For all the Nutt apologists...let me challenge you with one question:

[zorbacks06]

Okay Razorback fans...

I did all this to prove a point.  The point is that all of us who answered in this thread are right.  What, you say?  Yes, we are all right.  The answers to the theoretical question are impossible to prove right, or prove wrong.  Yet for some reason we spent 2 pages and countless hours answering them.

For those of you who answered with the understanding that these are just opinions and therefore unprovable, congratulations.  You passed the test.  Those of you who, on the other hand, were angered and upset with such foolishness and wanted to argue at the drop of a hat for someone else's obviously fallable statements...well, you lose.

Every person on this or any message board that treats his or her opinion as right can do so, but this idea of force-feeding your opinions down someone else's throat, whether it be in support or against Nutt, is irrelevant and a huge waste of time.  One of my favorite sayings goes as follows..."A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still".  Why do Nutt huggers think they can force Petrino fans to change their minds?  Why do Petrino fans feel the same way in reverse? 

Message boards should be approached as a face to face conversation would be...with civility and reverence for the others.  I have information you may not be privy to.  And you may have some I'm unaware of.  Share the information which you can, but do so with the utmost respect for those you disagree with.

I disagree with razorbackfan502000 but can do so with respect for his position.  This is something we should all strive for.

Without a doubt, Hogville is the greatest community for Razorback relationships I've ever been a part of.  Instead of pushing agendas we should all be thankful for views other than our own.  This forum allows that and I thank Lanny for giving me the free access to it I have.

There.  I said it...Jerry Macguire moment over.

Bacon out...

Well stated Bacon.

[DeltaBoy]

Great Post Bacon

[HoopS]

FT LONG, no, it wasn't balanced.  What we saw was a team figuring out a way to win without several starters, including Smith.....while learning new blocking techniques and using multiple true freshmen in key roles all over both sides of the ball.

I suspect we'll see more balance as we go.  But better than that, I expect that Petrino will do whatever we need to do to give ourselves an oppurtunity to win. 

[PigPusher]

Speaking of improvement there was a bunch of it between the 1st and 2nd half. Had it been nutt he would have mismanaged the last five minutes and there would be a lot of embarrassed people in Arkansas.

It is fair to expect a vast difference between last weeks team and this one we are to see this week.  In our house, we are looking forward to the witnessing of the improvement.

[thehill1414]

It's about players and systems people. Do we have the oline to run Nutt's system? Yes. Do we have the running backs? No. Petrino is trying to put in a new system with guys that don't fit his style (except for the freshmen obviously). Nutt would have won this game by 2 touchdowns because he would have been ahead the entire game. The man does not play freshmen often...no matter how bad the upperclassmen. The opening kick would not have been fumbled, and we would not have trailed in the game.

Once the players get Petrino's system down, we are going to win a whole lot more games than we ever did with Nutt. If Nutt had been behind by 10 in the 4th quarter a guarantee you we would have lost this game....I just don't think we would have been trailing. Hopefully by Oct 25, the players will have this system down, and can stop the run, and will put a beating on Nutt.

I can't stand Nutt, but not going through a coaching change would post a better result in game 1, but not necessarily in game 7 or 8, and definitely not in season 2 or 3. Petrino will eventually own Nutt's teams at Ole Miss and this won't even be a debate.

[DeWayne R]

With Nutt at the helms this would have been a lose. He would have choked on the play calling like he chokes on his figner nails every game.

[BigDeal]

I don't think the game would have been close and here's why. Nutt has known the players longer and could have played better to each one's strength.
However, Petrino is the coach of the Razorbacks and I don't think about stuff like this. Let's give Petrino some time to adjust,learn the players, recruit, and then we can go from there. I 100% support Petrino as coach of the hogs.

I thank you.

[subjectstorm]

even if Bacon has declared this post done, i came to it late, and love this hypothetical crap - so here's my two cents regardless.

1> likely, Smith would not have been suspended.
2> we would have run the ball in a system that the offensive line was comfortable with - no blocking assignment confusion, little passing, so less sacks.
3> no ints because we wouldn't have thrown the ball over the middle.  ever.

Given that most of WIU's scoring opportunities were helped along by field position, i doubt that they would have performed as well.

i think you would have seen nutt's trademark, generic running game, augmented with the "Wild Hog Formation". 

So, probably, we win the game by a slightly higher margin with nutt at the helm.  we would likely win this weeks game as well.

that's the point at which the wheels would come off the wagon, though.  against the better teams, our running game would fail, the passing game would be horribly underdeveloped, and we would get smacked around.  we aren't built for the power running game right now.  4 or 5 win season likely.

that's my take, based on past performances.

but of course, this is all hypothetical.

[Newhopehog]

Smith would have been suspended....even though it was a secondary violation if you don't do anything the ncaa will come to see you, especially if you are on probation like we are.......

[FT LNG CHILI HOG]

FT LONG, no, it wasn't balanced.  What we saw was a team figuring out a way to win without several starters, including Smith.....while learning new blocking techniques and using multiple true freshmen in key roles all over both sides of the ball.

I suspect we'll see more balance as we go.  But better than that, I expect that Petrino will do whatever we need to do to give ourselves an oppurtunity to win. 

I agree with you there.  plus I don't suspect Petrino was pulling ouit all the stops.  There was no need in dogpiling on WIU, however I don't think Petrino wanted the game to play out the way it did.  One thing I think we are missing is half out team on the field were 6 mos away from being in high school and still won the game.  With all that said, it is a long season and good things are on the way, maybe not overnight but they are coming.

[RazorbackNutt]

Houston Nutt would have worn a team like Western Illinois down and we would have won by a couple of touchdowns. 

We are working in to Bobby Petrino's offense, and it is going to take time. 

I'm willing to be patient

[Mo_Better_Hogs]

I think we lose...but I can see the point of the anti-Nutt people who think we still would have won (IF it didn't depend on us coming back in the 4th quarter.)

It's kinda funny seeing the old Huggers get coaxed out of hiding by Bacon's question.

[OTTER]

In this case, you cannot compare.  Nutt would have lost the game, no doubt about it.  The only glimmer of light for Nutt would have been that some of the players who did not make an appearence in Saturdays game would have played given his lack of discipline and his "pet player" mentality.  However, since he would have refused to allow Casey to actually "BE" a quarterback, and his refusal to play the freshmen(although we wouldn't have them available because several key players would not have signed if he was here)  the lack of upper classman talent on the team due to his lack of recruiting ability, he would have lost 34 - 14.  Nice post Bacon, and thank God for Mississippi!!!!!!!!