Defense

[Pork Twain]

It all started there in the second half.  Could not stop anyone and our guys on offense knew it.  That led to them trying to force things.  That combined with a couple of bad luck plays led to this.  Couple of those 'mistakes' on offense were just some of the most freakishly bad luck bounces ever.  Rob Smith must go.

[RagingHawgOn]

Our offense sucked ass.

[Boss Hog in the Arkansas]

Not gonna stop many teams when your offense makes mistakes and turns the ball over in your own redzone. Va Tech scored 21 points on drives where they started within the 20. Our defense was holding up until that point. As much heat as the D has taken this year, I cant put this one on them, for the most part anyway.

[jackflash]

I agree this one on the offense. they not only didn't score made it easy for VT to score

[Pork Twain]

They were doing fine in the first half when it wasn't obvious the defense was going to let VT score every time they touched the ball.

[PonderinHog]

Short field, due to turnovers.

[Youngsta71701]

It all started there in the second half.  Could not stop anyone and our guys on offense knew it.  That led to them trying to force things.  That combined with a couple of bad luck plays led to this.  Couple of those 'mistakes' on offense were just some of the most freakishly bad luck bounces ever.  Rob Smith must go.

Sorry Pork, Cant agree with you on this one. The offense committing penalties and turning the ball over started the meltdown. Starting with the first fumble by Drew Morgan that led to the first Virginia Tech touchdown. Then the fumble at the one yard line made it even worse.

[Youngsta71701]

They were doing fine in the first half when it wasn't obvious the defense was going to let VT score every time they touched the ball.

Virginia Tech didn't score until after the first Morgan fumble.

[Pork Twain]

Virginia Tech didn't score until after the first Morgan fumble.

Correct and while that fumble was unfortunate, it did not start the avalanche.  Our defense let them walk all over them the entire second half.  After the way they played in the first half, you would expect a few stops.  After that score, our offense reminded me of Denver in the Super Bowl vs Seattle except our defense disappeared as well.

While I feel like our offense got shell shocked after a couple of bad breaks, I feel like our defense made no adjustments at half and gave up quickly after the first drive.  That is coaching, not conditioning.  Nobody had a chance to regroup.

[havok]

All season.. (Both Sides of the ball) in game adjustments are non-existent. Opponents adjust to what we are doing..and we do nothing but talk on the headset and not try to exploit them..

[Jim Harris]

It all started there in the second half.  Could not stop anyone and our guys on offense knew it.  That led to them trying to force things.  That combined with a couple of bad luck plays led to this.  Couple of those 'mistakes' on offense were just some of the most freakishly bad luck bounces ever.  Rob Smith must go.

They had to drive 30, 44 and 5 yards for their scores that cut it to 24-21. You're blaming the defense that somehow pitched a shutout in the first half?

[Pork Twain]

All season.. (Both Sides of the ball) in game adjustments are non-existent. Opponents adjust to what we are doing..and we do nothing but talk on the headset and not try to exploit them..

Sadly that is true.  I think Enos can turn it around with this young group but there is no excuse for Smith.

[Pork Twain]

They had to drive 30, 44 and 5 yards for their scores that cut it to 24-21. You're blaming the defense that somehow pitched a shutout in the first half?

I am blaming the D.C. For once again seemingly failing to make any positive adjustments at half.  In the first half we darn them down.  In the second half we had no answers, coaching.  This has become the norm with Smith defenses in the second half.

[HOGSWEAT]

They pretty much both sucked. The only positives were Pulley and Hatcher

[PonderinHog]

They had to drive 30, 44 and 5 yards for their scores that cut it to 24-21. You're blaming the defense that somehow pitched a shutout in the first half?

That's what I call a

Short field, due to turnovers.

[Pork Twain]

Second half Robb Smith reminds me of the coach on Waterboy.  I am surprised he is not hiding behind the bench.  I feel bad for the players, because their leader had no plan.  Enos cannot keep Morgan from fumbling there, nor could he stop a defender from catching a deflected pass.  I give the offense a little leeway because of bad bounces

[Jim Harris]

I am blaming the D.C. For once again seemingly failing to make any positive adjustments at half.  In the first half we darn them down.  In the second half we had no answers, coaching.  This has become the norm with Smith defenses in the second half.

Question: Do you blame the defense or the offense for blowing the Tennessee game in 1998 when Stoerner lost the ball at his own 47 with less than 2 minutes to play? Or do you just credit Tennessee for taking that break and making the most of it, which is what most folks should do but what Arkansas fans do not do?
I'm just trying to see where it falls as to when a turnover happens giving a short field, in a critical time, with momentum changing, to an example that I know, for 18 years has been laid at the feet of Stoerner for fumbling. Did the defense blow it because they couldn't stop Tennessee after the turnover after having held the eventual national champion that day to 20 points up until then (2 pts came on a safety)?

Arkansas's defense played its ass off yesterday.

[Pork Twain]

I am taking nothing away from the defense and everything away from the adjustments and strategy after half.  Of course they played hard but had poor direction

Given my opinion is VERY biased because I want Robby gone

[Youngsta71701]

I am blaming the D.C. For once again seemingly failing to make any positive adjustments at half.  In the first half we darn them down.  In the second half we had no answers, coaching.  This has become the norm with Smith defenses in the second half.

The DC did make one adjustment in the second half...lol...we went back to that soft vanilla man to man stuff and the defensive line stop playing line games like stunting and things like that. If we were going to play soft why not play zone? In the first half we had a spy in the middle on their QB almost every snap. In the second half not so much. On one play Ellis vacated the middle of the field and the QB threw it right to where he came from for a big first down conversion on 3rd down. I was like WTH. Why didn't he stay in the middle.

[WorfHog]

The game turned when CBB got the refs to enforce a rule no one knew about and it got VT fired up.

[Martygit]

It all started there in the second half.  Could not stop anyone and our guys on offense knew it.  That led to them trying to force things.  That combined with a couple of bad luck plays led to this.  Couple of those 'mistakes' on offense were just some of the most freakishly bad luck bounces ever.  Rob Smith must go.

Wow!! I hadn't heard anyone complain about the defense before - glad you brought it to our attention

[tophawg19]

the defense kept our offense backed up and in a hole the whole 2nd half . even when they did get a stop it was after several 1st downs . the bend but don't break , Cracked , broke and finally shattered . we had a long field which allowed them to take chances on defense and they made plays.

[Pork Twain]

Wow!! I hadn't heard anyone complain about the defense before - glad you brought it to our attention

If you don't like people pointing the obvious out, stay off message boards.

[hawgon]

The offense put the defense in some bad positions but there were some defensive differences in the second half.  The hated ten yard cushion we give to receivers came back and we didn't bring nearly as much pressure. 

[HOGINTENNESSEE]

The defense fell apart as soon as the wind stopped affecting passes.

[King Kong]

The defense fell apart as soon as the wind stopped affecting passes.

This.

[Pork Twain]

Bud Foster did what Bud Foster does and made half-time adjustments and they came out and looked like the VT team that almost took Clemson down.  Robb Smith made the adjustment turning our defense to bend but don't break and opening up the middle for them.  Great call...

[lakecityhog]

Your own 47 is basically mid-field, so yes the defense is supposed to step up in a situation like that!
I thought that this was a TEAM game, if one side of the ball makes a mistake the other side of the ball tries to cover as best they can.

Now, 1st and goal from the 5 I would expect a TD 75-80% of the time. But, even with that scenario a D should force a FG every now and then!

Guys, we can sit and piss & moan, analyze and what-if this thing to death, but when everything is distilled down to its purest form it is COACHING! Players tend to take on the character of their coach, position and HC. Now I know that not every player does this, but a great majority do. Some kids just have that natural killer instinct in them. I would say that those kids suffer the most from a laid back style, it simply goes against their grain and often results in poor play at critical moments.

I like to credit Danny Ford for Nutt's early successes, he created a physically AND mentally tough team. It took a few years for that to wear off. We don't have that right now. When was the last time that you even heard about a fight in practice?

[Biggus Piggus]

Just keep scoring and you win. Offense totally crapped out.

[Hog N Bama]

The loss was ALL on the offense and very obviously

[reddogjcss]

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
Until we have major changes we will continue to have the same results!

[Deep Shoat]

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
Until we have major changes we will continue to have the same results!

Based on the number of threads I have read this post in over the last 5 minutes, you are insane...