Biggest Concern Saturday

[Swestwill66]

Cole Kelly will be the starter soon. I saw the other day, I think on sec net, Allen gets hit on 46% of drop backs. He's gonna get hurt.

[12247]

We are outclassed at nearly every position and outclassed across the board in the coaching staff.  We rarely are mentally prepared to go fight.  It will take our very best effort coupled with an average effort from A&M for us to win.  History says we won't give our best effort.  Hogville folks often put down Sumlin.  He is sitting in a recruiting hotbed, coaching for a very wealthy school, and he has a will to win that we haven't seen n BB.  Many other concerns but this is enough for us to get hammered.

[roothawg]

biggest concern is no quick passing game. no hot read if things break down.

[forrest city joe]

I see no reason to believe that John Chavis won't stack the box, install a run blitz package, and make us win by throwing the football. I don't care how skilled the offensive line is; when the defense puts more men in the box than can be blocked, the only way to loosen them up is to throw the football.

And now we come to the chicken-and-the-egg problem.

Here are the receiving stats of our wide-outs through the first two games:

Jonathan Nance: 6 receptions for 75 yards;

Deon Stewart: 3 receptions for 31 yards;

Jarrod Barnes: 2 receptions for 30 yards;

Jared Cornelius: 2 receptions for eight yards;

Jordan Jones: 1 reception for eight yards;

La'Michael Pettway: 1 reception for seven yards;

Brandon Martin: 0 receptions; and,

De'vion Warren: 0 receptions.

Eight wide receivers have caught 15 balls for 159 yards (10.6 per reception).

The claim so far has been that our wide receivers have been unable to get separation. Austin volunteered that the problem has been that he has not been "throwing the receivers open." Translated, that is either a lack of confidence in his receivers to catch the ball unless they are wide open, or lack of confidence in himself that he can complete a pass unless the receiver is wide open (as Nance was on the blown coverage by TCU).

So...does the problem get fixed Saturday because his receivers have spent two weeks of practice time working on getting separation? Does it get fixed because Austin has developed trust in them, himself, or both over two weeks? Can this even be fixed in two weeks?

All good points and concerns. but the biggest i have is can we stop the run on defense.TCU lined up and ran it down our throats.(they ran for 195 YDS)and we could not stop it.we could not get off the field on defense.they were 10 out of 14,in 3rd down.this has to stop now.100% agree on the offense. they flat out stunk it up against TCU. but we better play some defense,or we will lose again.got to stop the run. and give up no big plays in the passing game.they have a true freshmen QB starting this game.so no excuses.

[elksnort]

All good points and concerns. but the biggest i have is can we stop the run on defense.TCU lined up and ran it down our throats.(they ran for 195 YDS)and we could not stop it.we could not get off the field on defense.they were 10 out of 14,in 3rd down.this has to stop now.100% agree on the offense. they flat out stunk it up against TCU. but we better play some defense,or we will lose again.got to stop the run. and give up no big plays in the passing game.they have a true freshmen QB starting this game.so no excuses.

I think not stopping the run in part could be blamed on our offense not doing anything and keeping the defense out on the field too long

[elksnort]

We've got to run the ball effectively and they load the box that means we will have to pass well enough,which goes back to the point of the original post.

[007 License To Squeal]

If our wide receivers can't get open, it will be a long day.  I hope we see more separation tomorrow.

[RyeHogFan]

My biggest concern would have to be finishing.

After our two big collapses last season, Bielema spent all year preaching "FINISH"!  All of the spring and offseason workouts were geared towards finishing.  There have been several instances where our inability to finish hurt us.  Last game against TCU, we had two drives inside the 5 and came away with nada.  Last year against A&M, we had multiple drives inside the 5 come up empty.  I remember one time when RWIII fumbled at the 1 and then on another drive we ended up turning it over on downs at the 2.  The next play, Trevor Knight hit Josh Reynolds for a 98 yard dagger that put them ahead for good.  If we finish those drives, it's likely a very different ballgame.

If we get 1st and Goal and then either have to settle for FGs or end up getting nothing, we probably ain't gonna leave Dallas with a W. 

[Porkchop#1]

Maybe we should have really thrown the ball around like crazy against Florida A&M, trying to get the wide outs going.  Surely all our coaches knew from practice how much that was needed.  Or maybe they didn't know.

Of course, we wanted to keep it strictly vanilla against the rattlers.

Then we kept it very vanilla against the froggies too.

We're saving ourselves for just the right team. They'll have to be special to get us hot and bothered too much.

[Silver Hog]

We better not need to win with a last second field goal.

[farmhawg]

We better not need to win with a last second field goal.

Why not, we are five years in so this is Brett's team now. Winning like he said.

[HognotinMemphis]

You can't fix inexperience in 2 weeks. No more than you can fix it in pre-season practice or in the 10 days between first game and TCU game. The team had a chip on its shoulder all year according to Bielema. Based on the TCU game outcome, it must have been the smallest chip in the history of shoulder chips. He now says the Hogs are hungry. I guess he stopped letting them feed since the TCU game, hence their hunger.

Further, you can't fix mediocre talent in 2 weeks either. The O line is not good. All the coaching in the world will not improve basic talent. Put you on the O line with best O line coach in the world and you still will not be able to block your assignment.

I think this game will be worse than TCU game. It will not be a 7 point game with 3 min left.

[VirginiaHog]

My biggest concern was where to park. I got a great spot. Hogs will win by 10

[Großer Kriegschwein]

I see no reason to believe that John Chavis won't stack the box, install a run blitz package, and make us win by throwing the football. I don't care how skilled the offensive line is; when the defense puts more men in the box than can be blocked, the only way to loosen them up is to throw the football.

And now we come to the chicken-and-the-egg problem.

Here are the receiving stats of our wide-outs through the first two games:

Jonathan Nance: 6 receptions for 75 yards;

Deon Stewart: 3 receptions for 31 yards;

Jarrod Barnes: 2 receptions for 30 yards;

Jared Cornelius: 2 receptions for eight yards;

Jordan Jones: 1 reception for eight yards;

La'Michael Pettway: 1 reception for seven yards;

Brandon Martin: 0 receptions; and,

De'vion Warren: 0 receptions.

Eight wide receivers have caught 15 balls for 159 yards (10.6 per reception).

The claim so far has been that our wide receivers have been unable to get separation. Austin volunteered that the problem has been that he has not been "throwing the receivers open." Translated, that is either a lack of confidence in his receivers to catch the ball unless they are wide open, or lack of confidence in himself that he can complete a pass unless the receiver is wide open (as Nance was on the blown coverage by TCU).

So...does the problem get fixed Saturday because his receivers have spent two weeks of practice time working on getting separation? Does it get fixed because Austin has developed trust in them, himself, or both over two weeks? Can this even be fixed in two weeks?

Pretty much the question, problem and possible solution.

I hope we figure it out, but I don't see us winning an the LoS.

[theFlyingHog]

Enos brought a Dog crap game plan to the TCU game. Enos needs to step up his game

That crap about running the edges to wear them out was maybe the dumbest game plan I've seen from Enos