Two game-turning fourth quarter interceptions when your team was leading by two scores against the defending BCS Champs, on your own home field, is not the way to cement your name as a Heisman Trophy contender. Sure, Mallett looks like a good-to-great quarterback and he’ll probably make a lot of money in the next NFL Draft, but he won’t be doing so with the title “Heisman winner” by his name.
At least not after he fell flat on his face in crunch time against Alabama. Yes, there’s time for some redemption, but performances like Mallett’s fourth quarter are not soon forgotten.
Alabama and Arkansas get at it on Saturday in Fayetteville, and on one side, you have Bobby Petrino and his Ryan Mallett-led aerial attack, and on the other, you have Alabama, a team that might have the most explosive running back tandem, maybe ever. Of course, Alabama, with Greg McElroy and Julio Jones, can pass the ball just fine, and Nick Saban isn’t afraid to use it, either.
The Tide isn’t as prolific as Arkansas with the pass, but with Trent Richardson and Mark Ingram on the roster — who looks like he’s right back into Heisman form after missing two games because of knee surgery — heavy reliance on the pass by Alabama would be foolhardy.
Conversely, Arkansas uses the running game to set up their dangerous passing attack, and when you have the nation’s leader in passing yards — Mallett (who also has 9 touchdowns and only 2 interceptions and a QB rating of 186.5) — and three legitimate receiving threats in Greg Childs, Joe Adams, and D.J. Williams, it would be foolish not to throw the ball downfield. Clearly, the Petrino/Mallett marriage is a match made in heaven.
Here’s what we can expect out of both teams. First off, Arkansas:
As for Alabama:
The video starts at the 1:11 mark, but if you want an idea of their passing game, rewind it.
As for Saturday’s game, can either team take away what the other wants to do on offense? Can Bama stop Ryan Mallett from throwing the ball all over the field? Can Arkansas stop Bama’s two dynamic running backs and get their offense back on the field? That’ll be the real trick, because the Tide have questions in their secondary. As for Arkansas, they’ve done well against the rush so far this season, but then again, they haven’t been up against one as powerful as Alabama’s either.
Saturday will be a true test for the Razorbacks, obviously, but if they commit too much to stopping the run, McElroy and Jones will make them pay for it.
Other areas of interest are the fans. Both teams are pretty damn awesome supporters. Observe:
Got to get them started early.
And then there’s the “Ryan Mallett for Heisman” ditty we featured earlier this week, made, of course, by Arkansas fans:
Pure, unadulterated fan brilliance.
With that in mind, who wins? Arkansas gets a nod for being at home, but then again, Alabama is road-tested, battle-tested and test-tested (just to cover all “tested” bases), so it’s hard to see them wilting in the face of a loud opposing crowd. My pick:
Alabama 27
Arkansas 24
Guesses such as final scores are subject to change at any moment and without notification.
One of the many college football traditions is for schools to promote certain players for the Heisman Trophy. Whether it’s a Joey Heisman ad in New York City, or a DVD of highlights sent to the Heisman committee, there are various ways to pump a potential candidate up. Thanks the Internet/YouTube/Twitter era of society, fans are getting in on the action with some creative ideas.
Once such fan campaign is brewing for Ryan Mallett, quarterback for the Arkansas Razorbacks, and boy, it doesn’t disappoint — as long as you like MC Hammer:
My snarky side wants to make lots of fun of this video, but then again, there’s another side that actually appreciates the effort. Whatever the case, one thing’s for sure, when it comes to fan love, you can’t touch Ryan Mallett.
Not sure which was worse: my weak pun or the video. I’m going with the pun. At least the video makes creative use of a horrible MC Hammer song.
Of course, if the Razorbacks beat Alabama this upcoming Saturday, “Mallett for Heisman” won’t be just an Arkansas fan’s dream anymore.
The Urban Dictionary defines the term “All that is man” as “title applied to men who have reached the peak of masculinity, ex: firemen, lumberjacks, ironmen, navy seals.” Sounds like a perfect description of Dexter Pittman, who is the current definition of the word “beast.” Perhaps this goes without saying — I mean, his listed measurements are 6-10, 290 — but still, sometimes even the obvious needs restating.
Pittman extended his beast-like qualities to another level against the Arkansas Razorbacks last night with this gaudy stat line: 21 points (10-15 shooting) and 10 rebounds. Oh, he also had this beastly dunk to start the second half, but since ESPN doesn’t want us to embed their video, here’s a link (13-second mark).
Granted, the only player the Razorbacks could throw at Pittman was Michael Washington (6-9, 239), and while Washington held his own scoring-wise (14 points), he only had two total rebounds. I’m guessing dragging the likes of Pittman up and down the court limits one’s effectiveness when cleaning the defensive glass.
One thing’s for sure, the upcoming Texas/Kansas basketball game (At Texas on February 8th) is going to be an absolute brawl. I, for one, can’t wait to watch Pittman and Cole Aldridge beat on each other for two-plus hours.
What we have here is the basketball court from the Scottrade Center, which hosted the Basketball Hall of Fame Showcase doubleheader. While the games weren’t all they were cracked up to be (an underhanded Arkansas got ran by Louisville, while Kansas and Memphis showed us why the season probably starts a little too early), because of its sheer ugliness, the basketball court wound up being more of a story than the games themselves.
In fact, the court was so bad, I couldn’t stop commenting on it over at Storming the Floor’s marathon chat session. At one point, I threw out a new rule, saying, if your team doesn’t have orange in its uniform or its school colors, the color orange should be banned from adorning college basketball courts. Not only was the color scheme, well, bad, it looked like the advertisements/logos on the court seemed to be screaming “NOTICE ME!!!” All in all, I’m sure it contributed to the overall poor play that was on display. In fact, the only team that thrived in the Scottrade Center was Louisville. The three other teams looked like they had no business playing organized basketball at this point in the season.
Don’t get me wrong, Memphis/Kansas was fun simply because it was a close game. However, if you ask either coach, I doubt very seriously either one of them would be pleased with the way their team played, especially on offense. Two teams as talented as Kansas and Memphis should be scoring more than 57 and 55 respectively. If it was me, I’d blame the court and its Halloween-inspired color scheme.
For the second week in a row, the brains who run the most popular college football conference in America are having to apologize for refereeing ineptitude that once again influenced the outcome of the highly contested Florida/Arkansas game. SEC officials have apologized to Arkansas, saying the personal foul call on Malcolm Sheppard was incorrect and no additional yards should have been awarded. First, here’s the play in question:
The Arkansas Razorbacks to a trip to Gainesville on Saturday and gave the Florida Gators all that they could handle. The Gators reward? Being number one in the first BCS Rankings poll of the season. However, did Florida get a little help from our friends who wear the zebra-striped uniforms? To some Razorback fans, the answer is yes. Yes the Gators did benefit from some suspect calls which may have helped them avoid what would’ve been the season’s biggest upset so far.
At least Reggie Fish is. What we have here is a nice little rap video, courtesy of Fish, set to the images of Razorbacks highlights. Unfortunately, there aren’t (m)any highlights of Fish, a sophomore wide receiver who redshirted last season after a decently-productive freshman year; well, at least in the playing time department (nine catches for 65 yards in 13 games). Mainly, the video features highlights of Michael Smith and Dennis Johnson running over and around opposing defenses. Of course, coming off of a 5-7 season, the highlight reels aren’t exactly plentiful. Maybe Fish can help change Arkansas’ course in the upcoming season.
