TAT: By the Numbers - The Alabama Game and More

These stats were originally compiled for the October 23, 2013 issue of The Arkansas Traveler.

0 - Former Arkansas baseball players on the St. Louis Cardinals and Boston Red Sox rosters. This will be the first World Series without a former Razorback since 2006. The Detroit Tigers and former Razorback Drew Smyly were eliminated by the Red Sox in the ALCS.

13 - Combined strikeouts by juniors Kasey Fagan and Kimmy Beasley against Oklahoma State in game one of a doubleheader Sunday. Fagan had seven in three innings of work, while Beasley had six in four innings.

2 - Home runs hit by the Arkansas softball team in six games this fall. Junior Devon Wallace hit a grand slam against Butler CC in the first game of the fall season and senior Chloe Oprzedek hit a two-run home run against Oklahoma State in game one of a doubleheader Sunday.

23:12 - Time, in minutes and seconds, it took senior Kemoy Campbell to finish the 8k course at the Wisconsin Adidas Invitational Saturday. He finished first out of 288 runners.

3 - Members of the Arkansas women’s cross country team that finished in the top 15 at the Wisconsin Adidas Invitational Saturday. Juniors Grace Heymsfield and Shannon Klenke finished sixth and eighth, respectively, while sophomore Dominique Scott finished 13th.

13 - Wins in 16 events by the Arkansas women’s swimming and diving team at its dual meet against LSU Saturday. The Razorbacks won the meet 180-120 and have won 12 consecutive dual meets.

8 - One-goal wins by the Arkansas soccer team this season, after a 5-4 overtime win at Vanderbilt Friday and 2-1 win against Tennessee Sunday. This ties the UA single-season record for most one-goal wins, which was set last season.

98 - Jersey number worn by senior defensive tackle Byran Jones against No. 1 Alabama Saturday. Jones was voted by his teammates to wear the number in honor of senior defensive tackle Robert Thomas, who broke his leg against South Carolina.

21 - Times Arkansas has faced the defending National Champion since 1961. They are 5-16 in those games and have lost by an average score of 31.7 to 14.1.

8 - Times Arkansas has had a losing streak of five or more games in a single season in UA history. The Razorbacks had five-game losing streaks in 1938, 1943 and 1997, six-game losing streaks in 1950, 1952 and 1958 and a seven-game losing streak in 1990.

26.6 - Average margin of defeat during the Razorbacks’ five-game losing streak. That is the largest margin of defeat during a losing streak of five or more games in UA history. The next closest is 20.3 points during the seven-game losing streak in 1990.

46.4 - Team completion percentage for Arkansas so far this season after sophomore Brandon Allen’s 7-for-25 effort against Alabama Saturday. That would be the lowest single-season completion percentage for the Razorbacks since completing 41.3 percent in 1991.

797 - Rushing yards by true freshman Alex Collins through eight games, after he gained 77 yards against Alabama Saturday. That is second in the Southeastern Conference and 12th in the FBS.

869 - Rushing yards by Darren McFadden through the first eight games of his true freshman season, 2005.

TAT: Bye Week Gives Hogs Time to Rest, Prepare

This article originally appeared in the October 23, 2013 issue of The Arkansas Traveler.

Whew. Arkansas fans, players and coaches can finally breathe a sigh of relief, as the football team has its first bye of the season Saturday, after playing eight consecutive weeks to start the season.

The Razorbacks were just one of 10 FBS schools to play in each of the first eight weeks of the college football season.

Head coach Bret Bielema knew it would be a tough stretch when he first saw the schedule.

After three relatively easy nonconference games to start the season, Arkansas traveled to Rutgers for its first road game, followed by four consecutive games against preseason top 10 Southeastern Conference foes.

As it played out, the Razorbacks lost to Rutgers, as well as No. 10 Texas A&M, No. 18 Florida, No. 14 South Carolina and No. 1 Alabama by an average margin of 26.6 points per game.

This was a completely new experience for Bielema, as he had only coached back-to-back games against top 20 teams, never four consecutive games. In 2010, he led Wisconsin to back-to-back victories over No. 1 Ohio State and No. 13 Iowa.

“That took everything we had,” Bielema said. “The third week, we had a bye week and we had seven players (with injuries) that would not have played that week.”

Injuries were certainly a factor during this stretch for the Razorbacks, as well. Most notably, senior defensive tackle Robert Thomas broke his leg in the game against South Carolina and will miss the remainder of the season.

Sophomore cornerback Will Hines will miss significant time, as well, after breaking his arm playing against Florida. He originally tweeted that he would miss the rest of the season, but Bielema said he could possibly return for the last two regular season games.

Several other Razorbacks have also missed at least some game time, including sophomore quarterback Brandon Allen, senior center Travis Swanson, freshman tight end Hunter Henry, junior linebacker Martrell Spaight, senior defensive tackle Byran Jones, senior linebacker Austin Jones, sophomore safety Rohan Gaines and sophomore wide receiver Keon Hatcher.

The bye week will allow these players, and the rest of the team, extra rest to nurse their various bumps and bruises that they have been playing on for eight weeks.

Schematically, Arkansas will have two weeks to prepare for No. 11 Auburn’s high-octane offense.

Led by first-year head coach Gus Malzahn, the Tigers are averaging 35.9 points per game and 494.3 yards per game. That is sixth and third in the SEC, respectively.

The Razorbacks will also need to focus on how to take advantage of Auburn’s defense. The Tigers give up 428.1 yards per game, which is 12th in the SEC, ahead of only Kentucky and Texas A&M.

During the bye week, Arkansas should continue to work on its struggling passing game. If Allen improves his accuracy, the offensive line protects better and the receivers catch the ball when it’s thrown to them, the Razorbacks could have a big game offensively because Auburn is dead last in the SEC with 282 passing yards allowed per game.

Despite the five-game losing streak, Arkansas fans should expect to see a much better performance by the Razorbacks after the bye week.

At Wisconsin, Bielema was 4-1 in games following a bye week. The only loss was a 27-25 road loss to Michigan, while the four victories were won by an average margin of 39.5 points per game.

In 2009, his Wisconsin team lost back-to-back games against No. 9 Ohio State and No. 10 Iowa going into the bye week. Coming out of the bye week, they won their next three games and went 5-1 the rest of the season, including a 20-14 win over No. 15 Miami in the Champs Sports Bowl.

Auburn plays Florida International 6:30 p.m. Saturday. before traveling to Fayetteville Nov. 2 to play the Razorbacks. The Nov. 2 game will either kick off at 5 p.m. and air on ESPN2 or at 6 p.m. on ESPN.

TAT: Hogs in the Pros (Oct. 23)

These stats were originally compiled for the October 23, 2013 issue of The Arkansas Traveler.

NFL

Week 7

Knile Davis, Kansas City Chiefs

• W 17-16, vs. Houston Texans
• 2 carries, 5 yards

Jerry Franklin, Chicago Bears

• L 45-41, @ Washington Redskins
• 1 solo tackle, 2 assisted tackles

Peyton Hillis, New York Giants

• W 23-7, vs. Minnesota Vikings
• 18 carries, 36 yards, 1 touchdown, 5 receptions, 45 yards

Chris Houston, Detroit Lions

• L 27-24, vs. Cincinnati Bengals
• 1 solo tackle

Felix Jones, Pittsburgh Steelers

• W 19-16, vs. Baltimore Ravens
• 5 carries, 16 yards, 1 reception, 3 yards, 1 kickoff return, 42 yards

George Wilson, Tennessee Titans

• L 31-17, vs. San Francisco 49ers
• 3 solo tackles

Jarius Wright, Minnesota Vikings

• L 23-7, @ New York Giants
• 1 reception, 13 yards

MLB

Drew Smyly, Detroit Tigers

• W 7-3, vs. Boston Red Sox - Game 4 of ALCS
• 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 5 batters faced
• L 5-2, @ Boston Red Sox - Game 6 of ALCS
• 0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, 1 batter faced
• One batter faced reached on an error

NBA

Preseason: 10/5-10/21

Patrick Beverley, Houston Rockets

• 5 games, 2 starts
• Averages: 24.4 min., 9.8 pts., 3.6 reb., 4.4 ast., 0.2 blk., 1.8 stl.

Ronnie Brewer, Houston Rockets

• 5 games, 0 starts
• Averages: 14 min., 1.8 pts., 1.2 reb., 1.2 ast., 0.8 blk., 0.6 stl.

Joe Johnson, Brooklyn Nets

• 5 games, 5 starts
• Averages: 22 min., 8.6 pts., 2.2 reb., 2.6 ast., 0.4 stl.

Jannero Pargo, Charlotte Bobcats

• 5 games, 0 starts
• Averages: 12.4 min., 8.4 pts., 1 reb., 0.6 ast., 0.2 stl.

TAT: Softball Splits Doubleheader Against Oklahoma State

This article originally appeared on October 21, 2013 on The Arkansas Traveler website, uatrav.com.

The Arkansas softball team finished their home fall schedule by splitting a doubleheader against Oklahoma State at Bogle Park Sunday.

In game one, the Razorbacks rode strong pitching and hot bats to score in every inning except one and beat the Cowboys 10-2.

After senior Clarisa Navarro reached on an error in the first inning, she stole second, advanced to third on a passed ball and scored on another passed ball. From that point on, it was all Razorbacks.

Sophomore Stephanie Canfield added a run with an RBI-single in the first to put Arkansas up 2-0. The next inning, senior Chloe Oprzedek knocked a two-run home run over the right field fence.

An RBI-double by freshman Reggie Harrison and RBI-singles by freshman Parker Pocklington and junior Kasey Fagan pushed the Razorbacks’ run total to seven.

The final scoring of the game came in the sixth inning, when senior Jayme Gee and Oprzedek each hit an RBI-double and Oprzedek scored on a fielding error by Oklahoma State’s center fielder.

Oprzedek finished the game 2-for-3 with 3 RBIs, while Gee was the only other Arkansas player with multiple hits, finishing 2-for-2 with one walk.

“Chloe has come up big for us throughout her career,” head coach Mike Larabee said. “Usually when we need a big hit, she gets it.”

The Cowboys’ only runs came in the third and fourth innings. Shianne Hughes scored after reaching on an error in the third, while Simone Freeman knocked in a run with a single in the fourth.

Despite only scoring two runs, Oklahoma State did not have a shortage of baserunners. They left 10 runners on base, including leaving the bases loaded twice.

In the fourth inning, they had the bases loaded with no outs when Arkansas brought junior Kimmy Beasley in from the bullpen. Freeman’s RBI-single was the only run they got out of the inning, as Beasley struck out two and got another batter to pop out.

In the pitchers’ circle, Fagan and Beasley combined to strike out 13 batters and allow one earned run on seven hits.

“I thought Fagan and Beasley pitched real well,” Larabee said. “(Fagan) really had her offspeed working and I was really excited when Beasley came in with the bases loaded and no outs and just gave up one run.”

The second game was a completely different story, as Arkansas’ bats went cold and Oklahoma State won 4-0.

The Razorbacks did not collect a hit until the third inning and finished the game with just four hits. Fagan had half of them, going 2-for-3 with a pair of singles.

While the Razorbacks struggled to get going offensively, the Cowboys took advantage of three errors by Arkansas’ defense.

“I was really disappointed with our defense,” Larabee said. “We’re not going to win too many games playing the way we did.”

After Danielle Riddle led off the second inning with a double for Oklahoma State, Miranda Cavin reached on an error by sophomore Kelly Young. Riddle eventually scored on a sacrifice fly that would have been the third out of the inning.

In the third inning, Young retired the first two batters she faced. She then walked two hitters, one of which scored on a passed ball.

The Cowboys’ other two runs came in the fifth inning and were direct results of poor fielding by the Razorbacks.

Arkansas’ pitchers also struggled during the second game. Four pitchers combined to give up eight hits and eight walks, while not recording a single strikeout.

For Oklahoma State, Freeman was dominate in the pitchers’ circle. She pitched a complete game shutout, allowed four hits and struck out seven.

“I thought (Freeman) threw a very good game,” Larabee said. “She changed speeds, was getting ahead and not giving our hitters anything to swing at.”

The Razorbacks conclude their fall schedule Saturday with a doubleheader against Louisiana Tech in Texarkana, Ark. The first game is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.

TAT: Tide Rolls Over Razorbacks

This article originally appeared on October 20, 2013 on The Arkansas Traveler website, uatrav.com.

The Arkansas football team experienced déjà vu Saturday, as No. 1 Alabama dominated every facet of the game and beat the Razorbacks 52-0 in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

It was Arkansas’ worst defeat since losing to the Crimson Tide by the same score last season.

Alabama gained more than twice as many yards as the Razorbacks, outgaining them 532 yards to 256.

After receiving the opening kickoff, the Crimson Tide drove 68 yards on 12 plays and capped the drive with a 4-yard touchdown pass from A.J. McCarron to Jalston Fowler.

McCarron added another touchdown pass late in the first half with a 30-yard completion to Amari Cooper.

Sandwiched between McCarron’s touchdowns, Kenyan Drake scored on runs of 1 and 46 yards.

The Razorbacks received the ball to start the second half, but sophomore Keon Hatcher fumbled the kickoff and the Crimson Tide recovered.

A minute and a half later, McCarron threw his third and final touchdown pass of the game. This time, it was a 17-yard pass to O.J. Howard.

The Crimson Tide also had a 24-yard touchdown run by T.J. Yeldon and a 48-yard field goal by Cade Foster in the third quarter.

With just over two minutes left in the game, Arkansas had its best opportunity to score. However, facing a fourth-and-five at the Alabama 15-yard line, sophomore quarterback Brandon Allen’s pass fell incomplete.

Two plays later, Derrick Henry ran 80 yards for the final touchdown for the Crimson Tide with 59 seconds left.

For the fourth consecutive game, Allen completed fewer than 50 percent of his passes and threw at least one interception. He was 7-for-25 for 91 yards and two interceptions.

Despite facing a stout Alabama defense, freshman running back Alex Collins ran hard and gained 77 yards on 18 carries, while sophomore Jonathan Williams finished with 48 yards on 13 carries.

Freshman Hunter Henry and senior Javontee Herndon had 42 receiving yards each.

McCarron was taken out of the game midway through the fourth quarter, but managed to complete 71.4 percent of his passes for 180 yards and three touchdowns.

On the ground, the Crimson Tide had a pair of 100-yard rushers. Henry gained 111 yards on six carries and Drake gained 104 yards on eight carries.

Along with not allowing any points, Alabama also didn’t commit any turnovers, penalties or allow a sack.

The Razorbacks have not beaten Alabama since 2006, when they won 24-23 in double overtime at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium.

Since then, they have lost seven straight by an average score of 41.6 to 13.3.

Arkansas will have their first bye week of the season next week, and then will face Auburn in Fayetteville Nov. 2.

NWA Times: Bentonville Gold vs. Harrison

This article originally appeared in the October 18, 2013 issue of The NWA Times.

Bentonville Gold 34, Harrison 6

THE GAME: Gold quarterback Canaan Ross completed only three passes, but they were all touchdowns and broke open the game for the Tigers, as they rolled to a victory over Harrison (1-6, 0-3) at Tiger Stadium.

Gold (6-1, 2-1) got on the board with a 17-yard touchdown run by Destyn Adkins in the first minute of the game, then Ross tossed touchdowns on three consecutive offensive plays.

“(Ross) has been very consistent all year,” Gold coach Toma Whorton said. “We’ve really liked his leadership ability and he played a great game tonight.”

Ross had a 7-yard touchdown pass to Hunter Garrigus in the first quarter, before adding 36- and 63-yard touchdown passes to Hadley Gregg in the second quarter.

The Goblins didn’t score until late in the third quarter, when Taner Edwards connected with Brandon Schaefer for a 51-yard touchdown.

Harrison beat Bentonville Lincoln 20-3 in the eighth-grade game.

UP NEXT: Bentonville Gold travels to Rogers Heritage next week, while Harrison returns home to face Springdale Lakeside.

-— ANDREW HUTCHINSON