Unrealistic expectations and Injuries

[Piggfoot]

I realize many Arkansas fans discredit the effects injuries have had on this team but to think they should not have mattered is unrealistic. It is also unrealistic to think that we can recruit on an equal basis with the rest of the SEC teams. I believe we can recruit on an equal basis with all but A&M, Ala schools, Florida and Georgia. However if we lose key players to injuries we may not be able to compete with any team.

We've lost many players this season. K. Jackson Fr. was showing promise early on lost to knee injury. Team leaders RW III, Pulley, and Cornelius were lost early. Promising linebacker J Bell and A J Baptist were lost early.
Allen was lost on Oct 7 and Hayden and Ragnow on Oct 21.
We've lost six leaders out of nine players. A developing team can not loose this many players and be a winning team.

[code red]

It's year 5 why are we still "developing"

[Bubba's Bruisers]

We were sucking before the injury bug.  We aren't even competing at this point.

And the OL has been horrid no matter the injuries. 

Next.

[rude1]

Please stop with the excuse making!!!!! I will stop believing it's an excuse when you can answer me one simple question: "Why did we fall apart at the end of last season when we had all those great injured players and a stable of experienced receivers"?

[Ragnar Hogbrok]

What about last year's collapse to end the season?  What about the loss to Toledo?

What about just barely beating Coastal Carolina? A decent coach would have had the third string playing after the half at that game.

[26.2Hog]

Aw, gee.  We're L'ill ol Arkansas.  Hardly ever had a winning record in our history.

We would be fools to ditch a coach with an 11-27 SEC record.  (soon to be 11-29)

Who could we possibly get that would be better for $4+ mil per year?

[Jimbob111]

I realize many Arkansas fans discredit the effects injuries have had on this team but to think they should not have mattered is unrealistic. It is also unrealistic to think that we can recruit on an equal basis with the rest of the SEC teams. I believe we can recruit on an equal basis with all but A&M, Ala schools, Florida and Georgia. However if we lose key players to injuries we may not be able to compete with any team.

We've lost many players this season. K. Jackson Fr. was showing promise early on lost to knee injury. Team leaders RW III, Pulley, and Cornelius were lost early. Promising linebacker J Bell and A J Baptist were lost early.
Allen was lost on Oct 7 and Hayden and Ragnow on Oct 21.
We've lost six leaders out of nine players. A developing team can not loose this many players and be a winning team.

Every team has injuries. Not every teams fails at every aspect of the game at historic levels. These injuries may cost any team a game. Or two, or even three games. But Arkansas struggling to beat Coastal Carolina is more than injuries because the best player on that team couldn't warm up with Arkansas's practice squad.

So yeah, maybe Alabama won because Arkansas has injuries. Maybe LSU did, too. But did injuries really allow South Carolina to drub the Hogs in the manner they did? No. Arkansas could have won that game with the talent that was on the field. Poor game day coaching, poor in-game decisions, poor preparation, and lack of ability to coach or motivate players lost that game, not injuries. And that's not the only game that is has been a problem.

[snoot hoggy hog]

You can't pour syrup on sh*t and call it pancakes and you can't state facts to hog fans and expect a rational common sense response in return. 

[dfwalumdad]

. A developing team can not loose this many players and be a winning team.

why are we a developing team in year 5? why was our 105 man roster so packed that we left scholarship athletes off of it at the season's start and now our coach is telling us you can't coach to the abilities your players don't have?

let me help you understand something jethro if you had performed as poorly in your job as bert, you'd be fired.

he's going to be fired. you should probably get used to that notion.

[farmhawg]

I realize many Arkansas fans discredit the effects injuries have had on this team but to think they should not have mattered is unrealistic. It is also unrealistic to think that we can recruit on an equal basis with the rest of the SEC teams. I believe we can recruit on an equal basis with all but A&M, Ala schools, Florida and Georgia. However if we lose key players to injuries we may not be able to compete with any team.

We've lost many players this season. K. Jackson Fr. was showing promise early on lost to knee injury. Team leaders RW III, Pulley, and Cornelius were lost early. Promising linebacker J Bell and A J Baptist were lost early.
Allen was lost on Oct 7 and Hayden and Ragnow on Oct 21.
We've lost six leaders out of nine players. A developing team can not loose this many players and be a winning team.

You keep making excuses for a piss poor coach and developer of talent. Year five, no other team would put up with how damn bad our program has got in five years.

[Großer Kriegschwein]

Injuries have hurt this team but the coaching and development of players, in-game adjustments, and motivation of the team just sucks.

Both conditions can exist at the same time.

[Seebs]

Your takes are so old and recycled Piggfoot. Post less - read more .. read anything.

[Ragnar Hogbrok]

You can't pour syrup on sh*t and call it pancakes and you can't state facts to hog fans and expect a rational common sense response in return. 

The premise of the OP isn't rational.  Year five should have depth and a system in place where decent to good players step up when injuries happen.  Year five should field a defense that blitzes and destroys the opposing QB at least twice a game.  Year five shouldn't be a regression of the offensive line from an already poor state of being.

I really gave CBB a free pass for four years.  This was the year to put up or shut up.  Well, the proof is in the record and the performance on the field.

[jgphillips3]

RW3 is the only one that has merit.  Everything that is wrong with our team was wrong BEFORE the injuries kicked in.  Would we have sucked less?  Possibly.  Here's a twist for you though, if Austin and Chase don't go down to be replaced by Cole and Hammonds, we might not have won at Ole Miss or Coastal so maybe injuries helped us too.

[31to6]

I really gave CBB a free pass for four years.  This was the year to put up or shut up.  Well, the proof is in the record and the performance on the field.

If we were sitting here with a more competitive team at 6-4 and likely splitting MSU/Mizzou for a 7-5 regular season record, then injuries could explain why not 9-3.

But we are not even slightly competitive against teams with a pulse. Our big win this year is over the team under the NCAA's glare and an interim coach that we will share the bottom of the division with.

In year 5 no amount of excuses can explain away the fact that the team gives up at halftime.

[snoot hoggy hog]

The premise of the OP isn't rational.  Year five should have depth and a system in place where decent to good players step up when injuries happen.  Year five should field a defense that blitzes and destroys the opposing QB at least twice a game.  Year five shouldn't be a regression of the offensive line from an already poor state of being.

I really gave CBB a free pass for four years.  This was the year to put up or shut up.  Well, the proof is in the record and the performance on the field.

Look, at the beginning of the season everybody said we would struggle (and that was before the injuries). Welp, low and behold they were right. The only people that are acting shocked and bewildered are hog fans.

[TeufelHog]

Better question to ask . . . Why didn't our staff get our players in better shape to possibly avoid being injured in the first place?  Our opponents are just more athletic, more developed, and better prepared physically.   

[porkrindjimmy]

I realize many Arkansas fans discredit the effects injuries have had on this team but to think they should not have mattered is unrealistic. It is also unrealistic to think that we can recruit on an equal basis with the rest of the SEC teams. I believe we can recruit on an equal basis with all but A&M, Ala schools, Florida and Georgia. However if we lose key players to injuries we may not be able to compete with any team.

We've lost many players this season. K. Jackson Fr. was showing promise early on lost to knee injury. Team leaders RW III, Pulley, and Cornelius were lost early. Promising linebacker J Bell and A J Baptist were lost early.
Allen was lost on Oct 7 and Hayden and Ragnow on Oct 21.
We've lost six leaders out of nine players. A developing team can not loose this many players and be a winning team.

You are right. A team with this many injuries can't survive, especially with a coach who is in over his head.

Listen, Jeff and Bret had it all worked out, they were gonna Trot out the injury excuse and present some assistants scalps and call it a day until next year and then Coastal Carolina happened. This is where your injury thing hits a giant crater. 5 years...you would have enough depth to still throttle CC. A team, who sandwiched between blowout losses to A State and Troy, took a SEC team into deep water and nearly drowned them. We didn't swim out, as luck would have it, Jeff Long and his wooden boat, the INTEGRITY, picked us up. Injuries or not, you do not let a team, in their first year of Division 1 football drag you into deep waters...you just don't.

Sure injuries have hurt us....but in what games to you think it effected? Maybe A&M? Sure wasn't Bama. Wasn't Auburn. Wasn't SC. Wasn't LSU. We still would have not been better than 6-6...and in year 5, that doesn't float.

PRJ

[Bubba's Bruisers]

Look, at the beginning of the season everybody said we would struggle (and that was before the injuries). Welp, low and behold they were right. The only people that are acting shocked and bewildered are hog fans.

Irrelevant.

[31to6]

Look, at the beginning of the season everybody said we would struggle (and that was before the injuries). Welp, low and behold they were right. The only people that are acting shocked and bewildered are hog fans.

Nobody is shocked and bewildered.

Just because it was pretty obvious that we would struggle does not mean that it is acceptable for CBB to field such a bad team after he has pocketed almost $20M of foundation coin.

[porkrindjimmy]

Better question to ask . . . Why didn't our staff get our players in better shape to possibly avoid being injured in the first place?  Our opponents are just more athletic, more developed, and better prepared physically.   

And here is another great answer. Every year this team doesn't get into game shape until game 5, game 6. Every year.

From what I understand, our strength coach gets giggled at by our other programs strength and conditioning staffs. Straight up laughed at.

Ridiculous.

PRJ

[Ragnar Hogbrok]

Look, at the beginning of the season everybody said we would struggle (and that was before the injuries). Welp, low and behold they were right. The only people that are acting shocked and bewildered are hog fans.

That's the point.  We shouldn't be struggling in year five.  We should be competitive in most of our games.  We aren't even going to be competitive in half of our games.  In year five.  Of course fans aren't happy.  There are no signs that things are going to improve under this coaching staff.

[porkrindjimmy]

Look, at the beginning of the season everybody said we would struggle (and that was before the injuries). Welp, low and behold they were right. The only people that are acting shocked and bewildered are hog fans.

I am not bewildered at all. Injuries or no injuries, Bret would have blown 2 or 3 games he shouldn't have because of inept game preparation and piss poor game management.

He has always been in over his head. From exactly day one. Wouldn't change if we suffered zero injuries... what? 6-6 in year 5 progress to you?

PRJ

[Pork Twain]

Year 5...

[snoot hoggy hog]

I am not bewildered at all. Injuries or no injuries, Bret would have blown 2 or 3 games he shouldn't have because of inept game preparation and piss poor game management.

He has always been in over his head. From exactly day one. Wouldn't change if we suffered zero injuries... what? 6-6 in year 5 progress to you?

PRJ

You saying "blown games" proves my point. The games that we've lost no one  picked us to win. Why did you expect different? Did you think that Austin Allen was going to light it up with all new receivers? Was our new running backs going to rush for two thousand yards a piece? Was the 3-4 going to be the college version of the Bears 46 defense? Maybe Ragnow was going to block everybody himself because he's the best center in the country. There is nothing about this team that said "best in the SEC" because ALMOST every position was filled with new bodies.

[porkrindjimmy]

You saying "blown games" proves my point. The games that we've lost no one  picked us to win. Why did you expect different? Did you think that Austin Allen was going to light it up with all new receivers? Was our new running backs going to rush for two thousand yards a piece? Was the 3-4 going to be the college version of the Bears 46 defense? Maybe Ragnow was going to block everybody himself because he's the best center in the country. There is nothing about this team that said "best in the SEC" because ALMOST every position was filled with new bodies.

Alright Snooty Snoot....you tell me...year 5....Bret said that year 5 would be an accurate tarot card reading for him as coach.

Bret Bielema blows games. He had enough talent here in year 1, with Bobby's players to go to a bowl...he failed. He has blown games every year he has coached here. Every year. Injuries have nothing to do with if a coach is in over his head or not. All it does is make the ending come a little quicker.

All of this, SEC best written on it drivel...who's fault is that? One Bret Bielema. No one else.

PRJ

[Ragnar Hogbrok]

You saying "blown games" proves my point. The games that we've lost no one  picked us to win. Why did you expect different? Did you think that Austin Allen was going to light it up with all new receivers? Was our new running backs going to rush for two thousand yards a piece? Was the 3-4 going to be the college version of the Bears 46 defense? Maybe Ragnow was going to block everybody himself because he's the best center in the country. There is nothing about this team that said "best in the SEC" because ALMOST every position was filled with new bodies.

Let me slow it down for you:  That.  Shouldn't.  Happen. In.  Year.  Five.  It. Is. A. Failure. Of.  The. Coaching. Staff.

[007 License To Squeal]

I realize many Arkansas fans discredit the effects injuries have had on this team but to think they should not have mattered is unrealistic. It is also unrealistic to think that we can recruit on an equal basis with the rest of the SEC teams. I believe we can recruit on an equal basis with all but A&M, Ala schools, Florida and Georgia. However if we lose key players to injuries we may not be able to compete with any team.

We've lost many players this season. K. Jackson Fr. was showing promise early on lost to knee injury. Team leaders RW III, Pulley, and Cornelius were lost early. Promising linebacker J Bell and A J Baptist were lost early.
Allen was lost on Oct 7 and Hayden and Ragnow on Oct 21.
We've lost six leaders out of nine players. A developing team can not loose this many players and be a winning team.

Save us the sob story.  THIS IS YEAR 5!!  BB should have developed more depth...BB should have recruited better............BB should have had his teams ready for every game..........He sucks as an SEC coach...period......

Developing?  Hahahahaha!!!
just let it go, man!

[theFlyingHog]

It's them one-legged squats, amirite or amirite?

[snoot hoggy hog]

Alright Snooty Snoot....you tell me...year 5....Bret said that year 5 would be an accurate tarot card reading for him as coach.

Bret Bielema blows games. He had enough talent here in year 1, with Bobby's players to go to a bowl...he failed. He has blown games every year he has coached here. Every year. Injuries have nothing to do with if a coach is in over his head or not. All it does is make the ending come a little quicker.

All of this, SEC best written on it drivel...who's fault is that? One Bret Bielema. No one else.

PRJ

Oh oh "Snooty snoot" asked the great Porkrind and couple of question and the great Porkrind couldn't answer so he resorted to pulling pork rinds out of his porker. Just answer the question or just admit that you didn't want to believe the preseason predictions.

[snoot hoggy hog]

Let me slow it down for you:  That.  Shouldn't.  Happen. In.  Year.  Five.  It. Is. A. Failure. Of.  The. Coaching. Staff.

Let me DJ Screw it for you. Noooooboooodyyyy piccccckkkkeeeeddd uuuuuussss ttttoooooo winnnnnnn thissssss yearrrrrrr. 

[hoglady]

You saying "blown games" proves my point. The games that we've lost no one  picked us to win. Why did you expect different? Did you think that Austin Allen was going to light it up with all new receivers? Was our new running backs going to rush for two thousand yards a piece? Was the 3-4 going to be the college version of the Bears 46 defense? Maybe Ragnow was going to block everybody himself because he's the best center in the country. There is nothing about this team that said "best in the SEC" because ALMOST every position was filled with new bodies.

Consistently being the underdog because the team basically sucks isn't a good defense of the state of the program. I bet Vandy isn't favored in most of their games either.

[porkrindjimmy]

Oh oh "Snooty snoot" asked the great Porkrind and couple of question and the great Porkrind couldn't answer so he resorted to pulling pork rinds out of his porker. Just answer the question or just admit that you didn't want to believe the preseason predictions.

I do not care about preseason predictions....if a guy, despite preseason predictions, in year 5, puts a product on the field such as the one he has now. He deserves fired...despite injuries, despite preseason predictions. I don't remember anyone saying in the preseason that we would resemble a 1A high school team.

PRJ

[porkrindjimmy]

Let me DJ Screw it for you. Noooooboooodyyyy piccccckkkkeeeeddd uuuuuussss ttttoooooo winnnnnnn thissssss yearrrrrrr. 

And nobody predicted we would go 4-8 and an eyelash of being 3-9 with a loss to a team that let A State smoke em 35.....

Get out of here with that mess....

Snooty Snoot running up the flag for Bret. Ain't that sweet....

PRJ

[007 License To Squeal]

Let me DJ Screw it for you. Noooooboooodyyyy piccccckkkkeeeeddd uuuuuussss ttttoooooo winnnnnnn thissssss yearrrrrrr. 

I think you've got something up in your snoot.

[snoot hoggy hog]

And nobody predicted we would go 4-8 and an eyelash of being 3-9 with a loss to a team that let A State smoke em 35.....

Get out of here with that mess....

Snooty Snoot running up the flag for Bret. Ain't that sweet....

PRJ

Running up the flag? I knew we would suck this year. You didn't. Cry yourself a river build a bridge and get over it.

[cosmodrum]

Let me DJ Screw it for you. Noooooboooodyyyy piccccckkkkeeeeddd uuuuuussss ttttoooooo winnnnnnn thissssss yearrrrrrr. 

Nobody expected us to win...

4 games.

[Piggfoot]

6-6 is not the progress I have hoped for. I'm not a person who expects 8+ wins every year like some here. Those wins are not consistently in our history. I had no  idea how we would do but we have won the games I expected, no more no less. I thought we would win 6 games and while still possible, watching our remaining opponents that is unlikely. So I am like most of you dissapointed with this team and staff.
For what ever reason Bielema has not been able to build a Wisconsin team. I've gone back and looked at Wisconsin recruiting. For the most part the linemen
Recruited are the highest rated players and over the past five years they appear to have retained most of them. We've recruited similarly but we've lost more for some reason and a few just didn't work out.
Since he has not been able to develop his linemen and has not found a Russel Wilson he hadn't done well.
Unlike some here I don't think a coach can coach up three stars to compete with four and five stars.
Whoever we get here, if he is to win he can't recruit on a 25-30 ranking and compete with 10 to 20 ranked teams. If we were to find a magical coach who could beat other coaches with higher ranked teams, how long would we keep him before the elites grabbed him up.
Somehow we've got to get better athletes..... without cheating.  We don't want to follow in Mississippi's footsteps.

[snoot hoggy hog]

Nobody expected us to win...

4 games.

Only picked to win three SEC games at the beginning of the season.

[porkrindjimmy]

Well....if we won 3 SEC games...and.3 OOC games....we win 6.

Failure is upon us and you campaign to.keep him....

Only in your world....LMAO

PRJ

[cosmodrum]

Well....if we won 3 SEC games...and.3 OOC games....we win 6.

Failure is upon us and you campaign to.keep him....

Only in your world....LMAO

PRJ

Honestly.

[cjack]

The Bielemers are giving it one more hard push tonight. If only CBB would put the effort in that his minions are, we might get to two SEC victories this season.

[snoot hoggy hog]

Well....if we won 3 SEC games...and.3 OOC games....we win 6.

Failure is upon us and you campaign to.keep him....

Only in your world....LMAO

PRJ

I give a sh*t about Bret Bielema and your campaign. You didn't answer the question, cool. Quit trying to hide the fact that you thought this team was going to be good. If you didn't think so then you would admit it. You're delusional hog fan just like others. You believe in the ghost of 1964 past. The Jimmy in your name must be short for Jimmy Stewart. This ain't a wonderful life and ain't no bells ringing.

[Ragnar Hogbrok]

Let me DJ Screw it for you. Noooooboooodyyyy piccccckkkkeeeeddd uuuuuussss ttttoooooo winnnnnnn thissssss yearrrrrrr. 

That just plain hurt my feelings.  But not as bad as this year's team hurt my feelings. 

No one picked us to win because the coach ain't getting it done, genius.

[Calling All Hogs]

What are our unrealistic expectations? That maybe 8 wins shouldn't be considered a dream season? To make it to 6 wins every year? To win SEC games every year? To not appreciate an AD who tells us after a 17 SEC game losing streak that our coach is ahead of schedule?

[bphi11ips]

And nobody predicted we would go 4-8 and an eyelash of being 3-9 with a loss to a team that let A State smoke em 35.....

Get out of here with that mess....

Snooty Snoot running up the flag for Bret. Ain't that sweet....

PRJ

Actually I did suggest a 3-9 season was a possibility several times and explained why.  I also said I could see us going 9-3.  There were two basic reasons.  First was that I have never seen a season where we had so many question marks going in.  Second was the way the schedule set up with three games that could go either way separated by two that were sure losses followed by 3 more that could go either way.  I said that if we lost the pivotal games at the beginning we might get to where we are today and that all bets would be off for the last two that looked very winnable during preseason because we may be a snowball rolling down a hill.  I didn't mention the toxicity of the fanbase, but that is part of the snowball.  Right now it is a really dirty snowball that isn't good for the program as a whole.  Recruits should see a fanbase supporting a team fighting for a bowl berth.

The stuff this fanbase did to get rid of Nutt was healthy.  Everyone knew it, including the players who weren't part of the posse.  This time we look like a bandwagon fanbase with no appreciation for the lives devoted to competing in the toughest division of football.  The fans don't deserve a winning team unless they show up and do their part.  Kirk Herbstreit mentioned Auburn's crowd tonight and its effect on the Georgia game and the likely effect it will have against Alabama.  Our players don't expect that Saturday, but they have a right to be disappointed with what they will see and hear Saturday.  The vast majority of them devote their lives for that moment to be the man in the arena and receive a college degree.  The least we can do is support them against SEC rivals at home.

[razorbackfaninar]

You saying "blown games" proves my point. The games that we've lost no one  picked us to win. Why did you expect different? Did you think that Austin Allen was going to light it up with all new receivers? Was our new running backs going to rush for two thousand yards a piece? Was the 3-4 going to be the college version of the Bears 46 defense? Maybe Ragnow was going to block everybody himself because he's the best center in the country. There is nothing about this team that said "best in the SEC" because ALMOST every position was filled with new bodies.

I think there is a pretty significant difference between thinking that we would be "best in the SEC" and thinking that at this stage in Bielema's tenure we should be competent, and field a competitive team. My problem, and I assume a lot of people's problem is not just that we are losing, but the manner in which we are losing, and the fact that the losing is sustained and crosses years and multiple situations.  I don't think fielding a competitive team in the SEC west is unrealistic or too much to ask. For the perfect correlation take a look at Mississippi State. We recruit with or ahead of State, similar in size, demographics and stature within the conference, yet MS State has been pretty consistently competitive under Mullen.  If there are reasons why we can't at the very least expect the same I can't see what they are.  If you do then explain it to me. I would agree that the injuries have served to exacerbate the situation, but they haven't cause it.   

[razorbackfaninar]

Look, at the beginning of the season everybody said we would struggle (and that was before the injuries). Welp, low and behold they were right. The only people that are acting shocked and bewildered are hog fans.

I'd have to disagree with you on this point.  It's pretty clear listening to commentary on ESPN and the SEC network and others that while no one expected us to win the SEC, maybe didn't even expect us to win too many games, everyone seems to be bewildered by the level at which the team is currently performing.  Again there's a difference between thinking a team is going to struggle, and thinking that they are going to completely fail to put a competitive product on the field.

[cosmodrum]

Bottom line: there are no excuses for winning 4 games in year 5.

[hhousewps]

Oh oh “Snooty snoot” asked the great Porkrind and couple of question and the great Porkrind couldn’t answer so he resorted to pulling pork rinds out of his porker. Just answer the question or just admit that you didn’t want to believe the preseason predictions.

So your argument is that because we were predicted to have a bad year that makes it okay?

You know what preseason predictions are based in part based on? The talent on the team and the past performance of the team. You remember the end of last season right? How'd that turn out? Let me remind you, we got ran off the field in the second half of back to back games.

You know one of the most important jobs of a head coach? To properly manage his roster and his recruiting in order to make sure that in the later years of his time at a school that he has talent on the roster.

Instead we have a team is largely void of SEC talent. He prides himself on O-Line, it's his bread and butter and yet for two years we have one of the worst O-lines in the SEC.

But hey, they said we'd have a down year so it's okay, let's excuse him of all his responsibilities as a coach. That's not how this works.

And that doesn't even begin to address the very clear patterns and trends that describe Bielema's time here at Arkansas, the most glaring of which is his inability to make proper halftime adjustments. He just plain gets out-coached. From his consecutive margins of defeat, to the amount of yards given up by our defense, to his conference record, he's been consistent in one thing, being historically awful.

Again there's a difference in having a down year and looking like you don't even belong on the field with the vast majority of your opponents.