Was Last Year the Year That Should Have Been?

[hoghiker]

It's a common conception on SECrant that last season was our best shot at a great season. Senior quarterback, great running backs, salty receivers and a good to better than good o-line. We should have but didn't. Early season, as we'd all agree probably, misplay tarnished a very good late fall. Some of this is our reputation as lower tier by the rest of the West but is there any truth in this notion?

[Kevin]

in the cbb era yes. should have been a better year.

[Razorbackers]

If Enos doesn't lose 3 of the 5 guys he build his entire playbook around, then the offense doesn't struggle as bad as early.

As much as I don't like Chaney, if he was still here, then we wouldn't have struggled as much early on, because he had been with the offense for a while. He knew how to use them better than Enos did.

It's no coincidence that the Hogs offensive turnaround happened after the BYE week. Enos had a chance to sit down and rework his scheme to match the players that he had available. He found ways to incorporate Reed and the receivers in the run game, for example. That first TD against AU was the reed around.

To circle back to what I said earlier about Chaney, if he was here instead of Enos, we don't have the second half of the season that we had. Enos put together an impressive scheme down the stretch, and our offense looked better than it ever has under CBB.

So, yeah, I think this could have been a special year if it wasn't for injuries to key players. With JWill, we don't lose to TTU or Toledo. In fact, if we played Toledo 100 times, we win that game 95% of the time. Go look at the stat line for that game. Dumbest game ever. We won in every category by the scoreboard.

But the injuries happened, and it sucked. But I was impressed with how this team turned around and almost finished the season ranked. If they beat MSU, then they finish int he top 25, with losses to TTU and Toledo. Would have been bananas.

[ChitownHawg]

It's a common conception on SECrant that last season was our best shot at a great season. Senior quarterback, great running backs, salty receivers and a good to better than good o-line. We should have but didn't. Early season, as we'd all agree probably, misplay tarnished a very good late fall. Some of this is our reputation as lower tier by the rest of the West but is there any truth in this notion?

WR was a big question mark going into last season, questionable QB, and new OC. Then you add in a defensive backfield that underperformed from the previous year.

No I don't think last year was THE year.

[DeltaBoy]

We has some misfires last year early that were a solid kick in the jewels for sure.

[goodguytex]

2017 should be the year we can really see our best chance at winning the West. Will it happen? Who knows. But we will have a great team coming back.

[Atlhogfan1]

It's a common conception on SECrant that last season was our best shot at a great season. Senior quarterback, great running backs, salty receivers and a good to better than good o-line. We should have but didn't. Early season, as we'd all agree probably, misplay tarnished a very good late fall. Some of this is our reputation as lower tier by the rest of the West but is there any truth in this notion?

Where is your mention of defense?  No pass rush early in the season.  Dline lacked disruptiveness.  Secondary coverage was as soft as any we have seen.  3 SEC home games.  Lost arguably our best RB and a team leader for the season.  Had numerous injuries at wr early in the season.  Our senior qb was much better after September.  No last season wasn't our best shot.  It was season 3 of a rebuild that is going to take time considering where it started.  Should have won a couple of regular season games lost (Toledo and A&M) but also got some good fortune to win a couple of other games.  I'll refrain on commenting on SECrant.

[razorbacker3]

Why worry about it now? The past is done. Look to the future. This year can be full of surprises. Many are worried about our OL. I truly believe that Coach Anderson will put together a very good OL. Everyone has been with Coach Enos for a year now, so we won't start off as slow as last year. The Defense will be much better this year with Coach Rhodes coaching the DBs.
Hog fans have a lot to look forward to.

[DeltaBoy]

2006 the year of the Fish. 

[hogsanity]

last year was the typical Arkansas "good" team we have seen for 30+ years. We can never put it all together. Last year, early injures did not help, but the real issue all season was the defense. The year beofre, the defense was pretty good and the offense had weaknesses.

Look at this coming season. Defense, at least on paper and in spring, looks to be much improved, even at LB which has been an issue especially in depth, WR crew is really really good and deep, stud TE in Sprinkle, but the OL is being revamped, RB is a 6th year SR that has had a ton of injuries, a promising soph coming off neck surgery, and a true FR, and Oh yea, the starting QB, while a RS JR, has almost no experience under real fire.

[Atlhogfan1]

last year was the typical Arkansas "good" team we have seen for 30+ years. We can never put it all together. Last year, early injures did not help, but the real issue all season was the defense. The year beofre, the defense was pretty good and the offense had weaknesses.

Look at this coming season. Defense, at least on paper and in spring, looks to be much improved, even at LB which has been an issue especially in depth, WR crew is really really good and deep, stud TE in Sprinkle, but the OL is being revamped, RB is a 6th year SR that has had a ton of injuries, a promising soph coming off neck surgery, and a true FR, and Oh yea, the starting QB, while a RS JR, has almost no experience under real fire.

It will almost always depend on our defense.  1998, 1999, 2003, 2006, 2010, 2011 - Competent veteran defenses.  We will cycle up and down as we know because our recruiting base gives us almost nothing comparatively to most of the rest of the SEC on the defensive side.  And then mistakes were made IMO last offseason in S&C with players getting bigger and losing athleticism and quickness especially in the Dline.  T Johnson basically had a wasted season.  Guess we could "what if" our def front could have been quicker and more disruptive vs Toledo and TT.  But our coverage and coverage schemes were mismatches against those quick throwing offenses.  We seem to be building back up to another competent veteran group. 

[Seebs]

I just threw away my 34 waist pants that have been in the closet for years. Just let it go and look ahead.

[navyhog24]

[KlubhouseKonnected]

last year was the typical Arkansas "good" team we have seen for 30+ years. We can never put it all together. Last year, early injures did not help, but the real issue all season was the defense. The year beofre, the defense was pretty good and the offense had weaknesses.

Look at this coming season. Defense, at least on paper and in spring, looks to be much improved, even at LB which has been an issue especially in depth, WR crew is really really good and deep, stud TE in Sprinkle, but the OL is being revamped, RB is a 6th year SR that has had a ton of injuries, a promising soph coming off neck surgery, and a true FR, and Oh yea, the starting QB, while a RS JR, has almost no experience under real fire.

That is true of most schools of course but you are not wrong. The smart money is on is taking a step back this year overall. I hope I am wrong on that but I will be dissapointed, but not angry or surprised if we have a six win season ahead of us.

If we beat Auburn and Ole Miss in that scenario it would really help my heart ache.

[Wildhog]

Short answer is yes.

[Bacon_Bitz]

Short answer is yes.

Even shorter answer is no.

[Wildhog]

If we win 7 games this year you guys will build him a statue.

[KlubhouseKonnected]

If we win 7 games this year you guys will build him a statue.

I won't build him a statue, but looking at our schedule and the state of our team as it stood at the close of spring camp I won't be mad at him.

[Seebs]

If we win 7 games this year you guys will build him a statue.

Who are 'you guys?" Hog Fans?

Maybe its time you got on board, got laid or got out. 
You make Waldorf and Statler look like Erhard Seminars Trainers.  So dour.

[PorkSoda]

Last year was the year CBB has been building to.  our star power got decimated by injury and we still managed a good season.

If we stay healthy this year, we may manage to match the win total, with next year looking better as some of the young guys develop.

[Wildhog]

Who are 'you guys?" Hog Fans?

Maybe its time you got on board, got laid or got out. 
You make Waldorf and Statler look like Erhard Seminars Trainers.  So dour.

Really?  I think I've been pretty mild lately.

And I do need to get laid.  Our newborn is making it difficult.

[ricepig]

Really?  I think I've been pretty mild lately.

And I do need to get laid.  Our newborn is making it difficult.

Wait til you have a couple more, lol......

[WizardofhOgZ]

It's a common conception on SECrant that last season was our best shot at a great season. Senior quarterback, great running backs, salty receivers and a good to better than good o-line. We should have but didn't. Early season, as we'd all agree probably, misplay tarnished a very good late fall. Some of this is our reputation as lower tier by the rest of the West but is there any truth in this notion?

And I'd reply that such a sentiment is a "common" reaction of those that don't really understand football; superficial fans.

They'll see the results, the near misses, and opine that we "should have" won the A&M, MSU and Toledo games, then conclude that means we let the season get away from us, should have done better, blew it, etc.

The reality is that while we easily could have, and probably should have won at least one or two of those games, we also just as easily could have lost the Auburn and Ole Miss games.  If you're going to use revisionist history on 3 of the 5 "coin flips" we had, you need to go on and do it to all 5.  In that context, we "should" have won 2 or 3 of the 5, and that's what we did.  We could have won or lost 4 or 5, but the odds are only 3/16 for either of those extreme outcomes to occur.   62.5% of the time, we'd finish about where we did; and, we'd be as likely to have lost 4 or all 5 of the games as we would have been to win them all, or to lose just one of them.

But the bigger point is that we were a clearly flawed football team last year, and we actually over-performed, IMO.  In most any season, either the offense will be better than the defense, or the other way around.  You can win with an offense that's, say, only a 5 out of 10, if your defense is a 8/10 (or, vice-versa).  But it's hard to win when either unit is much below a 5.  Last year, we had an extremely bi-polar team, with an offense that began as about a 5 but ended up playing at a rarely seen 9 level down the stretch.  Meanwhile, our defense played pretty consistently at a 3 to 4 level, especially when were playing other SEC schools.

The key issue was - and remains (though improving every year) - depth.  Our starting defense played noticeably better in the first half of most games last year - though still not what you'd call "solid", it wasn't nearly as bad as what we saw late in the game.  By late in the third quarter, and throughout the 4th quarter, most of our key defenders were worn out, but still on the playing field because the situation was so critical and we just didn't have any backup players that they coaches trusted in those moments.  That led to critical breakdowns late that, ultimately, caused some close loses.

So, 2015 was a glimpse at some of the things our future will hold, but ahead of schedule.  I expect more of the same this season, as we are (in comparison to last year) much less experienced at QB, RB and OL - the strengths of last year's team.  The good news is that the other areas should be improved (most noticeably, on defense), and we have young talent that promises to eventually be able to replace those that left. 

But when?  By mid-season?  End of the year?  I don't have those answers, and that's the reason why I expect our first, honest to goodness, legitimate challenge to win the SEC West to come in 2017 - when we've found replacements for those question mark areas, and add yet another class to bolster depth on both sides of the ball.

[pigskenG]

I remember feeling pretty good about our offense and the defensive line. the questions were at LB and DB.  They never were answered all year. Offense played well, but couldn't make up for the pourous defense.

[The_Iceman]

Beat Toledo, finish off a&m, and make a damn field goal against MSU, and this team finishes 10-2. I don't think we deserved to say anything about TTU because they flat out schooled us.

[Vantage 8 dude]

If Enos doesn't lose 3 of the 5 guys he build his entire playbook around, then the offense doesn't struggle as bad as early.

As much as I don't like Chaney, if he was still here, then we wouldn't have struggled as much early on, because he had been with the offense for a while. He knew how to use them better than Enos did.

It's no coincidence that the Hogs offensive turnaround happened after the BYE week. Enos had a chance to sit down and rework his scheme to match the players that he had available. He found ways to incorporate Reed and the receivers in the run game, for example. That first TD against AU was the reed around.

To circle back to what I said earlier about Chaney, if he was here instead of Enos, we don't have the second half of the season that we had. Enos put together an impressive scheme down the stretch, and our offense looked better than it ever has under CBB.

So, yeah, I think this could have been a special year if it wasn't for injuries to key players. With JWill, we don't lose to TTU or Toledo. In fact, if we played Toledo 100 times, we win that game 95% of the time. Go look at the stat line for that game. Dumbest game ever. We won in every category by the scoreboard.

But the injuries happened, and it sucked. But I was impressed with how this team turned around and almost finished the season ranked. If they beat MSU, then they finish int he top 25, with losses to TTU and Toledo. Would have been bananas.

Not that I don't necessarily agree, however, with what you're saying about the early part of the season if Cheney stays versus what we did later in the year with Enos, sounds to me as if it's a virtual draw. We gave up something early on to gain something better later on. Yep, that's pretty much a tie......