We're going to find out this weekend if last Saturday's performance against Toledo was an aberration or if it was who this team is.
To me, on paper both Texas Tech and Arkansas should be better (yes, on paper even without Jonathan Williams and Keon Hatcher, Arkansas should be better). So last season, Arkansas crushed Texas Tech's spirit. They thought they were going to be good, and Arkansas made their fans, players and coaches question everything they thought they knew about the team.
This is what happened to Arkansas last weekend against Toledo. It made you question everything you thought you knew didn't it? You knew Bielema would never get scrounged by a mid-major. You knew Arkansas would always be the most physical team. You knew Bret Bielema and the staff are running a program the right way. You question all of that now.
I also think that if a Bielema-coached team struggles to run the ball or is doing something he doesn't think is working, he's going to fix it quickly. In 2012, Bielema and Wisconsin beat Northern Iowa 26-21 and only averaged 3.6 yards per carry on their way to 168 yards. The next week, they put up 35 rushing yards against Oregon State in a 10-7 loss.
That Sunday, Bielema fired new offensive line coach Mike Markuson.
"I'm never going to delay a decision that I think will help us win football games," Bielema told Madison.com. "I've seen a lot of coaches make those decisions at the end of the year, and they probably knew it sooner than I did. They just don't want to cause a wave. And I'm not scared of high waves."
Bielema said at a recent press conference that his 2012 team really got hit hard with injuries as they won just 8 regular season games. That team still managed to make it to the B1G championship game, where they beat Nebraska 70-31 before going to their third-straight Rose Bowl. His 2012 team lost five games under his watch, four were by 3 points and one was by 7. Nobody likes a loss, but it does show the team didn't let go of the rope and was really good by year's end.
Last year, even if it didn't work at times, Arkansas' plan was to run even when the defense knows it's coming and then pick its spots in the passing game. That change needed to be modest in the way of passing, not overhauled. I love the bubble screens they're throwing. Those plays work, but when Brandon Allen goes to the line and doesn't like the look of the front, he can go to his run tag and throw that bubble screen. This happened approximately 8-10 times Saturday. The play worked great all but one time on a drop, but Arkansas ended up throwing 53 times and not pounding away at the Toledo front enough to wear them down in the fourth quarter. There should have been 53 runs, not 53 passes.
Arkansas' rushing attack was not performing as bad as everyone thinks. There were only two longer runs, and there were two bad running plays by Alex Collins - one of which came on a facemask that wasn't called. And there were obviously too many holding calls - most of which were completely unneeded. The fourth-and-one, Collins ran up Denver Kirkland's back as he was riding his man down the line, but aside from a couple of plays Collins was picking up 3-6 yards on most carries with a 25-yard touchdown run on a counter (that wasn't shown again). Had Arkansas kept it clean with those penalties and kept pounding away at them, by midway through the third quarter those guys wouldn't be able to come as hard at Arkansas, and those 3- and 6-yard runs would have grown into 7- and 10-yard runs. And that is what was lost with the 53 pass attempts.
This Saturday, I think we'll find out if this team is indeed a quality team or if it has entirely lost its direction and edge amid a slight change in offensive philosophy. Do they sulk and pack it in or do they rally and show that isn't who they are? Talent-wise, are they capable of turning it around?
History says Bielema will fix the problem, but history isn't always right, and many of us don't know what to think right now about Arkansas. We should all have a better understanding on Saturday. If they lose to Texas Tech because they pass too much, commit penalties and fail to punch it in when in the red zone, it's a good bet this will be a long season for the wrong reason and Arkansas is the team that lost to Toledo.
Pull it together and get back to being yourself, there's a good chance that last Saturday was a representation of what happens when everything goes wrong. While you can never wash away the loss, the best scenario moving forward is that the game stood as a major wake-up call and they are capable of getting out of bed.
To me, on paper both Texas Tech and Arkansas should be better (yes, on paper even without Jonathan Williams and Keon Hatcher, Arkansas should be better). So last season, Arkansas crushed Texas Tech's spirit. They thought they were going to be good, and Arkansas made their fans, players and coaches question everything they thought they knew about the team.
This is what happened to Arkansas last weekend against Toledo. It made you question everything you thought you knew didn't it? You knew Bielema would never get scrounged by a mid-major. You knew Arkansas would always be the most physical team. You knew Bret Bielema and the staff are running a program the right way. You question all of that now.
I also think that if a Bielema-coached team struggles to run the ball or is doing something he doesn't think is working, he's going to fix it quickly. In 2012, Bielema and Wisconsin beat Northern Iowa 26-21 and only averaged 3.6 yards per carry on their way to 168 yards. The next week, they put up 35 rushing yards against Oregon State in a 10-7 loss.
That Sunday, Bielema fired new offensive line coach Mike Markuson.
"I'm never going to delay a decision that I think will help us win football games," Bielema told Madison.com. "I've seen a lot of coaches make those decisions at the end of the year, and they probably knew it sooner than I did. They just don't want to cause a wave. And I'm not scared of high waves."
Bielema said at a recent press conference that his 2012 team really got hit hard with injuries as they won just 8 regular season games. That team still managed to make it to the B1G championship game, where they beat Nebraska 70-31 before going to their third-straight Rose Bowl. His 2012 team lost five games under his watch, four were by 3 points and one was by 7. Nobody likes a loss, but it does show the team didn't let go of the rope and was really good by year's end.
Last year, even if it didn't work at times, Arkansas' plan was to run even when the defense knows it's coming and then pick its spots in the passing game. That change needed to be modest in the way of passing, not overhauled. I love the bubble screens they're throwing. Those plays work, but when Brandon Allen goes to the line and doesn't like the look of the front, he can go to his run tag and throw that bubble screen. This happened approximately 8-10 times Saturday. The play worked great all but one time on a drop, but Arkansas ended up throwing 53 times and not pounding away at the Toledo front enough to wear them down in the fourth quarter. There should have been 53 runs, not 53 passes.
Arkansas' rushing attack was not performing as bad as everyone thinks. There were only two longer runs, and there were two bad running plays by Alex Collins - one of which came on a facemask that wasn't called. And there were obviously too many holding calls - most of which were completely unneeded. The fourth-and-one, Collins ran up Denver Kirkland's back as he was riding his man down the line, but aside from a couple of plays Collins was picking up 3-6 yards on most carries with a 25-yard touchdown run on a counter (that wasn't shown again). Had Arkansas kept it clean with those penalties and kept pounding away at them, by midway through the third quarter those guys wouldn't be able to come as hard at Arkansas, and those 3- and 6-yard runs would have grown into 7- and 10-yard runs. And that is what was lost with the 53 pass attempts.
This Saturday, I think we'll find out if this team is indeed a quality team or if it has entirely lost its direction and edge amid a slight change in offensive philosophy. Do they sulk and pack it in or do they rally and show that isn't who they are? Talent-wise, are they capable of turning it around?
History says Bielema will fix the problem, but history isn't always right, and many of us don't know what to think right now about Arkansas. We should all have a better understanding on Saturday. If they lose to Texas Tech because they pass too much, commit penalties and fail to punch it in when in the red zone, it's a good bet this will be a long season for the wrong reason and Arkansas is the team that lost to Toledo.
Pull it together and get back to being yourself, there's a good chance that last Saturday was a representation of what happens when everything goes wrong. While you can never wash away the loss, the best scenario moving forward is that the game stood as a major wake-up call and they are capable of getting out of bed.
