For everyone writing Arkansas off as a sure win.....

[Goat Holder]

....and that includes me, I just noticed something that I don't like:

69 David Hurd | 6-6, 309, RS SR
68 Austin Beck | 6-7, 297, RS SO

50 Grady Ollison | 6-5, 274, RS SO
70 Chris Stringer | 6-7, 318, RS JR

65 Mitch Smothers | 6-4, 313, RS SO
78 Johnathan McClure | 6-4, 328, JR

74 Brey Cook | 6-7, 318, JR
72 Cordale Boyd | 6-3, 311, RS FR

64 Travis Swanson | 6-5, 314, RS SR
75 Luke Charpentier | 6-4, 312, JR

Swanson and Hurd are both on the All-SEC team. Cook was a 5 star recruit. Smothers was a 4 star recruit. They may not be as bad as we'd all like them to be.

Auburn also has the star recruits on their line. We really need to improve ours.

[starkvegasdawg]

Didn't they have these same guys last year too?

[CadaverDawg]

Didn't they have these same guys last year too?

Yea, but they weren't running the ball behind them, and they were a train wreck. I've been saying all along that @Ark and @Aub are games I am expecting us to lose and I'd be thrilled to split them.

[slickdawg]

Bielema is trying to turn them into a smashmouth physical team. They've been finesse for years. They will be a year or two transforming. This is why that top shelf WR transferred out, because they are going to run the ball.

[Coach34]

Before UPig plays us, they have to go thru:

HUD University (returns 13 starters from their 9-4 team)
@Rutgers
A&M
@Florida
SC (homecoming)
@Bammer
Auburn
@Mississippi

Who are they going to beat? ULL and Rutgers maybe? Losing takes it toll on a team's mindset

[bocfarm]

They won't beat Rutgers and I'm calling the ULL upset right now

[SheltonChoked]

I just do not see how Arkansas is going to do well with Bielema. How is he going to get the studs on the DL and at RB to beat Alabama, LSU, TAMU, Auburn, MSU and Ole Miss? Just look at the DL recruiting for those schools. And his plan is to run right at them. I may be wrong, but I don't see it. It sounds like Crooms plan.

[mic]

No road game in the SEC is ever a sure win for us and for half of the SEC for that matter..
Should we win . For sure..

[HancockCountyDog]

....and that includes me, I just noticed something that I don't like:

69 David Hurd | 6-6, 309, RS SR
68 Austin Beck | 6-7, 297, RS SO

50 Grady Ollison | 6-5, 274, RS SO
70 Chris Stringer | 6-7, 318, RS JR

65 Mitch Smothers | 6-4, 313, RS SO
78 Johnathan McClure | 6-4, 328, JR

74 Brey Cook | 6-7, 318, JR
72 Cordale Boyd | 6-3, 311, RS FR

64 Travis Swanson | 6-5, 314, RS SR
75 Luke Charpentier | 6-4, 312, JR

Swanson and Hurd are both on the All-SEC team. Cook was a 5 star recruit. Smothers was a 4 star recruit. They may not be as bad as we'd all like them to be.

Auburn also has the star recruits on their line. We really need to improve ours.

It should be real interesting to see what the ground and pound Big 10 football does in the SEC, with borderline SEC talent.

I really think they struggle this year. They have no WR's to speak of, and their secondary is a mess. I agree with Coach, I don't see many wins early for this crew and a team can easily quit especially on a new coach that they didn't sign up for playing.

I think AU and ARK will be a mess this year, but ARK a bigger mess than AU.

[DownwardDawg]

I don't think we've EVER won a football game in the state of Arkansas. If we win this year, it should go as another accomplishment for Mullen.

[Goat Holder]

I thought they were too, until I saw that OL. That OL is NOT a mess, not by a long shot. Your team is only as good as your OL. PERIOD.

[Maroonthirteen]

.....is the exact reason why I worry about the Ark game.

But before I get into that, Belimna will have them playing better. They are not void of talent. Lastly, it is a late season game. Therefore he will have them on the up swing. Also, we are a "Mississippi team" playing in Little Rock. They won't lack for confidence against us in that stadium.

Regardless of all that speculation, the fact is......they play Auburn and OM and have an open date prior to us. They might have 2 wins for positive moment and a week off to prepare for us. Us, on the other hand, play @USC, @aTm and Bama the prior three weeks. We wil beat up from all three games and hung over from the Bama game. We will go over there as flat as Ann Heche chest.

I think we have a better shot vs OSU, AU and to a lesser degree upsetting LSU at home. The schedule sets up beter.

[HancockCountyDog]

I thought they were too, until I saw that OL. That OL is NOT a mess, not by a long shot. Your team is only as good as your OL. PERIOD.

That is a bit of a generalization. The Bears' OL was terrible last year, but they implemented an offense that allowed it succeed. If they had lined up and tried to play smash mouth football with it, they would have won 3 games.

Their OL is decent, but its nothing special in the SEC, and the bigger problem is that they have no QB or WR's to stretch the field and force teams to respect the pass. You can make a good OL look terrible by running the wrong offense, and make an untalented OL look ok by running an offense that doesn't pressure the OL to move the guys off the LOS.

[Goat Holder]

That is a bit of a generalization. The Bears' OL was terrible last year, but they implemented an offense that allowed it succeed. If they had lined up and tried to play smash mouth football with it, they would have won 3 games.

This isn't true. They had upperclassmen across the OL last year except for Morris, and he was a 4 star talent. They may not have been good, but they were at least average. How can you possibly say their OL wasn't decent with the numbers they put up last year? That's insane, you can't have one without the other. That's ignorance on your part.


Their OL is decent, but its nothing special in the SEC, and the bigger problem is that they have no QB or WR's to stretch the field and force teams to respect the pass. You can make a good OL look terrible by running the wrong offense, and make an untalented OL look ok by running an offense that doesn't pressure the OL to move the guys off the LOS.

Maybe it's decent, maybe it's not. I'm just pointing out potential. But it's for sure the one thing I'll be watching when evaluating these teams this year. I hope MSU's way has paid off. But I'm cautious.

[Dawgface]

There are no SEC games that are sure wins for us. Just the way it is.

[HancockCountyDog]

This isn't true. They had upperclassmen across the OL last year except for Morris, and he was a 4 star talent. They may not have been good, but they were at least average. How can you possibly say their OL wasn't decent with the numbers they put up last year? That's insane, you can't have one without the other. That's ignorance on your part.

You have no clue what you are talking about.

Their RT was a JUCO transfer first year in the league. THeir center was a former walk on. Morris was a true sophomore that has some talent, but he was only a sophomore and started 6 games as a true freshman on one of the worst bear teams of all time. Emanuel McCray was a Junior who didn't even play his sophomore year. Aaron Hawkins only played 5 games in 2011.

So to recap - Juco starter at RT, True Sophomore at RG with only 6 games starting and they were all terrible, Center was a former walkon who started 7 games, LG only played 5 games in 2011, and the LT didn't even play the previous year. So headed into 2012, they only had a combined 18 starts from the previous year. 18.

Of course none of these guys are NFL players and none will be drafted, yet despite that they put up 30+ points on LSU, MSU, Pitt, and AU.

That was all due to scheme, not talent. The same reason our 2009 OL was so much better than our 2008 OL. We changed the scheme away from a pro style offense, to a much more OL friendly spread option attack.

[Political Hack]

games are won in the trenches, except for at LSU where genetic freaks of nature make huge plays in clutch time to win the game.

[Goat Holder]

Bullcrap I know EXACTLY what I'm talking about. Sorry, dude, but if their offense is putting up that many yards/points, it's because the OL is opening things up for them.

And our 2009 OL was better because it was a year older. I agree that the spread helps when you don't have the talent level of your competition, but it also creates more turnovers. NOTHING can take the place of true talent. That's why USC in their prime and Alabama now run pro-style offenses, to minimize turnovers.

[Goat Holder]

Yes, and they are a year older. Does that FACT escape some of you? People talk about the improvements in our OL from 2008 and 2009, but other teams don't get that benefit?

[Thick]

Yes, and they are a year older. Does that FACT escape some of you? People talk about the improvements in our OL from 2008 and 2009, but other teams don't get that benefit?

Relax, breath, you are right to an extent. They might be better on the OL, but so shall we. Their defense was not very good, our offense will be better. Our defense should be better, and their number 1 returning WR was just granted his release. We should win this game, but it's on the road in Arkansas and our history has been horrible. We win by 10 or less, just based on our experience on both sides of the ball vs their entire new staff and offensive/defensive schemes.

[The Lord Humongous]

Consider this. Without a ton of time to recruit, Bielema got a 4* RB from south Florida as well as a 4* OG. Also, a 4* OG from Hawaii and a big 3* OT that had some good late play in recruiting. I really don't know how he'll do but as far as having a power run game he did a few things late in recruiting to make you think he could have some success.

I'd be more interested to see, as you noted, how he'll do with the more athletic positions on the defense. I suspect he'll find O-line and RB candidates who want to play in that offense.

[smootness]

They may not have been good, but they were at least average. How can you possibly say their OL wasn't decent with the numbers they put up last year? That's insane, you can't have one without the other. That's ignorance on your part.

Well, if you've already made this assumption, then you will never have reason to believe anything else. Since you decided on your own that if you're good then you have a good OL and if you're not, then you don't, you've already eliminated all possibility that what he said is accurate, that Ole Miss was able to mask the deficiencies on their OL with scheme.

You're using your original assumption to prove your argument, which doesn't make sense. It's like saying, 'All 18-wheelers are red; every one that I've ever seen is red.' Then, when someone says, 'No, that one right there is green,' your argument would be, 'No, it is red; as I already stated, all 18-wheelers are red, so if it has 18 wheels, it must be red.'

[HancockCountyDog]

Bullcrap I know EXACTLY what I'm talking about. Sorry, dude, but if their offense is putting up that many yards/points, it's because the OL is opening things up for them.

And our 2009 OL was better because it was a year older. I agree that the spread helps when you don't have the talent level of your competition, but it also creates more turnovers. NOTHING can take the place of true talent. That's why USC in their prime and Alabama now run pro-style offenses, to minimize turnovers.

Please show me where all the talent was on the 2012 bear OL? WHere is it? No NFL players. No experience. Only one decent OL recruit and he was only a sophomore. Where is the talent you speak of in you original post?

They were not a talented OL. They had an offense that put less pressure on the OL. Its the same thing we did in 2009 and the same reason we struggled towards the end of last year, the offense we were running towards the end of last year was more classic passing, then spread option, which is harder for our OL to block.

Im sure you understand the skills required to block an option attack are different than ones needed to run a spread attack? The needs are different and what is needed from the OL is different.

We aren't going to recruit Bama level talent on the OL, and neither are the bears, thats is why your scheme is so important. The bears got by last year because their scheme put less pressure on the OL. Did you watch what some team's DL did to their OL? Texas mauled them. Just destroyed them, Wallace had no shot. Did they improve? Sure they did, but their overall talent level was what it was. ZERO NFL players on the starting five. A Juco transfer, a former walk on, a guy that had never started before and they put up 30+ multiple times.

If it was talent, you would be seeing some of these guys drafted, but they won't be, because they simply aren't that good, but in the right system they can be solid.

That is why Arkansas will struggle in my opinion, because their OL will be running against 8 men fronts a lot this season and when your QB isn't a running threat, you can't beat the numbers.

[HancockCountyDog]

Well, if you've already made this assumption, then you will never have reason to believe anything else. Since you decided on your own that if you're good then you have a good OL and if you're not, then you don't, you've already eliminated all possibility that what he said is accurate, that Ole Miss was able to mask the deficiencies on their OL with scheme.

You're using your original assumption to prove your argument, which doesn't make sense. It's like saying, 'All 18-wheelers are red; every one that I've ever seen is red.' Then, when someone says, 'No, that one right there is green,' your argument would be, 'No, it is red; as I already stated, all 18-wheelers are red, so if it has 18 wheels, it must be red.'

+1 - Thank you for saying it way better than I ever could.

[Goat Holder]

Since you decided on your own that if you're good then you have a good OL and if you're not, then you don't, you've already eliminated all possibility that what he said is accurate, that Ole Miss was able to mask the deficiencies on their OL with scheme.

I didn't decide anything on my own. Results on the field prove that. Your offense will suck without a good OL. Your offense will be good with a good OL. I've already said that Ole Miss had an average OL, and that scheme helps when you have a talent deficiency. But it's not the end all be all. Far from it. To say Ole Miss' line sucked last year is just wrong.

And I don't have to show you all anything about how good they were. Look at their depth chart. Look at their stats. Pretty obvious they were decent.

[Goat Holder]

Please show me where all the talent was on the 2012 bear OL? WHere is it? No NFL players. No experience. Only one decent OL recruit and he was only a sophomore. Where is the talent you speak of in you original post?

Most of them are still on their roster. You don't have to look far, pal.

[MSUDawg4Life]

Goat, I've been saying this all summer. These people aren't listening.

Those who think Arkansas is going to be a smashmouth team are going to be surprised at their offense.

Those who think Arkansas doesn't have talent are going to be surprised.

They'll see in a few more days ....

[Goat Holder]

I was one of them. That is, until I looked at their OL depth chart.

[smootness]

I looked at their depth chart, wasn't impressed.

I looked at their stats, they gave up a lot of sacks. What stats are you talking about?

[MSUDawg4Life]

Not talking about stats or depth chart, man.

Just watch them play ....

[smootness]

Sorry, was responding to Goat about Ole Miss.

[aerodawg]

Bielema is trying to turn them into a smashmouth physical team. They've been finesse for years. They will be a year or two transforming. This is why that top shelf WR transferred out, because they are going to run the ball.

I am with you on this. I am not convinced Bielema will prosper in the SEC. Despite being the most physical team in the Big10, their physicality was pretty middle of the pack for the SEC. However, I think their defense will be greatly improved and may make some games interesting, including ours.

[Bothrops]

Bielema's new run-attack offense will offer a manageable threat to SEC defenses, during his tenure. This should certainly include our D, and that starts this season. Arky's days of running defenses ragged, and scoring on every possession, are over. What Petrino had over there was a nightmare. The nightmare is over. I fully expect us to beat them, at least, 50 percent of the time once they get that ship underway. Until then, we cannot allow a loss to the hogs. Not this season, or next.

I have Arkansas winning about 4 games this year.

[PassInterference]

I don't think we've EVER won a football game in the state of Arkansas. If we win this year, it should go as another accomplishment for Mullen.

Exactly. Aside Arkansas' throw-away year last year, we've beat Arkansas how many times since they joined the SEC? Once? Twice? No matter what the matchup has been like, they've had our number for some reason.

We should beat Arkansas this year. But I'll believe it when I see it.