Having used their last emotional chip against Florida, the Arkansas players were spent. And, unlike the vast majority of Razorback fans, the players don't have a burning hatred of Houston Nutt from which they could have built up some anger before kickoff.
The game exposed what might be a flaw in Bobby Petrino. After years of "Rah-rah! Who cares about Xs-and-Os!?!" coaching by Nutt, Arkansas has swung the other direction. And, perhaps, too far the other direction. Petrino doesn't strike me as a great motivational speaker. He's much more cerebral than Nutt (so is my 10-month old, so it's not saying a lot). But there are times when you've got to tap into the rah-rah speechifying when you're a college coach.
Perhaps I'm wrong about Petrino and he can deliver Knute Rockne-esque halftime speeches. But from what we've seen, do you think he can?
2. Another WTF? High School Football Play
More on the play here.
3. Kids, remember, tattoos are sort of permanent
This is Josh Haden ...
As you can see by his chest tattoo, Haden is a Boston College fan. It makes sense, given he's a running back who's carried 58 times for 213 yards and one TD. Yet despite his inked devotion to the Eagles, Haden has announced he's transferring at the end of the season.
Remember, tattoos are permanent. It's something Peppas remembers every day when he sees the DEVO tattoo he got across the knuckles on his right hand. (No truth to the rumor WHAM is tattooed on his left knuckles.)
4. Recurring Items
SportsJournalists.com Top 25 link is here.
AwfulAnnouncing provides college football announcers' schedules here and the Pammy Award update is here.
5. M8B Prediction
Since Arkansas is playing one of the worst NAIA ... what? ... Eastern Michigan is a Division I team? Really!?! Man, it's times like this I wish the NCAA employed the promotion/relegation structure of European soccer. "Nope, sorry Eastern Michigan, you're being sent down to Division II. Congrats Minnesota Duluth, you're now in the Mid-American Conference and playing Arkansas on Halloween."
Anyway, since Arkansas is playing a creme-filled, icing-crusted cupcake we'll use the Magic 8 Ball on another in-state team.
Will Arkansas State (+4) cover the spread against Louisville?
Well, it seems even the Magic 8 Ball doesn't care about ASU. Just like most Arkansans.
(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 the Magic 8 Ball is 6-5 this season.)
4 comments:
So the excuse is that they were "spent" against Florida? Man, if only Nutt and Nolan had gotten the kind of passes that Petrino and Heath get and got. Seems like the team was outplayed and the coach was outcoached based on the scoreboard.
I don't understand the hate for Nutt or the constant assertions from this crowd that Nutt is a bad coach. Three SEC Coach of the Year plaques and a job recommendation from Nick Saban say otherwise.
In retrospect, who was right -- Nutt or Matt Jones' dad? In retrospect, who was right -- Nutt or Mitch Mustain's mom? In retrospect, who was right -- Nutt or Hogville.nut?
Man, our fans just keep repeating history and will continue to get what they deserve as long as they do.
Nutt winning those CotY plaques was the ultimate in damning with faint praise. The bar is so low for Arkansas that any time they were in the SEC West mix, Nutt was thought to be doing a great job. In actuality, Arkansas should always be in the SEC West mix.
Not sure what you mean about Nutt vs. Matt Jones' dad. Nutt did everything he could to undermine the kid at QB when he was at Arkansas, yet which QB pulled Arkansas' butts out of the fire time and time again?
Nutt was, and is, an acceptable coach if your goal is to get to the Cotton Bowl every few years. The problem is, he overstayed at Arkansas.
If Arkansas should always be in the West race, I guess it's time to fire Petrino.
The Wham tattoo was removed after some rather painful lasering.
Devo is next, but, unsurprisingly, laser removal isn't covered by my insurance.
And, "Arkansas should always be in the SEC west mix" is wrong. Here's why.
Arkansas just isn't very good. LSU and 'Bama will always be at the top of the heap. That's just the way it is. Arkansas doesn't have the tradition of either school, or the recruiting base or, quite frankly, the fan base.
Much like Satan, the greatest trick Nutt ever pulled off was getting people to believe that Arkansas was a top tier program. They aren't.
Arkansas is a middling program that occasionally has bursts of being decent.
That's it.
All the money in the world can't make Arkansas high school football better. That's the recruiting base for the Razorbacks and Arkansas just isn't that strong and never has been.
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