Harry King - "Nicholls State Route Means Nothing"

[HF#1]

These are my thoughts almost exactly.

You guys remember that game against South Carolina when Dmac ran for like 325 yards? After the game Steve Spurrier was complaining to the media that Arkansas was "running up the score with that running back."

No need for that, although I am stoked for the win, but I hoped to see the receivers get some work.

I still don't understand what exactly you were wanting to see...  How many times did you expect us to throw it?

[Theolesnort]

Even after it was explained by Oklahawg most people on here don't get it, they only want to look at the surface and ignore the nooks and crannies where the little things are (attention to detail)  People it started last season the last three games. It is being built right before your eyes and most of you don't get it. This team is building but it has a brutal schedule but baring some really bad injuries this is not a 3 win team nor a 4 win team nor a 5 win team. I think we will be surprised but you can't take anything for granted and so we wait and observe.

[12247]

My take on this game is that we could have beaten Nichols had they been 3 times as good as they were.  I also realize that we needed a win.  I lost interest in the game after the first quarter.  It reminded me of the big brother that slaps his little brother around.  We abused this team and likely put them through some very unsafe times as they stood their ground as best they could and took home a pouch of money for their school.

I also remembered last year after we had done pretty well winning our first 2 games against decent teams and then we looked bad against the third team who should have been the easier of the three.  Looked like we got swelled heads by winning against what we thought was decent competition and was just going through the motions against number three.  That is a response we certainly don't need to feel after beating Nichols.

Other than the win and getting players in the game to get their feet wet, this game was worthless as a teaching tool to prepare us for the teams we will face throughout the year.

[Pickwick Hog]

I knew this game would get ugly early when I bought the tickets. I knew the Hogs outclassed them at every position in every possible way.

What I didn't know is whether or not the Hogs would be flat and play down to their competition. That didn't happen in the least. The team was focused and took care of their business without trying to completely demoralize Nicholls.

Had the Hogs attempted more passes it would have appeared to be a classless attempt to run up the score even more.

This was nothing more than a much needed win and nice workout without tipping your hand to Texas Tech. Arkansas did exactly what they were expected to do almost flawlessly.

That's enough for me despite what some pencil necked sportswriter thinks.

[lefty08]

Good lord, this that Thibodaux junior high school plays in the same league with Henderson State and UCA. Anyone who thinks that game was a barometer for anything has rocks in their head. Playing against our own scout team would be more competitive

Not only are you wrong about which league they play in, your becoming a gnat at the picnic. Whatever youre doing isnt working son, time to change your tune or locate the door. I prefer u choose the latter

[lefty08]

Is it possible we are better than previously thought and itbwouldnt have mattered if we had pkayed an opponent some of u guys seem to think is more worthy?  I think we would have kicked the crap out of most non power 5 schools saturday

[DeltaBoy]

Personally......this game seemed to me, to have less effectiveness than a scrimmage.
Saying that NS was over-matched, would be a major understatement. This of course
takes nothing away from getting a win after 10 consecutive losses. No one....fans or
especially players, could end this wretched streak quick enough. I could garner nothing
in any form of improvement, against "competition" this weak. Ultimately, the lingering
thoughts this game left for me, was that we had to begin passing the ball to keep the
score down, rather than what's typically the opposite of that being done. In other words.....
someone doesn't throw a punch thru a piece of paper, to show that they can shatter
6 two by fours. Games like this don't build confidence at all.

Sorry I enjoyed ever single minute of that game.  After suffering 10 loses in a row it was mentally soothing.

[redeye]

Arkansas fans either downplay or overplay everything and that's what Harry is doing here.  It wasn't worth much, but it wasn't meaningless, either.  If the 73-7 result was expected, then show me predictions as proof.  Personally, I thought we'd win by multiple TD's, but never expected a performance that dominating.

[Hoggish1]

This is plain stupid. Harry, would a 30-14 win have meant anything...?

[WilsonHog]

This is plain stupid. Harry, would a 30-14 win have meant anything...?

Yeah, the same posters would have complained - just with a different take.

[Pickwick Hog]

Yeah, the same posters would have complained - just with a different take.

LOL. Yup.

The complaints since last night are there is nothing to complain about.

[Razorback de Nosferatu]

The Hogs haven't beaten a time like that in years.  I don't care how sorry that team was.  Fact is, we laid one of the most lopsided beat-downs in our football history at just the right time. 

In the grand scheme of things, it doesn't mean very much.  Hopefully, in less than a week, that thumping will be a distant memory, cause we'll be celebrating a road win over a Power 5 team. 

But for now, it means everything.  If it was possible to exceed expectations going into that game, we did it.  Many thought we wouldn't even cover the spread. 

[Iwastherein1969]

I guess the "lead the cheers or Nutt will be back" gang" didn't get to Harry? Geeze.

Harry needs to go back to what he does best, pick losers at Oaklawn Park....I remember back in the day when Harry King was handicapping for the GAZETTE..the guy couldn't pick his nose.....anyway, Harry let us enjoy one 'beat down' for the year...there's no need to remind Hog fans how bad Nicholls St was, we sorta got that drift after our first two plays from scrimmage

[PORKULATOR]

Harry is a small fish spouting words he heard from much bigger fish. He is always hypercritical of everything Razorback and he can sit on a dirty, venomous snake while wearing chaps.

[Choctaw Hog]

I will disagree with Harry on this one.  In a general situation, I can understand his take.

But, this is not a normal situation.  These kids (not ot mention the fans) were literally starving for a win.  Especially a "feel good" win where the outcome is never in doubt and everyone gets good stats.  It wouldn't have mattered, IMO, if it had come over a High School team.  They just needed to feel those good vibes only a winning locker room can provide.

And it functioned as a high level scrimmage, enabling us to work on technicque, break in new players, and resting our key performers after they got their "feel good" injections early.

Sure, better efforts and more focus will be needed against "BCS level" opponents, especially in the SEC.  Most of our players know that because they've been on the field with that level of opponent (as recently as last week), but I think a game like we had yesterday is ideal from breaking in a new player.  Walk before you run.

http:// [[[Stop spamming your site, Eric.]]] .com/sports/king-arkansas-73-nicholls-state-7-proves-nothing

I didn't read the article but if Harry King writes about it, then it has to be spot-on.  After all, Harry was a football player/coach legend and he knows exactly what it's like to win a game like that.   

[ZERO]

I posted a couple of days before the game about how we nearly lost to our FCS opponent last year (I think they only went 8-5, so it's not like we went to the wire with a playoff team), and only scored three times against a team that would go on to lose 23 straight games, and we would really need to brutalize this opponent in order to show this truly is a different team from last year. I said we needed to hold them to 7 points maximum. We did. I said we needed to score at least 40. Boy did we ever.

I'm feeling less terrible about the Auburn loss. Not just because we set a school record against an awful FCS team. We lost to 24 points on the road against the team that won the SEC and played for the NC last year. We lost two games in 2011, each by 24 points on the road, each to a team that would go on to play in the NC that year. If we had opened against those two, we'd be 0-2 and unranked going into the third game. Kind of similar to when we opened against USC in '06, got massacred, and went on to win 10 straight, as others have already pointed out. Of course, I'm not saying we're that type of team again. Probably nowhere close. But I think reading too much into a fairly young team getting beaten on the road by an extremely good team is poisonous to your mood. Texas Tech is looking vulnerable and weak as hell. Maybe we're really not THAT bad of a team, and maybe going Bowling and wishing for the best is not at all unreasonable.

I'm beginning to drink the 2014 Kool-Aid. 7 wins is the goal, so there's not much sugar in the Kool-Aid, but it's better than nothing.

[HawgnCorona]

King had been a Scrooge ever since nutt got fired.


THE BOYS NEEDED A WIN

^^^
This is the point...And it means a lot in terms of confidence. Some of you need stop the nonsense...

[Pickwick Hog]

What I hate about the Harry Kings in this world today is his article was akin to an op-ed. Who gives a flying flip what some guy without an ounce of football knowledge thinks about the game?

[Iwastherein1969]

Harry never worked as a handicapper for the Gazette. He worked for the Associated Press for 35 years before going to Stephens in 2002.

He was guest handicapper many a time for the Gazette for OP particularly during the now defunct, "RACING FESTIVAL OF THE SOUTH".....he didn't do it full time, but he certainly picked the ponies enough as a guest handicapper for me to remember just how horrible he was....and if memory serves, he was on the morning line show that used to come on at 9am each racing day on KWXI (kwxi country 670 on your AM dial) as a guest on many occasions....Fauxldon, you are now in my wheelhouse when speaking about the ponies

[hoglady]

I don't agree with everything he said.
BUT why all the attacks.
It's a nice change of pace to see some in the media say what they really think.
Instead of sunshine pumping for fear of making the athletic dept. mad.
You don't have to agree with what he said - it's just his opinion.

[hawkhawg]

It meant a win.

[HognitiveDissonance]

I will disagree with Harry on this one.  In a general situation, I can understand his take.

But, this is not a normal situation.  These kids (not ot mention the fans) were literally starving for a win.  Especially a "feel good" win where the outcome is never in doubt and everyone gets good stats.  It wouldn't have mattered, IMO, if it had come over a High School team.  They just needed to feel those good vibes only a winning locker room can provide.

And it functioned as a high level scrimmage, enabling us to work on technicque, break in new players, and resting our key performers after they got their "feel good" injections early.

Sure, better efforts and more focus will be needed against "BCS level" opponents, especially in the SEC.  Most of our players know that because they've been on the field with that level of opponent (as recently as last week), but I think a game like we had yesterday is ideal from breaking in a new player.  Walk before you run.

http:// [[[Stop spamming your site, Eric.]]] .com/sports/king-arkansas-73-nicholls-state-7-proves-nothing

Agreed. This team needed a win of any shape or size and they got it in a big-time way, so this game was just what was needed at this juncture. No matter the opponent, the Hogs performed very well and should take a measure of confidence in what they can do.

[Pulled(PP)pork]

I actually felt bad for those guys yesterday. Even before the game started. They were showing their coach's pre-game speech to his players and I was like, "man, these guys are all about to get their hopes dashed." Their coach looked confused as to what to do.

The game was mostly about a paycheck and the chance to hit someone NOT in a Razorback uniform. If it weren't for those two things, everyone would have been better off just staying at home.

Still wish they would have thrown the damn ball more. I don't think I have ever seen a football game where the starting quarterback of a team only throws four flippin' passes. Just dumb if you ask me.

he threw 5


PP

[rusvegashog]

It's obvious the fans needed this decisive win every bit as much as the players. Still it will all mean diddly if they can't carry the momentum over to Texas Tech( the most important game in 2 or 3 seasons). I won't be so naive as to count Tech out like many already have, but I think a victory is ripe for the picking.

[Pulled(PP)pork]

we have such a fickle fanbase, win or lose, half of them will be griping about something


PP

[Iwastherein1969]

You should let Oaklawn know the Racing Festival of the South is defunct.

"The Racing Festival of the South will kick off Saturday, April 4 with the $400,000 Fantasy Stakes for 3-year-old fillies."

http://www.oaklawn.com/news/2014/jul/31/oaklawn-offer-all-time-record-stakes-purses-nearly/

like a lawyer, you find some insignificant mistake in what we were speaking about and say "hey, look at this mistake" never mind he's right about what we originally spoke about...ask King if he ever did any public handicapping, then get back to me....OP used to promote the Racing Festival of the South in a huge way....not so much these days of off-track betting and slots....but I'll give you props, you found the raisin while looking for a grape

[Pork Twain]

Wizard and Hogwop,

I respectfully disagree with both of you on this but I fully understand the points you are making.  No game will ever be entirely negative or positive - you can always take something away from each game on both sides of the ledger. 

Where I feel Harry is correct (and some HV posters are wrong) is if anyone chooses to cite this game as 'proof' that Arkansas is better than we thought after the Auburn loss - this is where Harry is right - this game proves nothing.

I agree with y'all though that confidence can have its origin from just about anywhere and if an Arkansas player (or two) uses this game as a springboard to better performances, than some positives can come from this game. 

Time will tell.

Sums it up well.

[code red]

I tend to agree with Harry.  These fans could careless about a rent a win.  We need a SEC victory..that what the fans want.

[007 License To Squeal]

The Hogs could have easily scored 100.......easily.

[NaturalStateReb]

I will disagree with Harry on this one.  In a general situation, I can understand his take.

But, this is not a normal situation.  These kids (not ot mention the fans) were literally starving for a win.  Especially a "feel good" win where the outcome is never in doubt and everyone gets good stats.  It wouldn't have mattered, IMO, if it had come over a High School team.  They just needed to feel those good vibes only a winning locker room can provide.

And it functioned as a high level scrimmage, enabling us to work on technicque, break in new players, and resting our key performers after they got their "feel good" injections early.

Sure, better efforts and more focus will be needed against "BCS level" opponents, especially in the SEC.  Most of our players know that because they've been on the field with that level of opponent (as recently as last week), but I think a game like we had yesterday is ideal from breaking in a new player.  Walk before you run.

http:// [[[Stop spamming your site, Eric.]]] .com/sports/king-arkansas-73-nicholls-state-7-proves-nothing

The Nicholls State game didn't prove anything, but it did give Arkansas an opportunity to work on depth by giving the 2nd and 3rd strings reps in a live game.

[regi]

To quote the HOF Basketball Coach, when Dukie V, suggested Arkansas 1995 win over Montevallo should not count, Nolan said, "If we lose, I bet it will count". These kids needed a win, I was on a team that lost 8 in a row, our last game was against a team that had not won all year, we won 32-18, I will never forget that score, and the game was in 1985. You work to hard in football, not to enjoy a win. The losses to MSU and LSU were more mental than physical. Those kids needed some success.

Now what does it tell us? Their coach gets to keep his job. cause had they lost to that bunch, he was done.

[hoglady]

To quote the HOF Basketball Coach, when Dukie V, suggested Arkansas 1995 win over Montevallo should not count, Nolan said, "If we lose, I bet it will count". These kids needed a win, I was on a team that lost 8 in a row, our last game was against a team that had not won all year, we won 32-18, I will never forget that score, and the game was in 1985. You work to hard in football, not to enjoy a win. The losses to MSU and LSU were more mental than physical. Those kids needed some success.

Now what does it tell us? Their coach gets to keep his job. cause had they lost to that bunch, he was done.

I agree about needing a win - in the most desperate way.
I mean - good lord look at the AP poll today, just take the Top 10 and we play 5 of them. Unbelievable schedule for us this year. Just dang brutal.

[Al Boarland]

He didn't say it means nothing. He said it proves nothing.

And he's right.

[Razorback de Nosferatu]

I tend to agree with Harry.  These fans could careless about a rent a win.  We need a SEC victory..that what the fans want.

I'm a fan, and I cared about that game.  Last year, we were having flashbacks of the ULM game while playing the almighty Samford.  Nothing can be taken for granted.  And I was darned glad to see us OVER-achieve instead of underachieving, and finally getting a chance to let some reserves play extensively.   

With regard to your last sentence, yeah, an SEC victory would be nice, but that's not on the table right now, nor the next week.

Right now, I care about the Hogs beating Texas Tech.  Football season is short.  Every week counts.  Especially when you're trying to rebuild after two straight dismal seasons.  I can't believe ANYBODY in this fan base would claim otherwise.

[Cartoon Man]

Harry is a moron.  He is always stirring the pot.

[ShaneHog]

I agree with Harry on this one

[Nuttcracker, Sweet!]

His headline had the score been 34-20 probably would have been much different...This game proves the Hogs can dominate a weak opponent.

Was Samford dominated last season? No. Before you can beat a BCS conference team, you're probably going to have to dominate teams such as this.

I THINK there was a lot of improvement shown Saturday, a lot of confidence gained, etc. We won't know for awhile, we will likely begin to know this week...

A win over TTech is sorely needed because even if I'm right, with THIS schedule, six wins is not going to be easy if it's attained.

If this team hands Tech a loss, A&M in two weeks will still be an uphill battle just to be competitive if their defense is for real.

I believe this is the most critical game on the schedule and have said so since the sked came out, even if it is non-conference. If the Hogs win, it will be in large part due to the  confidence from Nicholls.

If Tech wins, maybe King was right for a change. Even a broken clock is right twice a day.

[lefty08]

I tend to agree with Harry.  These fans could careless about a rent a win.  We need a SEC victory..that what the fans want.

Cant get an SEC victory the same week we play OOC