The Hogs are alone

[Bacon_Bitz]

After LSU hires a new coach who will most assuredly bring some spread, tempo elements to the Tigers, and after Lane Kiffin's reinvention of Bama's offense and Jalen Hurts emergence as a dual threat, the Hogs are the only pure pro-style hard-nosed running team left in the SEC-W.  Good or bad?

[Potosihog]

I'll get back to you in about 3 years with an answer.  It will either be proven to stand out and give us an advantage or it will make us seem as current as a polyester leisure suit.

Only time will tell.

[colbs]

A lot on here said before BB was hired Arkansas needed to do something different to win here.  Now they will get what they want except it's not the style they were wanting 4 years ago. 

[Hoggish1]

CBB has upped the win total every year.  He will do it for the 4th time this year.  I say stay the course and watch the program flourish! 

We win 9 or 10 games this year and a good bowl game.  That equals a total of 10 or 11 wins in his 4th year with kids going to class and being good citizens.

[RazorWhacker]

CBB has upped the win total every year.  He will do it for the 4th time this year.  I say stay the course and watch the program flourish! 

We win 9 or 10 games this year and a good bowl game.  That equals a total of 10 or 11 wins in his 4th year with kids going to class and being good citizens.

My keyboard doesn't have one of these things "<" that points up. If it did, this post would have that followed by "this right here". So, this won't make as much sense, but here it is anyway:

<<<<this right here>>>>>>

[DefenselessNUN]

CBB has upped the win total every year.  He will do it for the 4th time this year.  I say stay the course and watch the program flourish! 

We win 9 or 10 games this year and a good bowl game.  That equals a total of 10 or 11 wins in his 4th year with kids going to class and being good citizens.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ this right here


there you go RazorWhacker

[onebadrubi]

My keyboard doesn't have one of these things "<" that points up. If it did, this post would have that followed by "this right here". So, this won't make as much sense, but here it is anyway:

<<<<this right here>>>>>>

What is shift and the number 6 for you?

[Foozzball]

I was as much against up tempo football as anyone when it first came in.  I'm of a traditional mind set.  But it is starting to prove that it is here to stay and as teams perfect it even more it is beginning to show its worth.  If you have a dual threat QB, its almost impossible to stop that team from scoring.  Even Saban has serious trouble defending the spread.  I believe the spread will be what everyone runs in 10 more years.  As much as I love a good defensive battle, I must admit, if the teams are going back and forth, a 59-55 game is much more exciting to watch.  And I never thought I'd think like that.  Obviously this means you don't have much defense.

[onebadrubi]

After LSU hires a new coach who will most assuredly bring some spread, tempo elements to the Tigers, and after Lane Kiffin's reinvention of Bama's offense and Jalen Hurts emergence as a dual threat, the Hogs are the only pure pro-style hard-nosed running team left in the SEC-W.  Good or bad?

What about when good ol Lane K leaves bama after this season?  You aren't positive what they will do next year.  Also what about who is Auburns next coach and what they will do...

Keep in mind, the only spread teams winning anything are the ones who have the ability and horses to spread you out and pound you in the middle at the same time. tOSU and Houston are doing this, bama is trying to incorporate a little bit of this but not all of it, and so forth.  THere are MANY different brands or styles, it is too easy for people to sit on a phone calling in or behind a keyboard to say we are doing something incorrectly, old fashioned, or not working yet everyone is actually doing it a little different.  If you want, it could be said that when Enos came here we did spread it out a little bit more than before, and it is possible as they grow more and more faith in Austin, they allow him to control more checks at the LOS to do such. 

At the end of they day, we have to be able to run the ball for first downs to win a game.  It was the same under Petrino, it is the same under Saban, it was the same under tOSU when they won a couple years ago, etc.  In the 4th quarter, if you can't run it 3 downs for 10.1 yards it puts a lot more stress on the team to close out a game. We are not, as much as people want to say it, just 3 yards and a cloud of dust team. 

[jkstock04]

After LSU hires a new coach who will most assuredly bring some spread, tempo elements to the Tigers, and after Lane Kiffin's reinvention of Bama's offense and Jalen Hurts emergence as a dual threat, the Hogs are the only pure pro-style hard-nosed running team left in the SEC-W.  Good or bad?

Our style is beginning to grow on me. Strangely enough I came out of the A&M game with some confidence in what we are trying to do.

But we need some men on the O-line. 4 and 5 star type talent on the O-line to accomplish what Bielema is wanting to do. O-line recruiting should absolutely be first and foremost.

[hogsanity]

fans of all teams can continue to focus on offense, but to win anything of significance you have to have a solid defense. What cost the hogs last year against A&M and MIss St/ Poor defense. They gave up 550+ yards, and most of the big plays were right up the middle, to A&M last Sat.

The offense is good enough to win 8-10 games this year, goal line troubles will be fixed, but the defense is only a 7-8 win defense. 

[phadedhawg]

I accept I'm a dinosaur but I hate the spread.  I prefer a chess match as opposed to a track meet.

[colbs]

fans of all teams can continue to focus on offense, but to win anything of significance you have to have a solid defense. What cost the hogs last year against A&M and MIss St/ Poor defense. They gave up 550+ yards, and most of the big plays were right up the middle, to A&M last Sat.

The offense is good enough to win 8-10 games this year, goal line troubles will be fixed, but the defense is only a 7-8 win defense. 

[luke hawg]

Its great for us as it will allow us to recruit for defending against one type of offense. In the past, weve been trying to recruit a defense to stop uptempo and traditional offenses. It also allows us to recruit a different type of player offensively with less competition.

[code red]

After LSU hires a new coach who will most assuredly bring some spread, tempo elements to the Tigers, and after Lane Kiffin's reinvention of Bama's offense and Jalen Hurts emergence as a dual threat, the Hogs are the only pure pro-style hard-nosed running team left in the SEC-W.  Good or bad?

Good...if we start recruiting like one.  Bad if we don't.

[26.2Hog]

fans of all teams can continue to focus on offense, but to win anything of significance you have to have a solid defense. What cost the hogs last year against A&M and MIss St/ Poor defense. They gave up 550+ yards, and most of the big plays were right up the middle, to A&M last Sat.

The offense is good enough to win 8-10 games this year, goal line troubles will be fixed, but the defense is only a 7-8 win defense.

Exactly.  Our defense was absolutely shredded by A&M giving up 10 yards per play for 591 yards.  Not going to win anything with that.

Robb Smith acts like a lot of that can be fixed.  I sure hope so.

[Vantage 8 dude]

After LSU hires a new coach who will most assuredly bring some spread, tempo elements to the Tigers, and after Lane Kiffin's reinvention of Bama's offense and Jalen Hurts emergence as a dual threat, the Hogs are the only pure pro-style hard-nosed running team left in the SEC-W.  Good or bad?

Can't honestly say at this point. Obviously it will all come down to the results and records. You win and you're doing the right thing(s); you lose and your system needs to be changed.

[bphi11ips]

An offense's job is to create space and gain a one man advantage at the point of attack.  The spread is an effective means of doing that.  So was the wishbone and the veer.  So is play action.  The defense's job is to gain a one man advantage at the point of attack.  On Saturday, A&M's defense outnumbered Arkansas at the point of attack most of the game.  At times, bad defensive alignments by Arkansas gave the Aggies a multiple player advantage.  Credit A&M's game plan and recognition by the QB on key reads.  That, in addition to turnovers, is why we lost.

Seven on seven and an increasing reluctance to tackle to the ground in practice is changing the game, and probably for good.  I don't like it, but maybe it's for the best.  I still think Bielema's philosophy will work.  Being a contrarian is one way to success, not only in football, but in life.

[EastexHawg]

But we need some men

That has always been the crux of the matter.  If you are going to be a power football team your players have to be bigger, stronger, and better than your opponents.  It's why guys who fought a young George Foreman tried to stay away from him.  The ones who stood and went toe to toe with him were lucky to escape the ring with their brains still inside their skulls.

[mizzouman]

I accept I'm a dinosaur but I hate the spread.  I prefer a chess match as opposed to a track meet.

Even chess matches are played in blitz style....5 minute games using a clock.

[Cinco de Hogo]

When we hired CBP we were ahead of the curve, now we are brhind the curve...but, if we stay the course(which is what we will do) who knew we at the next curve we may take the lead. 

[jkstock04]

That has always been the crux of the matter.  If you are going to be a power football team your players have to be bigger, stronger, and better than your opponents.  It's why guys who fought a young George Foreman tried to stay away from him.  The ones who stood and went toe to toe with him were lucky to escape the ring with their brains still inside their skulls.

Style of play (what this thread is about essentially) has been a point of contention for the Hogs since the Nutt days. I'm of the opinion if you have less talent you need a coach who is going to be more innovative and be able to work around that. My opinion is Petrino was a genius at this. Nutt was just an idiot all around and our identity sucked.

What we are trying to do now under Bielema will work if we have a NFL type O-line. To me the vision of that would be awesome if it's actually possible. The blunders in Pittmans recruiting and of course Kirkland leaving have crippled the advancement of this O-line.

[DeltaBoy]

Well we got the next 3 years to find out.

[GuvHog]

After LSU hires a new coach who will most assuredly bring some spread, tempo elements to the Tigers, and after Lane Kiffin's reinvention of Bama's offense and Jalen Hurts emergence as a dual threat, the Hogs are the only pure pro-style hard-nosed running team left in the SEC-W.  Good or bad?

This is a misconception. Booger McFarland nailed it the other night on TV. Arkansas is not a hard nosed running team this year. The strength of the Hog offense is it's WRs, TE, and QB. This year's team is a "run to keep opposing defenses honest" passing team. That's why switching to a power running game and pulling everyone in tight when the Hogs got the ball inside the 10 yard line the other night didn't work. In 2014, the Hogs had that HUGE road grader massive Oline and were successful at the power running game. This year most of the starting Olinemen are just barely above 300 lbs which mirrors a line built for pass blocking, not running.

[Atlhogfan1]

When we hired CBP we were ahead of the curve, now we are brhind the curve...but, if we stay the course(which is what we will do) who knew we at the next curve we may take the lead.

By hiring a coach who coaches a pro style offense and likes to use big RBs?  Groundbreaking.

[Bubba's Bruisers]

A lot on here said before BB was hired Arkansas needed to do something different to win here.  Now they will get what they want except it's not the style they were wanting 4 years ago. 

Really?  I recall BP winning 11 games his final year, and all were thrilled.  Don't recall calls for something different.

Style of play (what this thread is about essentially) has been a point of contention for the Hogs since the Nutt days. I'm of the opinion if you have less talent you need a coach who is going to be more innovative and be able to work around that. My opinion is Petrino was a genius at this. Nutt was just an idiot all around and our identity sucked.

What we are trying to do now under Bielema will work if we have a NFL type O-line. To me the vision of that would be awesome if it's actually possible. The blunders in Pittmans recruiting and of course Kirkland leaving have crippled the advancement of this O-line.

Hammer meet nail.  Will be interesting to see if we can get the linemen, or any other position, necessary to be successful against the best teams in the conference.

[Atlhogfan1]

Style of play (what this thread is about essentially) has been a point of contention for the Hogs since the Nutt days. I'm of the opinion if you have less talent you need a coach who is going to be more innovative and be able to work around that. My opinion is Petrino was a genius at this. Nutt was just an idiot all around and our identity sucked.

What we are trying to do now under Bielema will work if we have a NFL type O-line. To me the vision of that would be awesome if it's actually possible. The blunders in Pittmans recruiting and of course Kirkland leaving have crippled the advancement of this O-line.

Petrino needed those type of olinemen as well. Oline who can both power run block and play backing up in pass pro. We questioned if it possible then too.

[Atlhogfan1]

Really?  I recall BP winning 11 games his final year, and all were thrilled.  Don't recall calls for something different.


Hammer meet nail.  Will be interesting to see if we can get the linemen, or any other position, necessary to be successful against the best teams in the conference.

similar oline discussion as had when bp was here

can go back and find threads

[go hogues]

We win 9 or 10 games this year...

Sigh

[Sed76]

I don't have a problem with the offensive philosophy, just want to field a defense that doesn't get chewed up by these spread teams. Sorry, but in game 4 there is no excuse for letting the QB run untouched not once but twice 50 yards up the middle to score. 

[Bubba's Bruisers]

Petrino needed those type of olinemen as well. Oline who can both power run block and play backing up in pass pro. We questioned if it possible then too.

I recall that, but such is not the context of my post.  Nor the post I was responding to.

To clarify, I figured you were responding to my upper post, not the lower one.

[Bubba's Bruisers]

I don't have a problem with the offensive philosophy, just want to field a defense that doesn't get chewed up by these spread teams. Sorry, but in game 4 there is no excuse for letting the QB run untouched not once but twice 50 yards up the middle to score. 

Today's game is about offense. Explosive offense.  As long as our offense can score many points, we'll be ok.  We will never have a defense that can hold top teams to under 20 points.  Heck, Bama isn't even doing it, which is why you're seeing them evolve on offense.  They know they can't just simply run the ball, throw some passes to keep defenses honest, control the clock, and play defense.  Doesn't work that way anymore.  They now also have to score a whole bunch of points to win.

The whole TOP thing is bogus these days.  We had the ball for 40 minutes the other night and only mustered 24 points. 

[Valleysports]

Love BB's offense (I'm old school), I'd even like to see option's & sweeps on the goal line, this is the perfect coach for Arkansas (just looks Hoggish), and has created great moral in the locker room.  However it's an All-Most offense in the SEC.  Arkansas will never out man Bama, nor several other teams, simply because of recruiting. Gonna be hard to have both a great O & D in the same year. It's like a 1/2 ton truck vs a 1 ton truck in a pulling contest over and over.  For Arkansas to win the SEC, the OC will have to know his limitations and how to even the playing field.  But this offense is great for 8-4 / 9-3 seasons year after year in the SEC West.  Should be exciting every football season!   

[ricepig]

Our style is beginning to grow on me. Strangely enough I came out of the A&M game with some confidence in what we are trying to do.

But we need some men on the O-line. 4 and 5 star type talent on the O-line to accomplish what Bielema is wanting to do. O-line recruiting should absolutely be first and foremost.

Pretty sure every starter on the O-line was a 4* on at least one service.

[Atlhogfan1]

I recall that, but such is not the context of my post.  Nor the post I was responding to.

To clarify, I figured you were responding to my upper post, not the lower one.

That was in response to jk.  Some act as if we went from Mike Leach to Paul Johnson as far as differences in offenses.  in reality, it wasn't a big leap.  The person calling the plays certainly changed although I think Enos is good at what he does (except maybe the red zone).  Moving the qb, play action, qb under center, using the TE, all things we are still doing.  We were more pass set up the run where now we rely more on the play action to affect the defense.  But we are still running a pro style offense.  And as we see now, we saw some stubbornness in those 4 seasons in play calling.  Just frustrating to see the selective memories.

As far as oline, we discussed if olinemen at a program like Arkansas who doesn't get elite recruits can develop versatile olinemen who can pass and run block with the practice time restrictions.  I believe if we can do it, it is going to take stockpiling olinemen where we are playing 3rd, 4th and 5th year players and mainly 4th and 5th year players.  Need to build our depth. 

[colbs]

Really?  I recall BP winning 11 games his final year, and all were thrilled.  Don't recall calls for something different.

What are you talking about?  I'm talking about 4 years ago, keep up.

[Bubba's Bruisers]

What are you talking about?  I'm talking about 4 years ago, keep up.

So you were talking about Smiley's style?  If so, then yes, everyone wanted a change. 

[GuvHog]

That was in response to jk.  Some act as if we went from Mike Leach to Paul Johnson as far as differences in offenses.  in reality, it wasn't a big leap.  The person calling the plays certainly changed although I think Enos is good at what he does (except maybe the red zone).  Moving the qb, play action, qb under center, using the TE, all things we are still doing.  We were more pass set up the run where now we rely more on the play action to affect the defense.  But we are still running a pro style offense.  And as we see now, we saw some stubbornness in those 4 seasons in play calling.  Just frustrating to see the selective memories.

As far as oline, we discussed if olinemen at a program like Arkansas who doesn't get elite recruits can develop versatile olinemen who can pass and run block with the practice time restrictions.  I believe if we can do it, it is going to take stockpiling olinemen where we are playing 3rd, 4th and 5th year players and mainly 4th and 5th year players.  Need to build our depth. 

Yes, it was indeed a big leap. CBB's offensive philosophy is almost the exact opposite of Bobby Petrino's offensive philosophy. CBB inherited a whole roster of players that were recruited to run a system totally different than his so he had to completely rebuild the offense.

[Atlhogfan1]

Yes, it was indeed a big leap. CBB's offensive philosophy is almost the exact opposite of Bobby Petrino's offensive philosophy. CBB inherited a whole roster of players that were recruited to run a system totally different than his so he had to completely rebuild the offense.

He had to rebuild the offense because he was left with very little at most offensive positions following the 2012 season.  BP's philosophies such as a big back and strong 4th qtr running game should have fit in well with BB.  Where was the qb recruiting needed to run BP's offense?  Had it been done well we would have more than BA in 2013.

[razorsharptusk]

This is a misconception. Booger McFarland nailed it the other night on TV. Arkansas is not a hard nosed running team this year. The strength of the Hog offense is it's WRs, TE, and QB. This year's team is a "run to keep opposing defenses honest" passing team. That's why switching to a power running game and pulling everyone in tight when the Hogs got the ball inside the 10 yard line the other night didn't work. In 2014, the Hogs had that HUGE road grader massive Oline and were successful at the power running game. This year most of the starting Olinemen are just barely above 300 lbs which mirrors a line built for pass blocking, not running.

Yet at the goal line, we tried multiple times to run tight vs. even attempting a pass to get the ball in the end zone when our best play makers are receivers.  Go figure.

[RazorWhacker]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ this right here


there you go RazorWhacker

Thanks Defenseless.

Kinda sounds like and Aggie joke could be buried in there somewhere. "How many Hogvillians does it take to echo a poster's sentiment?...

LOL.

[RazorWhacker]

What is shift and the number 6 for you?

I was typing from my iPhone. I went from Android to iPhone recently and still have a lot to learn.

[MJ2]

After LSU hires a new coach who will most assuredly bring some spread, tempo elements to the Tigers, and after Lane Kiffin's reinvention of Bama's offense and Jalen Hurts emergence as a dual threat, the Hogs are the only pure pro-style hard-nosed running team left in the SEC-W.  Good or bad?

So far it hasn't worked very well (CBB is something like 21-21 here) so I wouldn't expect a huge improvement in the near future, so bad.

[GuvHog]

He had to rebuild the offense because he was left with very little at most offensive positions following the 2012 season.  BP's philosophies such as a big back and strong 4th qtr running game should have fit in well with BB.  Where was the qb recruiting needed to run BP's offense?  Had it been done well we would have more than BA in 2013.

No, the power spread is very different from CBB's pro style power running offense.

[Sportster365]

Style of play (what this thread is about essentially) has been a point of contention for the Hogs since the Nutt days. I'm of the opinion if you have less talent you need a coach who is going to be more innovative and be able to work around that. My opinion is Petrino was a genius at this. Nutt was just an idiot all around and our identity sucked.

What we are trying to do now under Bielema will work if we have a NFL type O-line. To me the vision of that would be awesome if it's actually possible. The blunders in Pittmans recruiting and of course Kirkland leaving have crippled the advancement of this O-line.

I agree with everything you just said, except for the idea that Pittman blundered in recruiting. You're wrong about that. Pittman was our best recruiter and it wasn't even close. For a time there it seemed as if all we were getting were linemen. I kept looking for more skilled players but all I ever heard was that Bielema's  building this team the correct way "starting from the trenches."  Ideally the OLine should be this teams strength, we've recruited this position quite well. The predicament we find ourselves in is almost inexcusable, even with the lost of Pittman. 

[Atlhogfan1]

I agree with everything you just said, except for the idea that Pittman blundered in recruiting. You're wrong about that. Pittman was our best recruiter and it wasn't even close. For a time there it seemed as if all we were getting were linemen. I kept looking for more skilled players but all I ever heard was that Bielema's  building this team the correct way "starting from the trenches."  Ideally the OLine should be this teams strength, we've recruited this position quite well. The predicament we find ourselves in is almost inexcusable, even with the lost of Pittman.

Inexcusable because Skipper is the only olineman who is in his 4th season in the program? 

[cosmodrum]

I agree with everything you just said, except for the idea that Pittman blundered in recruiting. You're wrong about that. Pittman was our best recruiter and it wasn't even close. For a time there it seemed as if all we were getting were linemen. I kept looking for more skilled players but all I ever heard was that Bielema's  building this team the correct way "starting from the trenches."  Ideally the OLine should be this teams strength, we've recruited this position quite well. The predicament we find ourselves in is almost inexcusable, even with the lost of Pittman. 

We didn't recruit the OL numbers. Guys dont pan out, gwt injured, etc, and it looks like we just banked on hitting the mark on all of them.

[Danny J]

Didn't we lead the SEC(SEC schedule) in scoring last year? Our offense isn't an issue. Our D(back 7 mainly) and ST are more of a concern to me. 

[PLHawg]

LSU will definitely be getting a coach who runs a dynamic offense, that goes without saying.  TOP is overrated when you get inside the 20 yard line repeatedly and don't score.  The team that plays us  doesn't have to worry as much about how long their defense is on the field because we don't run a fast-paced offense, conversely a team that can go and score a bunch of points in a hurry puts a lot of pressure on an offense such as our's.  I hope I'm wrong, but I just have a hard time believing we're ever going to make it to the top of the SEC pile with the offensive philosophy that we currently run.  I hope they prove me wrong.

[Locutus_of_Boar]

Our style is beginning to grow on me. Strangely enough I came out of the A&M game with some confidence in what we are trying to do.

But we need some men on the O-line. 4 and 5 star type talent on the O-line to accomplish what Bielema is wanting to do. O-line recruiting should absolutely be first and foremost.

I agree.  I expected CBB's pro style to be generally successful but boring.  It's turned out to be anything but boring when it's rolling right along and when it struggles.  It's not much less sucvcessful that CBP's offense and few spread teams can match his offense.

Being the pro style exception in the SEC is just fine.