Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Hey, welcome in. We're going to talk Razorback football today. We have Tom Murphy in studio with us. Want to tell you our show is brought to you by Eglins Best. When it comes to your game day, you want the best in your lineup. That includes your eggs. Eglins Best delivers more of the nutrition you need with six times more vitamin D and 25% less saturated fat than ordinary eggs. You can score now with Eglins Best. Better taste, better nutrition, better eggs. For more information, visit Eglins Best.
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It feels kind of like a game we've seen in the midweek for Arkansas a couple three times this year where it doesn't start out real pretty for them offensively. They were getting no hit through four innings last night. TJ Pompey leads off the fifth, he scores and gives them a one to nothing lead.
And then the, you know, the cap kind of came off in the sixth inning. The Tom Reese Robinette after they loaded the bases without a hit. Nolan Souza struck out but he gets to first. And then Kahuillo Aloy and Zach Stewart, they both walk. TJ Pompey comes up, gets himself a strike because he doesn't get in the batter's box fast enough, ends up striking out for the first out and then Reese Robinette gives him the hit that they kind of have been looking for. You know, like they haven't had that big 2, 3 run hit this year very often. In fact, I was looking at some data yesterday as it relates to home runs, but I think that kind of the same thing can be said about singles and doubles.
You look at their home runs this year and I think every home run they've hit, except for one, has either been a solo home run or a two run home run. Like that's kind of the difference that I see offensively between this team and say like last year's team is last year they would get guys on base, they'd get a big 2, 3 run hit and drive them home.
You're just not seeing that this much this year. But good win for him. Seven to nothing over Little Rock. Little Rock. They threw a starting pitcher last night who they're going to move to their weekend rotation. Nick Bronzini, who began his career at lsu.
And this is the fourth year in a row or the fourth game in a row that Arkansas has shut out Little Rock.
[00:02:46] Speaker B: Yes. And I'm eyeballing those comfortable chairs over there and I'm wondering at what point do I reach Bubba status?
[00:02:51] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:02:52] Speaker B: And we can be over there. Comfortable, Matt. Talking about baseball.
[00:02:55] Speaker A: That's above my pay grade.
We only talk in the comfortable chairs on Mondays and Thursdays.
[00:03:01] Speaker B: Gotcha. No, but you know, you're right.
Not a lot going on offensively. And then finally it was an inning unlike many they've had in the last few weeks where, you know, manufacturer guys getting on, starting with this seemingly innocent strikeout. And Sousa and you know, if he'd have been hauling butt down the first baseline, he would have been safe easily. But he beat, he beat it because the throw from the catcher was high and it leads to the Robinette home double over the first base bag and just hasn't been a lot of that. It was, it was Robinette's first three RBI game this season and his fourth multi RBI game. But they parlayed that into.
And then Helfrich follows up with a double and I think he gets the third on a wild pitch or something and they get him in. And so it ended up being a five run inning and they're just, it's been few and far between and maybe some type of spark that takes him into that Alabama series.
[00:03:58] Speaker A: I thought the big news last night was that Gabe Gackel pitched and Dave Van Horn didn't want to show his hand whenever he was asked. Does that mean that he's coming out of the rotation?
To me, I think anybody who's watching this, like if Rob Vaughn from Alabama pulls up the box score and he sees that Gabe Gackel has pitched on Tuesday night for Arkansas in a relief role. And oh, by the way, there are these, you know, comments leading up to it that are saying we're thinking about moving him back to the bullpen, that seems pretty cut and dry that he's going to come out of that number one. We'll see. They'll announce the rotation tomorrow what they're going to do for Alabama. But it certainly seems like Gabe Gackles going back to the bullpen.
[00:04:38] Speaker B: And, you know, the Alabama folks knew that last night. I mean, they looked at that box score last night, they saw what happened. That's what you'd anticipate. But they keep their options open. Let's just say, for instance, Hunter Dietz does start the first game. He seemed the most likely candidate because they were early last week and he would be right on target for a start this week.
They would keep. Keep their options open. Who do you follow him up with? What does that look like, Michael?
[00:05:04] Speaker A: Tba. Tba. Again, that's kind of what I think might happen. It would not surprise me if tomorrow, when they announce their rotation for the Alabama series, they go 100 deets, game one, TBA, game two, TBA, game three, just to leave your options open. Because, you know, like, what if you get into a game, game one, you're going into the 13th inning and you take a lead and, you know, maybe you're wanting to save Cole Gibler to start game two, but you've already pitched, you fired some bullets and it's like, hey, let's go get this one. We're going to go ahead and pitch him.
We'll see. We'll see. It's going to be interesting to see how that plays out. But certainly, I think reading the tea leaves, it feels like Hunter Dietz is going to be the guy on Friday night down at Alabama. It's like Razorback football, spring football. What are they, three weeks into it? I mean, seven practices in seven practices.
There's spring break in the middle of it. They've got their spring game coming up here toward the end of the month.
They had a scrimmage last weekend and I tell you, the thing that stood out to me was that the offense didn't score a touchdown.
Boy, you run a lot of plays during scrimmages and for an offense not to score a touchdown, that to me really jumped off the page.
[00:06:15] Speaker B: Well, let's sure we get the format right now. It was all move the ball, mostly from the 25. They did kick a bunch of field goals. But yes, we've seen scrimmages where they set up situational, where they're just doing goal line stuff. You're going to get a bunch of short yardage, rushing touchdowns in those scenarios.
So they didn't do that. They didn't do high red zone, they didn't do low red zone. They did move the ball. And also there were, I think Ryan Silverfield wanted to kind of couch the way that would look with. But we made them go on fourth down sometimes. So there was turnovers on downs in probably in the red zone or at least inside the 30. There was obviously the one on the goal line stand where Kamari House comes in, who's the new star and makes a tackle on a run play.
[00:07:00] Speaker A: When you say star, you mean star
[00:07:01] Speaker B: position, star position, nickelback. And so the D line did their job, tied some guys up, gave some linebacker and the star some free run and House came in, cleaned up and won the play.
[00:07:14] Speaker A: So.
[00:07:15] Speaker B: But yeah, I think they kicked seven field goals and I've talked to people who were at the practice and they moved the ball. I mean, just if you look at the passing yardage alone from the big plays, that was more than 200 yards of passing. So they moved the ball some, they just didn't score touchdowns. And then I think yesterday, you watched practice yesterday, the offenses were on point. KJ Jackson was with the ones they moved the ball in both the team tempo period. That was at the start of practice and in. They just set him up first and goal from the 10. And all three units scored touchdowns.
For the first team, it was a K.J. jackson slant to Kris Marshall with first team cornerback Jaheem Joker Johnson on him. Just a nice slant, well delivered ball.
He had inside leverage. Johnson hit him on about the two and Marshall carried him into the end zone. So touchdown there. The second team touchdown and run play by Cam Settles. And then the best play of the scrimmage was Antonio Jordan laying out and K. Trotter threw a fade ball up to him and one hand green, great catch, just.
And you could tell the offense was jacked up for that. So they fought back a little bit after being held out of the end zone.
[00:08:27] Speaker A: I don't want to make too much over a spring scrimmage in April and like try to draw too many conclusions out of it. And there's new quarterback, new personnel, new coaching staff and everything. But I will say, I heard you say, you know, they moved the ball, they just kicked it. Like that's been the problem with Arkansas the last two years. They've had this offense that could move the ball up and down the field, 600 yards, 500 yards, you know, whatever. And they, they don't finish it with touchdowns. They've been highly inefficient for.
You know, I'd even go back to, even before Petrino Enos, the offense was pretty inept. They couldn't really even move the ball. But the last two years, that was the Deal. It was like, yeah, hey, move the ball. Yards are great. They don't really mean anything unless you get points that accompany them.
[00:09:10] Speaker B: Well, and their points weren't like totally disappointing in 24 and 25. But turnovers were the biggest issue for that team last year in going two and 10 because their turnover margin was horrid. They fumbled twice going in in games that were in weeks three and four. That if they don't, who knows, they might have been 4, 0 for that Notre Dame game, but they weren't. And so you're hearing it over and over. They have drills and circuits in these practices about own the ball on offense and take the ball on defense. And honestly, I think that there's really very little chance their offensive production numbers next year will match. They were 10th in the country in total offense two years ago, in 24, just a short time ago. Now, they didn't get to that level last year because the turnovers and what have you. But it will be hard for them to match their total offense numbers next year. But like you say, if you end drives with touchdowns and you clean up your turnover margin, then they have a chance to be a more product or a more efficient offense.
[00:10:14] Speaker A: I hate the total offense that I really do. It just like you. Rewards you. Well, no, I don't hate wins. It rewards you for. It rewards you for yards. It doesn't reward you for points. Like, you know, that year track it, Matt. That year that they were a top 10 offense, they had 600 plus yards against UAPB who should never even been playing against an SEC team in the first place. They had like 648 yards against Oklahoma State. And we know how poorly offensively I thought they played in that game. I mean, yeah, they moved the ball, but they just couldn't finish drives. And then they played against the Mississippi State defense that until Arkansas last year was probably the worst defense an SEC team has ever put on the field. So like that inflated their numbers. I think if you look at their efficiency in 2024, it was bottom half of the SEC. And yet here, you know, people talk about a top 10 offense. It's. I guess you can kind of make stats to be. You want to, but I never have like total offense as a stat.
[00:11:14] Speaker B: No, you don't like wins in pitching either. And several.
[00:11:16] Speaker A: Oh God, those are horrible. But that is the most meaningless stat in baseball, by the way.
[00:11:20] Speaker B: But you still track and total yardage is a stat.
And we keep up with them.
[00:11:27] Speaker A: How about KJ and AJ the quarterback battle? That's what people are interested in the most this year.
Talking to, you know, some people who have been out there because I haven't been at a football practice, I'm, I'm knee deep in baseball right now. But from people who've been out there, they say that it feels like K.J. jackson maybe has taken a step forward and feels like he looks like the front runner right now.
[00:11:50] Speaker B: So I sat in this chair nine days ago doing a podcast with Christina Long and she kind of asked, she kind of said, is it really KJ's job and they're just going to keep this alive for whatever purposes? And I was like, well, I think it's going to be a battle. But then in the rest of practices that week and this week, it's been pretty clear that KJ's been more productive, has been more just kind of in command from what you see. I don't want to speak for the coaches. I think it's going to continue to be share reps, reps with the ones throughout spring ball. We'll see what camp looks like when they come around, but it just feels like KJ's a little bit more in control.
And then when you see A.J. hill's got a little bit of a wind up to his pass delivery and they've got to, they've got to work on getting that corrected. And Mitch Stewart alluded to it that when they do their RPO game, it's got to be quicker. You got to deliver on time in that RPO game and that's a big part of what they do. So I don't mean to say that to denigrate AJ Hill because he certainly got some upside, a big frame and all that, but yesterday at practice, KJ ran with the ones and you could just see the efficiency was there.
[00:13:04] Speaker A: Can KJ win SEC games on a consistent basis? Like if they have to? Because it feels to me like they're going to potentially have to put this thing on the quarterback's arm to win a lot of games.
Can he do that?
[00:13:20] Speaker B: Well, that's the million dollar question with this team. Do they have enough quarterback talent to, to be a solid SEC club?
So if you play better defense, you clean up your turnover margin, you still gotta get some operation and efficiency from your quarterbacks. We have a small sample size with KJ Jackson, what he did late in the Texas game, what he did early in the Missouri game. They were behind pretty much out of control, out of touch in the Texas game when he came in. But despite that, and despite giving up a Scoop and score. That really put it out of reach. KJ Moved the team.
You can say, well, Texas had it in hand, but he still moved the team. And they got touchdowns late in the Texas game, the Missouri game, they did have the lead. He wasn't as efficient and then Taylor replaced him in the second half. But I don't think you can answer that question with great authority. Can he win an SEC game, but can he move an offense?
Can he show ball security? I think we have enough to say there's a chance he can do those things.
[00:14:24] Speaker A: See, that to me is the concern with this football team is their quarterback play. Because I just don't know. I didn't think they had good quarterback play last year from Taylor Green and I don't know that they upgraded by, you know, the two options they had. I felt like they could have gone out. And I understand that, you know, the money is what it is and you got to pay for a top end quarterback and everything, but I just kind of felt like with a first year head coach it would have been very beneficial for Arkansas to go out and get more experience at the quarterback position. I think that's what concerns me about quarterback this year. It's not necessarily that I don't think K.J. jackson doesn't have talent or A.J. hill or whoever else. It's that neither of them really have experience. I mean, we're talking about K.J. jackson. It's literally less than or maybe right at two halves of football that he's played in the SEC. That's pretty much the extent of his experience. And A.J. hill doesn't have more than that.
[00:15:16] Speaker B: That's right. And if you were to say, well, it's a veteran offensive line and he's got a bunch of weapons that have been here before to work with, you could have one answer that yeah, I think it'll work. But there's so much other new things. It's a new coaching staff, new scheme, a bunch of new offensive linemen, new running back core. Some of the receivers are back and mostly new on defense as well. So there's so many new components to the team that K.J. jackson is not only going to have to play his part, but maybe a little bit more for them to be more than just a four win team or a five win team.
[00:15:53] Speaker A: For people who have not watched Tim Cramsey's offense outside of last September in Memphis, what have you seen that's different about what they're going to be running this year relative to what it's looked like? The past couple of years with Petrino,
[00:16:08] Speaker B: well, yesterday when they looked pretty fluid.
So Bobby Petrino had adapted from what he did more of a drop back style, pro style with Mallett and Wilson to the RPO game because he had Lamar Jackson at Louisville. By the time he got to Arkansas, he was completely, I think, on board with RPO stuff and you saw a lot of that with Taylor Green, quarterback runs, option stuff. And I think a lot of that yesterday when they looked smooth was similar things. K.J. jackson has run with the ball, so I think you're still going to see RPO quick throws, tunnel screens, stuff on the edges along with a run game.
And you just got to block it up well and the quarterback's got to make good reads for, you know, the mesh to work.
As far as downfield, it hasn't been as fluid from what I've seen yet.
But when you think of all the newness that we've just spoken of, it takes a while for that to look good to me. When you start spring drills with a totally new deal, the defense has the upper hand. And that's what we saw the first six practices. They're reacting, they're being aggressive, and if the offense isn't well oiled and the timing is right, it's going to disrupt a lot of stuff. But yesterday they fought back because you could see the timing was better. KJ just looked more in control.
And so there's a lot of variables that have to come into play, but I don't think we're seeing anything that's drastically different than the Petrino set. Now, the intricacies of what their blocking schemes, whether, you know, zone blocking, interior zone, outside zone, those kind of things, those will come with time when we get to watch more of it. But other than that, it looks like pretty much modern day college RPO game.
[00:17:55] Speaker A: Is everybody wearing Guardian caps this spring? Like everybody I know the quarterbacks are not, but they've also got on those no contact jerseys. Is everyone else wearing them?
[00:18:03] Speaker B: I was looking at that the other day and it looks like a very high percentage. Almost everybody probably is wearing the Guardian caps and they look so puffy, like alien when you first look at them. But then they grow on you and you kind of lose track of that. But when you're standing right next to a player, it's, it's several inches above where their helmet is and it looks weird.
[00:18:20] Speaker A: Yeah, well, at least they look okay. These look okay. Who's the packers player?
Is it Dobbins who wears one? And I mean it Makes his helmet look like three times larger than anybody else on the field.
[00:18:31] Speaker B: Yeah, I like the, they got the Razorback logo on them now and they do look pretty clean, but they do look puffy.
[00:18:37] Speaker A: Yeah, that's, that's the thing that's always bothered me is just the aesthetic of it in games. And I understand that, you know, it. I am all for players feeling more safe, comfortable, confident, whatever.
But man, the aesthetic of some of the ones that the NFL ones wear, they just look really, really bad. I think that, you know, like, I'm looking at pictures of these, these don't look terrible. Like, I mean, they, you actually can make out, hey, that's a Razorback. That's, you know, it's not distorted.
[00:19:07] Speaker B: That's been upgrade over years past. And I think there's a little bit more padding in them now. At first it was the novelty of it. This looks weird. But if it's saving on concussions, that's the whole purpose of it. And really I've grown to.
I think the players probably like them. They probably don't weigh very much at all.
[00:19:23] Speaker A: Well, I think, you know, I think some people look at it, you know, football's not football anymore. But I, if you and I, you and I both have had the opportunity to talk to a lot of older football players who you can see and their families will tell you what, like football 50, 60 years ago without the right protection on their head has done to them or did do to them because a lot of them have passed away. And a lot of them passed away and they deteriorated pretty rapidly because of brain related injuries or illnesses. And so it's a new day. But I do like the aesthetic of this, I guess is where I'm going with that.
[00:20:07] Speaker B: Absolutely. CTE is a real thing and we know the risk and players do too, and they play the game despite that. I got knocked out twice in high school and do I worry about the long term down the road? Those were probably concussions. But back in those days, and this was the late 70s, you would just shake it off. You got cobwebs they didn't know about.
[00:20:28] Speaker A: Bring your bell rung, got your bell
[00:20:29] Speaker B: run, got back in there.
[00:20:31] Speaker A: But I wanted to ask you about two positions that you've written about here recently. We'll start with what is kind of front of mind because there's been a lot of talk this week about defensive line play. Obviously, they got Quincy Rhodes back and that might have been their biggest recruit of the off season because he had such a strong year last season. And we know that if he would have gone out on the, you know, the portal market, he would have been, you know, I think he would have been pursued by a lot of big name teams. He could have gone to the NFL draft and I think he could have gotten drafted this year. Maybe not as highly as he will by coming back and trying to improve his draft stock for next year. The question is not about Rhodes. The question is who lines up opposite Rhodes and do they have another pass rusher who can give him, you know, kind of using a baseball analogy, you know, you put a hitter behind your grade hitter to protect him. Do they have somebody on the other hand who can protect him as a pass rusher?
[00:21:27] Speaker B: We do not know the answer to that yet. They are casting about for people who can do it. I think they have guys at the jack position. Charlie Collins comes to mind. Stephen Soules was a pass rush specialist at Kentucky and Jamonte Waller who was at Auburn, they're going to be the guys who play the jack.
So not only are you hoping that guys like who play end can get loose, but they're going to send linebackers too. And that's why Quincy Rhodes talked about dropping into coverage.
I think Hunter Osborne, by the way, he is a not only a specimen on the football field, but he's a top notch guy. He came in and talked the other day, he seemed like a, a sharp guy and the coaches said he knows all the schemes, he asks all the questions, he gets everybody set up on the field. So Hunter Osborne is playing the tackle position and behind Rhodes is Xavian Sims, who they call Dayday, who hasn't got a lot of playing time in his past but he's been making plays at practice and I was talking to somebody about.
So I think defensive tackle, defensive line was the position they might have been the weakest at the thinnest at last year you could argue safety. But they really struggled to get a pass rush beyond Quincy. And Sims who came from Oregon, got a little bit of playing time there. I think he's going to have a chance to impact them and possibly be someone who can rush. But when you're talking about on a side opposite Quincy, well, he's an end. The Jack's going to be on the other side of the field. So I don't know where all they're going to bring pressure from, but it's going to have to be from guys who play the jack. Guys who are playing linebacker can, can Bradley Shaw can other linebackers, Wyatt Simmons and maybe other people provide some kind of pass rush and the answer to that is we don't know yet.
[00:23:25] Speaker A: Defensive line, there's a little rhyme that I always think of with defensive size. And guys, do you have size and do you have.
Where does Arkansas fit in those two areas?
[00:23:34] Speaker B: Well, when you look at them now, there's a little bit more bigger guys. I mean, you look at Trae Gen Odom, thankfully I have the roster up this time. Six' three, 291. You know, he came from Ohio State. I think he's going to be able to help. He's going to provide him depth. When they get off the bus, there's going to be guys who look big. I mean Okie's playing the nose. He's listed at 6, 2, 3, 14. Not a super huge guy, but he's going to provide. You know what you want him to do, Tie up blockers and all and let other guys get some work done. But the freshman Beal and Kennedy, they're huge dudes. Will they be able to help them this year? We don't know. Carlin Jones, the guy who came from USC, listed at 321, there's some bigger bulk guys, but can they do their jobs, maintain their gaps, tie up blockers? That's what we're going to have to, to wait and see. But I do believe the numbers and the height and you know, the size of these guys is going to be improved over last year.
[00:24:32] Speaker A: They look better getting off the bus. Yes. Okay. Wide receivers is another position you've written about here of late. That's one. It reminds me a little bit of quarterback where you keep, you know, like you keep some players that you probably want to keep but there's not like, like there's, there's nobody in that group of players who have numbers that just jump off the page at you.
[00:24:55] Speaker B: That's right. And they're top in speed. Worries me because I think that, that they struggled with that a little bit last year and we'll. I don't know if they're really ever going to get Jelani Watkins, who would be the fastest guy, but he's doing stuff on track and field that maybe that that's what he devotes his time to.
I think Kris Marshall is a top flight receiver. Can they keep his head on straight and do all the things he needs to do to be productive for people
[00:25:22] Speaker A: who don't know his past? I mean this is a player who. Tell me if I'm wrong, has he been kicked off of or dismissed from one team or two teams? Maybe there was a suspension in there at a team, right.
[00:25:32] Speaker B: I'm not sure how many quote dismissals there's been, but suspensions off the field, on the, you know, whatever. He's had disciplinary problems, just to put it in a nutshell. And talking to Larry Smith, it was like we sat down and had a heart to heart about what, what that's entailed and what it's going to take for you to stay on the field. He's already had an incident in practice. DJ Williams documented it on his podcast and DJ thought it was a positive that, you know, he, I think it was Lakai Roland tied up and what you respond, how you respond to that as a team. So he's going to be interesting. Courtney Crutchfield, can he do the things it takes mature to be able to provide help at receiver. C.J. brown, I think is going to be a better player. You know Ishmael Cece who was hurt last year with a wrist. So I think, I think the number and Jamari Hawkins, the guy who came over from Memphis, he's been near the top of drills.
I think he can be a contributor. So while they might not have a super top end speed guy, I think they do have some numbers. And I think Antonio Jordan, his catch yesterday was just phenomenal. He's not going to beat you with flat out speed, but if you put the ball in his area, he might be able to beat you to the ball and win some one on one ball. So Donovan Fappel, the transfer from New Mexico State, I think when you talk about those guys, maybe Jaylen Brown, you've already got seven guys we've probably named who will wind up making the travel squad and I think some of those will rise to the top. I don't know if they're going to be a top end SEC receiving corps, but I just, I think the numbers are going to be okay.
[00:27:09] Speaker A: Antonio Jordan, he's a Warren guy. The Warren guys are made different, man. They, they like. It's really, it's always fascinating to me how a school that small in a town that small can produce so many big time SEC players. I mean they had at least one or two go to Tennessee. Of course, you know, they had the group that came here with Childs and, and Grag and Jerrys, Wright, Traylon Burks came from there. I think all of it is a credit to Bo Hembury and that football staff and just the development that they have there at Warren. I did want to set the record straight here on Marshall. I looked this up while you were Talking so Marshall at three schools he's had some disciplinary issues. He was suspended twice and the last time indefinitely at Texas A and M. He got dismissed from the team at Ole Miss and then he got suspended a game last year at Boise State. So there's a track record there. But, but certainly he was a, was he a five star recruit out of high school? I think he's a five star out of high school. So like everybody, when you have that much talent, people are going to continue to give you opportunities and say hey may, maybe this will be the place that it works. We'll see with him.
[00:28:27] Speaker B: Well, I think it can be said he's, he's been a hothead in his past and we've seen that at practice. So Larry Smith described this way. He knows this is his last chance, his last time to make an impression. If he wants to play in the NFL, he's got to keep it together and be a good teammate this year and put up numbers at Arkansas. Last chance. He understands that.
[00:28:46] Speaker A: How do you feel about Silverfield and just kind of the.
I'm trying to think I'd say this the way he carries himself on a practice field because I think you can tell a lot about a coach in those moments.
[00:29:00] Speaker B: Still gathering intel on how I feel like it's going to play out for him. There's a lot of obstacles he's up against. The fact that he had to almost rebuild the entire roster and all that. And so much of the talent is coming from the American Conference type level. A lot of his coaching staff, a lot of the top transfers they've gotten in, Joker, Marshall, probably going to be a cornerback starter, played at two lane but this is high end Conference USA and I was talking, or excuse me, American Athletic Conference. I was talking to somebody at practice yesterday about how that's kind of the story of the newness of the SEC with Summerall, Golish, Silverfield, all coming from the American first year guys what that's going to look like because it's like a, it's like a new rebuild model. And so I do believe that his coaches that came over and the coaches he's attracted here believe in him and believe in his system that the players are going to be held accountable and if they can hold onto the ball better, which is one of their big mottos, they could be put a better product on the field. And this is what blows my mind. You always have to remember about last year's 2 and 10 teams.
If they had held onto the ball better, they might have won Five or six games. I don't know if that would have been a different disciplined, been a more disciplined team because turnovers hurt in a lot of games. But the Mississippi State game was an utter meltdown.
[00:30:27] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:30:27] Speaker B: And Petrino was part of that from a penalty standpoint and that cost him that game.
[00:30:32] Speaker A: I still feel like that game was. I think, I don't want to say the officials had it out for Arkansas, but I think they had rabbit ears when it came to Arkansas at the end of that game because you look at the discrepancy between penalty. It was like 19 to 4 or something at 193 yards to. It was incredible.
It was amazing how differently it felt like that game was officiated. But as Arkansas you had to own it because they did a lot of things that were self inflicted on their sideline that probably did not help them later in the game.
[00:31:05] Speaker B: Absolutely correct. It was the school record for total penalties and yardage. It cost them the game and I can't think of a more, you know, kind of a one sided officiating game than when BYU came here. It was a Big 12 crew and it felt like they kind of had their rabbit ears up in that game as well.
[00:31:24] Speaker A: It was BYU's first, I think it was like their first game against the power team as a Big 12 team or something like that. Hey, by the way, I noticed something kind of, and this is totally off topic. Have you noticed on the roster There's a TJ, a DJ, AJ, KJ and CJ.
[00:31:39] Speaker B: I knew there were a bunch of Js going on.
[00:31:41] Speaker A: We're 21 away from having a lot of fun.
[00:31:44] Speaker B: Yeah. With a J for every initial. And a lot of times they don't use the periods anymore. It's just.
[00:31:49] Speaker A: No, nobody uses periods anymore in their, their initials.
[00:31:52] Speaker B: So yeah, I mean when they call it the quarterbacks just say aj, kj Y' all get over here, you throw
[00:31:56] Speaker A: it to cj see if he can outrun tj. I mean that's, that's kind of what it's like at, at practice these days.
So Tom, appreciate you being in here. You can read all of Tom's football coverage at Whole Hog Sports.
We're going to be back over here in the comfortable chairs tomorrow when Bubba Carpenter is in studio. We'll talk about the Razorback series against Alabama. Hope to see you then or at our website. Have a great day.
