BB says he will fix FG

[razorbackkid]

Irony:

Throwing on 4th and 1 when nobody expected a pass was a bad decision because he shouldn't throw in that situation.  Not throwing from virtually PAT distance was a bad decision because QB was hot. 

Scoring 7 TD gave you confidence we could score throwing the ball but 7 perfect PATs gave no confidence we could kick the FG from 9 yards farther out.

Somehow, a defense that couldn't stop MIss State at all was going to have a better chance if Miss State had timeouts to work with and the same or more time.

+1

[PonderinHog]

There is not a denser, more qualified, less accomplished pool of coaches in the world than exists on Hogville after loses.

"For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong." - H. L. Mencken

[cowboy_hawg]

I had the belief we could have scored a TD or Field goal, either puts us on top. If we make a field goal after the series of plays called MS ST has zero timeouts to get in field goal range for the potential win.  If we score a TD, we more than likely leave over a minute on the clock with MS ST having 1, 2 or all 3 timeouts (not sure because you don't know how quick we score of if an incompletion happens, which stops the clock just as a timeout).  Running the ball, setting up the field goal ensures zero timeouts left with minimal time left on the clock. The decision was made confidently in the kicking game, all the while protecting the defense by sending them out to defend a go ahead score with minimal time to defend and MS ST only way of stopping the clock is with incompletion, getting out of bounds and moving the chains.  If the field goal had been made we would all be happy and not having these discussions. 

Go Hogs Go,
Beat Missouri Tigers
Whoooo PIG Sooooie

[jbu5]

i posted this in another thread. Maybe some of you former kickers or coaches could shed some light, but it seems that this year our kicker does not approach the ball when its snapped, he almost waits until its placed on the ground. When Hocker kicked for us, i noticed that he barely gave the holder time to put the ball down before he kicked it. By doing this he did not give time for line penetration, which seems to be an issue for us now. Interested to hear how this timing is correctly taught/coached.

[code red]

How bout fixing the defense.  Embarrassing.

[longpig]

Is Voelske a Polish name?

[texhog]

i posted this in another thread. Maybe some of you former kickers or coaches could shed some light, but it seems that this year our kicker does not approach the ball when its snapped, he almost waits until its placed on the ground. When Hocker kicked for us, i noticed that he barely gave the holder time to put the ball down before he kicked it. By doing this he did not give time for line penetration, which seems to be an issue for us now. Interested to hear how this timing is correctly taught/coached.

another general question I have; it seems Hedlund has a naturally low trajectory... maybe he's over compensating for not having long range but regardless, why do all PK's kick from 7 yards behind the LOS?  What is magical about 7 yards?  Why not move back to 8 or 9 yards?  basic geometry tells us that just a couple yards further back would make it virtually impossible for even a low kick to be blocked at the LOS. Is it that much harder to snap the ball 9 yards accurately instead of 7? 

[longpig]

 The kick gets off quicker and has less room to go wide.

[code red]

He was way too slow to the ball McFain was warming up do why didn't he kick?

[bvillepig]

Hedlund's PAT attempts have plenty of height. I have been closely watching that for awhile.

He had only missed one inside of 35 before this one. He made the same kick against Auburn that should have won the game. That was under tremendous pressure.

[flynhog]

You dont block a man on FG's.  You block inside out.  V blocked out and created space for the defender to get into the backfield.

[870hogfan]

There is not a denser, more qualified, less accomplished pool of coaches in the world than exists on Hogville after loses.

This

[navyhog24]

He needs to fix more than the field goal unit..... also try:

1) Invent a defense
2) Keep comments about giving someone a whoopin and other mouthy comments to himself
3) Don't go for a TD on 4&1
4) Recruit more to defense rather than concentrate all efforts on the offensive line
5) Investigate why a dozen players have broken bones and another dozen are walking wounded, nutrition should be investigated and blood workup on all players to find out whats going on

This is a short list for start.....

I agree with most, but the offensive line part. We only have one commitment and there never any names mentioned outside of Wallace and Bolles. We need some major help in the depth of that unit

[CFB_Fanatic]

Irony:

Throwing on 4th and 1 when nobody expected a pass was a bad decision because he shouldn't throw in that situation.  Not throwing from virtually PAT distance was a bad decision because QB was hot. 

Scoring 7 TD gave you confidence we could score throwing the ball but 7 perfect PATs gave no confidence we could kick the FG from 9 yards farther out.

I agree with you, but heres the problem: With the amount of time left to play, you have to plan differently. Our defense layed down like a $2 brothel girl all night long. What made the coaching staff think we were going to be able to stop them for the last 40+ seconds of the game??? Had we made the FG, we would only have been up 2 points, thus MSU would only need a FG to win. Dak and co. were almost guaranteed to get into FG range with that amount of time on the clock, timeouts or not.

Going for the FG was the correct call using "conventional" football wisdom, but it was the incorrect call at that time during that game. Hell, I could have lived with a loss if we had thrown the ball and went for the TD and still lost. Even had we made the FG, I feel like we would have still lost the game. Im no CBB hater, but its the single worst decision hes made this year imo. It was equally as bad a decision as going for 2 at Ole Miss was a good decision.

[Hogsfan1981]

"BB says he will fix FG"

No offense to coach but it is a little late. Maybe should have fixed it when we had a block earlier this year.

[DoubleReedHawgCaller]

Go for the td. Try for 2. Make them drive the length of the field either to win or tie. Pretty simple.

[IronHog]

Go for the td. Try for 2. Make them drive the length of the field either to win or tie. Pretty simple.

Exactly.


BB is excellent when he plays to win and a close loss waiting to happen when he gets conservative.



The 4th and 1 call was horrible......it was aggressive in the safest way possible.

[Biggus Piggus]

Go for the td. Try for 2. Make them drive the length of the field either to win or tie. Pretty simple.

Yes, I was yelling "Don't play for the field goal, dammit!" as that all unfolded. It's as though Bielema wanted to show he could coach conventionally, regardless of the actual best thing to do. What he did was reduce the odds of Arkansas winning the football game.

Watching NFL games the next day, I wondered why more field goals aren't blocked. They have the greatest athletes, but somehow they can block for field goals. It's not like they have all the practice time in the world, either. But they can put good players at every position, not relying on deep-in-the-roster backups to do important jobs.

[HotlantaHog]

Yes, I was yelling "Don't play for the field goal, dammit!" as that all unfolded. It's as though Bielema wanted to show he could coach conventionally, regardless of the actual best thing to do. What he did was reduce the odds of Arkansas winning the football game.

Watching NFL games the next day, I wondered why more field goals aren't blocked. They have the greatest athletes, but somehow they can block for field goals. It's not like they have all the practice time in the world, either. But they can put good players at every position, not relying on deep-in-the-roster backups to do important jobs.

I was yelling ''Don't play for the field goal!'' too before the plays ... and I am sure lots of Hogs fans were. The idea that it is second guessing after the fact is wrong. Lots of folks including me were second guessing before it predictably failed.

[RazorMack]

I'm with many of you who think we should of gone for a TD on that last drive instead of settling for a FG, because I honestly don't think we could of stopped Dak with that much time. What I don't understand is the criticism of the 4th and 1 call. It was going to be a long fg, and that just isnt our strong suit. I don't remember anyone complaining a few years ago when Ryan Mallett threw a TD to Joe Adams on 4th down from about the 40 against LSU. BB was aggressive and it just didn't work out. Time to move on and beat Mizzou

[urkillnmesmalls]

The fourth and one earlier was where we had the best chance to win the game.  NO NEED to go for the kill shot there.  We just needed a trusted play to get 1 yard.  The way they all lined up in the box, the fake dive play and run around the end by BA like the 2 pt. conversion against Auburn would have gotten the yard.  They were going to crash in just like they had all game.  Or...just a simple pass to one of our TE's releasing on the play would have worked too.  I didn't understand the one guy in the pattern kill shot attempt.  If we end up getting a TD on that drive, it would have put us up enough that I think we could have held on. 

On to the field goal.  I KNEW it was going to be blocked, and so did just about every other fan there.  On the 3rd down play, we should have tried to get the first down (really that entire series).  I understand the need to make them use their timeouts, but had we gotten the first down, we would have then been able to force them to use ALL of their timeouts, and given the option for either a TD or a FG at that point.  Then we have three more downs to kill the clock further, try for the TD and take the FG if it comes to that.  Hey...I get it, "don't screw up."  But...FG's are a high percentage of screw up chance in CFB, and especially with out history this season.   

Hey...I get it if we make the FG...then it looked like a brilliant "play by the numbers" approach.  BUT...it would seem that the coaches would HAVE to take note of our history on certain things. 

It looked as if our FG block team was just used to the half-hearted effort that teams put forth on extra points, and they weren't prepared for the onslaught of the "this is do or die" type of effort from the defense.  That's what it looked like to me.

We can be upset about the decisions late, execution late, or whatever else that people feel lost the game for us.  Bottom line is...if they don't give us three turnovers and 21 points, we aren't even in that game.  We were fortunate to have a chance at the end of the game, because they were the better team but kept shooting themselves in the foot.       

[Hogsmo Kramer]

I was yelling ''Don't play for the field goal!'' too before the plays ... and I am sure lots of Hogs fans were. The idea that it is second guessing after the fact is wrong. Lots of folks including me were second guessing before it predictably failed.

Everyone in the stands around me, including myself, knew it was the wrong decision and said so vehemently beforehand.

So when it got blocked I didn't really see any surprise, just disgust and disappointment that what we all felt would happen did.

[Biggus Piggus]

The fourth and one earlier was where we had the best chance to win the game.  NO NEED to go for the kill shot there.  We just needed a trusted play to get 1 yard.  The way they all lined up in the box, the fake dive play and run around the end by BA like the 2 pt. conversion against Auburn would have gotten the yard.  They were going to crash in just like they had all game.  Or...just a simple pass to one of our TE's releasing on the play would have worked too.  I didn't understand the one guy in the pattern kill shot attempt.  If we end up getting a TD on that drive, it would have put us up enough that I think we could have held on. 

Looked to me like BA's primary options were covered + he had to throw deep to have any chance. The play design was poor, IMO. No quick hit options, and it had BA pinned in the pocket with no prayer of running.

[ricepig]

Looked to me like BA's primary options were covered + he had to throw deep to have any chance. The play design was poor, IMO. No quick hit options, and it had BA pinned in the pocket with no prayer of running.

Yeah, but you liked all of Enos other calls, right??

[Hey Super]

Why does it need to be fixed. That was game 11 of the season.

Go home you're drunk.

[longpig]

There is not a denser, more qualified, less accomplished pool of coaches in the world than exists on Hogville after loses.

Apparently some of Hogville missed this.

[Bardicer]

Allow me to fix the FG protection.  Everyone block their inside gap 100% of the time.  INSIDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Done.

I remember in high school, the FG line put their helmets on thigh pad of the next guy inside.  The up backs immediately stepped up and out, taking out or deflecting the edge rushers.

[Biggus Piggus]

Yeah, but you liked all of Enos other calls, right??

Did not like all the inside runs on first down. Too many runs into 8-9 defenders. Also did not like using the delay against an 8-man front, and the screen passes had no prayer.

Brandon Allen + three short-field possessions prevented this game from being a blowout loss. Allen did great things in often difficult situations with little pass protection. Many of the pass plays were well designed.

But the Hogs spent too much time doing the obvious and being forced to make up for it on second and long, third and long. MSU took advantage of the Hogs' intent to run most of the time on first downs. The offense did not succeed at setting up situations where run blocking wasn't outnumbered.

All four of the Hogs' three-and-outs included at least one stuffed inside run when the defense had nine guys pulled in for run defense. The running game was not working, but part of the problem was running 21 times on first downs, almost always inside.

Mississippi State - even after stuffing the Hogs - ranks eighth in the SEC in run defense (measured by yards allowed per rush), and its 11 rushing TDs allowed also is middle of the pack. Tenth in rushing yards allowed per game, ahead of only four bad defenses (South Carolina, TAM, Kentucky, Auburn).

You really can be too obvious. Then you're in too many long-yardage situations and rarely have a chance to run on later downs. Arkansas had 29 rushing attempts against Mississippi State. Twenty-one were on first downs.

Maybe running all those times allowed Brandon Allen to hit as many big pass plays on first down as he did. He completed 10-11 on first downs with long plays of 20, 39 and 52 yards.

I thought BA was amazing on second and third downs, when the passing situations were often obvious. On second and third and long, BA completed 11-20 for 156 yards. On all third down passing, BA was 8-12.

Mississippi State guessed right a lot of the time, against the run. When Arkansas caught the Bulldogs leaning run, BA burned them.

[HoopS]

Hedlund should be practicing consistently kicking over a 10-12 foot wall placed about 7 yards in front of him. Gotta start getting lift earlier. I'm serious about the wall. Build a plywood wall and get a bag of balls and a holder and get after it. Daily.

[PonderinHog]

Hedlund should be practicing consistently kicking over a 10-12 foot wall placed about 7 yards in front of him. Gotta start getting lift earlier. I'm serious about the wall. Build a plywood wall and get a bag of balls and a holder and get after it. Daily.

I've noticed his PAT attempts go through the uprights where other kickers' PAT's go OVER the uprights.  True story.

[HotlantaHog]

Hedlund should be practicing consistently kicking over a 10-12 foot wall placed about 7 yards in front of him. Gotta start getting lift earlier. I'm serious about the wall. Build a plywood wall and get a bag of balls and a holder and get after it. Daily.

The block wasn't his fault. Maybe his offensive line needs to prepare against a wall.

[HoopS]

The block wasn't his fault. Maybe his offensive line needs to prepare against a wall.

I know there was a blocking breakdown. I also know he needs to kick higher. He does too.

[PonderinHog]

We would have lost the game even if he had made that kick. Does anybody here believe that our defense would have kept them out of field goal range in the last 40 seconds?

I would have liked to have found out, yes.

[Biggus Piggus]

The block wasn't his fault. Maybe his offensive line needs to prepare against a wall.

The player who blew the block had never been in that position for an actual, live field goal before. He wasn't ready. Replacing Loewen due to his injury.

[Been10Hog]

Hedlund should be practicing consistently kicking over a 10-12 foot wall placed about 7 yards in front of him. Gotta start getting lift earlier. I'm serious about the wall. Build a plywood wall and get a bag of balls and a holder and get after it. Daily.

We're going to do it! We are going to build a wall and Mexico is going to pay for it!

[ricepig]

The player who blew the block had never been in that position for an actual, live field goal before. He wasn't ready. Replacing Loewen due to his injury.

Correct, he was normally on the other side, maybe instead of switching Skipper to that side, they should have left the right side alone. It seems he stepped more to his right, which was his normal first step on the left side.

[ricepig]

I would have liked to have found out, yes.

Yep, I'd have taken my chances, in fact I was freezing hoping I would get too.

[cosmodrum]

Why does it need to be fixed. That was game 11 of the season.

No kidding. Thanks for starting to fix it before the last game of regular season.

[ricepig]

I've noticed his PAT attempts go through the uprights where other kickers' PAT's go OVER the uprights.  True story.

Yeah, when he was kicking to us in the south end zone I mentioned that to my boys. At least he didn't clank the upright like the MSU kicker.

[cosmodrum]

Yeah, when he was kicking to us in the south end zone I mentioned that to my boys. At least he didn't clank the upright like the MSU kicker.

Nope. Clanked a defender.

[ricepig]

Nope. Clanked a defender.

Wasn't his fault, the guy could have intercepted the snap.

[HoopS]

It hit the MSU dude in the chest didn't it?

[bphi11ips]

The player who blew the block had never been in that position for an actual, live field goal before. He wasn't ready. Replacing Loewen due to his injury.

This explains a lot, although I'm not sure whether a field goal is different from a blocking standpoint than an extra point.

Just watched the extra points and the field goal in slo mo.  Voelzke played on all of them.  Set up was the same on each, BUT, the only time the inside rush came was on the field goal, so Voelzke's inexperience there may have been a factor.  To some extent he was sandbagged on the extra points.

Also - Hedlund didn't get much height on the kick.  That's been a problem all year and did contribute to the block, although it's not clear from the replay whether he could have gotten it up high enough to get it over the defender crashing through the line.  Long-story short, the field goal attempt itself was a cluster, but I still think it was the correct call.  The announcer anticipated it after Cornelius's catch at the 19 with 1:15 left on the clock.

Here's what it boiled down to - would you rather face Prescott with 58 seconds or thereabouts left and 3 time outs having to score a TD, or 40 seconds left with no timeouts needing a field goal?  Odds were very good we would make the field goal.  We didn't.  Mississippi State made a great play against a sub. 

The way the game was going, I'd rather have given Prescott 40 seconds with no time outs.  He'd likely have to move the ball about 50 yards to get into Westin Graves range.  Graves is a sophomore with a long this year of 44 yards.  He is 3 of 4 from beyond 40 and 6 of 6 from beyond 30.  You can bet Arkansas coaches knew those stats and considered them.   The runs were solely used to make sure Mississippi State used all of their timeouts.  That strategy is consistent with Bielema's overall philosophy and what most coaches in his position would have done. 

[MountieDawg]

CORRECTABLE ERRORS!!! THEY ARE ALL CORRECTABLE ERRORS.

[bphi11ips]

CORRECTABLE ERRORS!!! THEY ARE ALL CORRECTABLE ERRORS.

GOOD POINT.

[Aporkalypse Now]

This explains a lot, although I'm not sure whether a field goal is different from a blocking standpoint than an extra point.

Just watched the extra points and the field goal in slo mo.  Voelzke played on all of them.  Set up was the same on each, BUT, the only time the inside rush came was on the field goal, so Voelzke's inexperience there may have been a factor.  To some extent he was sandbagged on the extra points.

Also - Hedlund didn't get much height on the kick.  That's been a problem all year and did contribute to the block, although it's not clear from the replay whether he could have gotten it up high enough to get it over the defender crashing through the line.  Long-story short, the field goal attempt itself was a cluster, but I still think it was the correct call.  The announcer anticipated it after Cornelius's catch at the 19 with 1:15 left on the clock.

Here's what it boiled down to - would you rather face Prescott with 58 seconds or thereabouts left and 3 time outs having to score a TD, or 40 seconds left with no timeouts needing a field goal?  Odds were very good we would make the field goal.  We didn't.  Mississippi State made a great play against a sub. 

The way the game was going, I'd rather have given Prescott 40 seconds with no time outs.  He'd likely have to move the ball about 50 yards to get into Westin Graves range.  Graves is a sophomore with a long this year of 44 yards.  He is 3 of 4 from beyond 40 and 6 of 6 from beyond 30.  You can bet Arkansas coaches knew those stats and considered them.   The runs were solely used to make sure Mississippi State used all of their timeouts.  That strategy is consistent with Bielema's overall philosophy and what most coaches in his position would have done.

Bielema did EXACTLY what he should have done in that situation. All these Hogville coaches are ridiculous and obviously don't know anything in regards to strategy on the road versus at home. And of course thus is the reason Bielema is making $4M a year while they eat cheetos and complain about him.

[IronHog]

Bielema did EXACTLY what he should have done in that situation. All these Hogville coaches are ridiculous and obviously don't know anything in regards to strategy on the road versus at home. And of course thus is the reason Bielema is making $4M a year while they eat cheetos and complain about him.

maybe if he had a ST coordinator it would have been the right approach


You can't play BB ball with bad special teams.

[Aporkalypse Now]

maybe if he had a ST coordinator it would have been the right approach


You can't play BB ball with bad special teams.

Do you really think that just because there isn't anyone with that job title on campus that no one is coaching the ST unit? Do you think that kid hadn't been taught how to properly block during a field goal attempt? Good grief...

[ricepig]

Do you really think that just because there isn't anyone with that job title on campus that no one is coaching the ST unit? Do you think that kid hadn't been taught how to properly block during a field goal attempt? Good grief...

http://www.arkansasrazorbacks.com/sport/m-footbl/roster/

[IronHog]

Do you really think that just because there isn't anyone with that job title on campus that no one is coaching the ST unit? Do you think that kid hadn't been taught how to properly block during a field goal attempt? Good grief...

Didn't get the job done did he?


Little things matter......coach doing other stuff ain't worried about details on special teams.