O not the problem. It's the D.

[Hogfan46]

Not enough pass rush and weak on the back end. That's where we need to improve.
BA is doing all he can with the injury bug that has bit the O.

[ICEman]

Robb Smith has definitely regressed a bit from 2014.

[rupert]

You're right...defense is just awful...why even punt to them---use your fourth downs---they will score no matter where you punt them---the three, the twenty  (length of their drives tonight impressive---the number of plays to cover those yards really impressive)..our defense is out of position, running around and not covering anyone very well...losing the players to the NFL draft turned out to be a BIG deal

[PEtrader]

Good point

[Swineasaur]

You don't win many 21 point games now a days though.

[Bubba's Bruisers]

Robb Smith has definitely regressed a bit from 2014.

So has his talent. 

[Hogsmo Kramer]

Our defensive backs were abused so bad they may need to go to the rape crisis center.

[passinghog]

If you knew before the game you'd hold A&M to 21 points in regulation, 99% sure you'd have taken it...

[ShadowTheHedgehog]

You don't win many 21 point games now a days though.

Sure you do just hold them to 20 or less. Look at MState vs HUNH Auburn.

[sloot]

When Toledo holds you to ten points and then gifts you another two, then I'd say the offense is a bit of a problem too.

[Swineasaur]

How many defensive coordinators are asked to win 3 score games anymore? Kirby Smart is the cream of the crop and isn't even expected to do that with bama talent.

[Bubba's Bruisers]

Sure you do just hold them to 20 or less. Look at MState vs HUNH Auburn.

Auburn isn't close to A&M this year.

If you knew before the game you'd hold A&M to 21 points in regulation, 99% sure you'd have taken it...

The offense was a huge reason A&M was held to 21.

[Swineasaur]

Sure you do just hold them to 20 or less. Look at MState vs HUNH Auburn.

Okay you showed me one game out of the 50+ played. Point being that the game has changed. 21 points used to win games back in 08'. 35 points is about the equivalent to 21 back then

[Hogfan46]

The offense was a huge reason A&M was held to 21.
[/quote]

I agree.  Long drives and time of possession kept us in the game. Unfortunately we couldn't get critical stops on D when we needed to.

[Bubba's Bruisers]

The offense was a huge reason A&M was held to 21.


I agree.  Long drives and time of possession kept us in the game. Unfortunately we couldn't get critical stops on D when we needed to.

And the offense didn't make critical plays when we had to have them either.  The D actually played pretty well considering the lack of speed and who they were playing against.  They made several stops tonight.  Light years ahead of last week.

But still a long way to go.

[ShadowTheHedgehog]

Auburn isn't close to A&M this year.

The offense was a huge reason A&M was held to 21.

A&M is not great either. They will be more or less on par with last year. They always start with some gimmicky QB/WR combo that does well for 4/5 games and then go down the drain.

[Flighthawg]

Long drives and TOP are great as long a your ahead and don't get saddled with penalties.   We had our chance, but couldn't make it work.  Hope for better next week.

[Bubba's Bruisers]

A&M is not great either. They will be more or less on par with last year. They always start with some gimmicky QB/WR combo that does well for 4/5 games and then go down the drain.

Right, but we don't get to play them in the 2nd half of the season.

[Beaverfever]

Both were equally guilty today.  Toledo was on the offense and Bert.  Second game was on both and bert.  Today the game was on both and Bert.  All have melted when it counted.  The offense we're trying to run is incredibly amateur.  If you have Nick Saban, Bama recruits and a heady quarterback you can make it work.  If you're Arkansas it's just a ridiculous approach. 

[Hogfan46]

And the offense didn't make critical plays when we had to have them either.  The D actually played pretty well considering the lack of speed and who they were playing against.  They made several stops tonight.  Light years ahead of last week.

But still a long way to go.

I generally agree. Just think the D needs to be better.
By no means was the O perfect.  We left plenty of pts on the field. But the O put us in position to win. Up 8 with 4 min to go and the D couldn't close it out.
It sucks but I'm still a supporter of our coaches and players. We just need to get over the hump on how to finish.

[hogifino]

Tonight and last week is on the D. Offense was god enough to score and keep A and M offense off the field. We have to win time of possession because D couldn't hang.  You people hanging on a savior qb for one play to win it are dreaming and wouldn't be satisfied with another...cause you only watch parts of plays and refuse to see the whole.

[Beaverfever]

Tonight and last week is on the D. Offense was god enough to score and keep A and M offense off the field. We have to win time of possession because D couldn't hang.  You people hanging on a savior qb for one play to win it are dreaming and wouldn't be satisfied with another...cause you only watch parts of plays and refuse to see the whole.

You have a much better chance in the modern game to win with the game in your quarterback's hands than in your defense's.  I saw quarterbacks make game winning drives all day.  I rarely see a defense that is great at the end of the year.  I don't think I've ever seen a great college defense in the fourth week of the year. 

[ShadowTheHedgehog]

Right, but we don't get to play them in the 2nd half of the season.

Right, my point, however, is that ATM, Arkansas, Auburn, (and actually also Mizzou) are all more or less equally bad/good right now. We almost held TAMU to under 21 in regulation, but we of course let then get 8 points late by not covering their playmakers as we should.

[Hogfan46]

Good stuff guys. Thanks for keeping this thread reasonable and about football.

[Medic821]

Back end needs a  miracle worker.  Geez.

[kodiakisland]

I remember CBB firing a coach at Wisconsin during the season.  So, when does the DB coach start getting nervous?

[moses_007]

Offense is a big problem too.  Scored what, 24 against TT and only 21 tonight?  Your offense has to be able to score more than that these days to beat anybody.

[moses_007]

I remember CBB firing a coach at Wisconsin during the season.  So, when does the DB coach start getting nervous?

The way our secondary has performed for two straight weeks, he should be fired tonight.  We look awful in the secondary, and that was supposed to be a strong point with this year's team. 

[elksnort]

So has his talent. 

this, coach Smith hasn't forgotten how to coach

[Oklahawg]

While our coaches were fixing problems A*M coaches were finding way to exploit other areas of concern. All in all, progress. But, that sucks when you lose a game you could have won.

[geauxhawgs]

Maybe I missed something.... Did we score more points than A&M??

[Swineasaur]

Offense is a big problem too.  Scored what, 24 against TT and only 21 tonight?  Your offense has to be able to score more than that these days to beat anybody.

that's not how this offense works. The idea is to score 3 or 4 times, control the clock and have the defense hold.

[CaliforniaHawg]

A&M has been streamrolling people this year.  Our D held them to 21 points in regulation, but the defense was the problem? Really? 21 points should be enough to beat Texas A&M with any decent offense.

[ScotchHog]

A&M has been streamrolling people this year.  Our D held them to 21 points in regulation, but the defense was the problem? Really? 21 points should be enough to beat Texas A&M with any decent offense.

Disagree.
Our offense eating up clock is what held them to 21 points. 
The defense gave up great big chunks of land on nearly every snap.

[CaliforniaHawg]

Disagree.
Our offense eating up clock is what held them to 21 points. 
The defense gave up great big chunks of land on nearly every snap.

They punted more times than we did. They also turned the ball over on downs once. The defense did more than enough to win this game.

[Tejano Jawg]

To put the horror into perspective, the Aggies' LAST 3 PASSES (actually 3 or 4 I think) were—
1-  long bomb to set up short TD run
2-  pass for game-tying extra point
3-  long bomb for the win

That is uncanny. All in, what, 30 seconds? Our D has to finish better than that. It's like they just left the field and went to the locker room, letting the Ags run 3 uncontested plays.

[WooPig90]

Our defense is terrible but my god the penalties this team commits is mind boggling

[007 License To Squeal]

Our defense is terrible but my god the penalties this team commits is mind boggling

BingO!!!  We have a winner... I was sickened by the obvious lack of mental discipline of our players on both sides of the ball....and our DB coach should be fired..TODAY!!

[007 License To Squeal]

They punted more times than we did. They also turned the ball over on downs once. The defense did more than enough to win this game.

Wrong....A team cannot win when DBacks can't stay withing 5 yards of a receiver....

[CaliforniaHawg]

Wrong....A team cannot win when DBacks can't stay withing 5 yards of a receiver....

You can come up with whatever theory you want, but the FACT is our D held them to 21, and the FACT is that our QB couldn't hit the broad side of a barn when the game is on the line, and so once again we are losers.

[spiritof92]

You can come up with whatever theory you want, but the FACT is our D held them to 21

The Hogs offense had a lot to do with that by shortening the game.  Hogs had the ball almost 40 minutes. 

[Beaverfever]

You can come up with whatever theory you want, but the FACT is our D held them to 21, and the FACT is that our QB couldn't hit the broad side of a barn when the game is on the line, and so once again we are losers.

We've been planning on our defense bailing us out as long as I've been a fan of the hogs and I can think of maybe two Hog defenses in that time that I'd trust with that task against even an above average offense.  Relying on your defense in college football is just a losing plan unless you're Bama/LSU (on a good year).  We can recruit all we want but our defense won't win us games next year or any time soon.  Solid defense is a prerequisite for having a championship caliber team but it's all about your teams ability to score. 

[CaliforniaHawg]

The Hogs offense had a lot to do with that by shortening the game.  Hogs had the ball almost 40 minutes.

That had absolutely nothing to do with it. Time of possession is irrelevant against a team like Texas A&M, because they run a hurry-up no huddle offense. Their drives are never time consuming, so they're usually always going to lose the T.O.P. battle. They had 10 possessions and scored on five of them. I'd say that's a very good effort against a really potent offense.

If the Hogs offense did so great by shortening the game, why didn't they score more? 40 minutes with the ball and only 21 points? The goal of football is to score more points than the other team, not have long drives. The defense did more than enough to put the offense in a position to win and the offense, led by BRANDON ALLEN, failed miserably.

[CaliforniaHawg]

We've been planning on our defense bailing us out as long as I've been a fan of the hogs and I can think of maybe two Hog defenses in that time that I'd trust with that task against even an above average offense.  Relying on your defense in college football is just a losing plan unless you're Bama/LSU (on a good year).  We can recruit all we want but our defense won't win us games next year or any time soon.  Solid defense is a prerequisite for having a championship caliber team but it's all about your teams ability to score.

Exactly. The only way that line of thinking is going to work is if you have a defense littered with NFL prospects, and even then you're playing with fire sometimes.

A great QB wins this game tonight for Arkansas. That's really all there is to it. The defense more than did its job and the offense failed when it mattered most.

[spiritof92]

That had absolutely nothing to do with it. Time of possession is irrelevant against a team like Texas A&M, because they run a hurry-up no huddle offense. Their drives are never time consuming, so they're usually always going to lose the T.O.P. battle. They had 10 possessions and scored on five of them. I'd say that's a very good effort against a really potent offense.

If the Hogs offense did so great by shortening the game, why didn't they score more? 40 minutes with the ball and only 21 points? The goal of football is to score more points than the other team, not have long drives. The defense did more than enough to put the offense in a position to win and the offense, led by BRANDON ALLEN, failed miserably.

When you are basing your assessment of how the defense played by points scored against the ToP has everything to do with it.  If the Hogs offense didn't milk the playclock every down the aggies would've had more possessions which obviously means more opportunities to score.

[Hogwild]

Last 3 games (none in a hostile environment)

We've scored 20 points in the 2nd half.

[spiritof92]

I'm not absolving the offense.  I'm just befuddled at how someone considers giving up over 400 yards, big plays, and creating zero turnovers a good defense. 

[hogfan68]

A&M is not great either. They will be more or less on par with last year. They always start with some gimmicky QB/WR combo that does well for 4/5 games and then go down the drain.

nice illustration

[razorbackcaller]

If you knew before the game you'd hold A&M to 21 points in regulation, 99% sure you'd have taken it...

This!!! For all the problems the D has had this year they held a&m to 21 points in 4 quarters.

[ChitownHawg]

The offense was a huge reason A&M was held to 21.


I agree.  Long drives and time of possession kept us in the game. Unfortunately we couldn't get critical stops on D when we needed to.

Offsides, short arm pass, and fumble were huge reasons we were held to 21.