[00:00:00] Speaker A: You're listening to the Whole Hog Sports podcast. And now here's your host, Matt Jones.
[00:00:07] Speaker B: Today on the show, we're talking Razorback football. Fozzie Whitaker, who will be on the call Saturday for the Arkansas season opener against Alabama A and M will join us. Ethan Westerman will also be here in studio. First, a word from Kendall King.
[00:00:19] Speaker C: At Kendall King, we're proud of over four decades of design.
We're continuing the legacy of great creative design by combining our brands of Kendall King, Soapbox and shopcart. Together, these brands represent a new focus in market with individual attention to specific areas. Through our design expertise, supported by a team of talented professionals, we showcase our best. We are Kendall King. We are Soapbox. We are Shopcart. We are Design.
[00:00:45] Speaker B: And we're joined now by Fozzie Whitaker. He's going to be on the call Saturday when the Razorbacks play Alabama A&M3 15 kickoff on SEC Network. Fozzie, good morning.
[00:00:54] Speaker D: Good morning, good morning. Thank you all for having me on and so excited. Week one is finally here. We've been waiting all off season for this moment. I'm just glad it's finally arrived.
[00:01:05] Speaker B: You know, you played college football and I'm sure you've had some matchups like this where you've got one team that's just expected to run over another team. I wonder, as a player, is it difficult to get up for a game like this if you're in the shoes of the Arkansas players, or does the season opener maybe counteract some of that?
[00:01:26] Speaker D: Season opener definitely counteracts that. You look at the first opportunity you get to hit somebody other than your own teammates, your first outfit in front of your home crowd, and then the first opportunity that you kind of get to really set the tone for what you want the rest of the season to be. So there's. If you got to get up for a football game, especially at the collegiate level, I think you might be playing the wrong sport or doing the wrong thing.
Whether this game was the first game in the season or whether it was midway or towards the end of the season, no matter who that opponent is, the ultimate goal is always to get better. And that was something that I prided myself in as the approach that I took. And a lot of my teammates had that same type of attitude. And I don't see that being any different with this Arkansas team and what their expectations and goals are this upcoming season.
[00:02:18] Speaker B: You know, when you, when you get an SEC team, though, against an FCS team, I mean, the, I know there are upsets but you know, it seems to me like just, and I read this week from a coach, I forget who it was, maybe, maybe even been Alabama A&M's coach actually saying that there's never been more of a discrepancy between the talent on those two type of rosters. So I wonder with that in mind, what do you look for in a game like this?
[00:02:44] Speaker D: Ultimately, it all comes down to execution, right? In week one, a lot of times you're going to see a ton of penalties, you want to see substitution errors, you want to see people make sure they possess the ball and don't force turnovers. And a lot of those things happen because you haven't been in a game atmosphere and in game environment in such a long time. And with everything that comes around with the pregame pageantry that happens in college football, with the on field experience, having a live crowd there, the communication between teammates sounds a little different whenever you got 80,000 fans roaring and cheering and you can't hear from one side of the field to the other. So being able to go back to the fundamentals and the foundational piece that you built off of since winter workouts as well as spring football, and then you couple that on to the training that they did in the summertime and all of the extra reps that the team was able to do even before they started training camp.
You hope that all culminates to building that foundation of playing a seamless game. Right. It won't be perfect. There's no game that'll be perfectly played no matter who the opponent is.
But if you can play a clean game, taking care of the football, being efficient, communicating well, and not having a lot of those substitution or pre snap errors, then that's always something that you can build off of. After week one, what are your thoughts.
[00:04:12] Speaker B: On Arkansas and how this season might look for the Razorbacks?
[00:04:15] Speaker D: Yeah, I'm extremely excited for Taylor Green and that offense.
The thing that stands out to me the most, that I feel like he's undervalued from a standpoint of the national conversation of quarterbacks, not just within this conference but around the country. And he, he's in the conversation right there with Joan Mattier as guys that can have some of those breakout seasons. And those are the only two guys that are actually returning in the entire country that threw for over 3,000 yards a season ago and also rushed for over 600 yards. So that goes to tell you the dynamic ability that Taylor Green possesses as well as what Bobby Petrino has been able to do in year number one now underneath their belt and having a full off season to prepare for year number two, I expect a great jump because that's what Bobby Petrino has done, whether it was with Lamar Jackson or with Arkansas's very own Ryan Mallet in the past, that year two has been one of exceptional note to be able to see the increase in the productivity of the offense and the quarterback in particular. I think Travis Williams on the defensive side is going to have that defense ready to go. I love the way that Cameron Ball really controls the line of scrimmage, one of the leaders that'll have to step up huge for this team over the course of the season, as well as Savion Sorry Jr. Who is one of the most explosive and dynamic linebackers in my opinion. There are a lot of new faces on the back end, but if anybody can get them ready to go and dialed in to what they need to do, then I think Travis Williams has done a great job at being that defensive coordinator and keep continuously rising the ranks and where Arkansas's defensive production finishes at the end of the year. So it won't be an easy road given that the SEC is always competitive.
But if they hit the goals that they plan to hit, then I don't see why Arkansas can't be in the mix for a championship late in November. Whenever it's championship time, I want to.
[00:06:16] Speaker B: Drill down on what you said about Taylon. As you study his game film and get prepared for this week. What do you think it is about him that is difficult to defend?
[00:06:26] Speaker D: Well, first off, his athleticism, being able to get after him and rattle him in the backfield whenever he's in the pocket is extremely difficult. Right? It's the way he can move, the way he feels and has a feel for the pocket is really unique. But then whenever he gets outside of the pocket, that's where he really turns.
Some of those minuscule plays where it may be a pass that's thrown away to save for another down or just a two yard scramble by a quarterback, he's able to take those plays and turn into a 26 yard first down and really create and swing the momentum for his team. And not only that, the passes that you look at last year, a lot of the big explosive and dynamic plays have been off schedule. Gets outside of the pocket and he finds Armstrong or he finds Tesla and see those guys getting loose in open field. He has a big strong arm so he can get it as far and as deep down the field as you need him to. And I Think that's a unique ability that he possesses. The issue that we saw last year with Arkansas and Taylor Green in position in particular were the amount of turnovers. Right? You have to minimize the turnovers if you expect to to have this offense clicking on all cylinders, you got to be able to protect the football. And that's starts with week one. Making sure you go through the fundamentals and then believe in your, in your coaching and trust in it.
[00:07:48] Speaker B: We were talking about Taylor earlier this week in the turnovers. You know, it was an issue for him at Boise State his last year, too.
Is that something where turnovers can be coached out of a quarterback, or is there a turnover proneness that may be difficult to overcome?
[00:08:04] Speaker D: No, it can definitely be coached by a quarterback. And if anybody can do that, I think Bobby Petrino is the perfect person to be able to instill what it means to take care of the football and give value to the team, rather than creating those highs and lows, those ups and downs throughout the course of a game because of the sudden changes that occur whenever interception or fumble happens. So what it all comes down to is it's not from a lack of confidence. And I think that's one thing that you never want to take away from a quarterback, and I'm sure you hear that from all the quarterback coaches as well as offensive coordinators, is you got to have a confident quarterback, somebody that believes they can make every single throwback. But then at the same time, you got to have a confident quarterback that also knows, hey, when do I check it down and when do I not force a throw to put our team in a worse position.
My old coach, Matt Brown, used to always say, hey, reserve the right to kick.
And whether that's hopefully most of the time you want it to be at the end of a touchdown drive and that turns into an extra point. But sometimes driving into the red zone and let's say you don't score a touchdown, will reserve the right to kick a field goal, still put points on the board, or even if it's in the middle of the field, reserve the right to punt the ball and then force the opposing team to go, you know, 85 yards against the Travis Williams defense, you're not going to see that happen very often. So if you take that approach and that mentality, have all the confidence in the world, but be smart with the options of where you're trying to get the ball and then reserve the right to kick, I think that'll help limit the turnovers.
[00:09:42] Speaker B: Sam Pittman said earlier this Week that they were pulling video from Miles College, the Division 2 school where Sam Shade had been the head coach last year and of Alabama A and M last year where they can kind of, from the Miles video, get a look at maybe some formations, concept schemes that the coaching staff likes because they brought so many coaches over. And then Alabama A and M to get a look at some of the athletes who are back on the team. I wonder how challenging do you think it is as you prepare for a team like this who has a first year coach who, you know, really has the benefit of coming into this game that nobody really knows what they're about, at least not in this job yet.
[00:10:21] Speaker D: Yeah, it's been interesting. I need to talk to Coach Pittman too. I'll get that opportunity tomorrow. Because I couldn't find the film on Mouse College. I was looking.
We actually had our meeting with Coach Shade yesterday and I was asking him kind of that same question, was like, man, it is difficult to find film on Miles College. As I was doing my prep work, he was like, yeah, it's hard, it's hard. So he agreed. But from the standpoint of preparing for a game and you got new head coach, new coordinators, and obviously a new look of what Alabama A M wants to do, there's still some constants, right? Claude Brown, Cornelius Brown, the fourth, which is the starting quarterback for Alabama A M.
You can see his game last year and I actually got to call the game where Alabama A M played against Auburn in week number one. And you can see the discrepancy in talent, obviously was there. But at the same time you saw the guys that they wanted to kind of get the ball to as their dynamic playmakers or guys that they'll probably lean on heavy in the season. And so early on, I think that'll be an opportunity for Coach Pittman to see what guys they want to feature the most and then kind of hone in on that. But it does add a little caveat in your game planning standpoint.
Just knowing what they do gives you a leg up. And without that knowledge, what Sam Pittman probably is telling his guys, it's not about what they do, it's about what we do. And if you can execute, then that's all that matters.
[00:11:52] Speaker B: I was going to ask you that. Take us inside a game week preparation for a player, as you're watching film, how much are you studying what you've done versus what you're studying, what what your opponent does?
[00:12:04] Speaker D: Most of the time it goes down to what the opponent does. Any Tips or, or any type of cues that let me know from the running back perspective. Right. Especially if I'm in on third down situations because that's when you get to sometimes see those exotic blitzes or different formations that the defense like to line up in. If I can find a clue or tip that lets me know they like to run. Hey, if the safety lines up off of the hash four more yards, then typically he's going to blitz. And they like to also bring the outside linebacker. So if I can find that tip and consistently find it throughout the course of the film that I'm watching, I see that look in the game, then the communication automatically goes to my offensive line and say, hey, hey, hey. Watch out for whatever call it is. Right. We used to call it Snake. Hey, Snake blitz alert. Snake blitz alert. Snake blitz. And the quarterback will be on the same page, lineman be on the same page. And then you can make a check to get into a play or, or a protection that protects everybody and hopefully it turns into a big explosive game. So most of the time watching film, it goes down to seeing what the other team does to better prepare you for the moment. You typically will watch your own from a self scout analysis the day after the game. So Sundays in college football is whenever you do that big heavy self scout and obviously you self scout after practice every day. Well, but I think it's really important to understand and really get a feel for the players that you're going to go against as well as some of the tendencies that they like to show in certain downs and situations.
[00:13:45] Speaker B: You grew up in the Houston area but as I understand it, you've got some ties to the state of Arkansas, right?
[00:13:50] Speaker D: Yeah. So my mom is actually from Arkansas.
Tiny, tiny, tiny town called Emerson, Arkansas right outside of Magnolia, probably about an hour and a half from El Dorado, not too far from Haynesville, Louisiana as well. So it's right small, little, small town. And I go every summer back to Arkansas. My mom went to Southern Arkansas University and we still have family in the state of Arkansas.
I fly into Fayetteville to tonight actually. So it'll be my first time in the city of Fayetteville, but I've heard great things. I'm excited to hear that stadium. I want to hear the pigs being called. Like I need the full experience. So I have a few ties but it'll be my first time being able to visit Razorback Stadium.
[00:14:43] Speaker B: Your mom was pretty good athlete at down there, right? So you.
[00:14:47] Speaker D: She was a track star sprinter. She ran a 50 yard dash. She Won state as a, as a junior and as a senior in her high school career. So she, she was kind of well known in the small city of Emerson.
[00:15:03] Speaker B: You've mentioned this is your first time to be at a game in Fayetteville. I know you worked for Longhorn Network previously, so obviously you're, you're aware of what happened here four years ago when Steve Sarkeesen brought the Longhorns to Fayetteville and Arkansas got that big win in Sam Pittman's second season.
I want to that game, it felt like it was kind of a, a pivotal moment in, in Pittman's career, certainly. And how do you think Arkansas maybe gets back to that point? Like, what would it take for Arkansas to recreate maybe the feeling around the program that they had that night four years ago?
[00:15:40] Speaker D: Well, that night, Arkansas was definitely the most physical team on the field. And it was made apparently from the start of the game to the very end of the game. And that wasn't just from one side of the ball. It was on the offensive and the defensive side of the ball. And I came away extremely impressed. Bumper pool actually became my favorite linebacker after that game. Just the way that he played, he fly, he flew around.
Unbelievable effort, strain, relentless. Kind of comes to my mind with one of those types of a kind of adjective that describes the way that he played the game. And then obviously whenever he got a hold of you, he was going to make sure he hit you and you remembered the hit that he left. But ultimately it got to start with that right. The physicality and usually physicality starts in the trenches. Your offensive line and your defensive line have to set the tone. Landon Jackson was an elite defensive lineman a year ago. That's now we get to see play on Sundays.
Being able to replace that type of production and that type of talent, right. There are a couple of guys that expect to insert into that spot. And I also expect Cameron Ball to take another step forward to kind of fill in the gap of the production that was left behind by Landon Jackson. But you gotta have somebody like that and then you gotta have multiple people elevating their play on that same level and you flip it over to the offensive side of the ball and that's where you really get to truly form your identity. Right. And Taylor Green, with the athleticism that he possesses, being able to have that run style, you got a mixture of couple of running backs that'll be playing. Especially whenever Brayden Russell gets guys worn down, you hit them with the magic of Mike Washington Jr. As well as the magic of Rodney Hill and then you add in the legs of Taylor Green.
Like, that's really, really where you can create that championship type of caliber team is by being able to establish the line of scrimmage, stopping the run and then being able to run the ball effectively. And that's what Arkansas did, you know, that year four years ago, and they had a phenomenal season with the formula that, you know, catered to what they did very well. And if they can do that again, that's how they become relevant in that SEC race and then back on the national landscape.
[00:18:11] Speaker B: Are you still doing SEC Network in studio stuff?
[00:18:15] Speaker D: I will be, yes, sir. So on Tuesday nights, we'll be doing SEC now, and so I'll be featured on that. We'll all, as analysts, kind of rotate in on different weeks. So I'll be featured throughout the course of the entire season.
[00:18:29] Speaker B: Let me get you out of here on this.
What are your thoughts on the sec? Texas is the favorite. There's so much talk about Arch Manning and what he may do this year. Heisman favorite.
They're the team to beat.
What would it take for Texas not to win the league? Like, what teams do you think might give them the most trouble?
[00:18:47] Speaker D: Yeah, I think Texas obviously was voted on by preseason media polls, but at the end of the day, I think there are truly four or five different teams that could win this conference. You look at Georgia, who's always been the king of the conference over the past few years, can't bypass them for what they've been able to do. Alabama is right there in the same vein. Right. They did it for a span that was truly thought to be unbelievable underneath Nick Saban. And then you bring in Caitlin DeBoer. And year one is a disappointment. They won nine games. So it's like if. If nine games is a disappointment, then that goes to show you the standard that a lot of people at Alabama have and also the talent level that they possess. Garrett Nussmeier at lsu, another great talent at the quarterback position, who I believe they will experience improvement on defense as well as improvement in the running game, which kind of turned into their Achilles heel late down the stretch.
But I think they have every opportunity and ability to be in contention for an SEC championship race. And then obviously, Lenora Sellers in South Carolina, the Gamecocks, they were right there in every game that they played, almost, except for one a season ago with a young freshman quarterback who now has that full season underneath his belt, can move forward.
The likes of Dylan Stewart at the defensive end position is a focal point. And Shane Beamer hung his hat on creating turnovers and being a stingy type of defense. So those are just five teams off the top of my head. But you still got some of the unknowns with what Oklahoma may be. How good can Auburn be who typically has a very good defense and one of the best receiving core? My opinion in the conference, and it just, you just never really know. We all know the sec. It comes down to the guys that make the least amount of mistakes and who can win on the road. And the team that can do that, I think is the one that will ultimately end up in that championship fight. And then the championship game is, is basically two games within itself and one about what you have to do in order to try to win. So getting there just isn't good enough. Winning it is where you always want to finish.
[00:21:04] Speaker B: Fozzie Whitaker going to be on the SEC Network call Saturday with Dave Neal and Morgan Uber for the Razorback season opener against Alabama A and M. Fozzy, we appreciate your time.
[00:21:14] Speaker D: I appreciate it, man. Thank you all for having me on.
[00:21:16] Speaker B: All right, thank you. Have a safe trip to Fayetteville. When we come back, Ethan Westerman's gonna join us here in studio. But first, a word from Kendall King.
[00:21:22] Speaker C: At Kendall King, we're proud of over four decades of design.
We're continuing the legacy of great creative design by combining our brands of Kendall King, Soapbox and Shopcart.
Together, these brands represent a new focus in marketing design with individual attention to specific areas. Through our design expertise, supported by a team of talented professionals, we showcase our best. We are Kendall King. We are Soapbox. We are Shopcart. We are Design.
[00:21:49] Speaker B: Hey, welcome back. Want to tell you about our friends at Bentonville Glass. They've been serving their community since 1971. Committed, professional, versatile. If you're looking for a quality leader in Northwest Arkansas or looking for skilled craftsmanship, look no further than Bentonville Glass or for all your glass market needs with the highest quality products. You can come by and see them now at 507 South Main in Bentonville or online at bentonvilleglass.com we appreciate you being here with us today. Hope you'll follow like subscribe to our podcast. Leave us a review.
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[email protected] and on your screen right now, if you're watching us, you'll see a QR code. You can scan that. You'll find our daily newsletter that's a free service just we send you out all of our stories that we post every day first thing in the morning. So hope that you'll subscribe to that newsletter. Ethan Westerman is joining me here in the studio now. Arkansas and Alabama A and M just two days away. Supposed to be a pretty day Saturday, although right now in Fayetteville, it's it's awfully rainy, cool. Different kind of weather that we're accustomed to this year, certainly for that first game of the year.
We've been to games before, many games before the season opener where, you know, the heat is the story, whether it be running out of water. In Little Rock two years ago during the season opener. I remember many years ago there was a like a hydraulic gun that they used to shoot T shirts into the crowd and it exploded on the field from the heat of the turf. It's not going to be like that this weekend. A little bit different season opener that the Razorbacks are going to have, weather wise, opponent wise. It's going to be what we've been used to. I mean, Arkansas played UAPB last year. You know what's interesting to me? Arkansas beat UAPB by 70 in their first game last year.
Alabama A&M lost by 70 in their first game last Year to Auburn. Different coaching staff, certainly different players.
I don't know that I expect a 70 point game. I don't. I think you'd be crazy going into a game thinking that. But certainly, you know, the expectation is that Arkansas is going to win this handily. You talked to Sam Shade recently, the Alabama A and M coach. What'd you learn about that team?
[00:24:25] Speaker A: Yeah, well, anytime you have a new coach, I don't care what level you're at.
I mean the first priority is they're going to have to just build a team. Like build their own first roster. He brought a lot of guys with him from Miles College, which is a Division 2 school there in Alabama that he was at prior. He's an Alabama guy through and through. Like he grew up there, played for the Crimson Tide, had an NFL career. I think he was drafted by the Bengals and then played some for Washington and then he kind of Got into coaching. It's kind of crazy. He started volunteering at. Is it Briarwood?
There's a school in Birmingham that's the.
[00:25:02] Speaker B: The high school.
[00:25:03] Speaker A: The high school, yeah. He was, I think the same school district, volunteering with like a middle school team. And through that started getting more opportunities to get coaching, you know, the high school level. And then it was there that he was coaching, you know, for Briarwood, their high school team, that he had the Samford coach, who, I'm blanking on his name, who had been the coach at Samford, got in contact with him and wanted to bring him on his staff because Samford's another one of those Alabama schools and that's how he got his in like into college coaching. It all started with becoming a volunteer middle school coach. So it's kind of funny there he was actually on that Samford staff whenever they came into Little Rock. Brett Bielema's first season at Arkansas in almost. I don't say almost beat Arkansas, but they scared him. I mean, it was 31, 21, I think was the final. I think there was an Alex Collins rushing touchdown like in the fourth quarter. Everybody breathe long.
[00:25:53] Speaker D: Run.
[00:25:53] Speaker A: Yep. Yeah, but I mean, he was on that Samford team that had a lot of NFL talent on it. And that's just kind of springboarded his. His coaching career. He, like I said, was the past three years at Miles College, which is in.
Which is also in Alabama. And he brought his guys with him. But they do have a returning quarterback that was on last year's Alabama A and M team. You didn't bring him in. His name's Cornelius Brown, who is a seventh year college football player. He's 25 years old. We are the same age. So that was interesting to me, you know, and it's. You're going to see a lot of similarities.
I mean, I pointed this out in a story that's going to be on our website soon. But the two quarterbacks on Saturday, you're number one. You're going to have a green and a brown. So you got two colors. They both wear number 10 and they're both like 6, 5, 2, 20 to 230. I mean, they're going to be. It's going to be very similar. It's going to be weird.
[00:26:46] Speaker B: But they're surrounded by different players though.
[00:26:48] Speaker A: Surrounded by different players. Yeah. Here's the difference. I think Arkansas has a little bit, probably more.
A little bit better offensive line to protect him. I'd assume that on Saturday Arkansas will want to make life a little bit difficult on Mr. Cornelius Brown. They call him Quad because he's Cornelius Brown the fourth. So his nickname is Quad on the team. So that's, you know, Sam Pittman's previewed him a little bit and he said that kind of. They've been using Miles College film, which is number one. I think that had to be probably interesting to get good film on them. I mean, there's D2 film out there.
[00:27:23] Speaker B: We had Fozzie Whitaker on in the last segment. He said that he looked for Miles College film from last week. He said he's. He's yet to be able to find it.
[00:27:30] Speaker A: Well, he had, I'm assuming at some point somebody.
I'm just guessing this is how it goes. You find somebody who you know is in the D2 world who knows how to get D2 film through your connections. And he got film on Miles. He said it's a different angle than you're usually watching film because, I mean, the stadiums are smaller. So I'm sure it's a, you know, the angle is just not as much on it on top.
But they use that film and they're kind of expecting a lot of rpo, a lot of stretch runs, and then they expect a lot of deep balls, too.
So it sounds to me like, and just from looking at their roster and stuff that they're a team that's smaller. I mean, other than their quarterback, they have actually a decent size on the lines, but the skill position is pretty small. And it sounds like they try and use their speed. It's kind of similar to what I think Arkansas is doing just with not SEC athletes. But yeah, so that's kind of what Arkansas is expecting. But Sam Pittman said they can't expect to, you know, just have cookie cutter what Miles did. And they got to be ready to adjust. And that's a good early season test. I mean, against the team that you should be, even if you aren't fully prepared for. Exactly. Schematically what they might do. You have the talon edge, but it gives Arkansas a good gauge of how good they are. I think it may be adapting on the fly.
[00:28:45] Speaker B: Did you see you mentioning that their quarterback was in his seventh year? Made me think about this.
Do you see the Stanford player who got flagged after the sack last week at Hawaii? But this may have cost him the game. May have cost.
It basically took Hawaii out of a second and forever and gave him, I think, the ball inside the red zone. Right before halftime. They scored a touchdown. They ended up winning by a field Goal.
He gets a sack and then he does a TikTok dance. And so the I read a tweet this week or last weekend it said, you know, such and such in his seventh year was flagged for doing a TikTok dance. And it's like, does anything explain College football in 2025 better than seventh year player TikTok dance?
[00:29:31] Speaker A: The only thing would be if after the game he hopped in the portal.
[00:29:35] Speaker B: Because he may need to after they may have left him in Hawaii. Find your own way home.
[00:29:41] Speaker A: Yeah, it's on the side note, I think it's really funny that I think it was not too long ago that Rhett Lashley, SMU's coach was talking about the bottom of the SEC, how bad it was. And then Stanford went and got beat at Hawaii game one of the of the season. It just was kind of like might not want to, you know, as the ACC be really bashing the bottom of the SEC when you got some of those teams down at the bottom.
[00:30:03] Speaker B: Sanford's in a bad way right now.
[00:30:05] Speaker A: Yeah, they're not.
[00:30:06] Speaker B: They weren't good to begin with and then they fired their coach and like a real inopportune time during the spring and you've got a, an interesting hierarchy there where Andrew Luck is their.
The the equivalent of a gm. I don't know if that's his title, but he's got more authority over the program than even the head football coach does. And that's backward from what you see everywhere else.
[00:30:32] Speaker A: Yeah. And I just feel like right now, Stanford, I mean, I was shocked on Saturday. I woke up and was looking at the lines for all the games. I was shocked that they were an underdog. I mean just because I think anytime like Hawaii is not some great, you know, just group of whatever. The number isn't even anymore. Is it still 5?
[00:30:50] Speaker B: 5 for now. It'll be 6 next year.
[00:30:52] Speaker A: But they're not like some Group of 5 power. And to be an underdog going into there, I mean that let me know.
You know, Vegas gets a lot of things right. And they were right on that too. Is the state of Stanford's program isn't good right now.
[00:31:06] Speaker B: We had Christina here earlier this week and you've been at all the practices this preseason.
Maybe just big picture, two or three things that stood out to you that you learned maybe that changed your opinion of something.
Like what were the big takeaways for you?
[00:31:22] Speaker A: I think the number one thing I learned in the preseason about this team is just that I think that they have a little Bit more depth in two areas that I didn't think they had it necessarily. Not that I didn't think they had numbers. I just didn't know how quality the guys were. And that's the offensive line and the secondary.
I think both of those units. If I was sitting here, I mean I am sitting here right now a couple days before the season predicting what will be the most improved units on the team. I think I would pick O line and secondary number one secondary. It's not that much of an ask the most improved. I mean you were bottom of the SEC and past defense, gave up a ton of big plays.
But I also think that they can.
What's going to stand out about them, I think is I think that they're a little bit more built to have some takeaways this year. They're a lot bigger, a lot more physical.
And I think that they're going to be able to maybe cause some fumbles on the back end. I mean that's a big emphasis for the team right now, is creating more takeaways because if you take out they had five in their game against Auburn last year. They had five in their game against Mississippi State, both wins. Other than that, they had five combined all the rest of the games.
So I think that that's kind of what they did with the secondary was try to get some more physical guys who can maybe create some of those opportunities. And then the O line, I mean the fact that you can move Keyshawn Blackstock to the deep, to a defensive tackle, I think tells you what you need to know about how they feel about what they have as far as like backups on the line. Right now they just have I think seven, eight, maybe nine capable guys and they have freshmen who they're really confident in too. So I think that's my biggest takeaway from the preseason. I also think that maybe one thing that just got more solidified was Monte Harrison is legitimately going to play like it's not a anymore. One of those things where we kind of speculate if a 30 year old or I guess last year it was if the 29 year old can get on the field, he's going to be on the field this year. He's one of their better receivers and he's just. Just watch practice and he's just physical, he's catching everything. He's kind of a leader of the group. I it's just get ready. I mean you're going to see it.
[00:33:24] Speaker B: So one doc this is the first day of five consecutive days of college football.
Want to go through some games tonight?
Like what's the game? Are you maybe let me ask this, are you going to watch football tonight?
[00:33:40] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:33:41] Speaker B: Okay, so. So what game, without looking at the schedule, have you kind of circled on your Thursday night calendar?
[00:33:48] Speaker A: The first. I mean it's uca. Missouri is the first SEC team to play. And I'm always going to be more interested to see an SEC team play.
[00:33:55] Speaker B: And they're the only SEC team playing tonight.
[00:33:57] Speaker A: They do this often?
[00:33:58] Speaker B: I feel like they do. But you know, like there have been some years where they packed a lot of these SEC games into that opening Thursday night. I think the league is trying to maybe get away more from the Thursday night thing and really emphasize, you know, it. There are some Sunday games and there's a. There have been times where an SEC team's played on Monday night too. But I think they're really trying to emphasize keep your games on Saturday.
[00:34:27] Speaker A: Yeah. And I. Because last year, I mean Arkansas was part of that group that played on opening day and I know that was a little bit of.
[00:34:33] Speaker B: They've done that before too.
[00:34:34] Speaker A: Forgot the official reason why that was adjusted.
[00:34:37] Speaker B: But there was for tv.
[00:34:38] Speaker A: It was just for tv as the same network needed to be two years prior. They adjusted the time of a game for the Heat at War Memorial. That's right, the opener. But, but yeah, I. These Thursday night games. I'm glad when there is one though, to be honest. Like it's some football on your TV and I think yeah, Missouri is a team that a lot of question marks this year. I mean it's a very different team and so it'll be good to just watch them. And then it's an in state team from Arkansas, UCA playing up there. So I'll have my eye watching that one. Is there.
[00:35:09] Speaker B: Missouri is a 39 and a half point favorite by the way.
[00:35:12] Speaker A: Yeah, that's about how these go.
[00:35:14] Speaker B: I did not realize because is there a line for every time that an SEC team plays an FCS team?
[00:35:21] Speaker A: I think most of the time there is.
[00:35:24] Speaker B: Was there a line for Arkansas UEPB last year?
[00:35:26] Speaker A: I think there was.
[00:35:27] Speaker B: Okay, but maybe it's maybe a deal where some sports books choose not to put it on the book.
[00:35:34] Speaker A: Yeah, I think there's typically especially maybe like these local sports books that would have.
That would have that in there every time for Arkansas. But I also think that it's kind of funny that like this past weekend there was a line for UNLV versus Idaho State. I think UNLV was like a 38 point favorite and that was a game they barely won. I mean that was a game. Dan Mullen's team, man. Sheesh. I knew from the first drive of that game when Idaho State just marched it down the field, they were in for a doozy.
[00:36:06] Speaker B: You got to be careful about taking too many things away from week zero, good and bad. I thought last year there was a week zero game where SMU played at Nevada and I watched SMU like they are not going to be able to hold up on the line against the acc. They're not.
And lo and behold they did. I mean, I don't. Did they lose an ACC game, maybe one game before the ACC championship?
[00:36:31] Speaker A: Yeah, they. That's how it always goes. I mean you think also about last year in week one, South Carolina barely beat Old Dominion and they had a pretty good season too.
[00:36:39] Speaker B: Had to score a late touchdown to beat them.
[00:36:40] Speaker A: Yeah. But I will say there is a very much a different feel when you watch an FCS team do it. Idaho State did to unlv. If it's an FCS doing it. My questions usually really Spike.
[00:36:52] Speaker B: To answer my question, I say Arkansas is a 46 and a half point favorite over Alabama A and M. So yes, there are lines for these games.
[00:36:59] Speaker A: And that's. I mean that's so tricky because I think in theory Arkansas could probably choose us. Like they should be able to choose a score. But you're always having to factor in like are the backups? When are they going to come in? How does that influence the scoring? I mean these lines are tricky. You can't always expect Arkansas to win 70 to 0 or Auburn to win 73 to 3 or whatever Tennessee did last year to that poor team they played. Do you remember that score?
[00:37:24] Speaker B: Well, weren't they up like 65 nothing at halftime or something?
[00:37:27] Speaker A: Yeah, it was one of the saddest scores I think I've ever seen that padded Tennessee stats for a whole year.
[00:37:32] Speaker B: You eat on. I mean think about Arkansas. Think about, you know, they were 10th in total offense last year.
But you know, take away two or three games and they might not be top 25.
[00:37:46] Speaker A: Yeah, well that.
[00:37:47] Speaker B: The thing is, and you can say.
[00:37:48] Speaker A: That for a lot of teams that every. It ends up weighing out with every. Because pretty much everybody in the power conference plays one of these games. But Arkansas last year, like Mississippi State playing them. That was a stat game for anybody too because that defense was bad.
[00:38:02] Speaker B: Everybody got to eat against Mississippi State. Oh yeah, I'm not talking about just from Arkansas. Like everybody who played Them scatter.
[00:38:08] Speaker A: Boo played them and he shred him up. Oh my gosh. Crazy stat line.
[00:38:13] Speaker B: I've never, you know, I do these efficiency numbers every year. I've never seen defense. Defensive efficiency deficiency would actually be a really good word for this. But I've never seen defensive efficiency so poor as Mississippi State had.
[00:38:27] Speaker A: Yeah, that was a. I mean that was the week that Taylor Green was like the national player of the week offensive.
And so yeah, you're always going to have those games on your schedule and this, this week you're going to see plenty of them. I mean they always are pretty front loaded. You asked what games today though? Boise State south at South Florida is.
[00:38:46] Speaker B: That's the only top 25 team playing tonight. Boise.
[00:38:49] Speaker A: And that's just interesting because Boise is one of those cold, cold teams. They play in very cold conditions toward the end of the year and they're going to Miami. This is a win, win for everybody.
This is, this is just a South Florida's in Tampa or Tampa, Miami. There's. What's.
[00:39:08] Speaker B: The FAU is in the area in Boca Raton.
[00:39:14] Speaker A: Yes, there's a lot in that area, but South Florida is the Tampa school. Good catch. I lied.
[00:39:19] Speaker B: They play at the Buccaneers Stadium.
[00:39:21] Speaker A: Yeah. Well, this is a win for everybody. You're going to see the Broncos on the beach.
[00:39:25] Speaker B: Boise would be happier if this game was Thanksgiving weekend than be playing. Although, you know, playing in Boise Thanksgiving weekend, that can be a nice home field advantage. Game I'm looking forward to is Nebraska plays Cincinnati tonight at Arrowhead Stadium. I think that could be a really cool game.
[00:39:40] Speaker A: And I mean, think about it.
[00:39:41] Speaker B: They've sold this thing out apparently. And it's like, I think Nebraska fans have allegedly bought over 70,000 tickets for this game and it's, you know, it's not far from. From Nebraska. Certainly you got a lot of Nebraska fans in that area of Missouri.
That that could be a really neat looking deal. I was told one time, and I don't know if this is true or not, but that Arkansas and Nebraska had at one point at least discussed a neutral site game in Kansas City.
[00:40:11] Speaker A: That'd be really cool. And then Arkansas was going to play Missouri that Covid year.
[00:40:15] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:40:15] Speaker A: And that didn't materialize because of COVID but man, I'm sure I'm not the first one to say this, but Travis Kelsey's old team going to play in Arrowhead tonight. So right after he got his.
[00:40:28] Speaker D: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:40:29] Speaker A: You know, whole engagement.
[00:40:31] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:40:32] Speaker A: How special.
[00:40:33] Speaker B: We'll leave that for the other podcast.
[00:40:34] Speaker A: I Did see that Cincinnati offered to do their wedding and it's in their stadium like that on social media.
[00:40:41] Speaker B: One other game that's got just some, some local interest here. Minnesota Buffalo tonight. Drake Lindsay, the former Fable High school quarterback, he'll be, I think he's starting that game for Minnesota tonight.
[00:40:52] Speaker A: I've seen people list Minnesota as a sneaky dark horse team this year to make some noise. I've seen that multiple places. I don't know anything else about their team other than Drake, but I'll be watching the Gophers.
[00:41:04] Speaker B: Lots of Friday night games here. I, you know, I made this statement a second ago that the SEC is wanting more Saturday games. Auburn's playing on Friday night. So I think you've got an SEC game at least four days this week because South Carolina is going to play on Sunday.
So you've got a lot of SEC games spread out here over these first four days. But I do think that overall and some of these, you know, like I think Auburn is at Baylor, you know, that's the home team gets, you know, I think both have to agree to it but you know, the home team has a certain level of sway there.
[00:41:43] Speaker A: Yeah. And I, I like these, you know, there's the requirement to play the power conference team. I like doing it in the first week of the year. I just think that that's a good way to kick off this season. And also week one results can be a lot more forgivable in my opinion. Like you can lose a game in week one that, I mean, at the end of the year you're a different team and there's a lot more forgiveness there than if you schedule this, you know, near mid season or whatever and, and you don't play well, then I think that it gives, you know, both teams a good chance to, you know, gauge where they're at. It could give you a momentum building win for the rest of the year. Like Arkansas, I know I don't think they were big 12 yet when they beat Cincinnati and Fayetteville, but I mean that was a big win for Arkansas and it just kind of propelled them, you know, there for the first few weeks until the Fumble and Jerry World derailed the season.
[00:42:32] Speaker B: But things never really turned back around. I mean, no, really, I mean there was a really good feeling about the pro when they beat Cincinnati and they beat South Carolina and they beat Petrino in Missouri State. You're three and oh, I think they were top 10 again. They're coming off a nine win season and then that fumble against A and M.
It's like the program has never quite recovered. Certainly not.
They have never gotten back to the level of perception that I think existed prior to that fumble.
[00:43:01] Speaker A: Yeah. I don't think they've been in the top 25 since. Right.
[00:43:06] Speaker B: You're putting me on the spot.
[00:43:06] Speaker A: I don't know if they have. It's really inflating. Yeah.
[00:43:11] Speaker B: Okay. Arkansas soccer, by the way, in action tonight against Duke. We had Colby Hale on our show yesterday. Go back and find that if you want to hear what Arkansas soccer coach has to say about this. Duke number three, Arkansas number eight. We'll have coverage of that game on our website tonight@whole hogsports.com plus plenty more content overnight. Looking forward to this Arkansas Alabama A game. We are going to have Parker Coyle, Razorback baseball pitcher, on our show tomorrow. We'll talk to him about his decision to return to campus after he was drafted in the summer's Major League Baseball draft. So we hope we see you tomorrow. Until then, have a great day, everybody.
