It was a relief to hear that the Arkansas offense burned through the Troy football team and left it in flames on Saturday. My normal observation post is curtailed this weekend because all I have done so far is hear about the game. My cable package doesn't include the outer fringe cable channel that the Hogs were relegated to. I choose not to have the internet at my place simply because of the distraction factor, and I spend enough time looking at a computer screen already at work. But I did have the ESPN screen crawl and Hog fans calling me with updates. Thanks guys!
First, an apology. Hogs, I doubted you. I am sorry that I did. I thought you would get a victory, but I saw a sluggish one coming and was truly fearful of a big letdown, maybe even an upset. What nearly happened to LSU this weekend vs. Louisiana Tech was the game that I feared the Hogs would get into against a good Troy team that did move the ball on us on Saturday. They just couldn't score, however, like our Mallett captained offense could and did.
I don't imagine some blind, Arkansas Homer will ever write an epic poem about this game, about this burning of Troy, but it will be remembered as the game that launched Arkansas into the first post-season of the Petrino era and signifies true progress for a team that had a 5-7 season last year and struggled against the Sun Belt teams of the college football world.
I will be on hand in Little Rock for the Mississippi State game, so I look forward to giving you another report from the North Endzone after that one wraps up with hopefully another Razorback victory. Someone with a Georgia accent once said that Razorback victories were going to be habitual. The way this offense is humming right now, I think that very well could be the case as we enter the last games of the 2009 season. Neither Mississippi State nor LSU has an offense as high powered as ours when it is hitting on all cylinders. The trick is in keeping it up.
I can't conclude this without bringing up one other Trojan defeat. How about that Stanford Cardinal? haha. (Stanford 55 - USC 21) Pete Carroll, this is just proof that if you stay in the college football world long enough, the cleat will come around to be worn on the other foot. The Greeks certainly taught the once powerful Trojans humility. The Razorbacks and the Cardinal taught some other Trojans some humility this last Saturday.
Off to ESPN360.com to SEE some of it myself.