Saturday, August 31, 2013

TAT: Bielema Gets First Win Behind Strong Offensive Performance

This article also appeared online at The Arkansas Traveler website, uatrav.com, on September 2, 2013.


The Bret Bielema era began with a bang on a steamy Saturday afternoon at Donald W Reynolds Razorback Stadium, as Arkansas easily defeated Louisiana 34-14 while racking up 522 yards of total offense.
Sophomore Jonathan Williams and true freshman Alex Collins combined for 282 yards on 39 carries, for an average of 7.2 yards per carry. With 131 yards, Collins was the first true freshman to have over 100 yards in his collegiate debut for the Razorbacks since Felix Jones did it in 2005.
“What you guys saw today is what I’ve been seeing all fall camp,” head coach Bret Bielema said. “No one takes it more serious than (Williams). He is very gifted and he’s going to flourish in our system. And Alex is obviously a guy that can change the game in a single cut.”
The Razorbacks got on the board first with an 11-play, 75-yard drive that ended in a six-yard touchdown pass from Brandon Allen to Javontee Herndon.
Despite two false start penalties, Arkansas moved the ball with ease. The first seven plays of the drive were run plays, and resulted in 62 yards. Tight ends Jeremy Sprinkle and Hunter Henry each had a reception in the red zone, before Herndon caught the first touchdown of the game.
“I thought the way we started off offensively…was huge,” Bielema said.
Louisiana responded by driving all the way to the Arkansas 10 yard line. Cornerback Will Hines broke up a would-be touchdown pass by quarterback Terrance Broadway on third down and forced a Ragin’ Cajun field goal attempt, which Stephen Brauchle missed.
After a quick three-and-out by Arkansas, Louisiana again drove down the field, this time capping the drive with a two-yard touchdown run by Alonzo Harris to tie the game at seven.
The score didn’t remain tied for long, though, as the Razorbacks took under two and a half minutes to score another touchdown. This time, Herndon used one hand to haul in a 49-yard pass from Allen.
Arkansas pushed the lead to 20-7 with a pair of Zach Hocker field goals, the last of which came as time expired in the second quarter.
“To convert those points at the end of the half, that’s really, really big,” Bielema said.
Those two field goals gave Hocker 295 points for his career, breaking Bill Burnett’s UA record that had stood for 43 years.
Coming out of halftime, it was obvious that Arkansas’ defense made some adjustments.
During the first half, Broadway had plenty of time in the pocket and wasn’t feeling any pressure from the Razorbacks’ highly touted defensive line.
On the Ragin’ Cajuns’ second play of the half, Trey Flowers sacked him and they followed that play with another sack, forcing a three-and-out.
However, Arkansas’ first drive ended after only two plays, when Henry fumbled and it was recovered by Louisiana.
“My guess is that those won’t happen too much. (Henry) is going to grow and it’s hard as a freshman to play as many reps as he did,” Bielema said. “He was dragging; we wore him out.”
Two plays later, Flowers got to Broadway again, forcing a fumble that Arkansas recovered.
Unlike Louisiana, the Razorbacks capitalized on the turnover and scored on a 10-yard pass from Allen to fullback Kiero Small, who ran over several defenders before getting into the end zone.
“Going into today, I thought Kiero would be our most productive player,” Bielema said. “In a certain way, he was. He made that touchdown all on will-power.”
The Ragin’ Cajuns scored on their next drive to cut the deficit to 13, but any attempt at a comeback ended when Williams ran 75 yards for a touchdown on Arkansas’ ensuing drive.
The only time they got into Arkansas territory after that was early in the fourth quarter and a tipped pass that led to an interception by JaMichael Winston ended the drive.
“That’s the definition of how I like to play games,” Bielema said. “(During) the second half, wear them down and get some turnovers.”
Allen finished with 230 yards and three touchdowns on 15-for-22 passing.
“I thought he was tremendous,” Bielema said. “If you go to the quarterback store and get someone with the demeanor and personality of what you want, he’s got it. He hasn’t shown me anything but complete composure.”
The Razorbacks’ leading receiver was Henry, who had five receptions for 75 yards.
Nearly 70 percent of Arkansas’ offensive plays were runs, but most of those runs came in the second half, when they had a large lead and were trying to run out the clock. In the first half, the play calling was much more even, with the Razorbacks running only 59 percent of the time.
Cornerback Tevin Mitchel and linebacker Jarrett Lake tied for the team lead in tackles, with seven each. Trey Flowers had the best day of any of the defensive linemen, finishing with five tackles, two sacks, two tackles for loss and two quarterback hurries.
The defense held the Ragin’ Cajuns to 274 yards of total offense. Broadway finished 15-for-28 for 171 yards and a touchdown, as well as one interception.
Harris led them on the ground, with 56 yards on 10 carries, while Jacob Maxwell was their leading pass-catcher, with six receptions for 77 yards.
The Razorbacks return to action Saturday at 6 p.m. with a matchup against Samford in Little Rock.

TAT: My Official 2013 Predictions for the Razorbacks

These predictions also appeared online at The Arkansas Traveler website, uatrav.com, on September 2, 2013.

Arkansas’ Record: 7-5
Wins: UL-Lafayette, Samford, Southern Miss, Rutgers, Texas A&M, Auburn, Mississippi State
Losses: Florida, South Carolina, Alabama, Ole Miss, LSU


Upset: Texas A&M
If Arkansas wins at Rutgers Sept. 21 and comes back to Fayetteville with a 4-0 record, the atmosphere at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium will be incredible, probably comparable to the Alabama game in 2010. Also, Johnny “Football” Manziel is coming off a tumultuous off-season and was suspended for the first half of Texas A&M’s season-opener against Rice by the NCAA. Even with Johnny Football, I think Arkansas has a shot to pull off the upset. The Razorbacks’ defensive line is the best position on the team and they will harass Manziel all game. If they knock him down a few times, he probably won’t want to run wild as much. Last year, Arkansas’ defensive backs were very inexperienced, but this year they should be able to hang with Texas A&M’s receivers, especially since Ryan Swope, Thomas Johnson and Uzoma Nwachukwu are no longer with the Aggies.


SEC Bold Prediction
The SEC will have three Heisman Trophy finalists that will be invited to New York City. If Texas A&M’s Johnny Manziel isn’t suspended any more than just the first half against Rice, he will return to New York City with a chance for a Heisman repeat, but he won’t win. South Carolina’s Jadeveon Clowney will be invited, but a defensive player won’t win the Heisman. The third SEC player to be invited to New York City will either be Georgia’s Aaron Murray or Alabama’s A.J. McCarron and the winner will ultimately be the quarterback that leads his team to the SEC Championship.

TAT: Flushing Tradition Down the Drain

This article also appeared online at The Arkansas Traveler website, uatrav.com, on September 2, 2013.


College football has become a huge business, in which nearly all of the major decision-makers will throw away tradition in favor of making more money.

This is most obvious in conference realignment, as schools jump from conference to conference in an effort to make the maximum amount of money possible.
When Texas A&M left the Big XII last year, they ended a rivalry with Texas that began in 1894 and had been played every year since 1915.
Of the 118 meetings, 63 were played on Thanksgiving Day, and the game inspired traditions at both campuses. An Aggie Bonfire at Texas A&M and a Hex Rally at Texas occurred the week prior to the game every year.
These traditions essentially ended, although Texas now holds their Hex Rally before the TCU game, when the Aggies jumped conferences.
Of course, this isn’t the first rival Texas has lost to conference realignment. In 1992, Arkansas joined the Southeastern Conference, ending what was one of the fiercest rivalries in college football.
The 1969 matchup was nicknamed the “Game of the Century” and was attended by Billy Graham, President Richard Nixon and U.S. Representative and future President George H.W. Bush.
Texas won the game and the National Championship, marking the third time during the ‘60s that the winner of the Arkansas-Texas game went on to win the national title.
While many UA students aren’t old enough to remember the Arkansas-Texas rivalry, they do know about the “Battle for the Golden Boot” tradition. Every year since 1992, Arkansas has played LSU in their regular season finale.
The “Golden Boot” trophy was introduced in 1996 and the game has become a highly anticipated matchup, no matter what Arkansas’ record is at the time of the game.
Highlights of the series include two “Miracles on Markham” in 2002 and 2008, a triple overtime thriller in 2007 and a Sugar Bowl berth-clinching victory in 2010.
However, the traditional Thanksgiving weekend game will be no more in 2014. Instead, the SEC opted for a Texas A&M-LSU game that weekend, leaving Arkansas to play Missouri.
The reasoning is pretty cut-and-dry: the SEC wants to tap the Texas market on that marque weekend and LSU is a premier program.
Arkansas isn’t completely losing the tradition, as they will continue to play LSU every year and still compete for the “Golden Boot,” but it won’t be the same.
Playing LSU at the end of the season gave the Razorbacks a chance to make a final statement for a high profile bowl game.
In seasons where bowls were out of the question, Arkansas fans viewed the game as one last hurrah before a nine-month hiatus from college football. It gave them hope for the upcoming season.
It will be hard to create that type of anticipation and excitement for a Thanksgiving weekend game against Missouri, which has never really been a national power.
I see this as an unnecessary change to tradition.
The Texas A&M-LSU game could have been made a permanent opening-weekend game. At that point of the season, the entire country is salivating for the return of college football and this game would be a top-notch SEC game to get the year started.
Plus, the SEC could keep Arkansas-LSU at the end of the season, which is a game that has proven to be extremely competitive.
As for Texas A&M, they could pick up a nonconference opponent, possibly a former Big XII rival or create a new rivalry with another top program. It isn’t uncommon for teams to end the season with a nonconference game (see: Florida-Florida State, Georgia-Georgia Tech).
Until then, it appears that Arkansas fans should accept the loss of this tradition and try to turn the Missouri game into a rivalry as intense as the LSU game. But they should be wary of getting too attached; who knows what college football will look like in five, 10 or even 15 years.

TAT: By the Numbers - Football Preview


These statistics originally appeared in the August 30, 2013 Football Preview issue of The Arkansas Traveler.

8 - Of the 17 players who caught a pass last season, eight will not play for the Razorbacks this year. Cobi Hamilton, Dennis Johnson, Chris Gragg and Ronnie Wingo, Jr. graduated, Brandon Mitchell and Mekale McKay transferred, Knile Davis left early for the NFL and Demetrius Wilson will miss the season with a torn ACL.

70, 921, 9 - Combined receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns of the nine returning pass catchers from last season.

5 - First round picks in the NFL draft coached by Bret Bielema during his seven years at Wisconsin. Ohio State is the only Big Ten team with more first round selection in that time span, with six. Arkansas had only three.

51.5 - Percent of total offensive yards gained on the ground by Wisconsin under Bielema.

53.3 - Percent of total offensive yards gained on the ground by Arkansas under Houston Nutt.

69.1 - Percent of total offensive yards gained through the air by Arkansas under Bobby Petrino.

50.6 - Percent of total offensive yards gained on the ground by the past seven BCS National Champions.

4.86, 8.34 - Yards per carry and yards per pass attempt for Bielema’s Wisconsin teams. That is more yards per carry that Nutt’s Arkansas teams (4.74 yds./car.) and almost the same yards per pass attempt as Petrino’s Arkansas teams (8.36 yds./att.).

.575 - Alabama head coach Nick Saban’s Big Ten winning percentage in his five seasons at Michigan State.

.661 - Bielema’s Big Ten winning percentage in his seven seasons at Wisconsin.

9 - Seasons since 1958 (Frank Broyles’ first season) Arkansas had four or fewer wins in a season. They had four wins in 1958, 1967, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2005 and 2012 and three wins in 1990 and 1992.

7.75 - Average wins Arkansas has in seasons following three- and four-win seasons. On average, their win total increases by four.

2 - Seasons in which Arkansas won 10 games after winning only four the season before. They did this in 1968 and 2006.

TAT: 1-0 Philosophy Catches On


This article originally appeared in the August 30, 2013 Football Preview issue of The Arkansas Traveler.

Football coaches are constantly trying to find ways to motivate their players and keep them focused on their goals, whether it’s in the form of a story, video or even a short saying.
Head coach Bret Bielema’s way of doing this is with a very simple saying that can be written without words: 1-0.
The saying came from his time at Kansas State, where he was the co-defensive coordinator from 2002 to 2003.
During the fall, Bielema allows his players to talk about anything in front of the team in an open-mic session. It was during one of these that Bielema first heard the 1-0 philosophy.
“A tight end got up and talked about how his high school team took this philosophy,” Bielema said. “(He) talked about just taking every game for what it was and it made a lot of sense to me.”
Bielema has carried this philosophy with him from Kansas State to Wisconsin and now to Arkansas, where he introduced it to Twitter.
The main reason he has latched on to it is because of its effectiveness off the field, on top of its effectiveness on the field.
“It also just goes beyond the game,” Bielema said. “It goes to taking it one day at a time, one scrimmage at a time, one opportunity at a time.”
The saying itself refers to going 1-0 every game, meaning not to focus on previous or future games. If you can go 1-0 this game, then you have accomplished your goal and can move on to the next week, where you again try to go 1-0.
However, Bielema teaches his players that it can be applied to everything in life.
“Everybody wants to jump to the end of the rainbow and grab that pot of gold. Of course, it’s never there,” Bielema said. “My philosophy is, if you take one step at a time, you just keep tracking that rainbow, you probably will find it, but you can’t do it by jumping to the end.”
After discussing it with them during the spring and summer, Bielema said he thinks many of the players have bought into it. Several have even followed in his footsteps and started tweeting it.
Because of its visibility on Twitter, fans and students have been able to embrace the saying, as well.
“I like it. It’s unique,” senior nursing major Nick Hopkins said. “Everybody uses the same saying nowadays, like ‘grind,’ so it’s cool that (Bielema) has his own thing.”
Students that are well versed in the way Twitter works even look past the fact that “#1-0” doesn’t work.
“It’s somewhat cheesy, but that’s most sayings,” sophomore Conner Presley said. “I think it’s a good message, though. I like it, even though they try to hash tag it and you can’t hash tag a dash.”
While a majority of students like the 1-0 saying, some think it is a “very common thing for coaches to do” and “everyone does it,” freshman computer engineering major Garrett Tallman said.
Bielema’s and the Razorbacks’ first chance to go “1-0” and start the season 1-0 is Saturday at 3 p.m., when Arkansas takes on Louisiana-Lafayette in Fayetteville.

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

TAT: Making the Case Against Paying College Football Players


This article originally appeared in the August 26, 2013 issue of The Arkansas Traveler.

Seemingly every year something happens in college football to ignite the debate that has been going on for years: Should college football players get paid?
Reggie Bush at USC, Cam Newton at Auburn and now Johnny Manziel at Texas A&M have all been the subject of scandals involving them receiving improper benefits.
Each time these scandals hit the newsstand, high profile people such as Texas head coach Mack Brown and South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier come out and say that paying college football players should be allowed by the NCAA.
However, in a poll done by The Traveler, 59.5 percent of the public still thinks they should not get paid.
Some UA students, such as biomedical engineering major Conner Veit, think college football players are already being compensated enough.
“Full scholarship and collegiate athletic training should be enough,” Veit said. “A lot of people say that the schools benefit off of the athlete’s names, but honestly, what would any athlete be without the school giving them a chance to play?
“The athletes benefit more from the university’s name, in my opinion.”
Another reason UA students think it’s a bad idea to pay college football players is because of the fear it will diminish the quality of the game.
“Passion and love of the game is what fuels college athletes now,” biology pre-dental major Evan Johnson said. “The second we replace their motives with money, the excitement of the game will vanish.”
It would also be logistically challenging. Paying only college football athletes would be a violation of Title XI, which promotes male and female equality.
The form and amount of payment are problems with no perfect solution, as well.
“I think it would add too many problems,” environmental, soil and water science major Lane Bolain said. “How much would each player get paid? It would take a lot of money and it would just bring out a lot of greed.”
Some students even compare student-athletes to themselves. Regular students attend college to better their skills and gain an education that will help them in the future.
“You go to college, improve your skills and then you can move on to the pros, where you get paid real money,” history major Trenton Yeakley said. “Why should football be different?”
In an anonymous poll done by The Traveler, 68.2 percent of the 44 current and former student-athletes that were asked said they think college football players should not be paid.
Many of the athletes’ opinions mirrored those of the general public.
In their eyes, they are just regular students that happen to play a sport to pay for their education.
“Football players put in the work like any non-athlete college student working their way through school. The only difference is football is the work and education is the pay,” said a female athlete at another SEC school. “What more can one ask for?”
One Razorback athlete doesn’t want college football players to be paid because it would become more like the NFL.
“(Student-athletes) are still playing for their team and the love of the game, while in the pros, it’s all about what’s best for themselves and what makes the money,” the Razorback athlete said.
College football players have played without receiving legal compensation since 1869, so ultimately, something drastic would have to occur for a change to be made, and as seen by these polls, most of the public would be opposed to it.

To hear the other side of the argument, click here.

TAT: How the Fred W. Smith Football Center Stacks Up


This article originally appeared in the August 26, 2013 issue of The Arkansas Traveler.

The Arkansas football team moved into the Fred W. Smith Football Center at the end of July.
The highly anticipated, $40 million facility pleased the players and coaches, but here’s a look at how it compares to other new facilities around the Southeastern Conference and at Oregon.
Price
While $40 million seems like a lot of money, it isn’t the most spent on a football facility in the SEC.
Since 2011, both Tennessee and Georgia have spent $45 million on new or renovated facilities. However, Alabama’s renovation that was completed this year only cost $9 million.
At Oregon, Nike founder Phil Knight funded a $68 million facility.
Size
At 80,000 square feet, the Fred W. Smith is neither the largest nor the smallest facility in the SEC.
Tennessee’s complex is the largest in the conference, at 145,000 square feet. Oregon’s is the same size.
Because it was a renovation of an old complex, Alabama’s facility is only 9,000 square feet, the smallest of the new facilities in the SEC.
Locker Room
In the locker room at the Fred W. Smith Football Center, the word “ARKANSAS” is spelled out with large, backlit letters. The lockers themselves are large enough for players to “sleep in,” tweeted redshirt freshman kicker Adam McFain.
Ole Miss is still working on their facilities, but they have already completed a locker room that features electrical outlets and ventilation in each locker.
To an uninformed person, Oregon’s locker room looks like it could be on a space ship. Each locker has a metallic door that swings open and can be pushed back into the locker when opened.
Bells and Whistles
Many of the new football facilities contain more than the bare necessities.
At Arkansas, there is a players’ lounge with pool tables, couches and flat screen televisions. In the lobby, one wall is made of wood, similar to a basketball court, and features a large Razorback.
Above the lockers, there are NFL helmets that represent where former Razorbacks have played or are playing.
Alabama’s facility pays tribute to former players in the NFL with a wall lined with jerseys of first round NFL draft picks.
Their player lounge features foosball and pool tables, as well as arcade games that don’t require quarters. There is also an anti-gravity treadmill in their training room and waterfalls in their hydrotherapy room.
The most notable feature of Tennessee’s facility is a MMA cage.
Oregon doesn’t have an anti-gravity treadmill or an MMA cage, but they seem to have everything else.
Ducks coaches can relax in their own hot tub and watch TV on televisions embedded into mirrors in their locker room.
The head coach’s office has two walls of windows that overlook the practice fields and that can be shaded for film review with the touch of a button. There are also two television screens that drop out of the ceiling in the head coach’s office.
The team meeting room, which seats 170, has a 30-foot projection screen that can be retracted to reveal windows overlooking Autzen Stadium.
Their facility also features a war room with six 80-inch monitors and black magnetic walls that are writable/erasable.
To pay tribute to their NFL players, each former Oregon player drafted has a duck with his initials on it.
Like Alabama, the Ducks have foosball and pool tables in their players’ lounge, but they also have hand-woven rugs and a barbershop.
Finally, in the lobby, there are 64 55-inch televisions that can be connected to show one image, or 64 different images.