Football is not a track meet - Mizzou slaughters Hogs

Posted Wednesday, January 2, 2008, at 8:29 AM

Arkansas strong safety Matt Hewitt -- Wednesday, December 26th in the Northwest Arkansas Times -- on playing against Missouri.

"They're going to get a rude awakening Jan. 1, because they're going to see the press man and a lot of blitz schemes coming after them. They forget they're going against an SEC team."

Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow -- 17/33, 154 yards, 3 touchdowns

Bowl game opponent Chad Henne -- 25/39, 373 yards, 3 touchdowns

Michigan is now 7-3 against the SEC in bowl games.

Heisman runner-up Darren McFadden -- 21 carries, 105 yards, 1 touchdown

Bowl game opponent Tony Temple -- 24 carries, 281 yards, 4 touchdowns

Missouri is now 4-1 against the SEC since the Big 12 began in 1996.

"Speed's everywhere," said Missouri's Jeremy Maclin a few days before the Cotton Bowl. "It's not just the SEC. That's what everybody thinks, especially from the SEC. They think they're going to be the fastest team on the field. But we've got some guys that can run out there."

"SEC speed" may be the most overused phrase in college football over the last few weeks. Yes, the SEC is a great conference. It's the best in college football and 6-2 in bowl games. But the game played on the gridiron is not a track meet.

"We thought our speed would help us out a whole lot," said Arkansas fullback Peyton Hillis after Missouri's 38-7 victory. "But they were real physical and got on us today."

Mizzou dominated both sides of the line of scrimmage at the Cotton Bowl on Tuesday. The defense sacked Arkansas quarterback Casey Dick three times, more than any other opponent this season. The offensive line blew open holes for Temple and other tailbacks all day long. Every Missouri running back that carried the ball at least twice averaged more than five yards a carry.

It also helps when your opponent forgets that you can actually run the ball. Still, Arkansas interim coach Reggie Herring was in no mood to give Temple or Mizzou any credit after the game. "Half his runs were on air," said Herring, whatever that means.

Here's how Mizzou coach Gary Pinkel described his opponent after the game. "Hopefully, people understand how good Arkansas' offense is and what a great scheme they have," Pinkel said. "We do a lot of different types of things, unusual things on offense. They do the same thing. They have a great, great plan."

Thanks to Pinkel, his coaching staff and his team, that "great, great plan" from Arkansas was poorly executed. Pinkel's Tigers finish the season at 12-2 and are counting on being in the Top 5 of the country to finish the year and in next season's pre-season polls.

"We've got a ton of people coming back on this team," said quarterback Chase Daniel after Tuesdays' game. "The offense will be just as good and the defense will be better, if that can be possible."

It's possible. The 2008 season opener against Illinois is less than 9 months away. Can't wait.

A few other things I realized after watching football all day long.

If Daniel wants to finish higher than fourth in next year's Heisman voting, he's going to have to put up bigger numbers on national TV. Yes, Arkansas was prepared for the passing game, but he completed just 41% of his passes for only 136 yards, no touchdowns and one interception. That follows a disappointing performance against Oklahoma in the Big 12 championship game. Daniel had the most success in the short passing game. But he frequently had to throw the ball away when he took a deep drop and looked for longer gains. His numbers would have been better had a wide-open Will Franklin not dropped a pass that could have gone for a touchdown.

Is there a better safety in college football right now than Hayti's William Moore? The Cotton Bowl's outstanding defensive player was all over the field Tuesday, stuffing the run at the line of scrimmage, delivering bone-jarring tackles in the secondary, intercepting a pass for a touchdown. He finished the day with 13 tackles. Moore is only a junior but he could be headed to the NFL this spring. That would be a huge loss for the Tigers but a great opportunity for Moore, who deserves to take his game to the next level.

It's too bad the Cotton Bowl is played so early in the day. It's also unfortunate that Fox carried the game. Compared to the crews for ABC/ESPN, the Cotton Bowl production came up short in just about every category. They flashed a graphic early in the game showing the stats for Darren McFadden and Felix Jones but didn't bother to mention Tony Temple's numbers until he was over 100 yards on the day. Apparently, Fox was prepared for a big day from Arkansas. The only two guests in the booth were both connected to the Razorbacks - retiring Arkansas AD Frank Broyles and incoming coach Bobby Petrino. I thought the interview with Broyles was never going to end. Throw in a lack of replays and an abysmal performance from Pat Summerall, who should have permanently retired long ago, and the game was difficult to watch with the sound on. The Kansas City Star's Jeffrey Flanagan chronicles the many Summerall lowlights.

ABC wasn't perfect, either. Fans watching the Michigan-Florida game on ABC may be forgiven for not realizing how special Tony Temple's performance was at the Cotton Bowl. The crawl running at the bottom of the screen repeatedly referenced McFadden's stats for Arkansas and Will Franklin's five catches for 77 yards for Mizzou. No mention of Temple.

Nothing says college football quite like the sweaters worn by the cheerleaders of USC.

Before the bowl games started, I thought the two best teams in the country were USC and Oklahoma. The Trojans dismantled Illinois. OU gets its chance against West Virginia tonight. USC vs. Oklahoma is the game I would like to see.

While the Illini got crushed at the Rose Bowl, running back Rashard Mendenhall had a nice performance -- 17 carries for 155 yards including a 79-yard touchdown run. I hope the junior decides to go pro. That will only help Missouri in the first game of the 2008 season.

ABC is getting set to unveil another dancing show? Doesn't the first one make one too many?

The Diet Dr. Pepper ads - "There's nothing diet about it" - are the best soft drink marketing campaign on TV.

Cradle of quarterbacks? Got to be Texas.

Comments
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dearsemoball.com....i doubt that there is anyone still alive now when i played for the Razorbacks....

steve hoehn malden

-- Posted by hogfan1 on Wed, Dec 31, 2008, at 2:22 PM

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-- Posted by iwebmaster on Tue, Nov 11, 2008, at 2:58 AM

Another connection, the head coach at Charleston during the '72-'73 seasons, Joe Black, was a starting linebacker on that Razorback team that included Jimmy Johnson and Jerry Jones. He is now coaching in his hometown of Smackover AR; Frank Broyles went to Smackover to introduce Joe Black as the new head coach, this year, and stated, "In 1963, I took Joe Black out of Smackover and now I'm bringing him back as your head coach."

-- Posted by birdfan on Sat, Jan 5, 2008, at 12:52 PM

Speaking of Arkansas' SEMO connection, does anyone remember Malden's Steve Hoehn? As a sophomore, Hoehn started at the fabled Monster position for the Hogs' defense in 1965.

Arkansas was the defending national champ that year according to the Football Writers poll and entered the Cotton Bowl undefeated with a chance to take the title again. But their 22-game winning streak was snapped in a tough one-touchdown loss to LSU.

(In the neither-here-nor-there department, the '64 team featured two starters named Jerry Jones and Jimmy Johnson.)

Arkansas has done pretty well with Missouri players. St. Louis' Ben Cowins (Sumner), who played in the late '70s, was their all-time career rushing leader until McFadden broke his record this year. And Steve Atwater (St. Louis Lutheran North) is still their all-time career interception leader. Gary Anderson from Columbia Hickman was also one of their best RBs. When he graduated in the early '80s, he was 4th on the career rushing list but has since dropped several spots.

-- Posted by unclegrubworm on Fri, Jan 4, 2008, at 12:54 PM

With regard to Pat Summerall, did any of you happen to see the picture of the Razorbacks when Summerall was on the team? Standing beside Summerall was Herb Marshall, former head coach of the Charleston BlueJays, who was Summerall's roommate at Arkansas. Herb was at the game to see his Hogs go down to our Tigers.

-- Posted by birdfan on Thu, Jan 3, 2008, at 10:15 PM

McFadden will be one of the first players drafted. His burst is scary, but he does not run with great power for a big man. (By the way, his Wunderlich score, whatever it turns out to be, has very little to do with his running ability.)

It will be interesting to compare his NFL career with Rashard Mendenhall's. Mendenhall does not explode like McFadden, but he is big and fast and breaks more tackles.

I'm afraid William Moore cemented his status as a First Round draft pick. Before the Arkansas game, I was hoping the NFL advisory committee would come back with a second or third round projection. He was just too good, and the crop of safeties is not strong this year. He has suggested that he might leave if the report has him as a likely 1st Rounder. We should know in just a few days.

-- Posted by unclegrubworm on Thu, Jan 3, 2008, at 2:46 PM

I have watched Mcfadden many times and he is a very good back. Mizzou's defense has dominated games time after time. They held Texas Tech to 10 points they dominated Kansas and made Ressling throw 2 picks. He hadnt thrown a INT in the previous 6 games. They are one of the most underrated defenses in the country. The LB'S were all over Mcfadden. Last year against SEMO, scored on a 51 yard run for the first play of the game. I know that it is SEMO, but he was untouched.

-- Posted by Hello on Thu, Jan 3, 2008, at 8:29 AM

My Steelers are going to need some Mizzou magic, I just woke up from this great Mizzou season and realized that the Steelers are in the playoffs, I am a fan but now living in SE Missouri (I refuse to go to Buffalo Wild Wings for NFL package games,) I didn't have much of a chance to watch my other Black & Gold Team! The Tigers took my fall to a different level this year, the move to SE Missouri wasn't as tough a transition with the Tigers winning, Go Tigers...Now Bloggers help me get caught up on the NFL Season! Still hate the Pats, but if Pitt gets past Jacksonville the road goes to Foxboro!

-- Posted by Steelersfan on Wed, Jan 2, 2008, at 12:57 PM

I never saw Darren McFadden other than in highlights on ESPN. I have to say that he way overrated. He can't run through the middle. His big runs were on the outside and when he would get the open field, he was hard to stop. His field vision was terrible, he kept running into other players and didn't see the hole very well when taking it into the middle. I would like to see what his wunderlick test results are when the combines start. He might look like Bo, but he sure doesn't run like bo.

ESPN noted that Arkansas loaded up their defense with cornerbacks and safeties and at times only had 2 guys on the front line going after Daniel. That is when Missouri started running the ball and Arkansas looked lost. It got to the point that Chase stopped faking the run with the handoffs and just stood there and watched Temple tear them apart yard by yard.

You got to love the guy from AT&T who was probably the only Mizzou alum tied to the telecast. His speech at the end when he looked at Gary Pinkel. He said "I only got one thing to say to you Coach pinkel and that is M-I-Z". Gary Pinkel looked a little like "what did he say?". Then the players helped him out when Z-O-U. Priceless

-- Posted by NoDisclosure on Wed, Jan 2, 2008, at 12:32 PM

Mizzou proved that their program has arrived on the national scene. Their staff has coached well ,recruited very good talent, and kept them motivated and focused. I look for them to keep improving and look forward to next year, it could be better than this one! Time will tell like always, but they have some great players returning.

-- Posted by castnblast on Wed, Jan 2, 2008, at 12:18 PM

Summerall was terrible. He repeatedly said the wrong names on both sides. It was very hard to watch.

-- Posted by jmcniell on Wed, Jan 2, 2008, at 10:26 AM

M - I - Z! Z - O - U ! Let's see, are the Tigers the only team in the country that owns victories over teams (Illinois & Arkansas) that beat the BCS Championship contenders? Like one announcer referenced Missouri's victory over the Hogs: They pulled their pants down! Coby was a barkin'!

-- Posted by Hugh M Bean on Wed, Jan 2, 2008, at 10:25 AM

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