The Peak
It felt as though if the Razorbacks could just knock of The Ohio State Buckeyes, we would finally break through and become a team that, at the very least, would be contending for the SEC West crown every year, and would hopefully be making sporadic runs at both the SEC and National titles. I might have been overreacting, but there was something about that night in the Bayou. After getting thumped in the early going and falling behind 7-28 in the first half, the announcers and probably the rest of America wrote us off. But there was something special about that team. They had talent, they had weapons, they had speed, but most importantly, they had heart, and as many of the Razorback faithful expected, they came roaring back. After closing the gap to 26-31, a blocked punt by Colton Miles – Nash gave us possession at the Ohio State 18 with just enough time to ice the game and put them away with one final Ryan Mallett touchdown pass. It was all there for the taking, until it wasn’t..
The Fall
That fateful night began a long, slow, painful decent by the Arkansas Razorback football program into gridiron irrelevance. The decline recently culminated in a 2-10 2017-2018 campaign under new head coach, Chad Morris, arguably the worst season in Arkansas football history.
In basketball, the light shines a little brighter. Mike Anderson has been a significant improvement over the dark ages of Arkansas Basketball from 2000-2010. His teams always seem to outperform the talking head’s expectations. That said, his teams can be frustrating to watch. The offense can often seem stagnant and labored, with the ball sticking to individual players for far too long. In addition, his teams that have been ladened with talent (i.e. Bobby Portis’ 2014-2015 and Daryl Macon/Jalyn Barford’s 2017-2018 squads) failed to make it out of the NCAA Tournament’s early rounds.
The Rise?
Why do I care so much? Because I’ve seen what having a stellar football or basketball program can do for the State of Arkansas. In a day where partisan politics and social media have led to dangerous rifts in our culture, we need something to bring us together. In the Natural State, almost all of us can agree to unify under the banner of the Razorbacks. When our teams are winning, an intoxicating level of energy pulses through the State, and that energy unites us on gameday. That’s what it’s all about, the comradery and fellowship of coming together to support young men who have chosen a different path. They’ve chosen to play for a state that is usually disrespected and often forgotten. Though the national recognition and accolades may not come quite as easy, they’ve chosen to attempt to build something new, and we should be forever grateful for that.
That’s why it has become an obsession of mine to understand why we aren’t a perennial powerhouse in either sport. Why do buckets seem to come so hard for our basketball team when we give up countless uncontested layups? Why have our quarterbacks been running for their lives for the past 3 years? Why is there no separation between our receivers and opposing secondaries? Most existing Razorback sports media sites tell me that we’re bad, but my mission is to understand why we’re bad.
The Purpose
To do this, I plan to do the following:
- Break down film on a game by game basis to illustrate what we did well and what we can improve on
- Analyze individual players to show their strengths and weaknesses
- Explain our coaches’ offensive and defensive schemes
- Dissect recruits’ highlight videos
- Pinpoint the differences between our programs and well coached, elite teams
As I do this, hopefully together, we will be able to observe our improvement from mediocrity to the perennial powerhouse that our State needs.