Still a really frustrating loss because I don’t think Arkansas is any better than us. This was the third loss this season where we have outgained our opponent by 100+ yards and still come up short.
Offense: B- thanks to the slow start. 0 points on your first four possessions ain’t going to cut it against a quality team on the road. Credit to them for adjusting though. The final six possessions we scored four TDs and had two makable FG attempts. Will Rogers is coming into his own, but we have got to start coming out and executing. Spotting our opponents double digits is killing us.
Defense: C-… Arnett was great in this game a year ago, but Kendall Briles got the better of him this season. Arkansas’s offense was more physical than us, which is unusual for our defense and also disappointing. We need to get the edge back, because Auburn is going to try to push us around too. The lack of a pass rush is killing us. We have stayed relatively healthy this season, but Jordan Davis and Brandon Ruiz injuries have costed us games. Which brings me to…
Special Teams: D- and the lack of a coverage bust is all that’s keeping this from being an F. I’m not ready to fire Brock, because we were really good on ST last season and he did a good job there at WSU. But we have to make big strides and find a kicker/punter this offseason. This unit has been terrible all year.
Officiating: If you listened to Charlie Winfield on OOLF, those are basically my exact thoughts. I disagree with the holding on Emerson but understand it. However, if you are going to call that, you cannot swallow the whistle when Wheat is getting held like crazy. That one was much more egregious. Then the missed false start was obvious. Those two missed calls were much bigger issues than the defensive holding, and totally changed the complexion of that drive.
We have a segment of fans who want to blame officiating every time we lose, and they are wrong. We also have a segment of fans who want to be internet badasses and call everyone who criticizes officials soft, and they are also wrong. As Charlie says, yes we made mistakes in this game that costed us, but that doesn’t disqualify us from expecting fair officiating on the last drive. We can point out our own failures of the players/coaches (which I’ve done) while also acknowledging that refs impacted the game on the final drive. It’s not an either/or mutually exclusive proposition.
All in all, I don’t really take anything big picture away from that game. We lost a coin flip game on the road to a quality SECW opponent. It’s disappointing but it happens. I think we have just as good of a shot to beat Auburn as we did Arkansas, and the bookmakers agree. Should be another good game Saturday.
Offense: B- thanks to the slow start. 0 points on your first four possessions ain’t going to cut it against a quality team on the road. Credit to them for adjusting though. The final six possessions we scored four TDs and had two makable FG attempts. Will Rogers is coming into his own, but we have got to start coming out and executing. Spotting our opponents double digits is killing us.
Defense: C-… Arnett was great in this game a year ago, but Kendall Briles got the better of him this season. Arkansas’s offense was more physical than us, which is unusual for our defense and also disappointing. We need to get the edge back, because Auburn is going to try to push us around too. The lack of a pass rush is killing us. We have stayed relatively healthy this season, but Jordan Davis and Brandon Ruiz injuries have costed us games. Which brings me to…
Special Teams: D- and the lack of a coverage bust is all that’s keeping this from being an F. I’m not ready to fire Brock, because we were really good on ST last season and he did a good job there at WSU. But we have to make big strides and find a kicker/punter this offseason. This unit has been terrible all year.
Officiating: If you listened to Charlie Winfield on OOLF, those are basically my exact thoughts. I disagree with the holding on Emerson but understand it. However, if you are going to call that, you cannot swallow the whistle when Wheat is getting held like crazy. That one was much more egregious. Then the missed false start was obvious. Those two missed calls were much bigger issues than the defensive holding, and totally changed the complexion of that drive.
We have a segment of fans who want to blame officiating every time we lose, and they are wrong. We also have a segment of fans who want to be internet badasses and call everyone who criticizes officials soft, and they are also wrong. As Charlie says, yes we made mistakes in this game that costed us, but that doesn’t disqualify us from expecting fair officiating on the last drive. We can point out our own failures of the players/coaches (which I’ve done) while also acknowledging that refs impacted the game on the final drive. It’s not an either/or mutually exclusive proposition.
All in all, I don’t really take anything big picture away from that game. We lost a coin flip game on the road to a quality SECW opponent. It’s disappointing but it happens. I think we have just as good of a shot to beat Auburn as we did Arkansas, and the bookmakers agree. Should be another good game Saturday.
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