Can Coach Enos work his magic before September 3

[staffhog]

Will Enos" being here a year offset losing Brandon Allen??

I felt like the major point in our slow start last fall was Dan Enos not having time to institute his methods as OC.  The aTm, TT and Toledo loses were defensive disaster but they were offensive disasters, as well.  Unlike in several of our later victories, our offense could not generate enough points to win at at clutch time.

We don't know that much about Austin, yet and sure know nothing about the other QBs.  Given the progress Brandon displayed toward the end of the year' I think Enos will have Austin ready to get us off on better footing this fall.

[HiggiePiggy]

We had tons of yards in our first few games also.  We had poor execution on the Toledo game and terrible defense in the Texas tech game and also bad defense again in the Texas A&M game.   Overall we came out pretty decent on offense. 

Against Toledo we had over 500 yards of offense. 
http://espn.go.com/college-football/boxscore?gameId=400603861

Against Texas Tech we had over 400 yards of offense. 
http://espn.go.com/college-football/boxscore?gameId=400603851

And against Texas A&M we had over 450 yards of offense. 
http://espn.go.com/college-football/boxscore?gameId=400603842

So in the Toledo game I blame the offense for not getting scores.  In the Texas tech and Texas A&M game it was the defense that couldn't stop anyone.

[HOGINTENNESSEE]

I would be surprised it didn't take sometime for offense to jell. New QB, 3 new starters on the Oline, No HH and a new lead back.

I hope I'm wrong.

[HiggiePiggy]

We have a lot of receivers returning.  That will be huge in helping Austin get going.  Also playing a down TCU team will help a lot.  We may lose that game, but I believe we have a really good chance of winning.  It really comes down to will our defense improve a lot from last year.  If it doesn't then it will be a very depressing year.  Second thing is our run game.  I think qb is the least of our problems. 

[longpig]

We have a lot of receivers returning.  That will be huge in helping Austin get going.  Also playing a down TCU team will help a lot.  We may lose that game, but I believe we have a really good chance of winning.  It really comes down to will our defense improve a lot from last year.  If it doesn't then it will be a very depressing year.  Second thing is our run game.  I think qb is the least of our problems.

Yeh, we may be at a point where we're reloading on offense, everywhere but RB.  Hopefully on defense the light will come on with  some of the juniors and sophomores and the greenhouse freshman surprise us.

[jgphillips3]

Its going to be a mixed bag next year.  The offense will be fully installed and the team used to it.  The defense will be in year 3 and improved.  We will have questions at QB and on the line.  Our RB situation is hard to gauge but should be better as a whole, just not as good individually as AC was.  The receivers will be a team strength.  I expect us to come out of the gates solid on D and a bit hit and miss on offense but overall better than we were to start last year.  I think we will basically be about where we were by A&M last year to start the season.

[onebadrubi]

The entire returning offense now knows Enos system.  The new coach blending is gone and will not work for an excuse.  I believe we have the talent and the coaching on offense to get it done, we have to execute.  Last season Henry, b Allen, and collins really helped the execution factor of our offense.  Who can step up and take that?  I think sprinkle, hatcher, reed, and Walker can do just that.   We have some really great possession receivers to help a QB get going.  We have a couple real play makers in sprinkle, reed, Morgan, and Cornelius to help as well.  I don't think someone will be able to stack the box either against whoever takes the snaps. 

I'm cautiously optimistic about the offense in its first quarter of the season.  We will see growing pains however of breaking in a new QB with his entire blindside new. 

[Hogsolo]

From the tiny bit I've seen of Austin Allen I believe he will be ready to toss it around a lot.  Add this to a schedule that allows us to warm up a bit and I'm anticipating good numbers. 

The omly real concern is interceptions from an overly aggressive QB tryinb too hard while establishing himself. 

With that said, I'm expecting a fun offense to watch again in 2016.

I'm a little wary of our rushing attack in SEC play.  Alex Collins is a really special player, we will miss his abilities in the backfield.   Just can't expect that same performance out of any of the guys available.   

[ChitownHawg]

I would be surprised it didn't take sometime for offense to jell. New QB, 3 new starters on the Oline, No HH and a new lead back.

I hope I'm wrong.

Just as much as we will miss BA so will HH. He was a freak. I think the 3rd down stat for him was either a 1st down or TD when he caught the pass. He caught like 97% of his passes that were catchable.

I like Sprink and the others but that kind of production is going to be hard to replace.

[murthage]

I trust Bielema's assessment of talent recruited to fill our needs.  He stated that he has had past success with freshmen RBs rushing for 1000 yds, and sees no reason why Whaley can't do the same, so I am not worried about our offense.  How many times in the past has it been said "all we need is a good game manager" at QB who won't hurt us?  I do not see that as the case with Enos, we will be fine at QB, if fact, it has been stated that the competition in Spring will be real, and that the new 6'7" recruit could be in the mix.  I look at that as a positive, not a negative. 

[razorbacksnum1]

This group woefully underestimates the difficulty of a new quarterback who has no to limited game action. I blame Coach B for not getting really any of our quarterbacks reps. I think early on we'll pay dearly for the lack of game speed experience. It doesn't help having dynamic receivers if you can't get them the ball. I think the receivers will be strong but we have lots to be concerned about with OL, QB and RB.

[DeltaBoy]

WR will be the strength of the O and it depends how quick this new O line gets gelled. I believe who ever is at QB will be fine.

[theFlyingHog]

This group woefully underestimates the difficulty of a new quarterback who has no to limited game action. I blame Coach B for not getting really any of our quarterbacks reps. I think early on we'll pay dearly for the lack of game speed experience. It doesn't help having dynamic receivers if you can't get them the ball. I think the receivers will be strong but we have lots to be concerned about with OL, QB and RB.

We definitely missed some chances to get our 2 some game reps. He should have played the entire 2nd half of at least two games this past season but we couldn't put the score out of reach

[PorkRinds]

This group woefully underestimates the difficulty of a new quarterback who has no to limited game action. I blame Coach B for not getting really any of our quarterbacks reps. I think early on we'll pay dearly for the lack of game speed experience. It doesn't help having dynamic receivers if you can't get them the ball. I think the receivers will be strong but we have lots to be concerned about with OL, QB and RB.

Blame the coach for something that hasn't happened yet?  Seems legit.

[Hogberry Snortcake]

This group woefully underestimates the difficulty of a new quarterback who has no to limited game action. I blame Coach B for not getting really any of our quarterbacks reps. I think early on we'll pay dearly for the lack of game speed experience. It doesn't help having dynamic receivers if you can't get them the ball. I think the receivers will be strong but we have lots to be concerned about with OL, QB and RB.

Maybe we should see what happens before we blame anybody. 

[Hogberry Snortcake]

Blame the coach for something that hasn't happened yet?  Seems legit.

jinx

[texas tush hog]

WR will be the strength of the O and it depends how quick this new O line gets gelled. I believe who ever is at QB will be fine.

This kid we got from Buffalo may wind up better than pit bull especially this year. He is hungry and Sam was sitting on cruise control and waiting on the next gig and it showed in our on field performance in our early games. Enos kinda salvaged us with Brandon Allen burning up the passing game. I think coach KA will get us back to the road graders and take some pressure off of Austin, not to mention our qb depth will be better behind Austin than it was behind Brandon in his developmental years. Have faith, we are about to take the next step with our running game and everybody quit bashing Town. I did not read that into Bielema's comments like some on here did.

[Cure]

It's Enos and Kurt getting the offensive line together, I'm not worried about the QB's under him.

[murthage]

Blame the coach for something that hasn't happened yet?  Seems legit.

Touche' +100

Or.... as Mark Twain reportedly said:

"I've suffered many a tragedy over events, which never occurred". 

Come on guys, be a little more positive about our Coaches and program. 

[DEVIL DOG HOG]

No one has mentioned RW at running back.  He has the go ahead to play.

[Snizzzo]

We had tons of yards in our first few games also.  We had poor execution on the Toledo game and terrible defense in the Texas tech game and also bad defense again in the Texas A&M game.   Overall we came out pretty decent on offense. 

Against Toledo we had over 500 yards of offense. 
http://espn.go.com/college-football/boxscore?gameId=400603861

Against Texas Tech we had over 400 yards of offense. 
http://espn.go.com/college-football/boxscore?gameId=400603851

And against Texas A&M we had over 450 yards of offense. 
http://espn.go.com/college-football/boxscore?gameId=400603842

So in the Toledo game I blame the offense for not getting scores.  In the Texas tech and Texas A&M game it was the defense that couldn't stop anyone.

We had @360 yds offense and 4 passing TDs in the first half of the first game(UTEP). AA is a talented kid and I'm sure Enos will have the offense clicking.

[Hogfaniam]

Can't wait for next year.  It's gonna be great.

[Kevin]

Just glad we are not hearing how it takes three years to put in the offense or was it five?

[Exit Pursued by a Boar]

I hope our RBS block like AC was doing at year's end.

EFBAB

[whosiskid]

Two things give me hope.

First, Austin Allen is a fire ball. Brandon became a great QB, but if you had to rate him across the board in qualities, he isn't what you think of as a great leader. Austin may be a bit shorter than I'd like, but he has a world of confidence and might be the most intense leader we've had in a lot time. I can easily see him taking this team and immediately making it his own. He seems to have a bit of the drill sergeant in him. If the OL does something wrong, I think he'd be right there to let them know.

Which makes me think that Allen might be by far the best of the QBs we have for helping to rebuild an offense. For one thing, he knows it better than any of the others. For another, he has that personality that would insist on everyone doing their job. I know that some want one of the QBs who have stronger arms (which I think includes Peavey, Storey, and Town), but I have a gut feeling that by the third game of the season everyone is going to love Austin Allen. He is much more firey than his brother.

The other thing that gives me hope is that over the years, whether acting as QB coach or Head Coach or offensive coordinator, NOT ONCE has Dan Enos not had a QB throw for over 3,000 yards. When I first heard that I knew that Austin Allen had never thrown for 3,000 yards in either of his first two years as a starter. I wasn't very hopeful he would keep Enos's streak alive. But he ended the season with 3,440 yards passing. Clearly, Dan Enos knows how to coach QBs.

With some talented RBs, some great redshirt TE prospects to go with Sprinkle, and a host of fine WRs, I think Allen and the offense will do fine.

[verticalhog]

I have no idea who will be our starting QB next year but I'm surprised that so many folks seem to be assuming that it will be Austin.  I've never seen any of these guys practice and certainly have no inside information but just looking at his high school tapes I think it would be hard to keep Ricky Town off the field.  As an Arkansas native, I'll be pulling for Austin and Ty (nothing against Rafe and Ricky, just like to see the Arkansas natives do well) but I'm not sure we've ever had four 4* star QB's on our roster at the same time (good chance that at least will transfer)!  What a great problem to have!  I do trust that CBB and CDE will put the right guy on the field.  It makes you wish that more spring practices would be open to the public so more folks could see them all in action but I understand why they aren't.

[HogMantheIntruder]

AA may have limited game experience, but he did just fine when he was put in, and he's a RS Junior.  IF any of the other guys beat him out, then I see it as a sign that we have one of those "once in a decade" type of QB's.  Johnny Manziel was probably the best college QB I have ever seen, and he came in with ZERO game experience and lit up the SEC. It's very rare for a true freshman to come in and do anything at QB, but not so with a QB that has had time in their respective program but limited game experience. 
 
And despite what someone posted earlier (it's not worth looking back for a quote), having great receivers makes a MASSIVE difference for a new QB.  A great receiving corps can make an average QB look much better than they are, and top to bottom, we probably have the best in the SEC. 

Now, as far as whether or not CDE can have us ready...  Enos transformed BA from a guy who you just hoped wouldn't lose you the game into the guy that you wanted in there when it was on the line.  He went from being a virtual unknown outside of Arkansas to the best pro-style QB in the SEC.  In ONE SEASON, CDE coached BA into the NFL draft.  Before CDE, he wouldn't have had a shot at making a Canadian football roster.  Did ANYONE think BA would be going pro before this season?  Anyone? If someone had told you that he would not only be invited to the Senior Bowl, but also put up the best numbers out of every QB who played, what would you have thought? 

I know we all learned our lesson about getting too high on what a coach can do after what happened with our D last season, but let's keep this in mind- Enos has already dealt with having to adjust his game plan due to losing many of his star players, and he still fielded one of the best, most balanced offenses we have ever seen at Arkansas.  Will there be some growing pains?  Sure.  But we will still have a good, maybe great offense. 

Oh, and at the RB position, we're not rebuilding; we are reloading.  KW, RW, DW, and TJ Hammonds, along with a healthy Juan Day  is a pretty darn good backfield if you ask me.  The same goes for TE.  Hunter Henry is, no doubt, one of the all time greats, but we are absolutely LOADED with talent at tight end.  Last year, we had the best TE class in the country, bar none, and we got to RS every one of them.  The competition is going to be fierce  and we just so happen to have one more year with a guy who's going to be playing on Sundays in 2017. 

I think we'll be ok.  Just my .02

[HogMantheIntruder]

I have no idea who will be our starting QB next year but I'm surprised that so many folks seem to be assuming that it will be Austin.  I've never seen any of these guys practice and certainly have no inside information but just looking at his high school tapes I think it would be hard to keep Ricky Town off the field.  As an Arkansas native, I'll be pulling for Austin and Ty (nothing against Rafe and Ricky, just like to see the Arkansas natives do well) but I'm not sure we've ever had four 4* star QB's on our roster at the same time (good chance that at least will transfer)!  What a great problem to have!  I do trust that CBB and CDE will put the right guy on the field.  It makes you wish that more spring practices would be open to the public so more folks could see them all in action but I understand why they aren't.

Only one other time- last year   

[ALLVOL]

There's no coach on earth who can make a bad QB good. Or as the old saying goes "you can't make a silk purse out of a sows ear". Enos is a very good coach and if the physical and mental talent is there then the QB position will be fine.

[LZH]

There's no coach on earth who can make a bad QB good. Or as the old saying goes "you can't make a silk purse out of a sows ear". Enos is a very good coach and if the physical and mental talent is there then the QB position will be fine.

A really good coach can make a subpar quarterback serviceable, even good. From what I have seen, Enos is one hell of a coach. I really don't think we will be hurt too much by our new quarterback this year, whoever it may be. It is all about formations, check with me, and play calling. Believe it or not, I think we will be fine.

Yes, I just said that.

[longtimeHogfan]

I'm optimistic that our OC will have us in  mid season from the first kickoff.  TCU on the road will tell us a lot.

[WildHawg]

I love what our offense did this past year and Enos did a great job of having them ready to go from Day 1. But let's not underestimate what it takes to replace NFL caliber talent two years in a row. In Robb Smiths first year he came out the gates firing and was getting even more love from fans than Enos is now. He lost a trio of NFL talent in Flowers, Philon and Spaight plus Turner. And despite many HV predictions of how we would just build of success, we took a monster step back in the second year of the system.

We couldn't replace Flowers' singular great talent with a multitude of other younger good talents. Remember that this year. We are losing Tretola, Henry, Kirkland and AC plus Allen and others. Almost the exact same scenario. I don't expect to be able to shift and plug and replace those guys. That's a huge load of experience and talent. I hope I'm wrong but the offense will likely be down and struggle next year. Hope Enos proves my cautious expectations wrong.

[lumphog]

Two things give me hope.

First, Austin Allen is a fire ball. Brandon became a great QB, but if you had to rate him across the board in qualities, he isn't what you think of as a great leader. Austin may be a bit shorter than I'd like, but he has a world of confidence and might be the most intense leader we've had in a lot time. I can easily see him taking this team and immediately making it his own. He seems to have a bit of the drill sergeant in him. If the OL does something wrong, I think he'd be right there to let them know.

Which makes me think that Allen might be by far the best of the QBs we have for helping to rebuild an offense. For one thing, he knows it better than any of the others. For another, he has that personality that would insist on everyone doing their job. I know that some want one of the QBs who have stronger arms (which I think includes Peavey, Storey, and Town), but I have a gut feeling that by the third game of the season everyone is going to love Austin Allen. He is much more firey than his brother.

The other thing that gives me hope is that over the years, whether acting as QB coach or Head Coach or offensive coordinator, NOT ONCE has Dan Enos not had a QB throw for over 3,000 yards. When I first heard that I knew that Austin Allen had never thrown for 3,000 yards in either of his first two years as a starter. I wasn't very hopeful he would keep Enos's streak alive. But he ended the season with 3,440 yards passing. Clearly, Dan Enos knows how to coach QBs.

With some talented RBs, some great redshirt TE prospects to go with Sprinkle, and a host of fine WRs, I think Allen and the offense will do fine.

^^^THIS^^^ is spot on.....I'm with ya

[rhames]

Two things give me hope.

First, Austin Allen is a fire ball. Brandon became a great QB, but if you had to rate him across the board in qualities, he isn't what you think of as a great leader. Austin may be a bit shorter than I'd like, but he has a world of confidence and might be the most intense leader we've had in a lot time. I can easily see him taking this team and immediately making it his own. He seems to have a bit of the drill sergeant in him. If the OL does something wrong, I think he'd be right there to let them know.

Which makes me think that Allen might be by far the best of the QBs we have for helping to rebuild an offense. For one thing, he knows it better than any of the others. For another, he has that personality that would insist on everyone doing their job. I know that some want one of the QBs who have stronger arms (which I think includes Peavey, Storey, and Town), but I have a gut feeling that by the third game of the season everyone is going to love Austin Allen. He is much more firey than his brother.

The other thing that gives me hope is that over the years, whether acting as QB coach or Head Coach or offensive coordinator, NOT ONCE has Dan Enos not had a QB throw for over 3,000 yards. When I first heard that I knew that Austin Allen had never thrown for 3,000 yards in either of his first two years as a starter. I wasn't very hopeful he would keep Enos's streak alive. But he ended the season with 3,440 yards passing. Clearly, Dan Enos knows how to coach QBs.

With some talented RBs, some great redshirt TE prospects to go with Sprinkle, and a host of fine WRs, I think Allen and the offense will do fine.

I always thought Austin was way more laid back than Brandon.

[jjdlc]

I believe we'll have good QB play.  There are 4 very talented young men on campus, and none of them will have the baggage that BA brought with him into this past season.  If the revamped O-line can provide protection anything like this past season, I think whoever wins the starting QB job will be fine.

[The NewEra]

I've had very little opportunity to see Austin in a game, but what I did see makes me believe he see's the field better than Brandon.  Brandon had a tendency to focus on his short route receivers and often missed the guy wide open down field.

I wouldn't rule out Rafe from Bielema's comment the other day.  It will be interesting to see if this staff wants to have a guy who can hurt a defense with his legs as well as his arm.

Every team in the SEC struggled against a running Q.B.

The report on Town was a little disappointing.  Story seems to have a lot to learn.  Kelly being a true freshman just has so much to learn.  In the end I think it's a two horse race between Allen and Peavey with Allen having the edge today.

[ChitownHawg]

I always thought Austin was way more laid back than Brandon.

I agree. Its almost like some of these guys never watch the Hogs play or listen to the coaches speak about the players.

[LZH]

Two things give me hope.

First, Austin Allen is a fire ball. Brandon became a great QB, but if you had to rate him across the board in qualities, he isn't what you think of as a great leader.

How in the hell could you possibly know any of this?

[scruf]

We had tons of yards in our first few games also.  We had poor execution on the Toledo game and terrible defense in the Texas tech game and also bad defense again in the Texas A&M game.   Overall we came out pretty decent on offense. 

Against Toledo we had over 500 yards of offense. 
http://espn.go.com/college-football/boxscore?gameId=400603861

Against Texas Tech we had over 400 yards of offense. 
http://espn.go.com/college-football/boxscore?gameId=400603851

And against Texas A&M we had over 450 yards of offense. 
http://espn.go.com/college-football/boxscore?gameId=400603842

So in the Toledo game I blame the offense for not getting scores.  In the Texas tech and Texas A&M game it was the defense that couldn't stop anyone.

Offense didn't execute in the redzone. It's that easy. Could've used JWill in all those games.

[scruf]

Maybe we should see what happens before we blame anybody. 

But that's no fun

[ALLVOL]

A really good coach can make a subpar quarterback serviceable, even good. From what I have seen, Enos is one hell of a coach. I really don't think we will be hurt too much by our new quarterback this year, whoever it may be. It is all about formations, check with me, and play calling. Believe it or not, I think we will be fine.

Yes, I just said that.

If a player has the talent (physical and mental) Enos will make them work. But he nor any other coach can make a subpar QB very good or that coach would be a billionaire and there would never be another 1st round QB flop in the NFL. A bad coach can make aa good QB bad but I don't believe a good coach can make a bad QB good.

[choppedporkextrasauce]

I would be surprised it didn't take sometime for offense to jell. New QB, 3 new starters on the Oline, No HH and a new lead back.

I hope I'm wrong.

It helps that Jeremy Sprinkle was just as an important cog in the offense in the last half of the season.

[ALLVOL]

It helps that Jeremy Sprinkle was just as an important cog in the offense in the last half of the season.

Srinkle is a hellluva TE. But make no mistake, without Hunter on the other side he will have to earn his catches a lot more next season.

[ricepig]

Srinkle is a hellluva TE. But make no mistake, without Hunter on the other side he will have to earn his catches a lot more next season.

Doubtful, it's the design of the offense, someone will fill in adequately for the Sprinkle role as he fills in the HH role.

[12247]

Please remember, our O-line, which most expected to be really good, was really bad the first 4 or so games.  They were getting beat soundly and often, especially on second and third downs after us not getting much on 1st down.  Costly mistakes leading to costly penalties cost us games.  We simply were not ready to play real football.  We shot ourselves over and over in games we should have not been in trouble in.  Poor play from expected strong places was our #1 problem early on. 

We expected the D to need a few games to jell but not as long as it took. 
In my opinion, poor Head Coaching early on cost us dearly.  We finally settled down and got into playing correctly by the 5th game of the season. 
And Brandon Allen was his usual self until about the 5th game when he took off like a rocket.  Part of Allen's problem early on was that the defense was setting n the pocket having a beer on many pass plays due to the line doing mostly nothing to stop them.

[ALLVOL]

Doubtful, it's the design of the offense, someone will fill in adequately for the Sprinkle role as he fills in the HH role.

There's not a TE in the nation that will come close to drawing the attention Hunter Henry drew. Not even close.

[HiggiePiggy]

There's not a TE in the nation that will come close to drawing the attention Hunter Henry drew. Not even close.

Sprinkle is a pretty big target and a threat on offense.  We will be fine at tight end. 

[ricepig]

There's not a TE in the nation that will come close to drawing the attention Hunter Henry drew. Not even close.

Hide and watch.

[MuskogeeHogFan]

Srinkle is a hellluva TE. But make no mistake, without Hunter on the other side he will have to earn his catches a lot more next season.

Too early to tell. They almost played Cantrell last season but decided against it due to nagging injuries. I believe he will fill in nicely and help shore up the loss of Henry and then there is Gragg and O'Grady to help compliment Sprinkle as well. I think we will be fine at TE and we have enough quality play making WR's returning (add Hatcher back into that mix) to keep LB's and DB's from keying on any particular player. Double up on Reed downfield and you are going to pay underneath. We just need Austin to come in and pick up right where Brandon left off because there isn't going to be a lot of time (or games) to gel with a trip to TCU the second weekend of the season.

[arkmark]

How in the hell could you possibly know any of this?

He very likely doesn't unless he is a member of the staff with the opportunity to see BA interact with the team day in and day out.  His statement about Brandon is probably as accurate as his statement in his post (4th para.) that Austin Allen kept Enos streak of 3,000 yd. passers alive after throwing for 3,440 yards last year.  Thing is Austin threw for 35, the "non-leader" tossed the 3,440.