Random Thoughts: Superman, Robin, Awesome Hair, How Hogs Move Forward
OXFORD, Miss. — While Arkansas is well past the moral victory zone, it's a treat to have a Razorback game that requires viewership commitment until the end while generating lively discussion. Saturday night's game against Ole Miss provided exactly that, so that's reason enough to bring the rest of Arkansas inside on a series of thoughts that popped up as the game unfolded.
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There is a star in the making standing on the sidelines for the Razorbacks. At one point in the first quarter wide receiver Kalil Girault could be seen on the sideline with his helmet off and what a luxurious head of hair he's bringing to the party. If he ever gets on the field and starts making plays, Troy Polamalu is going to be out of a job because the shampoo commercials will all belong to Girault.
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Where were these Ole Miss players with their fire extinguishers when my house was on fire? Could have used the help fellas. Not exactly a normal touchdown celebration. Can't be good for the lungs.
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In what was a terribly sloppy first half by both teams, even the announcers managed to get in on the gaffs. At one point they tried to send it to commercial break and let fans know they would be coming back to a game in Little Rock rather than Oxford. While it's easy to confuse Jackson and Little Rock because of how similar they look, it's pretty tough to confuse Oxford. Very different vibe.
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Halftime is usually a good opportunity to check the stats, but like a lot of people, using this time to think about whether it's worth it for Eric Musselman to play Trevon Brazile against Duke or if the plan to hold him out until SEC play starts is the best course of action.
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Maybe it's just me, but, while we know Jefferson gets sacked a lot more this year, it seems he goes down a lot easier lately. At one point, he slipped out of the pocket and barely got touched and fell face first just behind the line of scrimmage. Not sure what happened to all of his balance and power, but something has definitely changed.
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While the Arkansas offense has done irreparable damage to the NFL futures of KJ Jefferson and Rahiem Sanders, the inability to give Cam Little a chance to kick the ball inside of 50 yards has done wonders for his pro prospects. He's going to go in the first two rounds if things don't change as far as offensive production. The sad thing is the Razorbacks have that big of a complementary weapon and, instead, he's been turned into the primary weapon. It should be hard to lose with him, but the offense just can't produce enough for his role to fit right in the scoring game.
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Arkansas lined up and ran the quarterback sneak under center with Sanders pushing from behind on 3rd & 1 with just under eight minutes in the third quarter and the announcers raved how unstoppable that is with Jefferson after he picked it up. Simply odd how that worked out. Of course, all the jokes about that was an illegal formation came flowing immediately.
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Watching this from an unbiased perspective is really hard, and I'm not talking about the remaining unbiased part of that sentence. If I didn't know Ole Miss is supposed to be one of the best teams in the SEC, it would be easy to assume these are two teams fighting it out for the bottom of the league. The play has been pure ugly in every sense of the word. It's hard not to feel sorry for both fan bases while watching this game. It's difficult to imagine drinks not getting thrown on the regular on both sides of the Mississippi River.
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Arkansas offensive tackle Andrew Chamblee got triple-teamed at one point. He blocked his man and the guy who ran off his hip fell down laying horizontally like a log across the gap, tripping the third guy who was coming through. It would have been a violet sack of Jefferson, but, instead, it turned out to be a solid gain on the pass to the opposite side. Jefferson's back was to everything that happened with Chamblee.
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A lot of Razorback fans didn't know Ty Washington was on the team prior to tonight, but they definitely know he's on the roster now. What a career night from the back-up tight end. If Var'Keyes Gumms wants to get playing time, he's going to have to step up his game. Washington isn't equal to Luke Hasz, but he's definitely a serviceable option who can turn a game. If someone ran down to Pine Bluff before the game and put money on Washington scoring a pair of touchdowns Saturday night, that person is eating well on Sunday.
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Jaedon Johnson running don Quinshon Judkins from behind may be the play of the game if Ole Miss doesn't score a touchdown. Not sure if Johnson is just that fast or if Judkins is that slow because he had a pretty good jump on Johnson before he got run down at the Arkansas 27.
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Too bad Ole Miss didn't wear the red uniforms and force Arkansas to wear its white jerseys because it would have set up the perfect opportunity to come up with a quip about Washington trying to lead a win in the battle against the red coats. Big miss, but, just like the colonists taking down the British, no one saw that one coming.
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Ole Miss put three guys on the line and sent a fourth trailer on a blitz up the middle on a key third down with just over six minutes to go and two of those men managed to beat the overwhelming numbers to sack Jefferson. Not even the greatness of math can protect Jefferson this year.
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For the past two years, Jefferson has been Superman. Unfortunately, the last time anyone saw the Son of Krypton in a Razorback uniform was against Kansas. This season he's been closer to Robin. He gets off a good move or two here or there, but eventually, he gets overwhelmed and there's no Batman on this team to save him. A good example is the power run to get the first down with just under two minutes left on what could have been a game-winning drive only to turn around and throw an interception. So many times prior this season a big play has been followed by sacks here and there. Something just isn't the same.
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There went the Razorbacks' chance to get something going this season. Instead, they fall to 2-4 and appear to be certain to end up 2-5 before returning home for the first time since mid-September with a trip to Alabama next week. With Missouri playing so hot this year, the odds are not in the Hogs' favor to produce a winning record.
HOGS FEED:
RAZORBACK DEFENSE KEEPS ARKANSAS IN GAME, BUT OLE MISS FINDS WAY TO HOLD ON
WHY IS EVERYONE SO MAD ABOUT THESE DAN ENOS E-MAILS?
ALLHOGS INDEPENDENTLY VERIFIES ENOS E-MAILS REAL, BUT WAS IT LIMITED TO ONLY ONE STUDENT?
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