SB Nation User Blog: Razorback Expats

As D-Mac's World Turns..

Razorback Expats — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 16:10:18 -0000

While we all fret about the state of the Hogs, let's not forget about the strange case of perhaps the most prominent Razorback fan of all, one Mr. Darren McFadden. Not only is he watching his favorite team struggle like the rest of us, but his current team is currently immeshed in the soap opera to end all soap operas. And, in a bizarre bit of irony, the madness coming out of the Oakland Raiders HQ has a definite Arkansas twist to it.

As you've probably seen by now, Raiders owner Al Davis fired coach Lane Kiffin earlier this week and in the process unleashed a vicious series of personal attacks on Kiffin that could only be described as circus-like, even by Davis' own circusy standards. It seems that their relationship began to sour when Kiffin privately expressed interested in the Arkansas job last December (only to be outdone by Bobby Petrino, who famously had no qualms about leaving his team mid-season).

We like it when things come full circle, and the many weird connections between the Razorbacks and the Raiders over the last 12 months definitely appeal to our need to see some sort of order in the universe. However, we'd feel better if the Hogs' fortunes on the field would divert from Oakland and take their own course sometime soon.

Meanwhile, D-Mac is hobbling around on a hurt foot and trying to figure out who his coach is this week. Something tells us that he's probably not marveling at the cosmic significance of it all.

Figuring Out Florida: A Q&A with The Bull Gator

Razorback Expats — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 16:06:14 -0000

With Razorback fans bracing themselves for another Saturday whipping, we thought it would be a good time to check in with a Gator expert. Joel from The Bull Gator was kind enough to answer our questions about this year's Florida squad. Read on to his take on the Gator's strengths and weaknesses, last year's Heisman Trophy race and the love that Florida fans continue to feel for Darth Visor. (And click here to see our answers to his questions.) Many thanks, Joel. And now, on with the show …

Give us a quick scouting report on this year's Florida team: strengths, weaknesses, etc.

Florida’s biggest strength is the capabilities of its offense. Its biggest weakness is the coaches’ lack of realization of those capabilities. The Gators have the talent and firepower to put 40+ points on anyone. They also have the playbook to do it. So far in 2008, we haven’t seen it all come together for an entire game. Florida is averaging 35.5 points per game this season – which is nothing to put down – but this is a team built to do even more. The Ole Miss game exposed the fact that when behind in games, Urban Meyer and Dan Mullen panic and only go with the guys named Tebow and Harvin. The playbook is practically closed and the same 3-5 plays are used in hopes we can will a win.

In pressure situations, the Gators get away from what worked and go into panic mode. Not that I should complain too much about being 3-1 with big wins over hated rivals Miami and Tennessee, but the Ole Miss game made me very nervous for the rest of the season.

Other strengths include the starting defensive ends – Carlos Dunlap is a star in the making – and the linebackers. However, a weakness is still the secondary. Although vastly improved over last year, the Ole Miss game proved they are still a ways off from being among the SEC’s elite units.

What are fans' expectations for this season?

Whoever the coach is will always tell you that Florida doesn’t look beyond winning the SEC East. Once that goal’s accomplished, it’s winning the SEC Championship. Then we can actually discuss the national title. Most fans I know think slightly different. We start at the top and then settle for the rest. Sure winning the SEC East is nice. Taking home a SEC title is all good and well. But fans want a national championship. The 2006 one is so fresh in our minds, we want another one. After losing to Ole Miss, we didn’t think “it’s okay, we still control our destiny in the East, win out and we’re in the SEC title game.” No, we thought “crap, how can we get back in the hunt for the national title?” Sure we’d settle for a 10-win season with a conference championship if we have to, but our expectations are a national title. We feel Florida has the program and talent to compete with anyone, so there’s really nothing else.

Do you feel last week's surprising loss to Ole Miss was a fluke, or did it reveal real problems that might plague the team the rest of the season?

The way Florida played for the first three quarters against Miami and at certain points during the Tennessee game, I actually don’t believe it was a fluke. The Ole Miss game exposed the team to itself I think. Too much reliance on only Tebow and Harvin. Not utilizing the entire playbook. Bad play calling when behind. Despite wins by at least 23 points in the first three games, we saw some holes in Florida’s offense that weren’t expected. But watching those first few games, it was also apparent that some team could easily sneak up on the Gators. Ole Miss did exactly that.

It’s hard to say there are problems that will plague Florida for the rest of the season, because they are fixable issues. The Gators have the right coaches and players; they just have to utilize both effectively.

Do you have a hard time sleeping at night knowing that Tim Tebow wrongly won the Heisman last year instead of Darren McFadden?

Do you have a hard time sleeping at night because of Reggie Fish’s decision to try to field the punt?

Obviously I wanted Tebow to win the Heisman, but in all honesty the award could’ve gone either way and I would’ve been fine with it. I don’t think that was a situation where one player was robbed or where one was hands down the favorite either. Both players had tremendous seasons. What I believe pushed Tebow over the edge was the fact that he had one of the greatest statistical seasons in the history of the game (like it or not it’s true). Not that McFadden didn’t have an amazing season himself, I just think the combination of passing and rushing touchdowns pushed Tebow over the top.

Which national championship was more meaningful to you - 1996 or 2006?

1996. You always remember your first time.

I was a senior in high school at the time and the school I was headed to won the national title. At the time, I thought it was the coolest thing ever. I was going to the school of the defending champions. Unfortunately, I would be long gone from Gainesville when they won their second title.

That and because of who the Gators beat to win it. Blowing out FSU in any game puts a huge smile on my face, but doing it to win a national title was simply perfect. I could understand how younger Florida fans may have better memories of 2006, but I remember both clearly and 1996 will always hold the top spot.

Who do Gator fans revere more - Steve Spurrier or Urban Meyer?

Spurrier – hands down. Spurrier is the face of the program. He made it possible for someone like Meyer to be able to come in years later and win a title. There were times before Spurrier that the program was very good and competed well on a national level, but he turned Florida into one of the elite programs in the nation. He brought a swagger to the school and an increased feeling of confidence. It’s viewed as cockiness, but athletes should be cocky. They compete to win. Plain and simple. Once you’re at that level, you don’t play for fun anymore. You play to win. They should be cocky.

Spurrier being a Gator before becoming the coach also adds to this. Not that we don’t love Meyer too, but he had nothing to do with UF before he became the coach. Spurrier played for UF, won a Heisman there, and came back and turned the program into what it is today.

Finally, what's your prediction for Saturday's game? Will you guys score 70 on us?

Could Florida score 70? Yes. Will they? No. If the Gators learned their lesson against Ole Miss, it could be a long day for Arkansas. If they didn’t it could be much closer than everyone thinks. I’m going to pick the glass that’s half full here and say Florida puts it all together and wins convincingly, but in the range of 38-17, not 70-7.

J. Hawg's Pen: My Hogs, Right or Wrong Pt2

Razorback Expats — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 16:04:08 -0000

Yesterday Razorback Expats commenter and occasional contributor J. Hawg 3 treated us to part 1 of his evaluation of this hits and misses of the Hogs' preseason conventional wisdom. It somehow managed to be hilarious, insightful and depressing all at the same time. Continuing with that theme, here's part 2:

6. Houston Dale is going to have a pretty darn good season at Ole Miss, and they'll love him for a year or two. RIGHT. He was left with a stable full of studs lacking leadership and motivation. That's HDN's cup o' tea. Also his cup o' tea: losing embarrassingly to Vanderbilt, then beating Florida in the Swamp. Get used to it, Rebels.

7. Our freshmen wide receivers and running backs are going to be awesome. WRONG. With the receivers, it is easy to see why they are not producing, because futility, thy name is Dick. The running backs, well, were we just misled about Curtis and Johnson? I thought they were bona fide recruits. So far, not.

8. No way we lose to Nutt & Ole Miss or Malzahn & Tulsa; I mean, no F'ing way. WAY. In fact, does anyone think we stand a chance against those two teams? Anyone besides those folks who forgot to take their meds? Nutt has a better team, and he will be totally motivated. We will still be reeling from weeks of getting pounded into crumbly bits of cookie. Malzahn has a similar score to settle, a high-octane offense, and our defense, well, have I mentioned our defense? It really blows.

9. We will get beat up pretty good in Murderer's Row, but will still manage to win 5 or 6 games. PLEASE, SEE YOUR DOCTOR. We have won all of the games we are going to win, with the possible and remote exceptions of Kentucky and Mississippi State. Since both are on the road at stadiums where even good Hog teams have sputtered, I say no way.

10. Yeah, we might look bad now, but give Petrino time and he'll show he was a good choice. RIGHT. I'm still drinking that Kool-Aid. You know, even in the midst of getting killed, we still seem to have more imagination on offense that we did in the entire Nutt Decade. I think he needs to fire Willy Robinson. Maybe even do it right now. But I have hope that eventually he will recruit the right players for his system and get them all on the same page and we'll be vastly improved. This awful season is the price we have to pay. I look for a strong rebound sometime in the third quarter of 2010.

11. Vanderbilt is going to be 4-0 and in the lead in the SEC East after five weeks. RIGHT. As in "Right, no one ever said that." But go 'Dores. If my Hogs are gonna spend some time in purgatory, at least I have my Vanderbilt. At least until they get around to playing all the good teams in the SEC East. A man can dream, can't he?

SEC Power Poll: Week 5

Razorback Expats — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 16:03:07 -0000

Things are starting to heat up around the SEC now...read on for our ballot in this week's Power Poll (and be sure to also check out the overall results over at Garnet & Black Attack):

1. (4) Alabama (defeated Georgia, 41-30)
2. (2) LSU (defeated Mississippi St, 34-24)

The unvanquished. Don't let the semi-close score fool you...Bama administered a serious beatdown on the Dawgs. In that 31-0 (!) first half they made Georgia look, well, Razorbackesque. Meanwhile, LSU isn't exactly rolling but they keep getting the job done. The matchup between these teams on 11/8 should be something to see.

3. (3) Georgia (lost to Alabama, 30-41)
4. (1) Florida (lost to Mississippi, 30-31)

It's really not the SEC East's year, is it? In another stroke of luck adding to the Hogs' perfect storm of a season, the real conference power is located out west this year.

5. (6) Auburn (defeated Tennessee, 14-12)
6. (5) Vanderbilt (idle)

You know it's a weird year when the Auburn-Vandy game has major conference-wide implications. Here we are in October and Vanderbilt controls their own destiny in the SEC East. And although Auburn's offense has looked fairly primitive (at best) this year, we have a feeling their game against the Hogs next week will cure that.

7. (9) Mississippi (defeated Florida, 31-30)

You know what? We're not even going to be haters in the slightest bit today...that really was an impressive win.

8. (8) Tennessee (lost to Auburn, 12-14)
9. (7) South Carolina (defeated Alabama-Birmingham, 26-13)
10. (10) Kentucky (defeated Western Kentucky, 41-3)
11. (12) Mississippi State (lost to LSU, 24-34)

*Yawn* These are all mediocre teams who are a lot better than the Hogs. Frankly, this order probably isn't the least bit correct, but we're not losing a lot of sleep over it..

12. (11) Arkansas (lost to Texas, 10-52)

And here we sit. Might as well make ourselves comfortable...we're going to be down here for awhile.

J. Hawg's Pen: My Hogs, Right or Wrong Pt1

Razorback Expats — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 15:59:37 -0000

Now that the first month of the football season is mercifully behind us, it seemed like a good time to turn the floor over to one of our favorite commenters, the illustrious J. Hawg 3, for his analysis of the carnage so far. In this two part series, J. Hawg revisits the preseason conventional wisdom about the Razorbacks to see where the experts were right and where they were horribly wrong. So, sit down, get comfortable, remove any sharp objects from the room and read on (and stay tuned for part 2 tomorrow):

As we near the midway point in this, the Dark Season of Distress, I decided to go back and revisit all the conventional wisdoms that I and most of my cohorts adopted going into this year. Here they are, My Hogs, Right or Wrong:

1. Under Bobby Petrino, Casey Dick will become a more effective quarterback. WRONG. (And when I say "wrong," think of Dom DeLuise screaming it in "Blazing Saddles.") Though he showed early signs of playing with more confidence, under duress he's the same guy who cannot progress through reads, and sometimes throws to his imaginary friend in the flat. Frankly, his performance has been a bigger disappointment than the government’s regulatory oversight of the financial markets. Only one other quarterback in the league has underperformed as badly, that being the Vols' Jonathon Crompton, and he's heading for the bench. Look for Casey to be there by the Auburn game. I mean, those two pick-sixes against Bama were possibly the worst throws made anywhere in the country at any point this season. Vol fans may disagree.

2. It is going to be a tough year, and it will look like a Chinese Fire Drill the first few games. RIGHT. So right it hurts. Holy cow, these guys look terrible. We got fooled by the first two games, in which it at least looked like we could move the ball when we absolutely had to. The last two games have proved us to be inept on offense against competition that requires us to block, and a gaping sieve akin to the Egyptian army in the Sinai on defense. We look dazed and confused on both sides of the ball.

3. But Petrino will have them playing better by the end of the season. UH, MAYBE. Okay, so there have been flashes. For a couple of series against a very good Alabama defense, we actually moved the ball. And that 4th and 1 TD call was brilliant. But face it, when your season highlight is moving the ball a little bit on the wrong side of a blowout, you have a long, long way to go.

4. Our offensive and defensive lines will be the strength of the team. WRONG. I have no explanation for this. The O-line should be blowing people off the line. We’re savvy, experienced, have a Remington Award-winning center. Sure, the Black Hole that is Terence Cody was a load. But explain the total disintegration against Texas. What was that, like seven sacks? In one game? Are you kidding? And the defensive has been, well, abysmal. (See Egyptian tank comparison above.) The worst performance I have ever seen by a Razorback team in forty years. Now, our D line was not really that good to begin with, but they should have been tolerable. More and more, it looks like the last-second hiring of Willy Robinson was a gigantic mistake. Even with this lack of talent, even Reggie Herring would have them doing, um, something. Even if it was just catching spit as he cussed them out. Or blitzing every down. And remember who Petrino hired but then lost to the Ol' Ball Coach? Ellis Johnson. Guess who has the Number One defense in the NCAA right now . . . .

5. Sure, that's a brutal stretch in the middle of the season, but the Hogs are going to sneak up and beat one of those teams. Maybe two. UH, NOT BLOODY LIKELY. The leading contenders were Alabama (not) and Auburn, with Texas thrown in for historical/hysterical delusions of grandeur purposes. Okay, we still have a chance against Auburn, which is running some sort of offense derived from Medieval chain mail formations. I mean 3-2? Against Mississippi State? For real? Followed by a 14-12 thrashing of the Vols. If we let Auburn hang 30 plus on us, then the season is officially over. We have a chance only because Arkansas seems to have some magic spell over Auburn. Or maybe that was HDN. As for Florida, well diggity, they are gonna be pumped and mad and looking to put us on the wrong side of a 63-21 whupping. Which, coincidentally, is my prediction for Saturday's game. There is some hope, albeit not based in reality, that we will find a way to exploit the Florida D-backs. I guess that's why I think we might actually score 21 points. But let's see, how did we do against a good running QB last week? Hence the 63.

No Relief in Sight

Razorback Expats — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 15:58:32 -0000

Given the rather dreary state of the football team, Razorback fans might be tempted to look ahead to the basketball season. Well, the folks at Athlon Sports have done just that and … well, how's the baseball team looking?

Athlon predicts that John Pelphrey's second Arkansas squad will finish dead last in the SEC West. Given that the Razorbacks lost six important seniors after last season and that Patrick Beverley is now presumably stocking up on berets, such a projection is not surprising at all. Still ... (sigh).

Considering what may be ahead of us this fall and winter, perhaps this link will come in handy.

Saturday's Forecast Calls for Heavy Amounts of Tebow

Razorback Expats — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 15:56:40 -0000

From a Razorback perspective, Ole Miss' 31-30 victory over Florida last Saturday was probably the worst possible thing that could happen at this point in the increasingly-depressing season. Sure, some part of that is because it's never fun to see photos like this of your controversial ex-coach while your controversial new coach is presiding over a complete meltdown against a historic rival. Ultimately, though, that stuff doesn't really matter anymore.

No, the main reason that game sucks for us is that a fired-up and angry Tim Tebow now faces Arkansas with something to prove. Instead of catching the Gators looking ahead to LSU and possibly holding them to, say, a 30 point defeat, we're treated to quotes like this:

"I'm sorry. I'm extremely sorry," [Tebow] said. "We were hoping for an undefeated season. That was my goal, something Florida's never done here. But I promise you one thing: a lot of good will come out of this.

"You have never seen any player in the entire country play as hard as I will play the rest of this season and you'll never see someone push the rest of the team as hard as I will push everybody the rest of this season, and you'll never see a team play harder than we will the rest of this season."

Granted, Tebow was probably salivating the thought of attacking the Hogs' Kleenex-thin defense even before he was stopped on that crucial 4th-and-1 late in the game against Mississippi but now he's going to play extra-hard? This could be ugly...has a player ever racked up 1,000 yards of total offense in a single game before?

A Much-Needed Diversion

Razorback Expats — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 15:53:24 -0000

On a day when the stock market made even the Hogs' last two games seem like wild successes by comparison, it feels like time for a completely random diversion. With that in mind, your friends at Razorback Expats would like you to climb off that ledge for a moment and enjoy this excellent recap of the 1989 win over Heisman winner Andre Ware and the Houston Cougars.

Not only is it high on my personal list of great Razorback games (I was fortunate to watch it from the War Memorial north end zone), no less of an expert than James Rouse cited it as his favorite in our recent Q&A. So, sit back, forget your troubles and watch Rouse, Quinn Grovey, Derek Russell and company work their magic:

Lowdown on the Longhorns: A Q&A with Burnt Orange Nation

Razorback Expats — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 20:00:04 -0000

Thanks to the feverish efforts of Jimmy Carter and Henry Kissinger, a group of Texas and Arkansas fans were able to come together recently and discuss the Longhorns and Razorbacks in a spirit of good cheer and non-violence. Surely a Nobel Peace Prize awaits these masters of diplomacy for their efforts. Specifically, we here at Razorback Expats exchanged questions with Peter Bean, co-editor of Burnt Orange Nation, an outstanding Longhorns blog. Read below to get the lowdown on the strengths and weaknesses of this year's Texas squad, how the rivalry with Arkansas isn't such a huge deal to most Longhorn fans (prepare to be outraged!), and where Hogs fans making the trip to Austin can find a drink to ease the pain they are likely to feel after Saturday's game. (To see our responses to Peter's questions, just click here.)

Give us a quick scouting report on this year's Texas team: strengths, weaknesses, etc.

Quick and dirty: The offense has been a one-man show behind Colt McCoy (who leads the team in rushing and is third nationally in passer rating), the offensive line is good and getting better, we have two steady seniors at wideout, and question marks beyond that. Of particular concern is the mediocre start from the running backs; Texas fans are desperately hoping the explosive Fozzy Whittaker gets healthy quickly.

Defensively, Texas is giving up yards, but not points. As my co-author notes, however, it doesn't look sustainable as the competition stiffens. This young group is going to take some licks as it grows up.

What are the fan's expectations for this year's team?

I wrote a lengthy post on just this topic back in June, urging Longhorns fans to view 2008 as a chance to build for a national title run in 2009. That's not to say this year's team can't be great, but at least three teams on Texas' schedule (OU, Missouri, Texas Tech) are hitting peaks in the cycle, while Texas is young and building towards a peak in '09.

I think a lot of fans are behind that idea, but make no mistake about it: the vast majority of Texas fans ('09 enthusiasts included) expect this year's team to finish no worse than 9-3 or 10-2. So expectations remain very high.

What Longhorn player or players is poised to have a big game against Arkansas?

This one's tough to figure without first asking you guys whether your pass defense is as good as the numbers indicate (or if you've just faced mediocre QBs). If your secondary is strong, Arkansas may actually have a shot to frustrate Texas' offensive machine, which has rolled behind McCoy's stellar play despite the lack of meaningful help from the tailbacks. One offensive player to watch will be Fozzy Whittaker, if he's healthy: He pretty clearly seems The Guy that the 'Horns will need to break out from the tailback position, and he has the talent to do it.

Defensively, Razorback fans should worry about how to stop Lamarr Houston and Sergio Kindle, both of whom are going to spend a lot of time in your backfield if your offensive line play through three games is any indication of what we can expect on Saturday.

We can only assume that the Longhorns and their fans are quaking with fear as the mighty Hogs get set to roll into Austin. Is there anything about the way the Hogs match up with Texas that causes you concern?

As noted in the previous answer, if Arkansas can slow down Texas' passing offense, the Longhorns aren't rushing the ball well yet and it's plausible Arkansas could make a game of things.

Hard to believe, but it's been 17 years since Arkansas last played football in the Southwest Conference. All these years later, what level of animosity/rivalry do Texas fans' feel towards Arkansas? When it comes to the teams you hate, are we even on your radar screen anymore?

I know some fans' blood still boils for Arkansas, but I think for most Longhorns fans, there's no room at the rivalry table for the Hogs. Oklahoma consumes most of our football rage, while A&M is our in-state rival of sorts. Really, Arkansas is like a lot of teams Texas faces who consider us a more important opponent than we consider them.

With that said, I love the Texas-Arkansas history and look forward to match ups with y'all much more so than most teams on the schedule. If Arkansas isn't quite a primary rival, it's a team we've got a special history with, and that's a lot of fun.

We're always interested in how opposing fans feel about their head coach. What is the general opinion of Mack Brown?

Mack Brown has had a few notable low points that really exasperated fans, but on the whole, he's greatly appreciated, as he should be. And what I like best about him is he's a much tougher, more resilient S-O-B than his detractors give him credit for. You don't luck your way into the kind of sustained success he's achieved.

What Arkansas player or coach has irritated you the most over the years?

Stormin' Norman! I'll save my favorite story for our podcast during hoops season.

Also: Matt Jones is a douche. (And utterly torched Texas in Austin, the bastard.)

Arkansas fans are likely going to need something to numb their pain after Saturday's game. For Hog fans who make the trip to Austin, what are the best places for a pre- or post-game drink and/or meal?

Texas fans are damn friendly, hospitable game day folks, so I'd encourage Hogs fans to go mix it up and make some new friends tailgating. If down by the stadium, Scholz's Bier Garden is a game day staple for Texas fans, but be prepared for a sea of burnt orange...

Finally, what's your prediction for Saturday's game?

I don't feel quite as great about this game as some, though for an upset to occur Texas would as much need to beat itself as Arkansas would need to play strong football. I'll be interested to see how our offense does against a defense with better athletes, but I expect Texas to be in command by the 4th Quarter. I'll go with 37-17.

Hodge Podge

Razorback Expats — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 19:57:30 -0000

(written by John.)

* Think D-Mac is wishing the Cowboys had traded up to pick him, as was rumored before the draft? In the latest news out of Oakland, a Raiders exec went off on a local reporter on Monday, yelling at him and giving him a good shove (check out the video of the incident). The reporter, Tim Kawakami, gives his side of the story here, and the San Francisco Chronicle's beat writer shares her thoughts here.

Meanwhile coach Lane Kiffin knows he's going to be fired any second now but hasn't actually been told that officially, so he's still showing up for work every day. At this point, McFadden is probably wistfully recalling the simpler times when his team's scandals involved text messages and FOIA requests.

* Feeling down about the rebuilding states of the football and basketball teams? Well, here's pick-me-up: Arkansas just won the collegiate bass fishing championship (beating Texas in the process, even). Suck on that, Longhorns! We own the lakes! [link courtesy of reader Eastville Holdings]

* A Texas blogger gives his younger readers a history lesson about the Arkansas rivalry with a bunch of semi-amusing made-up facts. We'll give this post one lowercase "ha" and two sarcastic eye rolls. [link courtesy of reader K Smith]

* Stepping up the level of wit a bit, earlier this summer a Texas judge managed to squeeze some friendly jabs at the Hogs into his paperwork on a legal decision. The Supreme Court will be dealing with this as soon as they complete their work on the landmark People of Arkansas v. Pass Interference, My Ass case.

* So Miami routs New England using the Wild Cat Hog formation and the pro football press is shocked - shocked! - at the bold innovation ("You had to see the Miami game plan to believe it" - Peter King). Full credit is given to David Lee before the intrepid media digs deeper and sort of figures it out. Obviously King and his cronies aren't reading RazorbackExpats.com often enough. (for the best recap of the saga, check out this Slophouse post...complete with HDN quotes!)