Time of Possession

[hawg66]

A big part of what Bielema tries to do is based on time of possession.  I know, it's been called a meaningless stat by lots of people.  Maybe it is, but it's still key to Bielema's philosophies. And the results say it does matter. Especially this year, it helped disguise some deficiencies for the Hogs.  With a lack of depth on defense, it kept that side of the ball fresher, limited the other teams touches, and kept the Hogs in games.  It also meant the offense was tired late, and there was a lot of running into stacked defenses, which hurts the rushing stats.

Arkansas was 2nd in the SEC in TOP, and top 10 nationally.  The defense had the best season for an Arkansas group since 2006.  The Hogs were +17 minutes vs MSU, +14 vs A&M, +8 vs Bama, +8 vs Ole Miss, and +4 vs LSU.  Those were all games they either won or were in until the end.

By contrast, they were -5 in a blowout loss to Auburn, -10 in the drubbing by UGA and -5 against Mizzou when the defense tired late.  That game was an indication of just how underrated and how good a coach Pinkel is.  He used a West Coast dink and dunk passing game to negate TOP,  That, combined with Allen's injuries, allowed Mizzou to be the fresher team in the fourth quarter.

Was Arkansas a juggernaut running the ball?  No.  But their ground game was the focus of every team that played them, and given what Bielema was trying to do, it was key in the limited success the Hogs had this year.

Depth on the offensive line is critical to reach the next level.

[code red]

Top 10 nationally yet....only second in conference...SEC is a gauntlet.

[ricepig]

Top 10 nationally yet....only second in conference...SEC is a gauntlet.

Always will be, you do well here, you will be successful.

[Poker_hog]

"Offense was tired late"

I've never heard of this.  The offense is not supposed to get tired.

[hogsanity]

"Offense was tired late"

I've never heard of this.  The offense is not supposed to get tired.

That line of thought is puzzling. Why wouldn't the offense get tired too, especially when you ride pretty much the same 5 interior guys the whole game. Why should they be any less tired than the DL?

[hawg66]

My main thoughts were in terms of the O-line.  The skill players tend to shuffle in and out, while O-linemen tended to stay on the field.  Development of depth with guys like Ragnow, Koehler, Wallace and Josh Allen is key in Bielema's schemes.

[Wildhog]

That line of thought is puzzling. Why wouldn't the offense get tired too, especially when you ride pretty much the same 5 interior guys the whole game. Why should they be any less tired than the DL?

To be fair, most Oline's play the entire game.  We need to work on our conditioning, methinks.

[code red]

"Offense was tired late"

I've never heard of this.  The offense is not supposed to get tired.

I think the defense was gassed and we needed a change at Q.  BA was ineffective until the last drive of the 4th.  But, after 2 physical matchups in back to back weeks you gotta kinda give the kids a little break...they all were tired....plus a short week.

[code red]

Always will be, you do well here, you will be successful.

Seems to be a reoccurring theme.

[CarolinaSwine]

Conversely, Auburn's lack of concern with TOP works against inferior teams, but the defense wears down against teams that can move the chains (Bama, Miss State, UGA).