Southern Cal vs Arkansas

I am going to stick with my pre-season pick of 35 to 24 in favor of USC, but I hope that I am dead wrong.

When the Hogs win...
First of all, after the game, stay clear of the goal posts especially the in the South end zone. Secondly, join the record capacity crowd in the wild mass exodus out of the stadium. Thirdly, you may not want to tune into talk radio the week following the USC game as fans will go from the average if we are lucky 7-4 predictions to National Championship hype.

If the Hogs lose...
It wouldn't be unexpected given the opponent; however, we should never accept a loss and there are no moral victories in football. The game better be competitive or the Nutt wolves will be howling.

Keys to Victory...
See my Ambush article.

Keys to Defeat...
A one-dimensional Hog offense will kill our chances more than Reggie Bush and Matt Leinhart playing under false identities for USC. Take a look at last year, 3rd and long means that opposing defensive units bring nine men even if we have a four wide out set.

Things to Cheer About...
The Fayetteville crowd will be electric. Imagine an 80 yard scamper by Felix Jones. The first time Mitch Mustain trots out on the field. Can you imagine a bigger reaction by the fans than these two events (besides winning of course)?

USC Ambush in Fayetteville?

When someone mentions "Arkansas versus Southern California", what comes to mind? 70 to 17 AND images of the third team if not water boy team scoring with about two minutes in Los Angeles (not to mention images of Reggie Bush slashing through our defense with ease). Simply put, painful.

Can Arkansas win in Fayetteville? If so, I think it will have to be "ambush style" reminiscent of the beating that Texas received back on September 13, 2003. There are three key ingredients to an ambush:

Ingredient 1: Make them Pay
In retrospect, we played almost flawlessly and made Texas pay with each turnover. If USC puts the ball on the ground, we must score in order to break their will. If they throw picks, then we must return these for TD's or long gains as to provide a short field. We can not get a turnover and go three and out.

Ingredient 2: Solid Defense
Our defense must play 60 minutes and be very stingy. The defensive unit has something to prove and is motivated by the events in Los Angeles, but that is not enough. I think the "bend but not break" style would serve well in this game.

Ingredient 3: Kick'em when it Counts
With the game winding down, we must be able to kick a clutch field goal. In Austin, we all but sealed the victory with about five minutes left when David Carlton kicked a 29-yarder to put the Hogs ahead 38 to 28.

Let us hope that we find the right ingredients so we can feast on the USC stewing that will undoubtedly rock the nation and remove the images from L.A.

Quarterback: Straddle the Fence

Unless you have been living in a cave or building pyramids in Egypt, you obviously know that Robert Johnson will start on September 2 against Southern California. The majority of the fans are unhappy. The media outlets are showing strong support. I am going to straddle the fence - supported side and unsupported side.

The Supported Side of the Fence
Robert Johnson has experience. He does well in practice, but can he take the same performance to game day? Perhaps he should envision the game as just merely a practice. Johnson just might put things together after sticking it out when most QBs would have hit the road. We can hope that Johnson takes or seeks advice from former Hog Tarvaris Jackson (drafted by the Minnesota Vikings and signed a 4 year contract) on how to take your game to the next level.

The Unsupported Side of the Fence
Start Mitch Mustain. He is the future of the program so let's get him going right away. Johnson had his chance and blew it.

Keeping the Fence in Tact
No matter what your side of the fence happens to be, we all need to stand behind our Razorbacks. At this point, we need to keep the same optimism that we had just a few weeks ago before the series of unfortunate events in this weird off-season.

Pre-Season FB Predictions 2006

I know it sounds crazy, but I am going to try to predict wins/loses and score before we take our first snap against USC. For all who read, I am sure it will be laughter material at some point; however, I plan on making week to week predictions that will undoubtedly differ from this look into my crystal football.

Sep 02 - USC 35, Ark 24 in Fayetteville (loss)
Sep 09 - Ark 48, Utah State 14 in Fayetteville (win)
Sep 16 - Ark 21, Vanderbilt 10 in Nashville (win)
Sep 23 - Ark 17, Alabama 14 in Fayetteville (win)
Oct 07 - Auburn 31, Ark 20 at Auburn (loss)
Oct 14 - Ark 56, Southeast Missouri State 3 in Fayetteville (win)
Oct 21 - Ark 35, Ole Miss 28 in Fayetteville (win)
Oct 28 - Ark 38, Louisiana-Monroe 10 in Little Rock (win)
Nov 04 - South Carolina 31, Ark 14 at Columbia (loss)
Nov 11 - Ark 17, Tennessee 14 in Fayetteville (win)
Nov 18 - Ark 28, Mississippi State 13 at Starkville (win)
Nov 24 - LSU 31, Ark 28 in Little Rock (loss)

I am predicting 8-4 and that would put us in the running for the Cotton Bowl depending on how hungry the bowl is to have a full crowd. Otherwise, Independence here we come with a long shot for Peaches but not likely.

In the Beginning

There was a new Razorhog blog.