Playstation starts off with a huge miss as a torrential downpour hits Razorback Stadium. Arkansas wins the toss and chooses to receive....and ULL wouldn't see the ball for a looooong time. Brandon Allen and Johnathan Williams lead a smashmouth, 18 play, 5 minute (an entire quarter on playstation) drive that ends with a Touchdown on 4th and goal. 7-0 Hogs at the end of 1.
ULL brings the no huddle offense and moves the ball well against the leaky Hog defense, but on 3rd on goal, Broadway lays the ball on the ground and Jarret Lake has the recovery. Arkansas would then introduce Alex Collins to college football, giving him 7 straight carries that went for 5 first downs! Allen completed 3 passes during the drive and Johnathan Williams finds paydirt from 11 yards out as Arkansas goes 87 yards in another 15 play, time consuming drive. 14-0 Hogs at the half.
The 3rd quarter was like reading the 1st half playbook all over again. The defense began to gel and the offense continued the game of keep away. Alex Collins gets his name on the scoring chart and Tevon Mitchell starts the season off with an interception on the only throw to his side. 21-0 after 3.
Lafayette begins to threaten in the 4th quarter, but Chris Smith comes up with a big sack on 3rd down and forces yet another ULL punt. The band starts to tune up "Hard to be Humble" and Brandon Allen continues to learn to be a game manager as he connects with Jevonte Herndon on a WR screen pass. 28-0 Final.
It's football time and the Bret Bielema era begins!! He hasn't coached a down in Arkansas yet, but Coach has connected with Arkansas fans by saying all the right things and even talking a little smack on his twitter account. He is here to put smashmouth football on the map in Arkansas. Arkansas fans can rest assured with one thing about Coach B though. Smashmouth football or not, at least we know he's not out texting in the wee hours or carting blondes on bikes. Bielema is flat out bringing home the bacon folks.
While Bielema outkicked his coverage at home, he's got his work cut out for him at the office. Petrino jacked up one recruiting class and Johnelle and company didn't do us any favors last year. While Alex Collins is a "5 star" back, we all know it's impossible to win with freshmen in the SEC. 1 guy won't take a 4-8 team to an 8-4 team. To make that improvement it takes players and it takes some dang good coaching. Unfortunately, Johnny's and Joe's usually beat X's and O's, but Arkansas will have a much better chance of competing this year just because they won't be coached by clowns. As Bielema said in the spring, "we won't lose the game at the line of scrimmage and we're not going to beat ourselves." Amen to that.
So the Rajin Cajuns bring their 0-36 record vs SEC opponents to The Hill and look to debunk Bielema's #1-0 twitter philosophy. They'll bring in a no huddle offense and look to give a weak Arkansas secondary a quick test on improvement. Arkansas will do its best to play keep away on the offensive side of the ball. Gone are the days of :47 three-and-outs. Back are the Nutt-ish days of run, run, run, run some more, pass.
Talent or no talent, Arkansas should physically be able to handle ULL. Nearly every Hog player has done a total body transformation during the offseason and now they're ready to hit someone else in the mouth. Brandon Allen will be much more settled than his dismal 3-16 performance against ULM, and Johnathan Williams is ready to show he can be a featured back. It won't win a beauty contest, but it'll win football games.
It's tailgate time folks! Call all your smelly Cajun friends and let'em know we like to eat too. It's a shrimp boil at the Razorback Rd Rendezvous on what will be the hottest day of the year. But you can't let the heat get to you. You've got to stop by, grab a bite, grab a cold beverage, and as Coach says, "Hug it up and love it up." Get your mind right folks and DO YOUR JOB!!!!
ULL 17
Go Hogs!!!
Superfan
