You make the Grade: How did the Hogs do?
September 20th, 2009
You’ve read all the stories, given instant feedback, watched the game and now it’s time to grade Arkansas’ performance in its 52-41 loss at home to Georgia.
Make your voice heard, place your votes and then leave your thoughts below in the comments section.
Arkansas head coach Bobby Petrino drew a personal foul for arguing with a referee, but his offense scored 41 points. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/MICHAEL WOODS)
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What grade would you give Arkansas' defense?
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What grade would you give Arkansas' offense?
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What grade would you give special teams?
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What grade would you give Arkansas' coaching staff?
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How do you feel about the rest of the season?
The operation was a success ... but the patient died.
This game was as frustrating as a "H-Nutt" game!! Back then we knew he wouldn't pass (or we couldn't pass) and there was nothing we could do about it. Last night, we knew that when UGA got the ball that we couldn't stop them and there was nothing we could do about it! No matter how exciting the offense was - on too infrequent occasions - the defense took the enjoyment out of what little we could find in the game. With all due respect to Petrino and the talent he has brought in (on the offensive side of the ball), DEFENSE wins in the SEC and DEFENSE wins Nat' Championships. Louisville does not play in the SEC! Yes, it is only one game but if things don't change on the defensive side of the ball (and in our running game), we will be having several "CAREER STAT" games this season - our opponents and their QB's will be having "career stat" games against us!
Two more things that adds to the frustration of this game: first, we said that we had worked on our running game and were prepared to run on UGA. That proved wrong! And secondly, we had been looking to this game for 8 months we the repeated mantra "the defense is better, the defense is better" and again the defense of last year showed up last night. So not only is this frustrating, this does not bode well for the upcoming year: we can work and prepare and THINK that we are ready and then reality hits! Not good, definitely not good for the next several weeks!
It goes back to winning the line of scrimmage. Their line play was far better than our line play on both sides of the ball. They made some holes for their backs and protected Cox who looked all world last night. We put no pressure on him and he was very accurate. Bama will also be tough as they have a great defense. time to "man up" hogs and be physical.
Going in to this game, my prime concern was that GA had superior athletes at almost every position and I think this was the difference in the game. Mallet is superior to Cox, Childs was equal to A.J. Green but from there on Ark was short on comparitive talent to GA. All is not lost but I think Petrino needs a couple of more recruiting classes to shore up the defense. Also I felt the running game was really lacking and that D.J. Williams was underutilized. I would say the offense was what we in Hogland have been desiring for years..on defense we just need some playmakers.
Really, most of Georgia's rushing yards came on one busted play. I know that still counts just like anything else, but if you take it away, our defense did fairly well against the run. The pass defense is atrocious, primarily because we cannot rush the passer. Joe Cox had time to drink a Long Island Ice Tea while looking for his receivers, who often had five yards of separation on our receivers. I said this would a problem after the Mo St. game (there were guys running around open then as well), but I didn't think it would be THIS bad.
I think we ran the ball well enough, and I don't see how you can think that an offense that rolls up 41 points against a solid SEC defense is "infrequent." The offense did everything it needed to do to win and more. Even the special teams didn't kill us. The punter had that clunker, but you can't expect that much punting from your own end zone. The fact of the matter is that this one rests squarely on the defense. You can't lose a game by double digits at home when your offense scores 41 points, ESPECIALLY when you have two weeks of game film.
Most inept defense I have seen in a long time. We get no pressure on the QB and the secondary is bad beyond belief. As bad as the defense was, it was not the most disappointing part of the game for me. The offense is explosive for sure but the running game was weak. The biggest disappointment, however, came on one play late in the game. The hogs were in the red zone facing a critical third down. Mallet got flushed out of the pocket and needed to run for the first down. He got within about 2 or 3 yards of the first down and....slid. This is a must have 1st down and he slid!! It may not have made a difference in the final outcome but it sure made a difference in how I view the QB. No heart, wilted at crunch time, soft, unwilling to sacrifice for the team. I don't care how strong his arm is...give me a guy with some heart.
tncbg...I agree with you on that Mallet play, but I even think that has a little to do with the defense. I don't how willing I would be to sacrifice my body only to have the defense give up a 50 yard bomb directly afterward.
Hog's fans, we feel your pain on this one. Our defense has been much of the same way the past 2 seasons. Throw in the fact that the Dawgs like to put the ball on the ground a lot, and it makes for some really frustrating games. Your offense looked great. Mallet is still young, and hopefully for you guys, will learn from mistakes like sliding on third down and trying to go for the endzone instead of trying to dump it off to the wide open RB for the first down. Quick strikes are sexy, but chewing up the clock wins games. Not to mention, he kind of seem to come unraveled late in the 4th. What a game to watch though, weapons all over the place making plays. Too bad someone had to lose.
As for Petrino and the running game. I only know from my experience with him from the Falcons, but he never used our running game which was best in the NFL the year prior. Granted, much of that had to do with Vick, but it was still extremely under utilized. You would think that with a QB like Joey Harrington, and a RB like Dunn, we would have run the ball more. You guys might want to watch that moving forward because teams like Bama, LSU, and Florida won't be as generous on defense as UGA was.
I realize the offense played a great game and put up 41 pts, but...we left some pts on the table. Since I don't have a clue about how to help our seemingly helpless defense, here's what I do have. We have no red zone offense, mallett is great when he has plenty of open space for the receivers to roam, but how about putting Wilson in when we get to the red zone? Also, Mallett - you're 6'7" dude! In the fourth quarter of a tight game, put your head down and run over someone for 2 yds.
We scored 41 points . . . they scored 52 points . . . until our defense improves markedly, the Hogs are middle-of-the-pack at best.
Skezell, you nailed it perfectly, just a couple of things to add. Broderick needs to start runing with his pads down, not tiptoe and his legs stop at first contact, he's got to keep driving. He needs to watch some film of Mike Smith. Also, the O-line needs to work on gettting better at run blocking. Maybe I'm thinking with my heart but I'm hoping we'll get better... I'll be in the HOG section calling the HOGS at the Alabama game! GO HOGS!!! See you there!
Bottom line: Hard to improve on 5 wins from last year with this schedule and this defense. Six wins would be overachieving at this point.
If your offense puts 41 on the board, you gotta win! If defense wins championships what does that say for the rest of this season. If you are a high school senior and a defensive back then send your videos to the U of A. You could probably come in and start as true freshman next year.
Offense = A
Defense = F
GPA = C
C = Average or middle of the road. We end the season 6-6, squeak into a low tier bowl game and win. Finish the year 7-6.
Skezell, I'm not one to get into a cyber spitting contest but I would like to explain my "infrequent" comment regarding UA's offensive output. Remember we scored 21 of our 41 points in the first quarter!! We had the ball 16 times in the game and scored only on seven of those possessions, two of which were field goals. Our offense, while dynamic and exciting at times, was not effective when it needed to be. Yes, we can lay some of it's ineffectiveness to a rather good SEC defense but we must also admit that a very poor running game and a QB who more often than not went for the sexy long ball strike instead of the "dump off for a meager 7 to 15 yard" completion made our offense sputter and therefore it was infrequent in it's productiveness. If the word "inconsistent" will satisfy you then let me retract the word "infrequent" but however you want to look at it, they did not remain consistent for 3 quarters! And if the defense continues to play like it did against UGA, 41 points a game will not win us many games this year!
Derrick, How many games have you watched that a team on every possession? We scored 41 points and gave up 52. I'm gonna say the defense has to improve. 7 out of 16 is above the average on scoring drives!! To nick pick Mallett for sliding or missing a couple of reads is ignorant. This was his first meaningful game in more than a year and that's all you can come with? He passed for 5 td's and over 400 yards! Gimme me a break! We get some help on defense and Mallett will lesd us to the promised land!
Derick, not trying to start anything. I am just saying that 41 points is more than enough to win a game at home, no matter the frequency with which they are scored. Offenses sputter, and this is a fact. You can look any other "big-time" program and see statistics similar to the ones you mentioned. My main point is that the offense did what it needed to do to win that game last night. Though they weren't perfect, to criticize their performance takes the heat off of an inexcusable defensive performance (can we even call it a performance); they were the reason we lost that game.
cannot believe mallot slid on 3rd down. the game was still in reach until that play. unbelievable. your 6'6 son put your head down!!
Statistically, Georgia has the worst defense in the SEC with Arkansas at No. 11.
If this game was played over again, Mallett would not have more than 200 yds passing. If we are not able to run the ball, defenses will drop 7-8 players back to defend the pass and shut down our passing attack. Then you will see us losing 45-17!! I saw offensive linemen falling to the ground trying to make a block on the goal line instead of hitting and driving the defender back. If none of this is improved, we will be sitting home again this bowl season.
That defensive performance was pathetic! 41 points should be enough to win any game. Mallett is the real deal, but we must improve in the running game. How is it possible that a line that could block so well for the run just two years ago is so inept now, especially in short yardage situations? And I thought Broderick Green was supposed to be that "big back" that could get us that yard or two in those situations. The O-line is giving him no help in those situations, though, since they seem to just be trying to cut-block the defensive line instead of getting any kind of push off the line. Everyone wanted an exciting passing offense, but the running game is just as important. I think Mallett was pressing too much late in the game when his passes were off the mark, but he's going to be a great quarterback. I think Jarius Wright, Joe Adams, and DJ Williams are going to be great players in the SEC, too. And Greg Childs really made the most of his opportunity, so I'm proud of his play.
I was worried about how the defense would play this season, and it looks like my fears were valid. That defensive performance was simply unacceptable. If this is the best we can do defensively, then a complete overhaul of players AND coaches is needed on that side of the ball.
I give the Hog offense an A, the defense a F, The special teams a C-. I was as frustrated as anyone after the game, but I think we need to give the coaching staff who get paid alot of money to fix failures the chance to do so. If at the end of the year the defense has failed then I do not think any fan poll will be needed to change leadership in that area. I expect we will win at least one game that no one expects us to win. The question is can we limit the losses to teams that we should win against. Let's let the year play out before we are ready to ride anyone out on a rail or give up on this season so early.