HOG BLOG: Yes, I’d like one deed for the State of Mississippi please
Hogs take another step in the right direction, taking ownership of the state of Mississippi, while Hudson Clark declares a “No Fly Zone.”
By: Wild Hog
Photo: ESPN
College GameDay: Eat your heart out!
Just like that, Arkansas has won more SEC conference games this year than in the last three years combined. And I’ll be frank with you: I’m currently living in an alternate strand of the timeline where the Hogs are 3-1 right now. I SHOULD HAVE written a massive dunk on the Auburn Tigers and their fraudulent OC “Bad” Morris last week, but the SEC officiating crew ruined that for me. If you’re gonna screw us like that, at least take us out to dinner first. But what’s the best way to rebound after last week’s highway robbery that would make Robin Hood and his Merry Men proud?
How about completing a good old-fashioned Delta Sweep? THAT’S RIGHT FOLKS, Arkansas OWNS Mississippi football this year, and I couldn’t be prouder. I said it two weeks ago, and I’ll say it again, this defense is the rock on which we will build our house. SIX interceptions. TWO pick-sixes. And one absolutely BEAUTIFUL, #1 Sportscenter Countdown catch for Treylon Burks. Happy for ya bud.
Another week, another round of accolades for these defensive Hogs. You’ve got Grant Morgan picking up an SEC co-Defensive Player of the Week, and our boy Hudson Clark winning the SEC Freshman of the Week award. Grant’s 19 tackles were the second-most in a single game this season. Who’s ahead of him you ask? Just his teammate Bumper Pool, who recorded 20 against Mississippi State. Oh, and did I mention we lead the nation with 10 interceptions this year? RANK ARKANSAS, YOU COWARDS.
Photo: Arkansas Athletics
Now I’ll be the first to admit, there’s almost no one I like to trash more than Ole Miss, so you might think that I’m just going to ramble and rant based purely on bias and lack of evidence. But I’m not. In fact, I’m going to cement the Razorbacks’ dominance with numbers, baby!
Against the Tide last week, Ole Miss QB Matt Corral threw for 365 yards, 2 TDs, and zero interceptions and sported a very strong QB rating of 95.9. He also averaged 13 yards per pass. Again, this was against Alabama. You know, THAT Bama, undefeated, #2 in the nation Alabama? They also put 268 yards on the ground, tallied 647 total yards, never fumbled, and had long receptions of 68 and 46 yards, averaging 17.2 yards per completion.
That same team walked into Fayetteville and the Razorbacks held them to 442 total yards, long receptions of 34 and 23, and only 13 yards per completion. Against the Hogs, Ole Matty threw 6 picks, fumbled, only threw for 200 yards, and averaged a measly 5.3 yards, rounding out an absolutely ABYSMAL QB rating of 9.0. No that’s not a typo, I do in fact mean nine. For sweet, sweet vindication, please take a look at this nerd who thought it “was going to be easy.” Yes, that’s a literal quote from Matt Corral.
Unless the Monstars made a trip to Oxford to steal Corral’s talent (why would they ever do that, that’d be like rolling into LA and stealing Danny Green’s talent), those numbers don’t lie. The Arkansas D is legit, and we're putting the rest of the SEC on watch.
“But football’s not just about defense, Wild Hog. What about the Razorbacks offense?” you might say. Well, first of all, it’s Mr. Hog to you. Secondly, I can’t argue with that. There’s a lot of work to be done on offense. We’ve got great weapons, but as I said last time, we need to see some better decision making coming out of Franks. Our defense is holding up their end of the bargain - Georgia with 5 at the half, Mississippi State with 7, Ole Miss with ZERO - but if the offense can’t build some momentum and stay on the field, we’ll keep seeing tough score lines in the second half. We’ve led at the half in 3 of 4 games this season, but our offense needs to step up and start playing to win rather than not to lose.
Despite the hurdles on offense, there’s a lot to be happy about as a Razorback right now. We’ve got talent, we’ve got heart, and we’ve got a coach who loves this team. I mean c’mon, Sam Pittman has got to be a shoo-in for Coach of Year, right? With no spring ball, barely any time to recruit for this year, Chad Morris’ bare cupboard, and the pall of zero SEC wins in the last two years looming over the program, he’s already guided us to three wins (don’t mind me, living in an alternate reality) and built top 25 and top 15 recruiting classes for 2021 and 2022. We’re in the best place we’ve been in three years and all I’ve got to say is...
TURN THAT DAMN JUKEBOX BACK ON!