HDN must name Mustain the starter the day he steps on campus....

[hogtheball]

i'll know in my mind Mustain will start..Casey Dick is a guy who got in and handed the ball off most of the time and made a few good passes..not many longer than 20 yds down the field..he's got a pretty good arm..and he'll make a great back up..but the job is Mitch's..Casey Dick didnt start at his high school till his senior year..and Mustain highlights were on ESPN last night...when the season starts, you'll see I'm right..they might let Dick play as well..But Mustain will be our QB after the first game of split time..if that even happens

Thank God this guy ain't the coach.  "I'l  know in my mind"  What an ***   joke.  In your mind you fantasize and that's it.  CD is a darned good QB.  I still say MM is a system guy and will be lucky to play in the SEC.

Thanks for your valuable opinion.  I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that you never played football or you've never seen Mitch play.  The only other option is that your are CD's dad - and if you are, I understand your evaluation of Mitch. 

[werehog]

Whooooa! Shoving Mitch in against USC -- a team that most knowledgeable analysts think has the best defensive linemen in the nation and the best linebackers in the country is a big mistake. Casey Dick has proved he won't rattle against a top team. It wasn't his play that lost the South Carolina game, but HDN's playing calling.

If we start Mitch and the Trojan defense comes up with sacks and picks forcing us to put Casey Dick in -- what have we done. (A) We've burned Mitch's red shirt; (B) We have probably traumatized Mitch and (C) we probably have PO'd CD. That's just great.

Forget about Mitch's performance in the state championship game against West Memphis and think about the year before against LR Central or the high school all-star game in San Antonio. We need to get use to the speed of the game he will be playing instead of just tossing him into to the middle of the Pacific Ocean and telling him to swim to shore.

[The Pulse]

looking at the title for this thread..it hasn't happened yet. Mitch has been on campus for what... almost a month now and he's still not the starter. It is hard to make that move without the coaches there. But i think, if what we are hearing about mitch from the summer workouts is the truth, he will definately be named starter when august gets here. Gloves will be off for coach Malzahn then..and he won't hesitate to put the best guy in there at QB. I hate to say it fellas' but im thinking i might be eatin' some crow on this one. I said he'd be starting by Vandy and not USC. ohwell..that's good tasting crow.

[FLKeysGuy]

I hate to say it fellas' but im thinking i might be eatin' some crow on this one. I said he'd be starting by Vandy and not USC. ohwell..that's good tasting crow.

Don't worry about it too much... there will probably be a "crow recipe swap" thread if MM does start against USC.  And, if he doesn't, I may start one myself.

[casken]

Whooooa! Shoving Mitch in against USC -- a team that most knowledgeable analysts think has the best defensive linemen in the nation and the best linebackers in the country is a big mistake. Casey Dick has proved he won't rattle against a top team.

Is this accurate?  Their defense was rated in the 30s last year going into the NC game.  I know they didn't improve against UT stat wise.  Yes, they were good but the O Line is the real dominant line.  I may have missed it but I don't think their D is that dominant.  Good yes but that good?

[casken]

O Line is the real dominant line of the Trojans and most of them are back sorry to say. 

[GuvHog]

O Line is the real dominant line of the Trojans and most of them are back sorry to say. 

I Believe if you'll check, you'll find out Southern Cal Must replace 3 of their
starting OL. That leaves 2.

[blake]

I'm so ready!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

[piglett06]

Which team that we all know started a freshman at QB last year? Right Arkansas. So how did he do? Right, pretty good. Mitch will be okay also.

[GuvHog]

Which team that we all know started a freshman at QB last year? Right Arkansas. So how did he do? Right, pretty good. Mitch will be okay also.

So you're saying that GM & AW will wait till the 8th game to start MM? That's Interesting

[werehog]

First of all USC's defense wasn't better last season because they had so many injuries. The Trojans got by with out scoring everybody else that posed a threat to them until they met Texas. That was a game they should have won, but didn't. Play it over and USC wins nine times out of 10. True, the Vols bombed as a pre-season top five pick last year. I don't think all the people picking USC as a top Three pick this season are going to bomb. I think OU make be suspicious as a top Three pick, but I think USC and Ohio State is the real deal. We'll see what y'all think of the USC defense after they play the Hogs.

I believe Mitch must win the QB job on the field, end of story. Until then, Casey Dick is the starting QB. We'll know soon enough if Mitch is a systems QB or a Player. Let me leave y'all with this thought -- Carson Palmer didn't start as a freshman at USC, neither did Matt Leinart or John David Booty. Palmer and Booty were both Parade All-Americas. Remember Brock Berlin he was a Parade all-America and POY. So was Greg Paulus.

[PorkSoda]

Let me leave y'all with this thought -- Carson Palmer didn't start as a freshman at USC, neither did Matt Leinart or John David Booty. Palmer and Booty were both Parade All-Americas. Remember Brock Berlin he was a Parade all-America and POY. So was Greg Paulus.

Yeah, but USC has 4 and 5 star recruits as backups.  UofA doesn't have that privilege.

[Call Mr. Sow]

If Mitch Mustain is not talented enough to wrest the starting spot away from Casey Dick or Rojo or whoever, then the Hogs are in for an exceedingly long season.  We can have all the talent in the world at the other spots, but if our QB play is no more than mediocre (which I believe is all we can expect from the other dudes...your mileage may vary), the team will be no more than mediocre. 

[wildhogman]

If Mitch Mustain is not talented enough to wrest the starting spot away from Casey Dick or Rojo or whoever, then the Hogs are in for an exceedingly long season.  We can have all the talent in the world at the other spots, but if our QB play is no more than mediocre (which I believe is all we can expect from the other dudes...your mileage may vary), the team will be no more than mediocre. 

Why do you think we cannot have a great year without a great QB? Seems alot of teams have won and had great years with mediorce QB's surrounded by talent. We will have an O designed to go down field, use screens, misdierections, and whatever else Woods and Malzhan can think of. We just need a servicable QB. if the stud WR's avg 300 yrds for the year, and we have about 7 to 10 WR's, thats alot of yardage, and throw in Mac's 1000, Jones 500 to 1000, Smith and Hillis. How do you see us being so bad? I dont understand it.

[ClubChubby]

You realize you're talking about true frosh recievers? I hope so too, but 300 a game is an awful lot to ask.

[Call Mr. Sow]

Why do you think we cannot have a great year without a great QB? Seems alot of teams have won and had great years with mediorce QB's surrounded by talent. We will have an O designed to go down field, use screens, misdierections, and whatever else Woods and Malzhan can think of. We just need a servicable QB. if the stud WR's avg 300 yrds for the year, and we have about 7 to 10 WR's, thats alot of yardage, and throw in Mac's 1000, Jones 500 to 1000, Smith and Hillis. How do you see us being so bad? I dont understand it.

I think in part we're disagreeing on what a 'great year' is.  Could we win 7 games with only marginally improved QB play this season?  Probably.  But I don't see us doing much better than that no matter who the supporting cast is if your QB is unable to complete enough passes to keep the opponent's defense from putting 8 in the box every play.  Also, if we don't have a capable QB, we won't be changing our offense.  If we don't have a QB who can complete a pass downfield (didn't Dick have exactly one pass downfield all last year?), why do you expect it to start working all of a sudden? 

I'm really not sure how to say this without bashing CD, which is not something I want to do...I'm a CD fan.  Casey was the best QB on campus last year, and if Nutt hadn't pulled his head out of his ass and finally given Casey the chance, our season could have been historically, epically bad last season instead of just awful.  But as grateful as I am for his services, the fact is he was no better than about the 11th QB in the conference last year, and probably wouldn't have started for any other school with the possible exception of Miss State. 

Finally, what do you base us having 7-10 'stud WRs' on?  We had one guy break the 400 yard mark last year, and none of our receivers were in the top ten in the SEC last season.  Are you counting on 4 or 5 of the freshmen to perform as studs this season?  Isn't that a little bit of wishful thinking?  How do you propose our "stud" WRs average 2,100 yards with a mediocre QB?  That sort of passing yards figure would amount to one of the top ten passing performances of all time at Arkansas.  Not exactly mediocre QB play, now is it? 

Our team really has a chance to be good on offense, but if we can't do any better passing the ball than we did last season, and if our WR corps doesn't shape up, then we should expect a result similar to what we got last year, with a few extra wins thrown in there due to our likely-to-be great defense.

[wildhogman]

Why do you think we cannot have a great year without a great QB? Seems alot of teams have won and had great years with mediorce QB's surrounded by talent. We will have an O designed to go down field, use screens, misdierections, and whatever else Woods and Malzhan can think of. We just need a servicable QB. if the stud WR's avg 300 yrds for the year, and we have about 7 to 10 WR's, thats alot of yardage, and throw in Mac's 1000, Jones 500 to 1000, Smith and Hillis. How do you see us being so bad? I dont understand it.

I think in part we're disagreeing on what a 'great year' is.  Could we win 7 games with only marginally improved QB play this season?  Probably.  But I don't see us doing much better than that no matter who the supporting cast is if your QB is unable to complete enough passes to keep the opponent's defense from putting 8 in the box every play.  Also, if we don't have a capable QB, we won't be changing our offense.  If we don't have a QB who can complete a pass downfield (didn't Dick have exactly one pass downfield all last year?), why do you expect it to start working all of a sudden? 

I'm really not sure how to say this without bashing CD, which is not something I want to do...I'm a CD fan.  Casey was the best QB on campus last year, and if Nutt hadn't pulled his head out of his ass and finally given Casey the chance, our season could have been historically, epically bad last season instead of just awful.  But as grateful as I am for his services, the fact is he was no better than about the 11th QB in the conference last year, and probably wouldn't have started for any other school with the possible exception of Miss State. 

Finally, what do you base us having 7-10 'stud WRs' on?  We had one guy break the 400 yard mark last year, and none of our receivers were in the top ten in the SEC last season.  Are you counting on 4 or 5 of the freshmen to perform as studs this season?  Isn't that a little bit of wishful thinking?  How do you propose our "stud" WRs average 2,100 yards with a mediocre QB?  That sort of passing yards figure would amount to one of the top ten passing performances of all time at Arkansas.  Not exactly mediocre QB play, now is it? 

Our team really has a chance to be good on offense, but if we can't do any better passing the ball than we did last season, and if our WR corps doesn't shape up, then we should expect a result similar to what we got last year, with a few extra wins thrown in there due to our likely-to-be great defense.

I suppose I am alluding to stud WR's in the same fashion you call MM a stud QB. besides williams, we have several other fresh incoming this august, Coleman will be healthy and ready hopefully. Monk is monk, and as for the others, I think they improve with the improved coaching.
Servicable QB s CD, or RoJo, with the also improved coaching. I have yet to hear anyone say their probs were arm strength or talent. I think most of it is in the mental part of the game, and I think Woods and Guz will greatly influence that process.
If 7 of the WR's pan out, and Guz spreads the ball around as he likes to do, could it be possible with the same QB talent, to have more then Monk with 400 yards? I believe it will be possible, and thus my numbers, an avg of 7 WR's with 300 yards for the year. you claim that as a record setting year, but i wonder what the season stats were for 98 and 99? Didnt Lucas have over 1000 yrds one of those years? with several other WR getting close to 300?
I rest my hopes on a great def, a servicable QB with great running backs who can catch the ball as well, and WR's who can avg 200 yrds a game passing. Does that mean we get it every game? nope.But I think the D will rise up when we need it this year and help in the games we have poor offensive output.
No matter what though, i think its going to be a fun year to watch this team progress. And even more fun reading here how everyone thinks it should progress.

[Call Mr. Sow]

I suppose I am alluding to stud WR's in the same fashion you call MM a stud QB. besides williams, we have several other fresh incoming this august, Coleman will be healthy and ready hopefully. Monk is monk, and as for the others, I think they improve with the improved coaching.
Servicable QB s CD, or RoJo, with the also improved coaching. I have yet to hear anyone say their probs were arm strength or talent. I think most of it is in the mental part of the game, and I think Woods and Guz will greatly influence that process.
If 7 of the WR's pan out, and Guz spreads the ball around as he likes to do, could it be possible with the same QB talent, to have more then Monk with 400 yards? I believe it will be possible, and thus my numbers, an avg of 7 WR's with 300 yards for the year. you claim that as a record setting year, but i wonder what the season stats were for 98 and 99? Didnt Lucas have over 1000 yrds one of those years? with several other WR getting close to 300?
I rest my hopes on a great def, a servicable QB with great running backs who can catch the ball as well, and WR's who can avg 200 yrds a game passing. Does that mean we get it every game? nope.But I think the D will rise up when we need it this year and help in the games we have poor offensive output.
No matter what though, i think its going to be a fun year to watch this team progress. And even more fun reading here how everyone thinks it should progress.

Just a couple of comments:

1)  I never once called MM a stud QB.  Frankly, I have no idea if MM's skills are going to translate onto the SEC stage, and if he can make the transition quickly.  But if it turns out that they don't, and we have to bring back one of last season's QBs, we're in trouble.  And if we have to bring back Rojo (who was the leader after the Spring practices), we'll be lucky to win 4 games.

2)  I'm saying that having 7 WRs with 300 yards for the year means the Hogs have thrown for at least 2,100 yards in the regular season.  That would be 8th all time in passing yards for the Hogs (1998 was #1 with 2668).  Any way you slice it, that is pretty ambitious if we're fielding a dude who averaged 140 ypg total passing last season.  I will say this.  I truly believe Nutt's incompetence held down the passing numbers a lot, and there is certainly room for growth with Dick  .   

3)  I agree with you that the Hogs have the talent to win in bunches this year, and it's impossible not to get a little jazzed about the possibilities of the upcoming season.  But I also think it is very true that we can't have below-average QB play and still get it done in the SEC.  You have to remember, the Hogs weren't just a mediocre passing team last year.  They were one of the worst in the country.  Mediocre performance from one of the guys we had last year would represent a monumental improvement over last season.  It is for this reason that I believe that it is far more likely that Mitch Mustain comes in and is already an SEC caliber QB than Casey Dick or any of the other guys we had last year suddenly turning into a capable field general, especially based on the results we saw in the Spring. 

[PorkSoda]

Just a couple of comments:

2)  I'm saying that having 7 WRs with 300 yards for the year means the Hogs have thrown for at least 2,100 yards in the regular season.  That would be 8th all time in passing yards for the Hogs (1998 was #1 with 2668).  Any way you slice it, that is pretty ambitious if we're fielding a dude who averaged 140 ypg total passing last season.  I will say this.  I truly believe Nutt's incompetence held down the passing numbers a lot, and there is certainly room for growth with Dick  .   

3)  I agree with you that the Hogs have the talent to win in bunches this year, and it's impossible not to get a little jazzed about the possibilities of the upcoming season.  But I also think it is very true that we can't have below-average QB play and still get it done in the SEC.  You have to remember, the Hogs weren't just a mediocre passing team last year.  They were one of the worst in the country.  Mediocre performance from one of the guys we had last year would represent a monumental improvement over last season.  It is for this reason that I believe that it is far more likely that Mitch Mustain comes in and is already an SEC caliber QB than Casey Dick or any of the other guys we had last year suddenly turning into a capable field general, especially based on the results we saw in the Spring. 

I would say that RoJo held back the passing game more than anything.  I can't count the number of times he blew the screen to hillis, or choked under pressure and used his "explosive athletic ability" to run backwards and out of bounds.  CD IMO was only marginally better, and had very similar passing stats.  Which is why I say if MM isn't the man.  we're screwed.  Not to mention that our WR's (exception Monk) sucked last year, and will probably suck this year if spring was any indication.  I don't like having to relie on freshman, but at this point, its our only choice if we expect to have a winning conference record.

Here's hoping that Malzahn knows what he's doing, and that at least some of our recruits willl be ready to contribute.