[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: On today's show, we'll talk about what.
[00:00:08] Speaker A: Hunter Jureczyk had to say yesterday at the Hogs Illustrated Sports Club. We'll also be joined by Travis Swanson, former Razorback lineman, former NFL lineman. He'll talk to us about this new Ryan Mallett documentary that's come out this week. And Ethan Westerman and I will give our take on this weekend's games. But first, a word from Kendall King.
[00:00:24] 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, Kindle, 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 KendallKing. We are Soapbox. We are Shopcart. We are Design.
[00:00:51] Speaker A: Ethan Westerman here with me now. Hunter Jurecheck spoke at our luncheon yesterday. If you haven't listened to the audio, you can by going back and listening to yesterday's podcast.
Man, I mean, there was a lot of news, I feel like that was unpacked yesterday, whether it be Bud Walton arena renovation, talking about some different things they've got planned for the football stadium.
Obviously the I thought the most notable thing that he said, maybe in addition to saying that they've changed next year's schedule to remove Memphis and they've moved that game back a few years so they'll play Tulsa, North Alabama, Utah in an SEC schedule next year. I thought the most important stuff was what he had to say about War Memorial Stadium.
Then maybe to a lesser degree, what he had to say about playing Arkansas State. He did not say that they will not go back to War Memorial Stadium. He said that those conversations are going to be had. I asked him who are the voices who have a say so in this? He said it's himself, it's Sam Pittman, it's the UA president, it's the UA chancellor, it's the UA board of trustees, and it's the governor of Arkansas.
But I did not feel like, like if you're a fan of War Memorial Stadium and of Arkansas going down there and playing, I don't think you should feel very good after listening to his comments yesterday because even though he didn't take a position on it, he laid out a lot of reasons, a lot of stuff that Tom Murphy and I talked about earlier in the week.
But a Lot of the things that work against the program playing at War Memorial Stadium.
And like everything does nowadays, it really comes down to finances. It's a huge difference in what you can make in Fayetteville, where you can sell 173 suites per game as part of a season ticket package.
And going to Little Rock and not having that, the like it or hate it, the luxury seats, they are a big deal in sports right now. A really, really big deal. Those are your money makers. And I think that the ability to, not just the suites, but, you know, chairback seats, club level, whatever, like that's the, that's the big player. That's, that's a factor right now in War Memorial. Keeping a game or not.
[00:03:09] Speaker D: Yeah. And I mean, Yurichek said never say never so that he couldn't completely squelch the idea of ever going back there. But like you said, there wasn't any sort of real inspiring talk as far as like they're going to try and make this happen. It was almost, it felt to me like a maybe something way down the road comes about and we find ourselves playing there, but it did not seem like there's any active plans to try and go out of your way to schedule a game there.
That was just the vibe I got. I think that along with all that you mentioned with the, you know, how it's beneficial to play in Fayetteville from a financial perspective also for, I mean, not just football, but every sport, the recruiting element is really big where you can't have a normal recruiting weekend whenever, you know, your SEC counterparts are early in the year. I mean, you think about it, Arkansas had one last week for the season opener. They won't have another one until Notre dame on the 27th. And for a lot of sports, I mean, this is the time where the recruiting really ratchets up. And I mean you're, you're trying to recruit these prospects against other schools that are having these games on campus. It's hard to, you know, 16, 17, 18 year old, not let them be swayed and have them wait, you know, get their benefit of the doubt to wait it out and wait till you do have a home game and not commit somewhere else earlier. It's, it's just, yeah, it hurts all the sports whenever they don't play in Fayetteville. And I think that kind of that two sided, you know, coin between that and the financial is really what drives Arkansas.
Doesn't seem like they have any plans to go back.
[00:04:45] Speaker A: Maybe the biggest quote yesterday or the most telling quote he said Quote, we charge a significant amount of money for season tickets. And so it really doesn't make sense to continue to play games at War Memorial Stadium. That's about as definitive as I've ever heard an ad on this topic.
[00:04:59] Speaker D: Yeah, and that's.
He basically. I feel like the vibe that I get was he shut down the idea of going back there without absolutely, you know, putting all the fire out. I mean, it's like he threw enough water on it, though, that you think it's pretty much out.
[00:05:14] Speaker A: He also said, quote, they would have to make a significant investment, they being War Memorial Stadium. The fact is, it takes away a recruiting weekend, not just for football, but for all of our sports. You can't recreate some of the things in Little Rock that you can have in Fayetteville. So, again, the feeling I've had all week is that this is, you know, the long goodbye is over to War Memorial Stadium and that it's, you know, it's been a long time coming. I mean, I've said this a number of times. They've kicked this can down the road so many times over the years when it felt like it was inevitable, and it feels like it is inevitable that the Razorbacks are going to quit playing there at some point in time.
I feel like this is the end of War Memorial Stadium. Maybe Arkansas State and Arkansas is such a big success that there are, you know, powers that, you know, because there's a political issue to it. I said, why is the governor involved? He said, well, Matt, he said the governor appoints the board of trustees, who hires the university president, who hires the university chancellor, who signs my checks. And so there is a, you know, there is a trickle down there. And so obviously there's going to be. There could potentially be some political influence, although we haven't seen from this governor the type of interest in War Memorial Stadium that I think we saw from the last governor.
Whether or not there is that interest, I don't know. It's just we haven't seen that interest out in public like we did from Asa Hutchinson.
But again, it just. It just feels like there's just not a lot of life and a lot of want to for this game.
[00:06:51] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:06:52] Speaker D: And it. It's a weird dynamic, especially when your. Your final game is one that you're going down there and you're playing a team that you gave 10,000 tickets to. And I know Hunter tried to kind of downplay if, like, he thinks it's going to be pretty much an Arkansas home crowd, but I.
[00:07:06] Speaker A: It'll be an Arkansas home crowd.
[00:07:07] Speaker D: I think that there will be enough Arkansas State people that if the big play happens and if you're going to hear it and if they quiet the Arkansas fans, they're going to be loud.
[00:07:16] Speaker A: Last year, remember when Tennessee was here and it was the most, it was the most orange. Well, it was the most opposing color that I have ever seen in Razorback Stadium in Tennessee.
They travel everywhere. They did this at Ohio State, too. You know, at the Horseshoe for the playoff, it was like probably 30% or more of the people in the Horseshoe were Tennessee fans. But you could hear Tennessee. And I don't think they had the number of people in Razorback Stadium last year that Arkansas State's going to have in a smaller War Memorial Stadium. I asked Hunter about this yesterday. I said, is it worth sacrificing potentially some of your home field advantage for having a lower guarantee payment to Arkansas State? He said, I don't think that's going to be a problem. I don't. He said, I don't worry about home field advantage not being, you know, existing for the Razorbacks tomorrow, but they got 10,000 tickets. We know from reports that they also went through the War Memorial box office and they went through the Razorback box office because they didn't want to necessarily pay the donation fee, the hostage fee, as I like to call it, on the tickets that Arkansas State was charging.
I think there's going to be 15,000 plus Arkansas State fans in that stadium tomorrow. And I think it's going to be very important for Arkansas to come out and hit them with a sledgehammer early to where you take the crowd out of it. Because I think the longer you can keep, number one, a team that is an underdog in the game, you know, the more belief they're going to have. But the longer I think you keep that big crowd from Jonesboro or, you know, the A State fans, wherever they come from, the longer they stay in that game, I think the more tense things are going to feel late in the game tomorrow.
[00:09:00] Speaker D: I agree. And I think it'd be honestly pretty eerie if Arkansas's final game in War Memorial, at least what looks like it could be if the Arkansas fans are taken out of it by. And you have these invaders. I mean, it's funny, I was thinking about this. It's like this is closing the chapter potentially for Arkansas playing there because they have a nicer stadium in Fayetteville.
[00:09:22] Speaker A: I think I know where you're going with this.
[00:09:24] Speaker D: Arkansas State, they're never going there. I know But I'm just saying it's funny that they're playing in a stadium that's nicer than theirs, though.
[00:09:30] Speaker A: I don't know. It's nicer than theirs.
[00:09:32] Speaker D: I mean, it seats more.
[00:09:33] Speaker A: At least it seats more. But they've made a lot of upgrades to that stadium in Jonesboro that has. Has made it. I mean, it's. It's not like the greatest stadium in the world by. By any stretch of the imagination, but it's.
I don't know. The War Memorial is nicer than one in Jonesboro, I guess. Rob. I guess that's my.
[00:09:50] Speaker D: I think it's a cooler atmosphere than Jonesboro. I've been to Jonesboro's and I think it's a cooler atmosphere, personally. But at the same time, I get it. I mean, every single school wants to have their home games on campus. I think these days with recruiting and stuff, it's just. Unless they could somehow make more money. Like, you know, it used to be appealing for Arkansas to go to the War Memorial whenever they could sell probably way more tickets because of the size difference and the lights were nicer and all that stuff. But Arkansas State, I just think it's funny that we're at this juncture where Arkansas is probably ending its chapter and Arkansas State's getting to play in there now at a stadium that seats more than theirs. And Butch Jones has called out their fans like the past two or three years about that. He wants more people in the stands. This should be a good crowd for them, I would think, on Saturday.
I don't know, you know, if they have 15,000 people in the stands on Saturday, which is probably kind of at the top end, I would assume, if we're guesstimating, but I just don't know, like, what their average home attendance even is.
[00:10:47] Speaker A: A few other things that stood out to me yesterday.
Razorback Stadium is going to try to get a World cup friendly, like, like, not, not a World cup game, but one of the international matches leading up to the World cup that's in North America next year.
They're trying to get banana ball to come to Razorback Stadium. I'll be missing that one, unfortunately, or fortunately.
And they're talking about maybe trying to get another major concert at the stadium like they got with Garth Brooks.
[00:11:13] Speaker D: Yeah, and I think that that's. We're just in that era now where you're going to see programs doing things more, things like this. I mean, it's. How can you make money in any way? I mean, Hunter, your check said they've had left no stone unturned as far as how can they generate revenue. And I think that you're. You're going to see more things like this perfect example.
[00:11:31] Speaker A: They've sold four seats on each bench at Bud Walton arena for $375,000 per seat.
[00:11:40] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:11:41] Speaker A: So for those eight seats this year, where this is like NBA style, you know, you watch a game in the NBA and there's, you know, somebody sitting next to the coats.
Those eight seats, $3 million that they are going to sell for or. He said they've already been spoken for.
[00:11:59] Speaker D: Yeah. And I mean, it'll be funny to see who ends up buying those if, you know, because whoever's buying these seats, I feel like are going to be notable people.
[00:12:08] Speaker A: I have a few names who I think it could potentially be.
[00:12:11] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:12:12] Speaker A: I mean, I don't think it'll be the first time we've seen any of these people.
[00:12:14] Speaker D: Yeah. But I don't want to speculate, but I think it's going to be a situation.
[00:12:18] Speaker A: Just to put that. To put that in perspective. Those courtside seats on the opposite side of the floor are 14,000 a piece per year.
Is it worth $361,000 per seat to sit on the other side of the floor? And I guess maybe get to stand in the huddle.
[00:12:35] Speaker D: I mean, I will say these seats are going to get a lot of TV time, too. I mean, a lot of it.
The executive director of the Razorback Foundation, Ryan White. Correct. He. I mean, he kind of brought this up in May at the sports club how John Calipari was already, like, talking to prospective donors for it, and his whole pitch was, you're going to know the play before anybody else. And I'm like, is it really going to be that close that they know the play?
I think it's probably more just like trying to give them a feel of how close you're actually going to be.
But it's. I mean, these seats are going to get a lot of TV time. I already know that if you're adjacent to the bench, like, I don't know, I'm. I'd like to see what this will actually end up looking like. And if it's gonna earn a certain name. I know they're calling them, like, sideline premier seats, but I feel like they're gonna earn a certain, like, nickname or something.
[00:13:28] Speaker A: We're good at putting nicknames with.
[00:13:30] Speaker D: Yeah. Fans will give these a nickname at some point, and it's gonna be funny just to see who has them. Also, they're the fact that they're on the Arkansas and the opposing bench is what's so interesting to me.
[00:13:39] Speaker A: What's like a higher quality than Gucci because the other side is Gucci Row.
[00:13:44] Speaker D: I don't know.
[00:13:44] Speaker A: I think on that for a little bit.
[00:13:46] Speaker D: We'll come back to this maybe next.
[00:13:48] Speaker A: Week, he said the football stadium naming rights, it might be quote ambitious to have them in place before the 2026 season. I thought that was interesting. So there's going to be a video scoreboard going to be added at Baumwalker Stadium, kind of catty corner to the Razorback foundation building where people in the right field corner can see the video board.
Their view of the video board there is obstructed partially or fully depending on where their seat is, he said. Bud Walton arena renovation remains on the quote side burner. He said that with softball, they've raised over half of their $20 million fundraising goal to have a softball renovation and they think they might be getting a big gift for Razorback soccer. Lots and lots and lots and lots. From Hunter Jurecheck's conversation yesterday, again, you can hear the whole thing on our podcast yesterday. We've got stories on our website@whole hogsports.com you can get the latest breaking news on all Razorback sports
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[00:15:02] Speaker B: You.
[00:15:06] Speaker A: We'Re joined now by Travis Swanson. He was a razorback from 2010 to 2013, had a productive NFL career, was a teammate of Ryan Mallet and the ryan Mallett documentary, 15 or 15, I should say, is playing right now on Hogs Plus. Travis, did you learn anything new about Ryan in in the course of either making this film or watching it the other night?
[00:15:28] Speaker B: Oh man, did I learn anything new?
No, I wouldn't. I wouldn't say I learned anything new. I think it's just a lot of what I already knew about him was was reinforced, you know. And then people talk about it in the documentary. People talked about it at the premiere.
There's two different versions of Ryan. There's Ryan Mallet, which most people knew that was the Ryan that you got in the limelight.
The, the video clips on the field, postgame interviews. But then there was Ryan the Human and I think they the Hogs. Plus people did such a good job illustrating who Ryan the individual was because not a lot of people knew that version of him and man, such a.
Such an unfortunate event, but such a powerful documentary.
[00:16:22] Speaker A: What do you think is important to tell Ryan's story right now? I mean, like you said, it's. It's just a couple of years since, you know, he unfortunately passed away.
Why do you think it resonates so well right now? Because there's been a lot of feedback to this.
[00:16:35] Speaker B: You know, I think it's the. The obvious is, you know, he's such a figure in the history of this state because so much of the state is tied to the Razorback. So I think when you have someone who comes through the program, in particular of his caliber, shapes a fan base and it leaves an impression that is not. Not minimal. It is lasting forever. And that's. That's honestly true definition of a legacy. And so to me, it didn't. Didn't really matter if they were going to release this this year or they would release it 15 years from now.
People were still going to watch and people were still going to be dialed in.
I think for. For him, he was this kind of beacon of light on. On a. On a phase of Razorback football. That was just so exciting and it was so exciting. And I think you talk to anyone and you look, you. You say, let's think back to like, just that short time frame.
What do you remember? What do you remember feeling most people are gonna say then? It was exciting. It was so fun to watch. It was. It was. It had me on the edge of my seat, had me dialed in a little bit more than maybe some other years.
So I think with. With Ryan's passing, you know, it. There's a lot of lessons I think that I've taken away from it.
He's a guy who, you know, if I could. If I could think in my head of all the individuals who are not family related to me that have had such a monumental impact to. To get me to this point in life, I could probably count those people on one hand, and Ryan was one of them. And, you know, I mentioned this, the podcast we did after the premiere, I'm just one little kind of sliver of his life, a very small one. And the profound impact he had on my life, it's like, oh, my goodness, I'm not the only one that he. He did this for.
There's probably a ton of other people like that. And that just honestly speaks to. To who he was as a. As a human being.
[00:18:54] Speaker A: You get a different look at Bobby Petrino in. In this film. I mean, everybody knows Coach Petrino is Kind of this, you know, tough, hard nosed individual. I mean there, there's a softer side there that, that I think comes out in this. I wonder as one of his former players what you thought about that.
[00:19:12] Speaker B: Yeah, it, it was, it was genuine.
It was very genuine.
I'm trying to think of the right way to say this.
When they, when they see coaches, they see players, they see front office individuals, you're, you're really only seeing about 5 to 10% of who that person actually is, I think.
And like you, you, you, how do you know players? You know them off of really game day, which in the grand scheme of what goes into game day, you're seeing them for about 2 to 5% of what truly goes into. It is just that time shot during the week.
And so when Coach Petrino was himself and vulnerable, I had seen that before and I know most, most fans might be surprised to hear that, but they typically only get the version of Coach Petrino that is in true football mode. And so I remember when, when I had first found out, the next call I made after I talked to the person that, that validated it for me. I called, I called Coach Petrino.
It was the first person I called.
And that was, it was tough.
It was tough and, and it was a quick conversation.
Not a lot was said, but it is something that I'll never forget. I won't.
[00:20:59] Speaker A: Petrino in the film, he talks about how much he trusted Ryan. He said he could be more aggressive on first and second down because he, he trusted that Ryan had the intelligence of the offense to get out of bad plays.
Said his intelligence was, you know, off the charts. What was that relationship, that dynamic like between the head coach and the quarterback? And how did that maybe trickle down to the rest of the team?
[00:21:24] Speaker B: Yeah, it was, it was something that, I mean they were almost one in the same, especially with how they, how they viewed the game of football and, and similar in so many ways. Different in some ways on just, you know, sometimes I think when you've got two very capable type A individuals that are in those positions that talk to each other and see each other as much as they do, you will naturally have some friction. Okay.
But they would always find some kind of like means to an end if there was some disagreement. And that's, I think honestly what got the trust to where it was, where there was never a question, at least to the player level. If we're in a play, we're in a situation, doesn't matter what time of the year it is, what the opponent is Are we up, are we down? Close game, whatever. If Ryan made a check, you, you never second guessed it ever.
And I think there's so much power in that because at the time I was 19 years old.
And so like my, my expectation and relationship with college football and pro football started with Coach Petrino and Mallet and that was such a, like you come in, you don't know anything, you're just kind of this like fresh mold and those first kind of impressions, I think not only with me, but with just any player that is in college sports, it's so important because that dictated for me how to approach a lot of things moving forward. And then the first time that, you know, once Ryan moved on and you, you, you start to kind of like question some things and not necessarily at the quarterback level, but just some like coaching calls and things like that. That was my first experience on second guessing some things, but it wasn't with Ryan or Coach Petrino or anything like that.
So that was an interesting learning lesson for me. But to have that confidence where it's like, you know, anything that Ryan ever checked us into, you know, was the best, best position for us to be in and that takes a lot of trust at the head coach level to give that over to, to a quarterback. And the only other time that I've been exposed to it truly to where it's like total freedom is when I was in Detroit and our coordinators would do that with Matthew Stafford and it was like back, I mean literally 2016 when we would run two minute, we would just, you know, coordinator would flip his communication mic, flip it up and we just turned over to Stafford and I'm like, that is, I've only seen this one at a time before and it's with Mallet. And I think that tells you the kind of player and the kind of individual that Ryan was.
[00:24:17] Speaker A: His arm talent obviously was elite. I mean like you mentioned Stafford, one of the, you know, really great arm talents ever. You, you had a front row seat a couple of times a year to see Aaron Rodgers, maybe one of the best too in terms of just pure arm strength. Where did Ryan compare with those types of quarterbacks?
[00:24:34] Speaker B: It was I think generational. I mean he, he, there wasn't a throw that he couldn't make just like with Matthew or Aaron or any of those top tier quarterbacks. I think the intangibles and just this like generational type of gift and talent was there and man, I think is, is not only alignment but just fans and teammates like you, you don't really know what you, you have there until that person moves on and you understand just how special he was from, from an arm talent perspective.
[00:25:17] Speaker A: You know, when I look at the, the mallet highlights, I think of two things. Number one, I think obviously Arkansas football is a lot different now in, in a lot of ways than it was then. But just college football in general is so much different now. How much has it changed since you played.
[00:25:34] Speaker B: Man, I don't think we have enough time to talk through that.
It's, it's, it's insane. It is completely different. You know, I would have, not to say back in my day, but I guess back in my day I would have taken a couple free pounds of brisket from rights and I call it a month. I'm good. That sounds like a good and I'll deal. To me, the landscape is completely changed and it's, it's, I view it as kind of the wild, wild west at this point and it's always going to continue changing. I think it's hard to, it's, it's hard to dictate now. What does a locker room look like next year, three years from now, four years from now? When I was going through it, you had a pretty good sense of, all right, here's this freshman class coming in. You're going to have some natural attrition from those guys that just don't stay on for whatever reason. They might actually transfer, have to sit out a year or whatever. But you would get a good sense of, okay, this locker room two years from now, three years from now, four years from now, what's that going to look like?
Now you don't have the, you have none of that. There's such high turnover right now in these locker rooms because of the transfer portal, nil deals, revenue share deals. Now it's, it's, it's crazy. Now I'm all for these players getting paid off of name, image, likeness and those kind of things. I just think it's, there's got to be some version of red tape more so I think around the transfer portal than, than anything because that, that's just kind of open gate. Now at this point, I want your.
[00:27:06] Speaker A: Opinion on the locker room as it relates to finances because when you're in an NFL locker room, you know, everybody in that locker room is being taken care of in a very, you know, healthy way.
But you're also older, you know, you're more mature as a man. When you get into the NFL locker room, 25, 30, 35 year old people who are in there. It's different when you're 18 and you're 19 and it's just different because you're not as mature yet.
What do you think about that in terms of how that might be affecting college football?
[00:27:42] Speaker B: Are you saying in sense of just guys, these. These young players that are now getting paid and just how does that change things?
[00:27:49] Speaker A: Yeah, you know, I mean, what's the dynamics like in the locker room where, you know, you might see a quarterback who he's getting a million dollars, but maybe I'm only getting 50,000.
[00:27:59] Speaker B: Yeah, I think it's, you know, this is trying to think the right way to say this.
In a way it is. In a way it isn't. It is your first reality check of the real world.
And this is some exposure to the real world. You will eventually.
The most beautiful thing about the game of football is it will not last forever.
It won't for any. Anybody, you know, and at some point you will have to go into the real world. And so when you get into the real world, you're going to make whatever you make, and the person next to you might make something totally different. And you might not understand why.
You could try to find out, but you might not ever fully understand it. That's life. That is life. And so I get that.
That side of it. I think it's healthy. I think as long as the locker rooms don't. There's no, there's no friction between players. Because that's a thought that I had is like, you're. These kids are very young.
Some of them mature, some not so mature. At what point does it. Does it cause kind of this tear away in the locker room or the fabric of what the locker room is and should be where, you know, you got two teammates, maybe same positions, one's getting paid this, I'm getting paid this.
Maybe they got a great relationship. Maybe it's two guys that just don't like each other and then that causes some rift in the locker room. And I don't know necessarily know how you police that.
I think in this day and age, if these players truly do want to make it to the NFL, that is something that you just have to eventually learn. Okay, when you get to the NFL, what's the difference?
You can go online and literally look up any contract that any active player in the NFL currently has.
Like, anybody can do that. And so your stuff is going to be out there and you just got to get used to it. Now, I think the best thing, again, about the game of football Is, you know, if you want to do something about it, it's pretty black and white.
Just go try to be the best player you can be and beat out this person.
Do everything you can to become the go to guy. Now, you know, college players are now figuring this out. When you get this kind of money involved, you'd see this a lot at the NFL.
Football is not really football anymore.
It isn't.
And you know, my time in the NFL, I just. There are a lot of decisions that were made and things that I saw that. That were made not for football reasons, but more so for contractual reasons or political reasons, things like that. And I think again, if these players want to eventually make it to the top level, you know, you're just going to get exposure to this a heck of a lot earlier than if you had waited. So to say, they say in football.
[00:30:55] Speaker A: You get better or your best.
Most improvement from week one to week two. What do you want to see improve for the Razorbacks this week.
[00:31:04] Speaker B: Man? Well, I think that first showing, they did a great job knocking the cobwebs off. I think first game of the year is always like, what are you gonna get?
I think for. For Talen to come out and play the way he did was good. I want to say he had, was it six touchdowns and over, like, was it 290 yards, 300 yards over that mark? Really, really good. I think as long as you can continue to work together more so on the defensive side of just kind of working as one unit and continuing to build from the team perspective on that first week to prep you for some of these, like, really, really, really big, monumental games, got Ole Miss, got Notre Dame, those kind of things. Don't look past Arkansas State, like, simply don't do it, but continue to build on it. I think Mike Washington, from what I've seen, has so much potential.
So much potential. And when you have a ground game that could be as lethal as what this one could be, oh, my goodness, that just helps every other aspect of your team because you can drain the clock a heck of a lot faster, control the ball longer, opens up the play action, game helps out third downs like it's. If you can have such a successful running game that that helps everybody out, in particular the O line. So I hope that they can take the step in the right direction this week and come ready to play, because I know Arkansas State, they're definitely going to come ready to play.
[00:32:36] Speaker A: It's dangerous to make comparisons and sometimes unfair, but I've heard comparisons between Taylor and Lamar Jackson and Taylor and Ryan Mallet and Petrino obviously is the common link there. I think athleticism with Lamar, probably size with Ryan. Do you see any comparisons between he and Ryan Mallet?
[00:32:57] Speaker B: I do, and I think the biggest ones is like when you first just initially see them, you know, Taylor's got this, this, he's got this presence about him. He's got this stature that sticks out. It's the same thing with Ryan. Like the first time anybody saw Ryan, he's like, you look up and, and there's, there's something to say about that.
I would say that Ryan was more, Brian was more vocal than, than talent, at least from what I've seen, which is not a bad thing. Everyone's got their own certain leadership style. So if someone's a quote unquote, quiet leader, it's not a bad thing.
But I think from, from the intangibles, Taylor's got all those attributes from now comparing them to Lamar, you know, that is more of a Coach Petrino thing because I was in teammates with more obviously saw him play in person. That is a heck of a comparison.
One thing that Taylor has that Ryan did not have was that, that escapability, being able to break the pocket and have some kind of fun in that second, third, fourth gear, so to say. So he does have that going for him.
I think Taylor could, could continue to develop into just a phenomenal player, not only this season, but for, you know, pro seasons moving forward if, if, if things can work out for him.
[00:34:20] Speaker A: Travis, let's get to get you out of here on this. People like to know what former Razorbacks are up to. Now you're living here in Northwest Arkansas.
Why did you want to come back and just tell people about what you do now?
[00:34:32] Speaker B: How do you not want to come back? I, I, you know, this, this, this place is home to me. It's.
I grew up in Houston, suburbs of Houston and loved where I grew up, but houses, you know, kind of right on top of each other. And I come here and, you know, find out you can actually have some space and breathe a little bit. And I was like, that's what I want. And I married a, I married a girl from central Arkansas and, you know, we always wanted to come back here once everything was all said and done. I had to convince her a little bit more than maybe what I wanted to, but I, I sold it to her. At the end of the day, we love it here. We're in the, we're in the Bentonville area.
Yeah. Now I'm A certified financial planner at Camium Financial.
It's a. It's pretty prominent wealth management firm.
I got a. Got a robust clientele base. I do a lot of work on the sports side given just my background. We have very large sports practice, working with all types of clients across the country.
And man, I love it. Every day is different.
You get to see a lot of different situations and perspectives. And at the end of the day, you're really just trying to help people. And it gets me fired up every morning that I wake up because people are putting their.
Their. Their most precious assets and pieces of their life with you. And you wake up with this, this sense of responsibility, not only with me, but our entire team of, you got to get this right. And I love it. I love it. So I wouldn't see myself doing anything different.
[00:36:12] Speaker A: Travis Swanson, you can watch him in the documentary 15 on hogs. Plus, Travis, always good to see you. Appreciate your time and talking to us about this today.
[00:36:21] Speaker B: Yeah, appreciate y'. All. Thank you.
[00:36:23] Speaker A: All right, we'll see you soon.
[00:36:24] Speaker C: Travis Swanson at Kindle King, we're proud of over four decades of design.
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[00:36:51] Speaker A: 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 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
[email protected] I didn't have my paper yesterday when we were up at the Hogs Illustrated Sports Club. I have said this so many times that I was able to say it by memory.
[00:37:20] Speaker D: Gotta love that. Brain muscle memory.
[00:37:23] Speaker A: I think I had it down on my phone, but I never. I never looked at my phone.
[00:37:27] Speaker D: Well, you've said you've given them a shout out how many times now? Probably. Oh, a lot. Yeah.
[00:37:34] Speaker A: So a lot.
[00:37:34] Speaker D: It's good. That good, good that you haven't memorized.
[00:37:37] Speaker A: We appreciate our friends at Bentonville Glass for helping sponsor our show. All right, games this weekend. What game are you looking forward To.
[00:37:46] Speaker D: I really think Missouri Kansas is just so intriguing because it's a rivalry getting brought back and there's a lot of hatred their border.
[00:37:55] Speaker A: You know, what I've said is that all these people who hate Arkansas, Missouri, at the end of the year, they need to be hoping for two things to happen. Number one, Missouri, Kansas to become annual again, and for them to play that at the end of the season and for Bedlam to come back and for Bedlam to be played at the end of the season. And there's some precedents for this. I mean, Florida, Florida State, Clemson, South Carolina, Kentucky, Louisville, Georgia, Georgia Tech, these are all played at the end of the year.
And if they could get Bedlam to come back, and if they could get Mizzou, KU to come back, then LSU is over here saying, well, we don't have anybody. And Arkansas is over here saying, we don't have it. Hey, did we used to play at the end of the year? And wasn't that fun and a great.
There you go.
[00:38:36] Speaker D: That would be lovely. And it would bring back. There is nothing that a lot of people in the state of Arkansas would like more than to have the Thanksgiving Arkansas, LSU game back in War Memorial Stadium. I'm not. I mean, there are some definitely that would love that, but I'm not sure.
I'm not sure. Hunter, your check's one of them.
[00:38:52] Speaker A: You can draw a direct correlation, I think, from the, like, the maybe disinterest in War Memorial and the LSU game getting taken out of there for sure now. It's not like Arkansas has gone down there and played well because you realize they haven't won an FBS game in Little Rock in 14 years. Mississippi State in 2011. It was Bobby Petrino's last home game as Arkansas's head coach. That was the last time they won a game at Warm. They woke up the next day over an FBS team.
[00:39:17] Speaker D: They woke up the next day ranked number three nationally. Yeah, that's been a while.
[00:39:21] Speaker A: It's a long time ago. I mean, and they've had plenty of chances to beat fbs. Teams lost to Ole Miss, they've lost to Mississippi State, they've lost to Toledo, lost to Georgia, lost to Ole Miss, again lost to Mizzou.
So this is like one of those deals where I guess maybe their history in that stadium and their history against these teams like Arkansas State, whether it be losing to North Texas or San Jose State or Colorado State, I think that that's what maybe has people a little bit on edge and maybe a little skeptical of that, whatever it is, 21 1/2 point betting line.
[00:39:57] Speaker D: No, for sure, because it's like over the past, you know, 10, 15 years, there have been in all sports. I mean, basketball is not spared some wacky little rock losses.
So I mean in some scares too. Like even in Eric Musselman's first year, barely beat Valparaiso down there. It took like a Mason Jones bank shot or something.
[00:40:17] Speaker A: Even baseball, they go down there and they play in that graveyard at Dickey Stevens. You get.
[00:40:21] Speaker D: And you don't have a slug fest with Grambling and you don't have instant replay to see that Lipscomb's home run, or maybe vice versa. Shouldn't have been a home run.
[00:40:29] Speaker A: Yep, that's right. All right, let's see here some games this weekend. Here's a fun rivalry game talking about in state rivalries. I love this game every year the Cyhawk trophy game. Iowa and Iowa State. Iowa State's a 3 1/2 point favorite.
[00:40:41] Speaker D: Yeah. And I like them to win by more than that. I've been really impressed with them. I think that they challenge themselves week one and then they come back to the states and I mean they, they put a beating on a Dakota and.
[00:40:50] Speaker A: I thought that was going to be a close game.
[00:40:51] Speaker D: Yeah, we know how we feel about our Dakota. So I'm sold on, on Iowa State and I mean Iowa's only been tested by Albany, which Albany is usually pretty good. FCS too, but they won that 34 7. I like Iowa State.
[00:41:03] Speaker A: I was listening to this game on the way back from Stillwater last year and Iowa State kicked a field goal at the end of the game, like a real long field goal to beat Iowa. I'll go with Iowa State too. I like Iowa defensively, but their offense is always just real.
It's dead. Yeah, it's, it's, it's not good.
[00:41:22] Speaker D: Yeah. So I think that's a fun game though. Every year.
[00:41:26] Speaker A: No, no betting line on Grambling. Ohio State if you like an FCS beat down. That's going to be your game this weekend. I think the game of the week in the sec. Well, maybe two, really. The game that I'm most interested in and it's because Arkansas plays in Oxford next week is Ole Miss goes to Kentucky and the Rebels are an 8 1/2 point favorite.
[00:41:44] Speaker D: Yeah, and Mark Stoop's teams always seem to early in the season especially can give other SEC team spits. I mean last year they took Georgia down to the wire and then they went to Oxford and beat Ole Miss. So Ole Miss was going to. I say they're going to want to get their get back. I mean a lot of these teams aren't even the same players anymore. So it's kind of funny. A lot of times it's like more the fan base, the coaches but I don't think it happens again this year. I think that I'm not impressed by Kentucky. They. I actually picked them to lose to Toledo so I guess I was impressed that they beat Toledo, but it was an eight point game. I think it's. I think that they still have a lot of problems in the passing game. I like Ole Miss to go and probably light up the scoreboard a little bit.
[00:42:20] Speaker A: Yeah, Kentucky, they're another one of those teams that I don't know that I trust their, their offense. KU and Missouri. Missouri at home a six and a half point favorite. I like KU with Jalen Daniels their quarterback.
[00:42:31] Speaker D: Yeah, I have.
I just feel like Missouri, this has got to be like they've had to have prepped for this so much over the past how many months they've only played uca. I think ku, this might be their third game where they.
[00:42:44] Speaker A: That's right.
[00:42:44] Speaker D: I just think that favors Missouri. This is a big game for them. I think they'll handle business.
[00:42:48] Speaker A: Arizona State goes to Mississippi State. You saw Cam Scatter Boo run wild over Mississippi State last year out in Tempe, this one in Starkville. But the Sun Devils are a six and a half point favorite.
[00:42:58] Speaker D: The funniest part about this is all the have you seen the videos this week about Arizona State's coach being asked about Starkville?
[00:43:04] Speaker A: And I've missed this.
[00:43:06] Speaker D: Google it. Somebody look it up. And the gist of the story he was asked about, you know, going to play a small town and he's how he characterized Starkville is hilarious. But I like Arizona State. I'm not until I see Mississippi State do something to have me pick them against another power conference team. I'm not picking them.
[00:43:24] Speaker A: Yeah, I'm influenced by what happened with them last year. They may be a lot better. Probably are couldn't be a whole lot worse. But I think Arizona State is the favorite to go in there and win that game. Another intriguing game. Vanderbilt goes to Virginia Tech. You know Virginia Tech lost there last year. I didn't think Virginia Tech looked horribly against or horrible against South Carolina the other day. But their offense has got some some work to do. Philip Montgomery in his first year as offensive coordinator.
[00:43:50] Speaker D: I always take in games like this like week two. A team that's Already been tested if as long as they looked competitive. And I thought, I mean they did against South Carolina. I like Virginia Tech. They've just been against an SEC team already.
[00:44:01] Speaker A: Hokies are a two and a half point favorite. I think I would take them over Vanderbilt as well.
Game day is going to be in Norman. 630 kickoff on ABC. Michigan goes to Oklahoma. This is one of the only ranked matchups this week. Michigan number 15.
Oklahoma number 18. The Sooners are a five and a half point favorite. They played an FCS team last week. But I thought John Mattier looked really good in what I saw.
[00:44:25] Speaker D: Yeah, he's. I mean he's a great quarterback. This is going to be one of those weird football versions of games with the Jordan uniforms. I think so that's just an interesting little side note.
I'm going to pick ou. I just think that, I don't know, I think they're much improved this year. Like you said, the quarterback plays better.
Michigan, that's a tall task to go to an SEC Stadium Week 2. And I thought Oklahoma like they took care of business in a way in week one. That made me maybe a little more confident in them. But this is a toss up.
[00:44:56] Speaker A: Ben Arbuckle is the offensive coordinator at Oklahoma. He and Mattier came as a package deal from Washington State. There's actually a couple of instances of this this year where a quarterback and an offensive coordinator have left one school and gone to another. And then you've even got the Gus Malzon Castellanos at Florida State where he began his career at ucf. So I wonder if this becomes more popular as we move forward where, hey, not only are we going to take a quarterback out of the portal, but we're going to get his offensive coordinator too. Might be something worth watching. Ou, Michigan. This feels like, and I know OU last year they weren't great, but this feels like an instance where you've got two programs going in different directions.
I feel like OU might be in in line for like a nice bounce back year under Venables. I don't know that Moore at Michigan is going to last there for very long. Like the standard that Harbaugh set was just at least for his last few years was going to be really hard I think for Michigan to live up to.
I think OU wins this and this might be one of those games that kind of propels them onto something quite a bit bigger.
[00:46:12] Speaker D: Whoever wins that game is going to be put into like are they going to make the playoff talks next week?
[00:46:17] Speaker A: No, no, for sure. Okay, then finally Arkansas. Arkansas State. The betting line, by the way, it's moved to 23 1/2 points for Arkansas. So the feeling is the Razorbacks are going to win. I know we're both picking Arkansas to win this game. So when we know this, I think we go to the betting line. Do you think they can cover 23 and a half?
[00:46:36] Speaker D: I don't think they will. I think that it's going to be too close for comfort at halftime in Arkansas. Maybe stretches it out in the second half to win by like 18, 20. I don't, I think 23 and a half might be a little generous. But hey, Arkansas State losing its running back for the season. He's a good player. I mean he was preseason Sunbelt second team.
I think he has like 3,000 all purpose yards. He's not just their running back, he's like their kick returner and he's good at that too. I think that's a huge, huge loss for them. So that might be, I think maybe why the lines changed a little bit. Because Sam Pittman said this week, like they got to stop Arkansas State's run. That's what he thinks. They got to make them pass Jacquez.
[00:47:15] Speaker A: Cross the running back that Ethan's referencing. Butch Jones on his radio show last night said that he's out with a season ending knee injury. So that's a real big, big blow for them. I think Arkansas covers. I think they cover.
I think that people are underestimating how much the coaching staff is going to motivate the team to go down there and play in this game.
I don't trust Arkansas's defense, but I do trust the offense and I think they could put up a ton of points tomorrow. And I think, I think, I think they'll cover. I think they'll probably.
23 and a half.
I can see that. I can see a 24 point, 27 point, something like that type win.
I think they're going to go down there and play pretty well in this game. I think that the players have been told this week how much this game means to the other side and how much they need to be able to, as Clay Henry likes to say, have their stinger out for this game.
[00:48:13] Speaker D: In any Arkansas head coach knowing they're going into playing Arkansas State, they already know they got to win that game. But I mean the tone that Hunter Yurichek had yesterday when he said we better win that game, like you're the AD saying we better win that game.
I mean, I just think that that probably that seriousness about you can't drop. This one is permeated. You know, I would assume down to the coaches to where there's probably been a very high level of intensity this week.
[00:48:36] Speaker A: There's going to be a lot of adrenaline at the start of the game, but adrenaline can't sustain your four quarters.
I think once the adrenaline wears off, I think Arkansas has got so much more talent, especially at the skill positions and probably even along the lines than Arkansas State does that over the course of the second, third, fourth quarter. I think they're probably just going to wear them down and make them tired.
[00:49:00] Speaker D: Yeah, it's an. I mean, I just can't wait to see if we do experience like a little bit of. I kind of want to know what the Arkansas State crowd can do.
[00:49:10] Speaker A: Here's a big question in the crowd, if the Arkansas fans start the wave, will the Arkansas State fans participate? Because you can't go to War Memorial and not have the wave.
[00:49:17] Speaker D: There's always the wave there.
Maybe they're. I saw that Arkansas State fans are wearing black there, so they're already giving off the, you know, boycotting vibe.
[00:49:26] Speaker A: We have separate waves. Yeah, waves going opposite directions.
[00:49:30] Speaker D: There's would be very sad.
I do think it's funny that they decide like, I get it, black will stand out with probably the Arkansas crowd because it's the different color. But it is funny because everybody's like, well, dressing for your funeral.
I just think it's an interesting decision.
[00:49:47] Speaker A: All right, Ethan, appreciate you being here. We appreciate all of you being with us today. Hope you'll visit us at our website, wholehogsports.com as we have all the coverage this weekend from Little Rock at War Memorial Stadium. Arkansas and Arkansas State Saturday, 4 o' clock only going to be streamed SEC Network and ESPN.
We'll talk about it Monday. Have a great weekend, everybody.
