Watching 1979 Arkansas Vs Texas game on SECN and...

[Michael_E_Davis]

Offensively,  it seems like the Razorbacks are lightening speed compared to the razorback offense right now.  I mean, they snap the ball, and the play is executed fast;  from the blocking to the entire scheme.   Was the offense that must faster back then because of more simple plays,  or did we just have faster people, or I am just seeing things?  Any thoughts? They just seem awfully quick.

[RedSkiesAtNightHog]

Your watching the 1979 Arkansas vs Texas game with Lou Holtz.  Hogs win 17-14 over #2 ranked Texas!

[Michael_E_Davis]

Your watching the 1979 Arkansas vs Texas game with Lou Holtz.  Hogs win 17-14 over #2 ranked Texas!

It said on the game information the original air date was 1991. I thought it seemed awfully old for 1991! Thanks for the correction.

[murthage]

I noticed the same thing for both Arkansas and Texas.  The speed of the players on both teams while executing their offense, just seemed to be at least 1.5 times faster.  Was like watching a tape
set at a faster speed.

[alohawg]

Watching this again just reminds me how much I HATE texass and their cheating ref$. Obvious screw job marking the ball short of a 1st dn just before the hogs first td by Anderson and then initially pointing as if it's texass possession after a very clear Arkansas fumble recovery before changing it.  Punks

[HardCore]

Offensively,  it seems like the Razorbacks are lightening speed compared to the razorback offense right now.  I mean, they snap the ball, and the play is executed fast;  from the blocking to the entire scheme.   Was the offense that must faster back then because of more simple plays,  or did we just have faster people, or I am just seeing things?  Any thoughts? They just seem awfully quick.

Kids were only in the 200's lbs in max weight back then.  Much more agile than today's bigger, bulkier players.  I liked football better back during that timeframe.....I think the game just plays out better when players were around those frame sizes as opposed to today.

[Michael_E_Davis]

Kids were only in the 200's lbs in max weight back then.  Much more agile than today's bigger, bulkier players.  I liked football better back during that timeframe.....I think the game just plays out better when players were around those frame sizes as opposed to today.

I think you are absolutely right.  That is why.  There were no really huge guys on the offensive live.  They were all smaller, and lean, and moved quicker. 

[OneLardAlmighty]

I had forgotten how much different all the pre-snap stuff looked.  I love the way the team would practically sprint up to the line, get set in unison on command, and snap the football.  A much sharper game than now, when guys walk up to the line and stand there waiting for a play to be called/changed from the sidelines.

Plus, is there anything more beautiful in football than an option play perfectly executed by superior athletes.  Watching Donnie Little run the counter option is something else.

I had also forgotten how much I loved watching Billy Ray Smith and Doughnut Richardson play.  They were only freshmen in 79, and neither had worked their way fully into the starting lineup--though Billy Ray was taking most of the snaps by game's end.  They'll figure much more prominently in the 81 game.

Those Holtz years were pretty magical.

[WilsonHog]

Our offensive line in 1979 averaged 245 lbs. Greg Kolenda, our All-American right tackle, was our heaviest lineman at a whopping 258 pounds. By contrast, our offensive line last season averaged around 327 lbs. I don't think we had a lineman who weighed less than 300 pounds see significant playing time.

For that matter, defensively we played a 5-front in 1979 and our line averaged 221 a man. Billy Ray Smith, Jr. arrived on campus that fall at 6-4 and 210 pounds and became a four-year starter, playing nose guard, tackle, and defensive end at various times. So damn quick he was almost impossible to block.

Yes, I prefer that era myself.

(Another thing I noticed this morning while looking back through the 1979 summer edition of Dave Campbell's Arkansas football was the "coverage" of recruiting. It consisted of a list for each school of signees by name, height, weight, position, and hometown. That's how Arkansas fans found out who we signed for that year.)

[hogsanity]

I noticed the same thing for both Arkansas and Texas.  The speed of the players on both teams while executing their offense, just seemed to be at least 1.5 times faster.  Was like watching a tape
set at a faster speed.

The tape may be sped up slightly to accommodate for a shorter tv window. I dvr'd a movie the other night, one of my favorites, and I noticed something seemed weird about it. Finally figured out that it had been sped up slightly to fit in a broadcast window. 

[redleg]

The average size of linemen until the late 1980s or early 1990s was also why Freddie Childress was considered such a freak! Go back and look at that starting line in 1988 when he was a senior. Four of the five starters were 6'3" - 6'5" and 270 - 290 lbs. Childress was 6'5" and 330! He blew up to around 370 by the time he got to the Bengals in 1989! But Jim Mabry was the best lineman on the team for "88 and "89, and he was a rock-solid 6'4" 290.

[alohawg]

The 79; Hogs would have beaten the stew out of last year's fat boys. Even with the 16' team
having a 50 something pound per man weight advantage. This would be on the lines. Their
really not much difference in the heights & weights of the defensive backs and linebackers
than the 79' bunch.

Their are some receivers bigger now but their were also some the same size. Holtz was a
much better coach than our resident fat boy. That's just a simple fact. The 79' bunch was
simply in better shape, better coached, more aggressive and more devoted to winning than
Fat Boy. Our Hogs were very quick and aggressive back then and should have won a National
Title back then if not for the crooked Texas referee who didn't call a facemask against Cal=
cagni looking straight at the offense close to our goal. A TD instead of a Little FG would have
given us a 13-13 tie with Texas and an eventual National Championship[.

The single most damaging call/no call in Arkansas history. I will never get over it. 

[DeltaBoy]

I remember seeing Freddie play at Helena High,he was a beast.

[rtr]

Our offensive line in 1979 averaged 245 lbs. Greg Kolenda, our All-American right tackle, was our heaviest lineman at a whopping 258 pounds. By contrast, our offensive line last season averaged around 327 lbs. I don't think we had a lineman who weighed less than 300 pounds see significant playing time.

For that matter, defensively we played a 5-front in 1979 and our line averaged 221 a man. Billy Ray Smith, Jr. arrived on campus that fall at 6-4 and 210 pounds and became a four-year starter, playing nose guard, tackle, and defensive end at various times. So damn quick he was almost impossible to block.

Yes, I prefer that era myself.

(Another thing I noticed this morning while looking back through the 1979 summer edition of Dave Campbell's Arkansas football was the "coverage" of recruiting. It consisted of a list for each school of signees by name, height, weight, position, and hometown. That's how Arkansas fans found out who we signed for that year.)

In Bobby Bowden's words too much internet recruitin' these days.