New Day For The Arkansas Razorbacks: A Hog Football Preview

I woke up WAY too early this morning.  Something new was going on.

My windows were open and the sun broke through the blinds, orange and fresh and cool. Wet honeysuckle was in the air mixed with a faint hint of roadkill opossum. A couple of feral cats were fighting or fornicating or doing something else loud and painful and kinda gross sounding beneath my windowsill. It was a perfect late Spring morning in Arkansas. 

The upcoming football season for the Arkansas Razorbacks has some parallels to my A.M. experience.  I'm not sure what has stirred me from my sports slumber.  Maybe it's the fresh new day of Coach Bobby Petrino taking the reins of the program. Or perhaps it is the sickening and slightly unnatural sounds of fully grown Hog fans placing their lips squarely on the buttocks of this new coach and letting loose with noisy and wet kisses.

These are strange times in Hawg-land.  The epic turmoil of Houston Nutt's last two seasons has ended and although any sports soap opera that involved...

1. Lesbian physical therapists that are friendly with the coaches sending drunken threatening emails to a hometown former high-school All-American freshman QB
2. Self-same freshman QB who had called the coach a "dork" in a really bad book written about said QB's high-school team and coach transferring to the west coast
3. Previously mentioned high-school coach who had been hired by the big university to both ensure the commitments of the star QB and 2 other players on that hometown team and to introduce the forward pass to a squad that featured the two best running backs in the history of the school and no credible  quarterback to speak of and then left the big university after just one successful season to take on the same job at the football powerhouse of Tulsa University
4. A fan base so distraught over the treatment of the QB that "FOI-ing" became a commonly used verb throughout the state and the phone records of all the coaches were poured over by a goofball who then professed SHOCK that people would be upset that he was going through their phone records and calling all the numbers to see who they belonged to and giving the information to the board of the big university and making it available to other disgruntled fans who...
5. Proceeded to write an asinine and childish "white paper" with all the investigative credibility of Geraldo Rivera's best work and publish it on the internet claiming...
6. Coach Nutt (who was indirectly or directly responsible for the shabby treatment of the beloved QB and even more beloved Offensive Coordinator) was having improper text message relations with a local news anchorwoman who...
7. Quite frankly isn't all that cute and all this lead to...
8. A groundless lawsuit AGAINST the university and Coach Nutt by an attorney and his college frat buddy that had no hope of success but was funded by the same people that published the "white paper" in hopes of at least getting to pre-trial depositions which would allow them to...
9. Ask coach Nutt under OATH why he had been so mean to their beloved QB and high school coach and for good measure find out once and for all whether he boned the anchorwoman or not and to also get to the bottom of WHY oh WHY the Razorbacks can't pass the ball like all the other big exciting teams do

...certainly made being an Arkansas football fan interesting over the last couple of years, the hiring of coach Bobby Petrino has put all of that to rest.

Even the staunchest of Houston Nutt's backers acknowledge that the Hog's upgraded the coaching position. Whatever baggage accompanied Petrino from Atlanta has been tossed aside by a fan base that has united behind a cause—blaming ESPN and Arthur Blank for trashing the reputation of our newly-beloved coach who we don't know at all but will defend to the death anyway. 

Petrino has inherited a team that, for all intents and purposes, looks unsuited to his preferred offensive style. He also has a defense so thin at linebacker and in the secondary that they may be reduced to hurling biting insults at opposing offenses in hopes of stopping them.  The lack of proven talent, however, hasn't dampened the enthusiasm for a new beginning in Arkansas.

Petrino's first order of business will be to see if he can turn either Dick brothers (returning starter Casey and younger brother RS-freshman Nathan) into something other than phallic jokes in waiting.  Early reports are that Casey, after an up and down career, may excel under Petrino's tutelage.  He doesn't have the biggest arm and he doesn't run well, but he is a good leader, has taken to the new playbook well and apparently has a seriously hot girlfriend.

The running backs that have been the face of the Razorback program for the last 3 years (Darren McFadden, Felix Jones and Peyton Hillis) have moved on to play their trade in the NFL. The obvious replacement at tailback is junior Michael Smith (who asks no questions if you leave a credit card with someone else's name on it in his mailbox as payment for a debt).

Smith is a proven runner but is only 5'8" and has a tendency to put the ball on the ground, leading to questions about whether or not he can carry a big load. Brandon Barnett will probably split time in the backfield. He isn't as elusive as previous Hog runners but can break tackles and should do well in Petrino's multi-faceted attack.

The offensive line should be a strength, at least in theory. All-American Jonathan Luigs returns for his senior season at center and should anchor an O-line that has experience and has had success running the ball against the toughest defenses in the country. Questions about pass-blocking ability, however, will persist until this group actually has a chance to try its new schemes in the heat of battle, since they weren't asked to do much of it in the past.

Mitch Petrus returns as a mobile guard and Demarcus Love is expected to step in at the other guard spot without much dropoff from last season. The tackles should be Jose Valdez and Ray Dominguez with Michael Aguirre pushing for a starting spot or providing able backup.

If Petrino is going to toss the ball around a little, he will have to discover some receivers, seeing as the ones currently on campus couldn't be blamed if they simply stop and stare if a pigskin is lobbed in their direction. Virtually every reception of significance over the past two seasons was made by Marcus Monk or Peyton Hillis and they are both gone.

Ben Cleveland (the last of the famed Springdale recruits left on campus) showed signs of being a clutch H-back/tight end his freshman season but suffered a devastating brachial plexus injury and missed last season and struggled with a foot injury in Spring. D.J. Williams and Andrew Davie got raves at tight end during Spring ball and are being looked to as possible "go-to" guys.

The wideouts actually have potential in London Crawford, Carlton Salters, Marques Wade and Crosby Tuck. All are guys that came to Fayetteville in hopes of being part of Gus Malzahn's wide open offense but to this point in their careers haven't accomplished much. If Crawford and Salters play to their abilities and incoming freshman Joe Adams lives up to the hype the Arkansas offense will probably surprise some people.

Defense may be another story. Willy Robinson takes over a unit that wasn't exactly fearsome a season ago. The young Hogs have good speed but may lack the bulk and experience to compete week to week in the SEC.

The D-line is fair to good. It will be anchored by senior Earnest Mitchell and junior Malcolm Shepherd at the tackles. Mitchell is solid and Sheppard may be the quickest defensive lineman off the ball in the country. End Antwain Robinson has been spectacular at times and nonexistent at others and is currently listed as a backup to Adrian Davis on one side. 

If this defense is to succeed, look for Robinson to have a big year. The other side is manned by redshirt freshman Jake Bequette who drew praise in the Spring but is obviously unproven.

At linebacker things get seriously dicey. If anyone can think of an SEC team with weak linebackers that had a good season, I would be happy to hear from them. Freddie Fairchild was a freshman All-American 3 years ago but blew out his knee the following season and was inconsistent last year.

None of that may matter as Fairchild is currently suspended due to some legal issues. Senior Elston Forte, redshirt freshman Jerry Franklin, sophomore Ryan Powers and sophomore Jermaine Love should rotate through the 3 spots in Fairchild's absence.

If Fairchild comes back and returns to form and Forte builds on a good spring, this group will be passable. If not, look for teams to line up and run until the Hogs prove they can stop someone.

The secondary was suspect last year and lost just about everyone.  Despite that, Petrino was very optimistic about their play this Spring. Perhaps he is trying to build their confidence or maybe they will be a surprise.

Jamar Love and Isaac Madison are listed as starters at the corners with Shedrick Johnson and Darrel Glasper as speedy but short backups. Junior Matt Harris will be the new free safety and Dallas Washington returns on the strong side.

The murderous schedule includes a trip to Austin to play the much despised Longhorns and road games at Auburn, Kentucky, South Carolina and much improved Mississippi State. Home games include Houston Nutt returning with his Ole Miss squad, Gus Malzahn visiting with his high powered Tulsa offense and the usual patsies from Alabama, Florida and LSU. 

If Petrino manages to win six with these players against that schedule he will have more than earned his $3 million salary. If he manages seven wins, the state will probably bronze his man-parts and put them on display in the Capitol for general worship.  Regardless of the outcome this season folks are excited, united and generally positive about Arkansas football for the first time in awhile— and that by itself is no small accomplishment.