Hogs off to undefeated but underwhelming start
Swinging for the Fences
Matt Watson
Issue date: 9/8/08 Section: Sports
If those were the Hogs' two "sure wins," no one can be sure they'll win another game this season.
To be fair, they're undefeated. Arkansas is 2-0 for the first time since 2003, when, ironically, they knocked off Tulsa in Fayetteville and Texas down in Austin. It might take a miracle for the Razorbacks to repeat that feat in 2008.
On the other hand, how cool would it be if the Hogs won every game this year 28 to 20-something with a fourth-quarter comeback?
Senior quarterback Casey Dick has been the poster child of poise, passing for 330 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the fourth quarter, as well as one rushing score.
The 187 yards Dick threw for in the final 15 minutes of Saturday's game would've been his fifth-best passing game total of his career before 2008.
With 641 passing yards in two games, Dick now owns two of the 11 300-yard passing games in Razorback history.
Dick is the reason the Hogs aren't 0-2 and fans aren't calling for Bobby Petrino's job already. He's the reason that Arkansas didn't lose to a non-conference opponent in Little Rock for the first time since 1993.
The post-game numbers of the Razorback offense look pretty good-Michael Smith added 180 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns on a healthy 7.1 yards per carry and four receptions in his first UA start. But two weeks in a row it's taken an extraordinary late-game effort to score points against less-than-Southeastern Conference-quality defenses.
Petrino's team has mustered 16 points in the first halves against Western Illinois and Louisiana-Monroe. It will be more difficult to score three second-half touchdowns against Texas, Florida, Auburn and LSU.
It doesn't help when the team is without a reliable kicker. Sophomore Alex Tejada was benched against ULM. After missing two first-quarter field goals, from 45 and 25 yards, he botched the extra point after the Hogs' first score in the second quarter and then recorded a delay of game on the ensuing kickoff and finally kicked the ball out of bounds. Petrino benched Tejada and sent in Texas-Christian transfer Shay Haddock to knock in two fourth-quarter PATs, including the game-winner.
One thing's for sure-the same all-around effort won't yield a win every week when the Hogs face Texas, Alabama, Florida and Auburn in the next four games.
Hopefully the Razorbacks were just playing down to the competition and getting used to the way Petrino does things. If the last two weeks was the Hogs' best effort, it's going to be a longer season than even the most pessimistic expected.
But in the end, Arkansas is off to its best start in five years. Lackluster play hasn't shown up in the win-loss column yet. Stay tuned.
Matt Watson is the assistant sports editor of The Arkansas Traveler. His column appears every Monday.
To be fair, they're undefeated. Arkansas is 2-0 for the first time since 2003, when, ironically, they knocked off Tulsa in Fayetteville and Texas down in Austin. It might take a miracle for the Razorbacks to repeat that feat in 2008.
On the other hand, how cool would it be if the Hogs won every game this year 28 to 20-something with a fourth-quarter comeback?
Senior quarterback Casey Dick has been the poster child of poise, passing for 330 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the fourth quarter, as well as one rushing score.
The 187 yards Dick threw for in the final 15 minutes of Saturday's game would've been his fifth-best passing game total of his career before 2008.
With 641 passing yards in two games, Dick now owns two of the 11 300-yard passing games in Razorback history.
Dick is the reason the Hogs aren't 0-2 and fans aren't calling for Bobby Petrino's job already. He's the reason that Arkansas didn't lose to a non-conference opponent in Little Rock for the first time since 1993.
The post-game numbers of the Razorback offense look pretty good-Michael Smith added 180 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns on a healthy 7.1 yards per carry and four receptions in his first UA start. But two weeks in a row it's taken an extraordinary late-game effort to score points against less-than-Southeastern Conference-quality defenses.
Petrino's team has mustered 16 points in the first halves against Western Illinois and Louisiana-Monroe. It will be more difficult to score three second-half touchdowns against Texas, Florida, Auburn and LSU.
It doesn't help when the team is without a reliable kicker. Sophomore Alex Tejada was benched against ULM. After missing two first-quarter field goals, from 45 and 25 yards, he botched the extra point after the Hogs' first score in the second quarter and then recorded a delay of game on the ensuing kickoff and finally kicked the ball out of bounds. Petrino benched Tejada and sent in Texas-Christian transfer Shay Haddock to knock in two fourth-quarter PATs, including the game-winner.
One thing's for sure-the same all-around effort won't yield a win every week when the Hogs face Texas, Alabama, Florida and Auburn in the next four games.
Hopefully the Razorbacks were just playing down to the competition and getting used to the way Petrino does things. If the last two weeks was the Hogs' best effort, it's going to be a longer season than even the most pessimistic expected.
But in the end, Arkansas is off to its best start in five years. Lackluster play hasn't shown up in the win-loss column yet. Stay tuned.
Matt Watson is the assistant sports editor of The Arkansas Traveler. His column appears every Monday.
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