Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Hey, welcome in. We're here in studio with the pride of Strong Arkansas, Mr. Anthony Hicks, the former Razorback.
We're going to talk Arkansas, Tulsa today. We'll look ahead a little bit to Arkansas, Texas A and M, I guess. Let's start here. What were your big takeaways from the game on Saturday night?
[00:00:16] Speaker B: Well, what was big takeaway for me is that iron sharpens iron. I say that a lot because I look at a lot of the teams that's literally trying to improve and they go out and don't play the FCS schools or don't play a lot of the other schools. Arkansas has started with a hard schedule and as they say, we have the hardest schedule in the nation. But then when you play the teams that you're supposed to beat, you beat them and you beat them handily.
Arkansas didn't have as many penalties as they've had in the last three weeks. They looked a lot more disciplined. They hustled a lot.
They're tired, man. I think they've been hearing a lot of the rumblings and they're really making an improvement and I'm just looking for them to do it when, when other conference games for the rest of the year.
[00:00:59] Speaker A: You and I were talking about this and this is something I've really believed since I saw Georgia in person the other day or a couple of weeks ago. Now Georgia looks like a playoff team. Utah looks like a playoff team.
Do you feel like there was any overreaction at all in terms of how Arkansas played in those two games? Or are we. Are we starting to see where maybe Arkansas is a little bit better than people thought they were and maybe those two teams are pretty darn good. Is there any of that going on?
[00:01:26] Speaker B: One thing I am going to say is that we are consistent and I'm saying we Arkansas fans, we consistently over, over exaggerate and overdo and you know, we're in our feelings. Yeah, there's a lot of things going on in the world today. There's a lot of things out there and, you know, why not contribute and continue to be mad your check hadn't played it down? He's done everything I think he's, he could do according. And he's been a lot brutally honest that a lot of people don't like. You know, they love the comforting lies instead of the hurtful truth. And he's been telling the truth a lot about a lot of things. I don't make those decisions on who's going to be our AD or who's going to be our coach. I like to sit back and watch it and support accordingly. I can monitor effort. I can monitor, you know, being able to push forth and go and do exactly what you're supposed to do as a team to try to put a good product on the field. And I think we've done that and I think it's going to continuously get better once these people learn how to
[00:02:21] Speaker A: play together, I'll tell you that. Our show is brought to you by Eglins Best and Arkansas Greatness starts early before the pads go on, before the crowd roars, the day begins at the breakfast table. Eglins Best delivers superior nutrition with more vitamin D and less saturated fat than ordinary eggs and starts strong with Eglin's Best better taste, better nutrition and better eggs. We're also brought to you by Bentonville Glass. They've been serving their community since 1971. Committed professional vers. If you're looking for a quality leader in northwest Arkansas or for skilled craftsmanship, look no further than Bentonville Glass for all your glass market needs with the highest quality products. Come by and see them at 507 South Main in Bentonville or online at bentonvilleglass.com if you want Tom Murphy's analysis, he was in here yesterday. You can find that on our podcast page, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Search Whole Hog Sports. You can also find our video podcast on YouTube by searching whole Hog Sports. We put our podcasts on our social media channels too. Wherever you're watching us, just would ask that you'd subscribe, that you'd like our video.
It'll help us out a whole lot.
It the run game was better against Tulsa. It still was not great.
[00:03:30] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:03:30] Speaker A: They're still having trouble getting push up front. And Tom brought up a good point yesterday. He said that he thought it was concerning how many times Tulsa was able to blitz right up the A gap and get to Arkansas's quarterback. But Anthony, I thought I saw in the fourth quarter, Arkansas, they kind of went away from the zone blocking scheme and they went more man to man downhill running and it looked like they were able to run the ball a little bit more effectively. I wonder, you think they go to that a little bit more after they see it on tape.
[00:03:55] Speaker B: Absolutely. What do you have to do is these kids, a lot of people always ask me the question, what's the difference between high school, college and pros? And a lot of that is thinking. Because a lot of things become second nature to the point where you don't have to think about it. So that makes you. It gives you an opportunity to react faster. When you're doing zone blocking, there's no direct person that you actually have to block. But if you actually call a blocking scheme, that actually gives you a chance to understand the numbers. And you know that the left guard is supposed to pick up the middle linebackers pick up the nose tackle or they chip and then doing what they need to do. We are need. We need to look at some of those opportunities because these guys are not. They weren't gelling very well in their first three games. So this gives us a better opportunity. I still think their pad level is entirely too high.
I don't know if I would put a guy as tall and as big as Burchard at left guard. I think he has an issue with his hips and he's not very flexible.
He's a perennial left guard. I mean, left tackle. To me, I think he will be an all American left tackle or a high draft pick, but.
And then Brian Williams on the right side, I think they started helping him out tremendously. Start bringing the tight end over to help Chip and bringing some other people over to try to give him some, some help from their perspective. But I think if they get that pad level down a little bit more, and to be honest with you, if I was them, I'll go and put everybody's hand on the ground and start running the ball old school running the ball and literally start taking it back to the basics.
[00:05:21] Speaker A: You mentioned iron sharpens iron earlier, and I asked you this before we came on. I was thinking, you know, whenever you played, you guys would play Alabama and then you'd step out of conference and you'd play Louisiana Tech or Ulm or somebody like that.
Kind of similar to what they've done right here. They played two really good teams in Utah and Georgia. Then they step out of conference and they play Tulsa.
[00:05:40] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:05:40] Speaker A: Does the game slow down? Does it become a little bit easier after you played that type of competition and then you have such a drastic step down.
[00:05:47] Speaker B: What it is is that I know when they're preparing that schedule and I kind of. Because I know Hunter Jurecyck prepared this schedule because Coach, Coach wasn't here, Silverfield wasn't here. So from that perspective, I know his psyche was to try to give us a mini off week, you know, to the point where you're going to play a team that's not up to your caliber. You should beat him handily. But also too, by the second half, you should be able to give the backups and also some of those, you know, four game freshmen that you're trying to evaluate to figure out exactly if they're going to, you know, if you're going to red shirt them or you're going to, you know, keep them or let them, you know, in their freshman year. But it's just a thought process of trying to give ourselves an opportunity to kind of heal because we're getting ready to go in the gauntlet, as they always said. You know, Cus Burrows used to say they remember in November, we're getting ready for that. But our October is going to be hell.
So let's see, it's going to be Halloween for us, so it's going to be a horror show. Let's see what this thing does.
[00:06:46] Speaker A: But doesn't it seem like it feels like our view of October, say three weeks ago? Yeah, it changes a little bit. And I'm still going to be surprised if Arkansas goes on a run and wins a ton of games. But I feel like A and M looks more winnable than it did, say, a month ago. Vanderbilt certainly looks like a winnable game.
Tennessee, they're in Fayetteville. Missouri, they're in Fayetteville. Arkansas certainly hadn't played well at home against Power four teams lately. But anytime you're at home, I think you got a chance if things break your way. So how do you feel different about this team maybe than you did a month ago?
[00:07:21] Speaker B: What I feel different about this team is that people are judged by the adversity, how they handle adversity. It's not about what happens to you, it's how you react to it. And this team has been, you know, they've been hearing it, you know, social media, Coach Silverfield, they've been hearing it.
[00:07:35] Speaker A: Like you can say, we're not going to listen to the outside. Like it's, it's a totally different thing in practice.
[00:07:40] Speaker B: I could say that back in my day because we didn't have the access to information like everybody else did. I mean, we probably had pagers, but you didn't have cell phones, you didn't have social media. You didn't have an opportunity for everybody to voice their opinion. So from this perspective, this is very difficult. But also too, I didn't get paid or I didn't get the opportunity. So it comes with the territory. And you know, I emphasize with these kids, empathize with these kids a little bit. But from the perspective of effort, from the perspective of actually putting the team together and actually being more disciplined, go back and look at it I think they only had two penalties this game. This was amazing. You know, I was like, I'm seeing more discipline, I'm seeing more effort, I'm seeing more well thought out opportunities to the point where we was looking at a play, we was looking at a series. Right before the half, right before they scored, they scored that six points. And Jermell Harris was talking to me and we were talking about the game and we were going through the calls and going through the formations and he was like, oh, he's just playing base now. And I was like, what do you mean, Jay? He's like, he's just playing base now because he's trying to see exactly what these people are going to do. He said, oh, they just scored. He said they won't score again. And they didn't score again because he understood, like I did. What Coach Roberts was, Ron Roberts was doing is he was testing his team, playing base, defense, but also giving himself a chance to be able to understand what, what the office is doing. And that's what I think he's trying to do. He's trying to fill out his team. These are 81 new players. Okay? This is a completely new system that they're running. This is what, the second system for some of these kids. But they have to come together and one thing they can do, use this as an outlet to kind of say, us against them, even us against our fans, even us against our own people. Or it's not just us against the other team, but it's just give us a chance as a team to come together as one and see if they can put it together and get better.
[00:09:31] Speaker A: When you were playing, did they tell you not to read the newspapers?
[00:09:34] Speaker B: Hey, come on now. You know, I had to read Clay Henry. He had to agree. Clay Henry and, and Mr. Allen and some of the old guys from back then. Those, those, those are friends, you know, it was a little bit different back then. We weren't as, we weren't as judgmental as we were then because Burrows didn't let that happen.
[00:09:50] Speaker A: Not as many opinions?
[00:09:51] Speaker B: No, no, not at all.
[00:09:52] Speaker A: What'd you think about K.J. jackson and how he played Saturday night? Because there was some question whether or not he'd even start the game coming into it. And it looked like. And again, the competition, I think matters, but I would say Tulsa may be better than North Alabama and he didn't look that good against North Alabama.
It felt like maybe something had gotten his attention during the week and he played really well on Saturday night.
[00:10:13] Speaker B: He is literally growing up right before our eyes. He kind of reminds me of when K.J. jefferson was coming through and he had his first starts and he came in at the end of that Missouri game and started that game and everybody was kind of curious and thought he was going to be all world. And he ended up being all world. He ended up being number one in Arkansas in various different, different areas. But he's growing up and if we stay consistent with him and we find some opportunities where we can take advantage of his athletic ability, call a little bit more runs in the future, we don't want to get him hurt, but we do have a nominal backup back there that can actually take over. But we have to utilize every opportunity we have right now to kind of move the ball down the field. Also use a lot of the clock. I think we can slow the game down tremendously, speed it up when we have to, but slow it down to be able to take advantage of the down and distance in the sit.
And I think, you know, Coach Clancy and I think Coach Silverfield has kind of identified some of the things that it can do. And we've seen it. If we give him time, he has. He throws a pretty ball. He throws a very pretty ball and he has a pretty good touch. So let's see what we can do here because A and M is going to give him some opportunities.
[00:11:19] Speaker A: How good is Chris Marshall?
[00:11:20] Speaker B: Oh, God. Lord, that's a five star. Okay, that is a five star.
[00:11:23] Speaker A: He was a five star coming out of the house.
[00:11:25] Speaker B: He was a five star coming out. He going back home. He's going to Texas A and M. That was his first school.
[00:11:29] Speaker A: He and Jaden Platt both, who I think may be Arkansas's second best pass catcher right now. They both started at A and M.
[00:11:34] Speaker B: Absolutely started A and M. He's going back home and I know he's going to feel some type of way, but also understand that A and M is not going to give him any leverage. They're going to really try to double team him and put him in a position to do some things. But I don't, I don't know if they readily can, to be honest with you. Because if you look at the numbers overall, A and M is not very, you know, different than us. I mean, they're literally ranked 10th in the SEC.
Oh, no, no, no, no, NO. They're 10th in the SEC in offense. No, they're not. So in on defense, these guys are literally number 11. Arkansas is number, number 10 on defense, total defense. But what they do is they have a More a better team because they give up a lot of passing yards. They've given up almost a thousand yards already in four games in passing. So that gives us some opportunity to do something. They really don't give up a lot in rushing. They're about 500. But if you look at the numbers, both of these teams are very similar. I mean, very, very similar. If you look at the offense, they're 15th in the SEC. In offense, they really don't move the ball very well, but they're very consistent. They're about 600 yards on the offense on rushing and about 7, 75, 775 on passing. But we're better than them. I mean, we're ranked number 13 in the SEC. So if you look at it on numbers and look at it from the perspective of what it is, I think this is going to come down to Jimmy's and Joe's, not X's and O's. I think if we can find out exactly what our team is and if they could play a little bit more aggressive, get a little bit more push on that D line. Our linebacker crew, I love this crew.
Bogle and Smith, those guys come downhill. They play very consistent football and our defensive backs are starting to understood the SEC game now. The game is kind of slowing down to them. It's not, you know, they're playing big time football now. I know they came from some other schools, but now they're playing big time football and they got some good tape. So let's see if they can work together, get better and come together as a team.
[00:13:32] Speaker A: In our efficiency ratings, A and m scoring offensively about 7% more often than Arkansas is against FBS competition. But there is a little caveat there that I want to mention here in just a second. And then defensively, they've given up about 27% of all points possible. Arkansas has given up about 45% of all points possible. Argus has played a lot harder schedule than A and M has this point.
You know, A and M, they played Missouri State. Who is in its. I think it was it, was it Missouri State's first FBS game earlier this year. They might have been in FBS last year, but they're, they're very new to fbs. And I think most people would agree that, you know, they're one of the lower, you know, rung FBS teams and you know, A and M was all over them in that first game.
I will say this, and we don't track Arkansas against FCS teams. That was the other part of That A and M. One thing they do and that makes I think teams really unpredictable is like Alabama does this really well again this year when you can score non offensive touchdowns that can really help you. That can cover a lot of sins, so to speak.
[00:14:34] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:14:34] Speaker A: And A and M, certainly they're having trouble with Marcel Reed and their offense. But you look at it, I mean they scored two or they scored a special teams touchdown in their opener. They scored two defensive touchdowns. I think they were both pick sixes against Arizona State in the second game. Like that is something that I think if you're Arkansas you've really got to guard against is number one. You don't want to put the ball in danger in the first place. But you certainly you got to be careful about them getting their hands on the ball because they've shown they're opportunistic.
[00:15:03] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:15:03] Speaker A: And they can change a game with these non offensive plays and with those
[00:15:06] Speaker B: non offensive plays is going to be the key to them. But also too Marcel Reed is going to run the ball.
If you did not notice it from a Georgia perspective or any other quarterback that we ever played, they ran all over us because we didn't have, we didn't keep contained. We left plenty of holes. And they have a great offensive line. They have a good offensive line. They have the Jimmies and the Joes. They have the team to do it. But I am so curious to see how we defend the run from the quarterback from scrambling because I think that is the only thing that they're going to be able to to do to us. That's going to create some opportunities from our end too. I want K.J. jefferson or K.J. jackson to run a little bit more to give us an opportunity to keep the ball and move the chain. So that's what I'm looking for right now. I honestly think it's going to be whatever quarterback possibly has 100 yards or have a better running game is going to give us, give us a chance to win.
[00:15:57] Speaker A: Were you surprised that Tulsa didn't run more effectively against Arkansas? Because the. If you heard their coach talk last Monday, I went over there to his press conference. He said they've got to get Desmond or Dexter.
[00:16:07] Speaker B: Dexter Williams.
[00:16:08] Speaker A: Dexter Williams. They've got to get him more in.
In a. They've got to call more plays where he can run the ball. They said they didn't the week before because they, you know, they were already down at quarterback and you know he had a 15 yard rundown to the one, but I don't remember a Whole lot else from him in the running game.
[00:16:24] Speaker B: And the scheme of the defense changed tremendously. I mean he gave an opportunity where he kept that safety down or that joker or whatever, that robber safety come down a lot and kind of spying on the, on the quarterback. But also too, when your linebackers are pretty, are smart and these two guys right now, they're hungry, but they are smart. They're probably the smartest, two smartest guys on the defense to the point where they don't make a lot of mistakes or do a lot of unnecessary things. So Ron Roberts is used to this at playing in sec. I think he's going to give us a chance to try to try to take advantage of that. But I know they're going to try to run him out of the backfield. That's, that's historically what we've given up. That's what we gave up at Georgia. I mean Stockton had what, 120 yards.
So we going to have to stop him from scrambling. And please don't get upset guys, when he make a 20 yard run, a 30 yard run, we live to fight another day as long as he doesn't score. But we're going to have to tackle and we're going to have to try to keep everybody in the pocket and make him throw the ball.
[00:17:23] Speaker A: You like how these linebackers are playing right now? Ben Bogle, Jaquavian Smith, and they're doing this without Bradley Shaw?
[00:17:30] Speaker B: Yeah, I think Bradley is hurt. But talking at the beginning of the year, I was talking to some of my teammates. We did identify, you know, 25 and 44. Those guys come down here. 44 reminds you so much of Mark Smith. He comes down here, he plays like he's hungry.
[00:17:47] Speaker A: Is that because he wears 44?
[00:17:48] Speaker B: Not just because he wears 44. He's a middle linebacker and he's consistent. He. When I say he reminds you of Mark Smith and they saw my Smith reminds somebody of me is because the steps that they make is not lateral or backwards. Their first step is play side downhill and they're coming downhill and they're button as guards and they're butting the tackles and they're playing literally, you know, the way linebacker is supposed to play. They're not trying to dip and grip and give up the body. They're playing consistently with the defense. And that's all you really have to do from this perspective to be a good, good linebacker.
[00:18:20] Speaker A: You think Chip would have known Mark Smith wore 44?
I don't.
[00:18:26] Speaker B: No, you did. You probably don't. That was before you guys time. Now that was before your time.
[00:18:30] Speaker A: How about K.J. jackson? I thought that.
I feel like maybe we learned a little bit about KJ on Saturday night in terms of doesn't he look more comfortable when he gets out of the pocket?
[00:18:40] Speaker B: He's growing up, man.
[00:18:41] Speaker A: And you know, we saw the runs, but it felt like even whenever he was rolling to his right and he's a left handed quarterback, it felt like there were some times where, you know, he was still on point with some of his passes.
I almost wonder if you're going to see more rolling the pocket with this team moving forward to get him out on the edge and maybe make him a little bit more dangerous.
[00:19:00] Speaker B: Yes. And I, believe me, nothing irritated me more during that game is to see KJ roll out, you know, as a left handed quarterback.
[00:19:07] Speaker A: Roll out to the right.
[00:19:08] Speaker B: Yeah, it just, I'm sorry. I mean, you have to understand it's a tough pass. A tough pass. It's almost an impossible pass and a guaranteed, guaranteed interception. You don't put your quarterbacks in a position where they're throwing blind and you don't know. He can't see what'. He can't see what's coming from that side because he's rolling to the right. But he literally has to turn his body completely around to coil to deliver. You don't know what's coming from that right side because you've lost vision of what's there.
Put this kid in a better position. And I think they did it at Tulsa. I think they was learning from Georgia and Utah. But going forward we should be able to identify some of the things that we can do well by now. Okay, this is going to what, the fifth game?
[00:19:48] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:19:48] Speaker B: We should know exactly what we can do well right now. So let's open the playbook up a little bit. I guess Georgia and I guess Utah, we was doing elementary school crap. Okay. I saw Woodland and Rainey run better stuff and more sophisticated opportunities than we did. And now you start seeing that they're expanding the playbook because people are getting comfortable with what to do. They're learning. But you could tell from the beginning from north Alabama to Utah to Georgia.
God, Lord. It was like, God, I see Fayetteville High School, Anthony Lucas is doing more harder stuff than this. But they had to get comfortable with what they do. They had to get it back to basics so we can have a base and then we can expand off of that. So let's see what they do this week. I think the playbook is going to Open up. They're going to probably book about 5 to 10 more extra plays that they can take advantage of because just as they have tape on Arkansas, they have tape on A and M. So we're going to figure out how to exploit that.
[00:20:43] Speaker A: What do you think about the SEC so far? What stands out to you about the conference?
[00:20:46] Speaker B: What stands out to me about the conference is I think we got a chip on our shoulder. I honestly been looking forward because we've been the last three championships. That's all I would say. Who's won the last three championships?
[00:20:57] Speaker A: Well, in the SEC hadn't played in any of the championship games. I don't believe.
[00:21:00] Speaker B: Thank you. In the last three years.
[00:21:02] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:21:02] Speaker B: So we historically get the most teams or equivalent to a Big Ten every year in the football playoff and we haven't showed up in the last three years. Especially in the nil days when you see the people that's playing the most money. We're always up there, you know, with the A and M's and the Texas's and the other schools, we got some issues, we got some opportunities. But as you see Georgia, Georgia has taken it back to basics and I think they're going to beat up on some people because they are the closest thing I've seen to the old Nick Saban football teams where it wasn't really about, you know, a top notch quarterback, it was about a game manager. But our offensive line, we know it reminds me of the old 95 Nebraska teams. You know, we're getting ready to run it that way, but can you stop us? And Georgia is emblematical to what the old SEC was. So I hope other teams take notion of that and get back to basics and start, you know, establishing a run game and play smart football instead of playing throwing the ball all over the place and literally just putting your defense in bad position.
[00:22:05] Speaker A: It's interesting with Georgia, if you believe the reports that came out here in the last few weeks about what teams are spending. Yeah, they're not at the top of the SEC now. They're certainly, you know, they're 10 million or so ahead of Arkansas, you know, according to these reports. But you know, they're kind of middle of the pack in terms of like coaching still matters and the ability to get your team's attention as a coach.
And you know that Kirby Smart's been able to do that. Now, I will say this about Georgia.
They played Arkansas and Oklahoma. They get Vanderbilt this week. They have had a very nice, you know, kind of in terms of what defensively Those are the three worst offenses in the league as efficiency goes. And so I'm interested to see how it goes when they play a little bit more, you know, higher scale offense. But right now I haven't seen a team that looks better than Georgia. If I was putting out an AP poll right now, I wouldn't have Texas as one. No, I don't think I'd have Texas in the top four or five, to be honest with you.
[00:22:58] Speaker B: No, I wouldn't either.
[00:22:59] Speaker A: Georgia looks like the best team to me. Ohio State maybe. I know they lost to Texas. They look really talented. Georgia's number one in my book.
[00:23:06] Speaker B: Georgia is going to beat people up. They're going to run the ball. And I can't emphasize how important that is. If you can run the ball, you can protect your team, you can protect your defense, you can protect your special teams. You can literally control the game through time of possession. I mean, this is the way Coach Burrows used to play. This is the way Coach Nutt used to play back in the day. They literally control the game based on what they can do from the offensive side of the ball of being able to run the ball.
Like you're saying Georgia playing Oklahoma. Oklahoma is the worst offensive team in the sec. I could never imagine that in my life. I was talking to my daughter last night and her boyfriend came over to visit. We had dinner last night and he's from Oklahoma and I was telling him that Oklahoma is the worst offense and he literally couldn't believe it until I had to show him the numbers.
[00:23:54] Speaker A: Mattier has regressed in a major way.
[00:23:56] Speaker B: I really don't get it and I understand what they're going through, but you know, water under the bridge. And I guarantee you we don't feel sorry for him. But now let's see exactly what the rest of the SEC does. Let's see the growth of the teams to see exactly if it's going to be show because by now you should know exactly who's there. You should already know who's going to be red shirt. So you don't have to game plan to play any of those other freshmen that's going to be there. You can actually create your scout team to know exactly what you're going to be doing. You can game plan like for instance, you saw Jelani Watkins out there a whole lot more last game and even though he missed a bunch of blocks, you know, because I don't. But I don't. But I think that's game planning. You don't run plays to jelwani walk inside to put him in the blood position to block. Just like I said. The same thing with Lockwood. You have to put your team and put your players in a position where they can be most successful. And I think Coach Clancy is trying to figure that out. Coach Silverfield is trying to figure it out. Yeah, it gives tendencies to some other people on the defensive side of the ball to be able to understand personnel, but we have to do better with our play calling.
[00:25:00] Speaker A: You think Mississippi State's for real? No, I don't either. I think, I think they'll lose to Alabama this week. Florida for real?
[00:25:07] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:25:07] Speaker A: Their offense looks amazing.
[00:25:09] Speaker B: Jane Bond, wasn't he committed to Arkansas at one point? I think so.
[00:25:12] Speaker A: I think he was another, another one of those that you say you're the
[00:25:16] Speaker B: only person that's brought that up. I've been, I've been holding that in for so long, man. And I've been holding it in for so long.
[00:25:23] Speaker A: Talk about putting somebody in a success see or position to succeed. I mean their offense right now, Anthony has scored 72% of all points possible. That is an amazing number. Like if you're scoring 50, 55% that is a really high like Jaden Daniels, LSU level clip. And I know we're not at the end of the season yet, but what Florida's doing offensively is amazing.
[00:25:43] Speaker B: What's consistent that you see with all those teams, they run the ball. Florida literally has over a thousand yards rushing already. Yeah, I mean there's, there's one other team in SEC that has a thousand yards rushing and that's, that's South Carolina. And South Carolina is the leading rushing team in SEC, but they got 1,000 yards rushing. But they also have a thousand yards passing. There's not another team in the SEC that has thousand yard rushing, a thousand yard passing. So you know, summer all got them going down there and they kind of remind me of the old Indiana where they got a lot more confidence. You know they're going to have the athletes. The athletes is not second, second to none. It's not even a question about having athletes. It's about being tough enough that when you get hit in the mouth that you come back and actually, you know, you hit back. And that's what you're trying to see right now. You're trying to see who actually has the discipline enough not to continuously make mistakes over and over again. All sides, all size penalties on offense, holding and pass interference on defense. But you just literally tried to play a consistent, sound game. Florida. Florida looks sneaky to me, man, they look very sneaky to me.
[00:26:47] Speaker A: I want to get your perspective as a former player before you get out of here. About a couple, three instances that have been very, I guess they've trended on social media in the last couple of days.
Dylan Stewart's antics on the sideline for South Carolina.
I forget the player's name, but the UFC player who had the hit on the Oregon quarterback. Yes. And then Colin Simmons hurting his team with just a dumb penalty against Tennessee. I know those are all three different things, but like, there are all these, you know, kind of viral moments that certainly stand out and maybe I think they overshadow the game in some ways. What do you think about those?
[00:27:26] Speaker B: Complete disrespect for the game. I mean, that's simple. In all three, all three instances, the consistent narrative that you would say is complete disrespect for the game.
You're looking at all star eventually, potentially the first round draft thing.
[00:27:41] Speaker A: Simmons had five sacks in that game and all anybody wants to talk about is his penalties.
[00:27:45] Speaker B: It's his penalties. I mean, it takes a lifetime to build character and integrity, but it takes one dumb move like that to hurt you. Fortunately enough in this day and time, people have, you know, have short memories and, you know, it goes through a five minute cycle. When it used to go through a 24 hour news cycle, now it's a five minute news cycle. So they're going to forget about it. They've already forgot about Desmond Simmons. They know he's not playing this week. They're playing Washington. They still might get beat. But that's usc. But. And then with Stewart pouting. Yeah, getting up, I mean, come on, man, you're a potential. You're a perennial D1, possibly first round draft pick, possibly could be the defensive player of the year in the sec. They were comparing you to Klavion Downey. I mean, Clowney, you are the dude. You are that dude. You're a leader on this team, but that's what you do. It's just like I said, you can pay these kids. You can do a lot of different things with these kids, but character and integrity, you can't pay for it. I mean, it's literally. You got to earn that.
[00:28:47] Speaker A: Does it make you wonder about South Carolina coaching or is that just a matter of a player having a bad
[00:28:52] Speaker B: attitude with a leader like him? What a type of athlete like him that doesn't care, that doesn't play for you. Yeah, it does.
[00:28:59] Speaker A: Yeah. Because there's a lot of questions about South Carolina and I think, you know, we talked about games that, you know, I call them maybe kind of sort of games for Arkansas. Like maybe they win if things kind of sort of go their way. South Carolina is one of those where you look at what's kind of going on with South Carolina right now.
A lot of heat turned up on their coats. Maybe they come in here in November, maybe they're not all together, you never know.
[00:29:19] Speaker B: And they're hitting on all syllables. I mean, like I said, they're the only team in SEC that's got a thousand yard rusher and got a thousand yard passer. So why, I mean, why are you.
[00:29:28] Speaker A: There's a big disconnect between the Kendall
[00:29:30] Speaker B: Browns is over there right now, offensive coordinator, and he's got those guys rolling, but they can't control the rest of the team. And that's a lack of discipline. But like, if I was a coach, my dad always said he was saying that this weekend, he's like, you can lose with anybody. He said, but I'm going to play the people that's going to hustle, that's going to actually do what they're supposed to do. Because I can't teach effort. Effort is inside of you. It's what your parents gave you and what's in your heart. Now, if I have to incentivize or to do anything to get you to hustle, to get you to have some character and some integrity and have some leadership, I don't need you on my team. So you can lose with anybody. But I wouldn't lose with these fools. I literally let them go if I was them.
[00:30:11] Speaker A: Anthony, good to see you.
[00:30:12] Speaker B: Always, brother.
[00:30:13] Speaker A: Thanks for being in here. We'll be back tomorrow with Brandon Marcelo in studio. Hope to see you then or at our website, wholehogsports. Com. Have a great day, everybody.
