Bits and pieces

Huh, Arkansas lost? Really, I hadn't heard: The hardcores noted during the Nutt-mania that they'd rather have Arkansas lose but still pass for 400 yards. They got their wish. Of course the defense, as usual, gives up 500 yards and all those passing yards and touchdowns don't mean squat when you lose.

Now for a little word on the obvious: The defense is terrible. And will be terrible for the rest of the season. But that's like an Arkansas tradition. Only the hardest of the hardcores won't admit that in terms of offense, Arkansas hasn't had a problem going back the last decade. It may not have been balanced like they would have liked, but the offense put up Tecmo Bowl like numbers. It was the defense that had trouble. Mostly because Arkansas couldn't get the athletes the other schools had and were playing people out of position. Linebackers at other schools were playing end at Arkansas and so forth and so on. Just undersized and lacking in the speed. Just look at the string of DCs who stretch back over the years: Reggie Herring, Willy Robinson, that other guy and then that other guy. You get the idea. Until the defense comes together and starts getting better recruits and better coaches. Arkansas will continue to lose.

Holy Toledo: You may have noticed Arkansas got a meaningless verbal commitment from a high school player in Florida. A wondrous athlete, of course, and he plays linebacker and a little bit of everything on offense, in Florida, so he must be good, right? Arkansas beat out the likes of Toledo (of Ohio) and no one else for his services. Yep, that's right, Toledo, the same place that the guy, Jamie Farr, who wore a dress on MASH, was from. That's all I know about Toledo but it seems that beating out the likes of Toledo for a prospect isn't putting Arkansas on the path to success. The kid might grow into a dandy, but, for now, the prediction for Arkansas's defense future is: Not good, again.

The Nutt-ys would have been out in full force: Former coach Houston Nutt took an amazing amount of criticism for signing players like the Florida kid and not getting the state's top prospects to stay at home. Yet Petrino, who has yet to get Michael Dyer budge from his anyone but Arkansas stance, hasn't caught the heat. Huh? I know about the honeymoon and all but I just wonder when it will come. Maybe this year if Arkansas limps to 5-7 or worse.

Hey dumb dumb: Jerry Franklin. Some were quick to note, not ESPN, that missing Arkansas's leading tackler from last season might be a problem for the Hogs against Georgia on Saturday night. Yeah, it wasn't good he was gone, but he was on the field and supposedly in coverage against the tight end, who caught Georgia's first score. Franklin's ejection might have screwed the pooch on that interception, but it didn't cost Arkansas the game.

Sexy teacher?: What look was Erin Andrews going for on Saturday night? Glasses, hair up, hair done and seriously, how tall is she? Doing the post-game with Joe Cox and she's not much shorter than him. He's listed at 6-feet-1-inches. I didn't much care for Andrews. Her lack of sideline reporting, you know, her job, from the game was seriously lacking.

Jeff Schultz's e-mail address is: Atlanta columnist Jeff Schultz does a prediction column on Friday. His take on the Arkansas-Georgia game: "Arkansas fans believe Petrino is there to stay. The rest of the world of the world is thinking: They can have him. He's 9-17 as a head coach since he stopped playing South Florida." Ouch and the record is now 9-18. Schultz might still be a little angry over the whole Falcons debacle but he makes a decent point that Petrino's Louisville record was cupcake fortified.

John Bob isn't related to Jim Bob: John Bob Reaves isn't a name Arkansas fans know because Arkansas fans have no knowledge of the SEC prior to 1992. Anyway the Orlando Sentinel had a nice look at Reaves, a former Florida and professional quarterback, who also happens to be a recovering alcoholic. More critically, Reaves is the father of Layla Kiffin, she of stripper boot fame, and the wife of Lane Kiffin. He brother is also, and Reaves's son, is also Tennessee's quarterbacks coach. Because of his addictions, Reaves and his children had a falling out. But they came back together after Reaves went into rehab. A trip that was partially funded by friends and former teammates, including some guy named Steve Spurrier.

On the road again: USC lost on the road and in the conference, again, on Saturday. Naturally this means that USC is out of the running for the national title because of the loss. A loss that is doubly loaded because of the perception of Pac-10 weakness. I'd argue that the Pac-10 is a better conference than the SEC heads give it credit for.

Seriously, what's the deal: USC with a potential national title on the line and not playing well on offense. Starting quarterback is out, backup is looking shaky and Pete Carroll still doesn't play Mitch Mustain? Really? Honestly something is weird out in Carroll's kingdom and nobody can seem to explain it. Carroll would rather lose to Washington than play Mustain. It doesn't get any stranger.

BCS buster busted: Poor BYU flying so high, only to be taken down so hard by Florida State. Whoa. Worse, it wasn't even competitive.

Da Bears: UCA beat Western Kentucky, on the road, on Saturday. You're next Glenville State!

Who am I: Not Mitchy's mom. Look hard at the photo of the Escobar Trophy and you'll see JEREMY PEPPAS as the winner, which makes me smarter than ya'll. Note: I've been told to play the part of the "heel" the term for wrestling's bad guy to generate more angry e-mails that will create greater amusement for Matt, because he likes to laugh. So while I'd prefer to be Junk Yard Dog (JYD, RIP) I will instead be the Iron Sheik. *shrug*

Five Things

1. And so now Arkansas finally starts the college football season. While the rest of the NCAA has played two or three games by now, the Razorbacks have yet to play a game. It's an odd bit of schedul ...

What? That Missouri State game counted!?! For reals? Learn something new every day.

Anyway, as I was saying ... we don't know anything about this Arkansas team. Despite that game two weeks ago.

Fanboi loosers are already saying this is the pivotal game of the season. Of course, they say that thinking Arkansas will win. And that always amuses me, because if it's a pivotal game and Arkansas loses ... well, they immediately deem the Alabama or Texas A&M or Ole Miss or Troy as "the turning point game of the season!"

Maybe, just maybe, we should wait until after the season to pronounce what game was the turning point of the year. Nah, that's no fun. Now for the pivotal enumerated point in this post ...

2. You know who most regrets Arkansas not having a football game last week?



3. How on Earth have no stories from the War Memorial Stadium tailgates made Deadspin yet?

4. Photo Whimsy!

Auburn fans are Michael Dyer (hit trolling!) stalkers and can't spell.



Naughty!



(I still like EDSBS's "Ginger Ninja" for Cox.)

Lose the game, win the tailgate ... with the coach's wife!



Ladies (or gentlemen with experience in such areas) can I get a ruling ... stripper shoes or not?

What's Spurrier going to do?



5. Recurring Items

This week's SportsJournalists.com poll is here.

This week's Pammys at AwfulAnnouncing.com are here and your Week 3 announcing crew assignments are here.

M8B Prediction

Will Arkansas (currently a 1-point favorite) cover the spread against Georgia this Saturday?



(Views expressed by the Magic 8 Ball do not necessarily reflect the views of this blog, the blog owner nor this post's author. Advice from the M8B is for entertainment purposes only and not for actual wagering ... especially since Magic 8 Ball is 2-1 this season - though it still expects Shields to bring up the GSD before the month ends.)

Bits and pieces from Saturday

Hoozah and Kudos

* Brigham Young: Upset No. 3 Oklahoma after the various ESPN talking heads said BYU had no chance and would get blown out. Oops. In fairness, taking Sam Bradford out, had something to do with the Coogs win. Of course it won't happen since the NCAA is more concerned about protecting the power conferences, but the lesser thans -- BYU, Boise State -- should all play in BCS bowls. They won't, of course, since the NCAA is more worried about the Big East and the weak ass ACC.

* Central Arkansas: The Bears sure look a lot better than when I played for them 20 years ago. Yes, yes, your humble blog poster is a former college football player, not a very good one, but I had a number and everything. Uriah Perry maintains the tradition of squatty, not very athletic players wearing No. 60. Perry's an actual nose guard, while I was just the guy who played nose guard on the scout team. Anyway, UCA looked like a team to beat when they faced Hawaii on Friday. Or Saturday since the game kicked off here at Midnight. I was deeply enthralled until I heard from her, "really? It is nearly One and you are still up?" With that, it was off to bed and the wonders of Tivo to watch it on Saturday morning. Good show Bears, the win was in hand until a breakdown in the final two minutes. *shrug* Just the way of life when I-AA teams play up. Northern Iowa got a taste of that against Iowa. Richmond beat Duke though, so there you go.

* Kool-aid drinkers: One cup of sugar, plus one packet of Kool-Aid makes water taste so much better. The same can be said of Razorback fans, who get a constant diet of sugary coverage instead of honest analysis. Arkansas isn't very good this year. Yeah, yeah, they beat (Southwest) Missouri State 48-10. Who cares? Tennessee played Western Kentucky, one year removed from I-AA and the Vols laid the smack down 63-0 and a bajillion yards of offense. I thought 6-6 before the season started, and I may downgrade to 5-7 or 4-8. Tejada can't make a kick to save his life. He'll cost Arkansas at least one game, maybe two this season. And let's face it, Petrino is a poor coach. He sells people on what he did at Louisville, but he has yet to show any kind of inovation or player development. The defense stinks. The offensive line is pieced together with converted tight ends and academic mysteries. A Baker's Dozen running backs and none stood out since they all got five carries each. Mallett, laughed out of Michigan, looked wooden and unable to evade the SMSU pass rush. what happens when Rolando McClain, or one of a dozen other top-flight linebackers come pouring throught that porous offense line?

* Little Rock: Arkansas loves the Razorbacks so much, War Memorial didn't sell out. As a matter of fact, we walked up and bought two tickets an hour before kickoff. The row we were on, was not full. Really makes you wonder. It used to be said the whole state was for the Razorbacks, but that isn't true, not anymore. You ask a kid nowadays and they might rattle of pro teams or another college as their favorite team. Part of the fan experience is being able to go to the game, but two tickts were $90, plus $10 to park, and another $20 at the concession stand for drinks, peanuts and a package of M&Ms. One hundred and twenty dollars to watch Arkansas and a I-AA play some sloppy football and I live a mile from the stadium. So what does that say for the people who live hundreds of miles away and have the option of watching top 10 teams play on TV for roughly free or driving to Little Rock or Fayetteville for hundreds of dollars and that assumes they don't need a hotel, that they can't get just for one night. Their parents may still worship the Pig, but their kids, they are so far removed from gameday they wouldn't know what to do. Oh, and one more thing, tickets are still available for the Arkansas-Texas A&M in Dallas. For the low, low price of $300, you can buy one ticket for the game. Family of four is looking at $1,200 plus handling charges. Parking is $75. Then you have a hotel that you'll have to pay for two nights, plus gas to drive, meals and snacks at the game. No thanks.

* Orlando: Going on vacation next week. Hope not to comeback, but I will. Please leave tips on things to do at Universal Studios in the comments section. The whole trip with two week-long passes to Universal, two roundtrip airfares and five nights of hotel will be cheaper than four tickets to Arkansas-Texas A&M. Huh, I wonder why people aren't falling all over themselves to get to that game.

* Recruiting: I'm told any mention of Michael Dyer makes the blog light up like Jennings Obsbourne's house used to do at Christmas. So there's your Michael Dyer reference. Michael Dyer. Micahel Dyer. Michael Dyer. Auburn. Ole Miss. Tennessee. Arkansas. Etc.

NOTE: I know the NCAA doesn't recognize I-AA anymore, but that's stupid and I won't make the switch.

Auburn is in "Dyer" need

Auburn fans have made an appearance at the high school kickoff classic in Little Rock on Tuesday night.
Two Auburn fans sported a sign that said "Auburn is in Dyer need"
Elementary school students from Oak Grove (I think) were booing the Auburn fans.
Good times.
This followed a report on the local Fox affiliate that said Dyer had committed to Auburn. Dyer had actually said his No. 1 choice of his top three schools was Auburn, but his top three were still Auburn, Arkansas and Tennessee.
It caused a bit of a panic in the press box as the recruiting guys went into a tizzy.
Best line, "you don't want to be first, you want to be accurate."
Best guess is that Dyer will land at Auburn. Tennessee has Bryce Brown, the No. 1 player of last year's class at running back and Petrino is too proud to kowtow to a high school kid.
Plus it is in Petrino's best interest for Dyer to go to Auburn so when he leaves Fayetteville for the plains in three years, Dyer will be in Petrino's backfield for the Tigers.