shields

Anytime the Hogs win a bowl game, the faithful will be happy, and even as ugly as the Liberty Bowl was for the Hogs, it was still a win. But did head coach Bobby Petrino have this team playing at the appropriate level all season? It’s time to let the grades for the head coach roll in my annual assessment of the past year, always highly anticipated by the Razorback coaching staff.

Player Development: B
(Last year: C-)
After playing a ton of freshmen in 2008, this was the year to see improvement as they became sophomores. There was no doubt that Ryan Mallett improved all season even though his bowl game was less than perfect. Mallett struggled the entire Liberty Bowl, but even in one of his worst performances, at the end he was awarded the game’s outstanding player. The receiving corps was vastly improved, especially Joe Adams, Greg Childs, and Jarius Wright. I might have given this area an “A,” but Alex Tejada struggled throughout the year and did not improve -- and that was one area that needed improvement. The guys in the secondary also improved as the season went along.

Fundamentals: B
(Last year: D-)
This grade would be higher if you could throw out the special teams. Just like in 2008, the special teams haunted this team all season up to and including its bowl game. The extreme irony of the season was that in the end the last play of the season came down to special teams winning the game. Special teams this season shanked punts, allowed a punt return, missed several crucial field goals, and allowed long kickoff returns. The upside is that the turnovers of 2008 disappeared. The Hogs took care of the ball. The team limited its false starts and had few delay-of-game penalties.

Play Calling: B+
(Last year: C+)
This would have been an “A” but for a few areas. Petrino seemed to usually dial up the right play, but there were a few times that left me scratching my head. The Hogs’ final series in regulation of the Liberty Bowl comes to mind, which gave the poor East Carolina kicker another opportunity. The play calling at the end of Georgia game also comes to mind. The Hogs had a chance at the end of it but then the Hogs’ offense faltered. Lastly, in the overtime at LSU, the offense also stalled on some bad calls, but maybe that was because Childs and Adams were out of the game.

Image: B
(Last year: C)
The circus following Houston Nutt’s ouster and the ESPN bashing of Petrino deservedly or not is gone. Even in the loss at Florida, the Hogs moved forward on the national stage as a team to be reckoned with in the future. Also, Mallett’s off-the-field ordeal during the offseason was put to rest quickly last season, and that helped moving into the 2009 season. The Razorback football brand has definitely improved, and I am sure Jeff Long likes that fact but you have to at least finish in the top 25 for this to be an A.

Success: C+
(Last year: D)
As mentioned earlier, it is always a good year for the Hogs when they win their bowl game. Still, this cannot be an “A” unless you at least finish in the top 25. I have not asked Petrino, but I doubt he would give himself anything above a “B” in this category. The Hogs finished below .500 in the SEC and were 7-5 in the regular season, which is not that great.

Management of the Athletic Director: A
(Last year: A)
In the days of Frank Broyles, this was a very important category. I am not sure that it means that much anymore and may be discontinued in the future. Petrino seems to have a good relationship with Jeff Long. In fact, he doesn’t seem like he takes orders from anybody, fans included. Petrino ordered up some artificial turf, and Long wrote the check. That’s good management of your athletic director.

Hiring Assistant Coaches: C
(Last year: C)
This is hard to know. I fear the loss of his brother, Paul Petrino, may be a big loss and is still a very curious move. I don’t know if the guy they brought in to replace him is superior. The offense certainly didn’t look better without Paul in the booth at the Liberty Bowl.

Leadership: B-
(Last year: B)
Discipline always seemed to come fast from the top. Petrino seems to be the type that does not take much lip from anyone. This would have been an “A” but for the Georgia game. He lost his cool along with his players and the team took four 15-yard penalties in six plays when the Hogs were on the verge of blowing the game open. That game alone almost drops this to a “C.”

Overall grade: B-
(Last year: D+)
This may be a little high. What happens if Petrino has nine wins next season? Is that a B+? I will stick with the “B-“ mainly because the Program seems to be moving in the right direction. I caught a ton of flack last year giving the guy a D+ after he went 5-7. This year’s final record at 8-5 is a three-game jump, so if he does the same next year and ends with 11, he gets an “A.”

Extra CreditStadium: B+
(Last year: D)
The loss of all SEC games at home in Fayetteville in 2008 was staggering, andmost of the losses were in ugly fashion. The lone home SEC win came in Little Rock against LSU. This was all reversed in 2009. The Hogs won all their home games that they could have and should have won
-- except for Georgia.


Send your grades to fromthebench@yahoo.com

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fruitbatbooks@yahoo.com

From the Bench

Expectations Are High With Mallett’s Return

Robert Shields

Yo, what up shorties in the Razorback Nation, my name Ryan Mallett, you may have heard of me, I’m coming back to throw the football around a lil’ bit next season.

The return of Ryan Mallett is a huge boost for the Razorback Program. No individual is greater than the Program other than Frank Broyles, but some are larger pieces than others. Mallett’s return will be big in the way of creating more media buzz about the Hogs leading up to next season, if nothing else, and to Jeff Long, vice chancellor of athletics or whatever he calls himself, getting the brand out is the most important thing.

You can rest assured the Hogs will be on television a lot next year in good time slots because of who will be quarterbacking their team. Mallett will also start the season as a Heisman Trophy hopeful. (Note to Mallett: Don’t worry too much about the award because it has become less and less meaningful in regards to who is the best player. You win the Heisman by having your team make a run for the national championship.)

With the return of Mallett, Hog fans’ expectations are certain to soar. Mine already have. I predict 10 wins next year based a several things. One, Mallett is returning. Two, the schedule gets significantly better with Florida dropping off of it and Vanderbilt rotating on to it. Three, the Hogs won eight games this year and easily had the chance to win against LSU, Florida, and Georgia. And four, Ole Miss will not be the same next year. Its defense should not be as great. The Rebels are also going to lose most of its offense with Dexter McCluster and Jevan Snead gone. Ole Miss being at Fayetteville should give the Hogs a good chance to win. The Hogs also get Alabama and LSU at home.

What will really get the Hogs to 10 wins is defense. The Hogs will drop games they are not supposed to unless it finds so more defense. The defense should be improved and have more experience going into next season, but there are still areas that are very thin such as linebacker and defensive line.

To get to the SEC championship game, the Hogs don’t necessarily need a great defense --just good should get the job done. The defense needs to be ranked in the top half in the conference. If you look at the top four teams in the conference this year (Alabama, Florida, LSU, and yes Ole Miss), it mirrors who had the best defenses. The Hogs need to come in around fifth next year in defense to have a shot at winning the Western division. Mallett cannot do it all on his own.

-

Basketball Back to Duddy Waller Days

Those who wanted Nolan Richardson run off should feel like their mission is complete. Any semblance of his mark on the Program is long gone. The destruction is so complete that even Eddie Sutton’s mark on the Program is gone. The Hogs are back to the Duddy Waller days.

Kids graduating high school this year probably were not even old enough to watch TV when the Hogs won their national championship game. It is actually very sad for those who remember great basketball with the Triplets, Joe Kleine, Darrell Walker, Alvin Robertson, May-Day-Miller, Scotty, and Corliss. Heck, I even miss the Joe Johnson years.

People often ask me what can be done. My response is that tradition and history are important and when things are bad you go home. The basketball program’s home is Barnhill Arena. It always was, and it was probably one of the most difficult places to play in the country. It is small, but I say move the team back into it. Move gymnastics over to Bud Walton. It will create a more exciting atmosphere. I know the Spirit of Barnhill was moved over to Bud Walton Arena in a crystal dish, but whenever I look in the crystal bowl it’s empty.

The reason this will never happen – the love of money.



Send your solution to the basketball program to fromthebench@yahoo.com

Springer's Final Thoughts

And so another season of the college football pool has come to an end. The question I have gotten most since midseason is, "Who is this Steve Wells guy?" Wells has now won the Classix at Oaklawn, the NCAA tournament pool, and the college football pool. I guess the karma is good when you pay to build a church in Honduras and also when you host a victory bash to watch the BCS Championship Game. Arkansas Lottery, look out. In a year as unpredictable as any, Wells turned in a stellar performance. But the 2006 winner and resident pool heel, Jeremy Peppas, would like me to point out that his pool record of 162 points and 77 wins still stands.

Congratulations to everyone who won this season, including the champs of the Davis Cup, Shields Cup, Verizon Cup, and all the other side bets within the standings. I'd also like to note Jeff Kendall and Chad Chambliss, who continue to finish high in the standings year after year but have yet to place, and Michael Hinchey, who finished fifth this season after having his big-money dreams sabotaged by Troy for the second year in a row.

Thanks to everyone for entering, and thanks to those who provided me with so much entertainment during the season –– Scott Faldon's Five Things, Doug Virden's haikus, Jeff Goebel for the most entertaining game analysis available anywhere, Will Johnson and Robyn Edwards for the e-mail designs, Oscar Davis's weekly explanation for his picks, John Kriz's Seminole Fact of the Week, Janis Morrow and Brad Heifner for the conference calls, and all those funny comments in the e-mails every week. Special shout out to Moose Thomas for the Big Daddy.

After 111 games, I hope you feel like you got your $10 worth even if you didn't come close to winning. The whole idea of this pool is to add another element to the college football experience to make it even better than it already is, so I hope the pool accomplished that for you even when the ACC4 of Clemson, Georgia Tech, Florida State, and Boston College as well as teams such as Oregon and Notre Dame were making a winning Saturday so difficult.

So until next time, remember, it's all about The U. 'Nuff said.

The next five games with be out August 31.

2, 3, 4...

Five Things (Liberty Bowl edition)

1. When watching soccer, you might hear the phrase "against the run of play." That means one team is dominating the match, and suddenly the other team manages to score an unexpected goal.

Arkansas' first 10 points in the Liberty Bowl were against the run of play. Obviously, since interceptions played a role.

The Razorbacks were absolutely man-handled by ECU on the lines. Petrino's recruiting needs to focus on bigger, stronger players on the OL and DL.

2. Who knew Memphis could double for Hoth? I'm pretty sure I saw a Razorback fan slitting open a tauntaun to survive.

I was disappointed there was no snow. After all, bad weather + football = awesome. (See Sunday's Colts at Bills game for proof.) How cold was it? So cold it cracked my Jeep's windshield.

3. Was anybody else skeeved by Eddie Money singing "Two Tickets to Paradise" to preteen cheerleaders? I kept waiting for Chris Hansen from Dateline NBC to walk onto stage. And did anybody else laugh at this exchange ...

Money: I just love this country!
Ronnie Spector : Me too!

4. Ryan Mallett needs a Crash Davis to teach him cliches for interviews.

Following the game, he behaved like a petulant brat during the press conference. First, he gave a condescending "You'll be the first to know" answer when asked about the NFL. Then, when Petrino was being asked about the offense's troubles against the ECU defense, Mallett rolled his eyes, shook his head, rolled his eyes again and then fixed a "go to hell" look on the reporter asking the question.

5. Is I-40 in West Memphis ever not under construction?

Thanks to d-bag drivers who rushed down the left lane, right up the barrels, before merging. Traffic was stopped and crawling before the dog track. Merge early and everybody can keep moving. Merge late, and you screw it up for everybody.

Then somewhere east of Little Rock, traffic stopped again. This time, rumor has it, for a wreck on the White River bridge near Devall's Bluff. I jumped off I-40 at Hazen and took backroads to North Little Rock. More scenic, but thanks to the delays it turned into a 6-hour drive to Fort Smith.

Next time, I have to remember to leave Memphis the same time as every other fan who lives west of the Mississippi River.

Ice Station Zebra, AKA the Liberty Bowl

MEMPHIS — It was so cold in Memphis Saturday night that Hell froze over and Alex Tejada made a clutch kick.
That's me, above, dressed for the weather and even then I was still cold.
By now you know that Arkansas won the Liberty Bowl in overtime against some directional school from one of the Carolinas. It isn't clear which Carolina, but we do know that East Carolina is not a state, but North and South Carolina are.
While you had drama on the field, it wasn't limited to there.
The MATA shuttle bus besides the one we rode back to the Peabody was cleared out. A man on the bus was feeling chest pains and then went into cardiac arrest, or for the non-medical types, he had a heart attack.
A group of doctors and nurses from Baptist Health in Little Rock began working on the man. I know this because their group had been split up and two of them were on the bus and sitting by me.
They reported that the man had been down for 20 minutes but was revived. It wasn't clear where the man was from or what his condition is now.
A search of the googles reveals that the Razorbacks expats site has a note on it as well.
http://www.arkansasexpats.com/2010/1/4/1232958/notes-from-the-south-endzone

From the Bench

Razorback Program Finally Gets a Liberty Bowl Win

Robert Shields

In what would have to be the ugliest bowl win in Razorback history, an unlikely hero emerged at the end of the AutoZone Liberty Bowl as the Hogs won 20-17. Alex Tejada, who has missed more than his fair share of important kicks, hit the game winner to become the only player from Springdale High School to significantly contribute to a Razorback bowl victory.

The Razorback offense, which has been the Hogs’ moneymaker this season putting up some record-setting numbers, was almost non-existent. The offense was so terrible that it allowed East Carolina not one but two chances to win within a minute at the end of regulation. The Hogs were very lucky the East Carolina kicker was in the middle of a meltdown because otherwise this SEC school would have lost in an ugly performance to a school from Conference USA, and that would have reverberated throughout the offseason.

One person who had to be ecstatic to get the win was Bobby Petrino. In what had to be his worst coached game since the Kentucky game last year, the Hogs were often outcoached by Skip Holtz as Petrino’s play calling kept putting the Hogs in bad situations at the end of the game.

Hopefully, this will not be shades of how the offense will be run post Paul Petrino leaving the staff.

The other hero of the game was the defense. The Razorback defense was thin all season and with Matt Harris, Wendel Davis, and DD Jones being out of the game for one reason or another, the defense was all the more exposed. The Pirates went right at the middle of the Razorback defense, easily picking up five yards on almost every carry. When it counted late in the game on short yardage situations, though, the Hogs kept coming up with the stops needed to make the Pirates attempt the missed field goals that ended up being the difference in the game.

The defense has been maligned all season. As bad as the defense played all year, it often provided the Hogs with many turnovers. The Hog defense scored on an interception return and set up another Tejada field goal after an interception in this bowl game.

In several games this year, the defense came up with the crucial stop that was needed to win the game. In the Georgia game, probably the worst game all year by the defense, it came up with a three-and-out series forcing Georgia to punt. The Hogs were only down by a touchdown at the time, and the offense then squandered the opportunity at the end of the game.

In overtime of the LSU game, the defense came up with the stop and made LSU kick the field goal. All Petrino’s heralded high-powered offense led by future NFL star Ryan Mallett had to do was get it into the end zone, but it faltered. The defense also played well in the Florida loss, and if not for a couple of bad calls, it probably had a win.

In the end, no matter how ugly the bowl win was, it was great for the Razorbacks because if nothing else, according to athletic director Jeff Long’s philosophy, it built the brand on national television. Additionally, the Hogs have struggled in bowl games, including the Liberty Bowl and any regular-season game played in the Liberty Bowl. This one was no different except the Hogs got the win and a few weeks from now nobody will remember how ugly it was because the big debate will be about who the next basketball coach will be and why Mallett made his decision to leave for the NFL or stay in Fayetteville.

One last question, where was Broderick Green the first two thirds of the game?



Send your Liberty Bowl experience to fromthebench@yahoo.com