Well, for a while there, the Razorbacks were threatening to not get blown out. In the end, though, Florida handed them their third-straight lopsided defeat.
Still, it says something about how the 2008 season is going when, after a game that the Hogs lost by 31 points and in which they yielded 514 yards of total offense, I’m left thinking, “Hey, they didn’t play all that badly.”
As always, share your thoughts in the comments thread.
Comment by CJLR
October 4, 2008 @ 2:42 pm
Decent for three quarters or so – which is an improvement over the past couple of games.
To be decent the entire game, it seems quite simple to me: 1) learn how to score when we get inside the opponent’s 30; and 2) quit giving up the big plays on defense (or for this team, try to give up only one or two a game).
Comment by Drew
October 4, 2008 @ 2:45 pm
I was fairly proud of the way the team played. I was mostly frustrated, though, by the fact that we had 2 drives stopped by no-calls by the officials. If the game’s not going to be called evenly, we might as well not even play, because we’re already at a skill disadvantage. Florida got away with late hit after late hit, yet we get called for one (when it’s not even a late hit). Obviously, the refs or the Gators didn’t steal the game from us, but it would be nice to lose on an even playing field. This probably sounds like a “we lost because of the officials” rant (we didn’t), and I was actually embarrassed by how much I yelled at the TV. But the way we played gave me some hope for a win against low scoring Auburn team, and I’m still very interested to see how we fair against an unranked SEC team. Oh, and the Rebs got their first taste of HDN’s MO: Beat a top 5, lose to South Carolina.
Comment by thebeave
October 4, 2008 @ 4:50 pm
The only part of the game that really bothered me was how Florida racked up fifty yards in penalties in the span of like seven plays and managed to get a touchdown anyway. That was hurtful.
Comment by Mike
October 4, 2008 @ 8:35 pm
Forty five minutes of football is better than none, but not as good as an hour. I could have lived with a 24-10 final.
At least Auburn’s not going to run up 35 points of offense, I hope.
Comment by clo
October 4, 2008 @ 10:14 pm
You know what, right before the third quarter ended the sun came out and I said to myself, we’re gonna get an interception on this play, and to my amazement we actually got an interception. Right after that I started feeling like maybe we could somehow pull a very unlikely win, but before the offense got on the field I decided that was just too much to ask for, so then I just wished that at least we could keep about the same score. At that point, I was probably the happiest I’ve ever been while losing, because after looking like a junior high team for the whole season we actually looked like a lower tiered SEC team that was playing a higher tiered SEC team. It was the best three quarters they’ve played since the LSU game, we actually had something that resembled a defense, and our offense seemed to move the ball easily (until they got to the 30 yard line), the offensive line played its best game this season, Dick played better but still seemed to be terrified of throwing deep, and Michael Smith again showed that he wants to be a leader in the offense. I think though that our inexperience led to the 4th quarter meltdown, but I still enjoyed this loss more so than the win over Western Illinois, even though I had a terrible headache from a hangover. Hopefully we will improve on it and be even better next week.
OH by the way what the expletive was wrong with the officiating. All the penalties Florida got on that one drive was just amazing to watch, but seriously if you get paid to ref football, you should definitely know that a holding penalty is 10 yards not 5. And ooh so many no calls, one of my friends who was also hungover yelled “I don’t think we are the only ones with a hangover, actually I think they might still be drunk.”
Comment by KevinHog
October 5, 2008 @ 10:51 am
I can relate to CLO’s feeling of being happy during a loss. Yes, they were looking like something above a junior high school level team there for about three quarters. Then the damn broke in the fourth. I watched the first half live and then had to go to a recruiting event on campus for the second half, so I tapped it with the hope that I would have a Razorback upset of upsets on record for playing over and over when I got back. As I was rewinding the tape to get where the game was on it, I caught a glimpse of 17-7, and I said to myself, “Holy crap, we scored!!!!!” haha. Too bad that was the only one. What is it about the 30 yard line? Is there some hog repellant sprayed across it?
A Casey Dick interception and bumbling on special teams, unfortunately, things you know you’ll see at an Arkansas game. Just as sure as the day follows the night. Muffed punts being standard issue during a game with Florida. What do you think Reggie Fish said to Michael Smith when he came back to the sidelines? I would have loved to have heard that conversation!
Now Auburn is going to be especially pissed after losing to Vanderbilt. I wouldn’t be shocked if Tuberville flies Tebow in to talk to the team. Haha. Are we just destined to be everybody’s put a beating on feel good team this year? Ouch. Should we paint “Washington Generals” on our helmets?
Comment by Belinda in NC
October 5, 2008 @ 12:41 pm
Seems like they played well until the 4th. I was happy to see them hanging with Florida…but then…
It will get better…. I know it will…. and I can handle this season knowing that.
Comment by J. Hawg 3
October 5, 2008 @ 6:19 pm
For a while there, I was thinking I would have to (happily) eat my words. But no. Still, some signs of progress. Dick looked pretty good early. Smith was a dynamo. Still, you just can’t give up 40 plus yard TD runs. Really.
Comment by Razorback Expats
October 6, 2008 @ 7:36 am
Great comments on this thread. Thanks guys!
-John
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI
Two Arkansas expatriates examine Razorback sports from the outside-in. razorbackexpats at yahoo dot com
