All Hogs

Win Over Longhorns What Razorbacks Fans Expected Back in April

Don't get too hung up on how Hogs' win looked in second half because Calipari isn't sweating it
Andy Hodges|
Arkansas Razorbacks coach John Calipari draws out a play during the first half against the Texas Longhorns at Moody Center. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-Imagn Images
Arkansas Razorbacks coach John Calipari draws out a play during the first half against the Texas Longhorns at Moody Center. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-Imagn Images | Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

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Arkansas RazorbacksTexas LonghornsAlabama Crimson Tide

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Don't worry about how Arkansas' 78-70 win over Texas looked in the second half. The Razorbacks didn't blow a 23-point lead, but they had a lot of folks squirming.

Even Hogs coach John Calipari was just trying to hang on however possible for a win.

"It could’ve been two and I’d been fine," Calipari said. "Just get out of the gym. I sent them all a text that basically talked about, you have to go through failure if you’re ever going to have success.

"You have to walk through those gates. You got to deal with failure and that’s what we were dealing with. We lost a bunch of games."

At times in the second half, it looked like the Razorbacks were going to run over those gates trying to get out of the Moody Center. From a first half where they appeared to blow the game open to the second half where it looked like they were struggling to deal with the moment and it was about to become too big for them.

"From the beginning of the game, we just went after them a little bit," Calipari said. "After they settled, it was anybody’s game. Now, I did tell my team after, that wasn’t one of my best performances down the stretch. But I told them, I was just trying to get out of the gym folks.

" I wasn’t trying to be fancy. Let’s just get out of the gym. I didn’t care that we were up 20 and we won by ... eight."

Razorbacks coach John Calipari reacts to a call by the referees in the second half against Texas
Arkansas Razorbacks coach John Calipari reacts to a call by the referees in the second half against the Texas Longhorns at the Moody Center in Austin, Texas. | Sara Diggins/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Many Razorback fans are just saying this is what they thought would happen when John Tyson made it possible to lure the Hall of Famer from Kentucky. Those expectations were probably a little too high because it didn't take into account every college team is basically rebuilding a roster from nearly scratch these days.

Let's not forget Calipari walked in and didn't have a single scholarship player when he showed up to officially announce he was coming. There wasn't any need for a team meeting because there was no team.

Trevon Brazile decided to come back after finding out he wasn't going to be that high of a selection — if at all — in the NBA Draft. Lawson Blake, the only other returner, is a walk-on and was injured before Calipari could coach his first game in Fayetteville.

When the Hogs dropped their first five SEC games. It was a rough start.

"I told the TV at halftime, I love coaching this team now," Calipari said.

That's not an exaggeration. He does appear to be enjoying things a whole lot more these days. It helps his players have finally gotten healthy for the most part.

They've also figured out what he's probably been preaching since finally getting enough players together to hold a practice. A lot of it has been whatever he and his staff have done to keep their heads on straight with all the losses.

"How ‘bout they struggled like that and stuck together?" Calipari asked the media later. "How ‘bout they struggled and I had somebody ask, ‘Are you afraid they’re going to let go of the rope?’ Were you in the room? You weren’t the one that asked. I said, ‘Well, they would have let go of the rope already.’

"They’re fighting. We got a ways to go to reach where we should be. I do. But I’m just happy we won this, the last game on the road, two road wins. In this league? Two road wins tells you we’re not too bad."

Getting that win keeps the Hogs with just about all of their preseason goals still in front of them. They probably won't win the SEC regular season title because they've already got six losses in league play and Auburn doesn't look like it will get anywhere near that number.

But Arkansas has won three of its last four with a pair of Quad 1 wins on the road against Kentucky and the Longhorns that are huge when the guys in charge start making out the final bracket for the NCAA Tournament.

"If you're .500 in this league, geez, you're going to be a top six seed, seven seed, six seed," Calipari said. "But I'm not worried about all that. I just hope we keep playing well to be honest with you."

Beating Kentucky and Texas in back-to-back games on the road is exactly what the Arkansas fans expected back in April. It took a while to get there, but fans shouldn't be complaining now.

Calipari was worrying before the game even started, so don't put too much into the finish because it was a win against a red-hot team that came back from over 20 points down against arch-rival Texas A&M.

It would have been normal for the Hogs to have a little bit of a letdown from an emotional 10-point win over Kentucky. Getting a 20-point lead over Texas probably got them a little "fat and sassy," as a reporter phrased it asking Calipari about it later.

It's a good old' Southern expression about over-confidence. They've also been told all over Fayetteville how good they are now.

The win over the Wildcats just proved it, and the big lead against the Longhorns may have added to that.

"They have been," Calipari said. "And I was scared to death walking in here, just so you know."

The challenge facing them Saturday may be even bigger than the last two games, and it will be back in Bud Walton Arena as high-rolling third-ranked Alabama comes to town. It will probably be a rowdy and full house where ESPN's Dane Bradshaw said during the broadcast is "one of the toughest places to play" when Arkansas gets rolling.

Yeah, that's exactly what the fans were thinking when Calipari came to town. The question now is whether they can pull off the REALLY big upset Saturday and how that atmosphere will be around Arkansas if that happens.

HOGS FEED:

• Razorbacks topple Texas, pick up first SEC winning streak

• Texas type team Razorbacks need to find way to beat tonight

• Freshman pitching familiar formula for Van Horn, Razorbacks

• Greenwood coach expects Karnes to carry on tradition of walk-on success with Hogs

• Beating Texas opens door for Razorbacks fans to dream

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Andy Hodges
ANDY HODGES

Sports columnist, writer, former radio host and television host who has been expressing an opinion on sports in the media for over four decades. He has been at numerous media stops in Arkansas, Texas and Mississippi.

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