2017 season

[lutherheggs]

With all of the losses to the receivers' group from this season and the lack of quality in both lines and in the secondary, not enough  can happen in the way of new recruits and coaching for improvement next year. In BB's 5th season, I'll be pleased if the Hogs and staff can reproduce the same 7-5 and 3-5 that they earned this season.

Anyone who cares to, please comment and tell me why the above opinion is likely incorrect. Specifics would be appreciated.

[flynhog]

 In BB's 5th season, I'll be pleased if the Hogs and staff can reproduce the same 7-5 and 3-5 that they earned this season.

This is all just speculation bacause we as fans don't have anything to do with the day to day operations or training of the Hogs.
Specifically, I do not think the guys next year will be worse than this year.  I was not happy with the record this year and I will not be happy to have the same record next year.  7-5 three years in a row is not progress.  I expected 8-4 regular season this year.  We are going to have to play our best game to beat VA Tech. 

But I am thrilled that we are playing them.

[Hawgar The Horrible]

Eight returning starters on offense with the addition of juco studs Nance, Martin and Patton. The offense is not going to regress and the defense cannot possibly regress.

7 to 8 regular season wins next year and another bowl. Works for me and I wouldn't care if it were CBB's 10th year. However the defense needs to be much improved.

[GunnerHawg70]

Eight returning starters on offense with the addition of juco studs Nance, Martin and Patton. The offense is not going to regress and the defense cannot possibly regress.

7 to 8 regular season wins next year and another bowl. Works for me and I wouldn't care if it were CBB's 10th year. However the defense needs to be much improved.

One the best reads yet...Finally a Hog fan with some support and optimism for the team!!!  +1

[GalaHawg]

We are NOT beating Bama or LSU at their home fields next year. We have 3 OOC games that are sure wins. The remaining 7 games can go either way --- no way to know for sure but I expect to see somewhere between 7-5 and 9-3. CBB really needs a 9-3 to get the skeptics off his back.

[DiamondHogFan]

Offense will be fine.  Hopefully can be a little more consistent if the OL can improve.  We have plenty of playmakers in skill positions to be explosive.

Defensively...who knows?  Will we get a playmaker to step up at Safety?  Will the young LBs and Dre be a much improved group?  Will we switch to the 3-4?  Lots of questions to be answered on the defensive side, but I believe CBB and staff will do whatever they can  to try to fix the problems. 

[HOGINTENNESSEE]

With SC, Miss State and Mizz on the schedule we better do better than 3-5 in the SEC

[Bubba's Bruisers]

With SC, Miss State and Mizz on the schedule we better do better than 3-5 in the SEC

An OM.  We should beat those 4.  The O/U will be 7.5 wins.

[MJ2]

We're all beginning to accept mediocrity.

[Youngsta71701]

With all of the losses to the receivers' group from this season and the lack of quality in both lines and in the secondary, not enough  can happen in the way of new recruits and coaching for improvement to right be better next year. In BB's 5th season, I'll be pleased if the Hogs and staff can reproduce the same 7-5 and 3-5 that they earned this season.

Anyone who cares to, please comment and tell me why the above opinion is likely incorrect. Specifics would be appreciated.

1. Allen now has some experience under his belt
2. O-line has more experience and should be much improved
3. We will lean on the running game a little more
4. Receivers will be young but very talented
5. Defense can't possibly get any worse? Can it? If they do I will literally

[Youngsta71701]

We're all beginning to accept mediocrity.

I think most of us are beginning to accept reality but at the same time hoping for more.

[Youngsta71701]

An OM.  We should beat those 4.  The O/U will be 7.5 wins.

I'll give us 9 wins right now with Alabama being a loss, Texas A&M being a win, Auburn and LSU being a toss up.

[Redhogs]

We're all beginning to accept mediocrity.

Duh, just now figuring the out. Sad.

[MJ2]

Duh, just now figuring the out. Sad.

Some of us are slooooooooowwwww......

[AirWarren]

We're all beginning to accept mediocrity.

I've always thought we were a 7-9 win program with an occasional fluke year where we win 10-11. I'm 31 years old and my "thoughts" have always been true during my 31 years on earth.

Accept it. We ain't bama. Won't ever be bama.

[PigWig]

I've always thought we were a 7-9 win program with an occasional fluke year where we win 10-11. I'm 31 years old and my "thoughts" have always been true during my 31 years on earth.

Accept it. We ain't bama. Won't ever be bama.

The problem is there is a huge gap between 7-9 wins.  A 7 win season is about as mediocre as it gets.  It means you won enough to get to a bowl, but you were just over .500 on the year (assuming 13 games).  9 wins means you had a good season, finished in the top 25, and won just shy of 70% of your games (assuming 13 games).  A 7 win average is what Nutt did over his decade at Arkansas.  A 9 win average is what Petrino did.  I will never be unhappy with a 9 win season barring an epic collapse (i.e. losing your last 3-4 games).  7 wins is not good enough for me though.

[AirWarren]

I didn't say I was happy with 7 wins. But I've come to realization that 7-9 wins is our cap.

[lakecityhog]

I go into EVERY season with great expectations, regardless of the previous year's results. I will again in 2017!

I look at what we have coming back with JRed and Ragnow and I think that we have a HUGE opportunity in front of us. Our more winnable games are at home which is a PLUS and road games at South Carolina & Ole Miss are winnable road games.

With a BYE before ATM and a break with Coastal Carolina at game 7 the schedule is set-up for success. We only have 1 back-to-back road games, man if this isn't one of our BEST schedules in a long time I don't know what is!

[Hollywood870]

One the best reads yet...Finally a Hog fan with some support and optimism for the team!!!  +1

Hell yeah man 7 or 8 wins! Let's do it! Let's call those Hogs!!

[HoggusMaximus]

I think most of us are beginning to accept reality but at the same time hoping for more.

There's nothing wrong with being realistic about expectations. That doesn't mean that every once and a while we could go above and beyond.

[tophawg19]

hell everybody in the SEC west not named bama  is an 8-4 average team . name me any othet team that averages 10 wins every year . it's the price for playing big time football. even Georgia in the east was slightly under 10 average .

[HoggusMaximus]

Some of the people calling for CBB's head are completely oblivious to realism.  This is a never ending argument, some of the people on here expect things that we can't produce on a year in year out basis. Or they will say they expect 8-9 win seasons and then call for him to be fired when he comes up 1 win short. Hog fans in general have a HUGE napoleon complex.

[Youngsta71701]

There's nothing wrong with being realistic about expectations. That doesn't mean that every once and a while we could go above and beyond.

Exactly, really and truly I expect 7 or 8 wins a year but I'm hoping I'm wrong and we get at least 9 or 10...lol...Real talk though I believe we should have at least a winning record every year.

[Youngsta71701]

hell everybody in the SEC west not named bama  is an 8-4 average team . name me any othet team that averages 10 wins every year . it's the price for playing big time football. even Georgia in the east was slightly under 10 average .

LSU was...And with Les Milles as the coach. Go figure...

[Youngsta71701]

Some of the people calling for CBB's head are completely oblivious to realism.  This is a never ending argument, some of the people on here expect things that we can't produce on a year in year out basis. Or they will say they expect 8-9 win seasons and then call for him to be fired when he comes up 1 win short. Hog fans in general have a HUGE napoleon complex.

I think it's the way we lose sometimes that have some Arkansas fans losing their marbles. You know, sometimes we're not even competitive or it looks like we quit.

[lutherheggs]

In BB's 5th season, I'll be pleased if the Hogs and staff can reproduce the same 7-5 and 3-5 that they earned this season.

This is all just speculation bacause we as fans don't have anything to do with the day to day operations or training of the Hogs.
Specifically, I do not think the guys next year will be worse than this year.  I was not happy with the record this year and I will not be happy to have the same record next year.  7-5 three years in a row is not progress.  I expected 8-4 regular season this year.  We are going to have to play our best game to beat VA Tech. 

But I am thrilled that we are playing them.

You say you expect a certain record as if it is more of a command that a realistic, fact-based prediction. It is all speculation. Life itself is just speculation. You may not be here tomorrow. I may not. You may be fired tomorrow. Bielema may drop dead of a stroke today which would change everything. So yeah, it's speculation. This entire board is all speculation. Thanks for the enlightenment.

[lutherheggs]

Eight returning starters on offense with the addition of juco studs Nance, Martin and Patton. The offense is not going to regress and the defense cannot possibly regress.

7 to 8 regular season wins next year and another bowl. Works for me and I wouldn't care if it were CBB's 10th year. However the defense needs to be much improved.

9 returning starters on defense this past season. How did that turn out? I don't expect the defense to be any worse because that is literally not possible. As for the defense being measurably better, that is not possible either based on returning players and new players.

[lutherheggs]

I'll give us 9 wins right now with Alabama being a loss, Texas A&M being a win, Auburn and LSU being a toss up.

We have lost to A&M 5 years in a row. They consistently out-recruit the Razorbacks. They beat us easily this season. Tell me how and why the Razorbacks will beat A&M next season.

[DiamondHogFan]

We have lost to A&M 5 years in a row. They consistently out-recruit the Razorbacks. They beat us easily this season. Tell me how and why the Razorbacks will beat A&M next season.

No Trevor Knight.  They likely won't have near the caliber of D-Line that they had this year.  Will be a toss up.  I agree that calling that a "Win" is a little premature.

[lutherheggs]

I think it's the way we lose sometimes that have some Arkansas fans losing their marbles. You know, sometimes we're not even competitive or it looks like we quit.

You hit the nail on the head. It's not that we lost the last game of the year. It's that we lost it to the worst team in the SEC after beating a team we had lost to 4 seasons in a row and the fact that we led at the half by 17 and did not score in the 2nd half.

It's not that we lost on the road to a good Auburn team. It's that we scored only 3 points and gave up 56 and gave up a program history record rushing total of over 540 yards.

It's not that we lost to Alabama and Texas A&M and LSU, it's that all 3 beat the crap out of us and we were never in any of those games after the half.

[Wildhog]

Awesome expectations in year five.  Just celebrate mediocrity.

[Torqued pork]

Predicting 7-5 and going 8-4 is the Arkansas version of a championship season on Hogville. Merry Christmas everyone and keep being positive.

Best Wishes,
Rick Schaeffer

[Wildhog]

Predicting 7-5 and going 8-4 is the Arkansas version of a championship season on Hogville. Merry Christmas, everyone and keep being positive.

Same to you, TP. 

[Bubba's Bruisers]

Our geographic location is mediocre.  It all rolls down hill from there.

[Hogwild]

LSU was...And with Les Milles as the coach. Go figure...

He did it for 10 years and they still fired him, they wanted to fire him last year when he finished 16th in country and would have had a 10 win if their opener wasn't canceled.  Each school sets its own expectations, obviously that wasn't enough for LSU.  The questions is are 7/8 win seasons enough to meet razorback expectations.  Seems some poster feel our expectations should be higher, while others will take a 7 win season and a bowl trip  every year.

[HOGINTENNESSEE]

We have lost to A&M 5 years in a row. They consistently out-recruit the Razorbacks. They beat us easily this season. Tell me how and why the Razorbacks will beat A&M next season.

Aggies are going to Aggie. That's how

[12247]

2017 looks like another scratch to win 7 but it is getting close to BBs 6 year contract.  Now Jeff will give him 6 more if he can just keep us at or above .500 overall but BB  actually does have some pride and will work hard to avoid being a doormat nearly every year.  I believe we will see much improvement in 2017 because BB will adjust his and everyone else's attitude. 

Players we didn't know could play the game will creep out of the cracks and the great and knowledged ones among us will swear they finally got it, whatever got it means.  I think we are about to see some actual coaching getting ready to take place for the 2017 season.  And hopefully some use of those JUCO Guys.  We will all be surprised when we take the field first game next season looking conditioned, alert, seemingly knowing our responsibility and doing it. 

[bennyl08]

Why we will improve

To just get this out of the way, there are typically two major times a player has a jump in improvement. From their first year to their 2nd, and from their first year as a regular player to their second.

Offense: We are led by a RS Senior qb in Austin Allen getting that 2nd year starting boost. He started the season red hot, had some missed throws in the middle of the season, but still finished as one of, if not the top passer in the SEC. He threw 400 yards against a Bama defense that was pretty stingy and did so with a very inexperienced OL protecting him as he was one of the most hit qb's in the entire country. Speaking of that OL, the only loss we will have there this year will be Skipper. While literally a big loss, we had to replace 3/5 of our OL this past season. We should expect a similar level of improvement of the OL as we saw from 13-14. We return the SEC's leading rusher in RW3 as well as Whaley who is getting both boosts at the same time. Again, think of how much better Collins was in 14 than he was in 13. At TE, we lose Sprinkle who wasn't a huge part of our offense last season sadly. However, we return easily one of the highest potential groups at TE along with Patton. Sprinkle didn't become a huge part of our offense til his third year here, so this is when the light needs to be coming on for the new group. At WR, we return Cornelius who you can at worst make an argument was our best receiver last season and has been one of our best for the past 2 years. Behind him are some very exciting players like Pettway, Stewart, and Jones, all of whom will have been here for at least a full year. Finally, we appear to not be losing Enos. So there is no reason to expect that our offensive production of the past two years is going anywhere. Given how much we do return, our offense should be substantially improved.

Defense: We lose a lot on the DL. However, Agim and Capps, like Whaley, are getting the 2nd year boost both in general and as major contributors. Beanum returns as a leader on the DL. Recall how Hodge made big jump in production his senior year compared to his first 3? Bijhon is facing that same opportunity. TJ Smith is entering his third year and with the loss of players will finally not be buried on the depth chart. At LB, Greenlaw returns from injury and Eugene was playing as good as anybody we've had at LB towards the back half of the season last year. While we lose the intelligence and leadership that Ellis provided, Harris provides a substantial athletic upgrade. We finally have more depth there than we have had in recent years. If Greenlaw goes down again, Eugene can take his place. If Eugene goes down, LeFrance or AJB are more than capable of playing well in his stead. Further, Ramsey was shockingly not bad as a DE/LB last season. If he can stay out of trouble and get the 2nd year playing boost, he could become quite the weapon. In the secondary, we have Toliver who has shown the ability to shut down some impressive receivers as well as being our own version of the honey badger forcing fumbles, getting int's, and getting TFL's and sacks. Across from him will likely be Pulley with 11 pbu's last season as I recall. Near the tops of the SEC. We return a healthy Brito and KR3 as well as development of younglings. At safety, Ramirez gives us the speed we had previously been lacking at the position while Coley has shown to be a head hunter. Liddell, KR3, and Dalton provide depth and flexibility. Finally, we know that given the right players, CRS can put together a top 10 defense.

ST: Cornelius has taken several punts back to the house for td's but most have been called back for penalties. Stewart and Hammonds have a good skill set for returns as well if we don't want to risk Cornelius. Hedlund made improvements last season and has had more time to learn how to kick without a tee. Keep in mind coming out of HS he was the equivalent of being the sosa agim of kickers. At punter, Blake Johnson has been patiently waiting his turn. The few punts we have seen of him in real play were on par with what Toby Baker was giving us and there's a reason coaches thought Blake was worth a scholarship immediately out of HS rather than walking on.

What about our opponents? The schedule sets up to give us our most winnable games at home. This makes our ability to get upsets harder, but helps keep us from being upset ourselves.

Individually, TCU's offense was almost entirely untested juniors last year. Barring injuries or early declarees, 10 of their 12 listed starters this year will be seniors next year, losing only their RT with the 12 being a WR who will be a junior. On defense, however, they lose at least 4 starters with e of them being on the DL. With the game at our house, that doesn't bode well for them stopping our offense. Their offense will be hard to stop, but being the away team will hamper them.

We sadly have an early bye week this year making the end of our schedule tough, but we should be well rested and well oiled heading into the Aggie game. They lose at least 4 starters on offense including 2 OL and their qb. Their team took a several steps backwards without Knight starting this season. On defense, they also lose at least 3 and probably 5 players, spread fairly evenly throughout the levels. Hard to imagine their offense being as potent as it was when we faced them this year and their defense loses the players that caused us the most trouble.

SC loses at least 6 of their players on defense, and on offense, they lose their LT, and one of their starting qb's. Further, they are not a very good team to begin with and this should be a road victory.

Bama will be tough as always. Minimum, they lose their TE, RG, and a starting receiver. They very likely lost their top receiver IMO and their LT as well. On defense they lost at least 5 players, including major losses along the front 7. While Bama typically can reload, inexperience is just as much a chink in their armor as anybody else's. If they lose too much to the draft one year, it shows the following season.

While Auburn will be part of a tough stretch for us, it will be for them as well. They will have played 4 straight SEC games including coming off a road trip to LSU right before we play them. They lose at least 3 players on offense including 2 on the OL. They lose at least 3 players on defense too including M. Adams who gave us trouble this year with Car Lawson a potential early NFL player as well.

Playing at Ole Miss will end our toughest stretch of the season. However, they too will have just played LSU. The rebels lose at least 4 players on offense including their talented TE and Qb. They lose at least 5 players on defense as well. This is going to be one of the more depleted teams we face. They haven't shown any likelihood of stopping our offense, and if they can't get a qb to lead them in a shootout, we could win.

We effectively get a bye week vs coastal carolina before facing the Tigers who are again coming off of Bama week. This should have been the tiger's season with an absolutely stocked roster. Next year, however, they lose at least 5 and possibly up to 7 starters on offense including Fournette, at least 2 and possibly 3 of their OL, and at least one if not both of their starting WR's. On defense, they lose at least 5 starters including 3 out of 4 LB'ers. Another 4 starters are Jr's who LSU has a tendency to declare to the NFL. They will have trouble reloading all of that talent.

We get MSU at an opportune time right after they play Bama and with them looking towards the egg bowl the next week. They lose at least 5 players on offense including 3 OL players, their best receiver and RB. They also lose at least 7 players on defense. MSU also lost a lot of players following last season and they are NOT good enough to reload after 2 straight seasons of major, major losses. They were already not very good this season and should be even worse next year.

Mizzou only loses 3 players on defense and their starting TE on offense. Their team should be even better next year than they were this year, but we get the game at home.

[factchecker]

Good work Benny!

[j-mann]

IF we beat TCU 4-0 Non conf         

Losses  to bama LSU Ole miss 

Beat S Car mizz 

tossups Auburn   Miss st  texas am       

worst case 5-7   best case  10-2     

[Bubba's Bruisers]

So OM is supposed to be good next season?

[bennyl08]

IF we beat TCU 4-0 Non conf         

Losses  to bama LSU Ole miss 

Beat S Car mizz 

tossups Auburn   Miss st  texas am       

worst case 5-7   best case  10-2   

What makes you think MSU is a toss up? Over the past two years, they will have lost their top 4 receivers, top 5 OL starters, 2 TE's, top 2 rb's, and a top qb on offense. 8 of their top DL players, 3 starting LB'ers, and 7 DB's with 5 starters.

That is nearly an entire two deep on defense and more than a complete cycling of their offense. That's rough for anybody to go through, much less Miss St.

To put that into context, it would be akin to the difference in our offense next year if we also lost Ragnow AND Cornelius, and on defense, we would be losing Beanum, Bijhon, and Roesler, Greenlaw would be gone, Toliver, Liddell, Coley and Ramirez would be gone as well.

[bennyl08]

So OM is supposed to be good next season?

I'm not buying it. Their recruiting has slipped. They lost their star qb this year as well. Granted, I think they could improve their record next year and still be a worse team.

However, as it stands, we have to play them, on the road, after an absolutely brutal stretch of SEC games. They could be a 5-7 team next year and us a 9-3 team and I would be very wary of this game.

[factchecker]

What makes you think MSU is a toss up?

The only thing I can think of is the fact that Miss State has a good running QB.  If his passing catches up to his athletic ability it will be tough.  With that being said, the game is in Fayetteville and unless they revamp their defense RWIII will put up even more gawdy #s with a more experienced line.

[factchecker]

The entire season and Coach Bielema's future is going to be predicated on the performance of our defense.

If that defense is the same or worse then it's time to clean house.  The defense has regressed every season since 2014.  The passing defense was the main deficiency in 2015.  The entire defense was the problem in 2016.

I want to see change.  I want to see effort.  I'm tired of dreading our defense going on the field and simply hoping our offense can hold the ball long enough to keep the other team from scoring.

[lakecityhog]

PigWig has it right, HUGE difference in a 7 win season and a 9 win season especially if you are talking bowl game included. Win a bowl and finish 7-5 means a completely mediocre season winning your 9th in a bowl means you finish top 25 and will more than likely start out in the top 25 the next year.

Here is the thing, we have won with very similar talent over the past 25 years. Sure, some of those seasons came from finding 1 or 2 great players on the roster and riding them. But, some of it came from figuring out how to maximize the talent that we had.

The key is DEFENSE, play HARD--- FUNDAMENTAL defense and don't give up BIG plays like apples falling off a tree and you have a chance. There isn't a single person on this board that could convince me that we were so bereft of talent that we could not field 11 guys with enough athletic ability to keep a QB from running 80 yards untouched MULTIPLE times over a season. We're not talking 4.4 speed like Matt Jones either!!

[lakecityhog]

One more thing, I am purely TIRED of hearing about the players that we lose this year. Guess what, EVERY team loses players every year!! It's college ball, 3, 4 or maybe 5 years and they are all gone!

Why do we always expect the other guys to get better, but we never expect for us to get better?

[Youngsta71701]

We have lost to A&M 5 years in a row. They consistently out-recruit the Razorbacks. They beat us easily this season. Tell me how and why the Razorbacks will beat A&M next season.

We've had the lead on them in the 3rd or 4th quarter three years in a row. You would think one of these years we will hold on or we won't get a big penalty to call back a run to the one yard line when we could go up 3 scores in the 4th quarter. Next year could be the year... ...Just saying...Don't act like we haven't had a good chance of beating them in a couple of those years.

[Youngsta71701]

No Trevor Knight.  They likely won't have near the caliber of D-Line that they had this year.  Will be a toss up.  I agree that calling that a "Win" is a little premature.

It's called predicting. No prediction is a sure thing. If that's the case I will call every game a toss up.

[Youngsta71701]

9 returning starters on defense this past season. How did that turn out? I don't expect the defense to be any worse because that is literally not possible. As for the defense being measurably better, that is not possible either based on returning players and new players.

Robb Smith vs Dan Enos...I'll take Enos for 1,000 please. Not to mention offense is just different. Our offensive scheme is so much better than our defensive scheme.