Feral Swine Headline Bye Week Edition: Half A Season In Review

It's been a long season thus far, Hog fans, and we've still got a long way to go. Eight weeks in, we're below .500 and merely halfway to bowl eligibility, and games against top 10 South Carolina and LSU still loom large on the schedule, along with a few other games that may not be win-able. Also, we have two Heisman hopefuls who have been reduced to just...hopefuls. Anyway, without further ado, here is a run down of the season that's been.

The first two weeks were exciting, before week two concluded. The subject of my articles those two weeks was the return of Knile Davis. Well, he's back but he hasn't realy been back. In 7 games he has amassed only 332 yards and 2 scores, to say he's under performed (in the eyes of Razorback fans, at least) is an under statement. Even when he did look to be back to form (Texas A&M first half) ball security turned out to be a major issue, perhaps he shouldn't have been kept out of preseason contact drills. Whether he's having a hard time returning from injury, or his magical 2010 season was a fluke is left for us all to sadly speculate.

Then there was Alabama week. Without fearless leader, Tyler Wilson, the Hogs looked lost and confused as the losing streak began. Would we have won with Tyler? No, not at all, but it's a viable excuse, right? We also lost bruising fullback Kiero Small for the year that week at practice, though, at the time, he was only supposed to have missed a few weeks. The Hogs suffered the worst home beating in the past 50 years 52-0.

The losing streak continued even after Tyler returned. The Rutgers loss was a toughie, who loses to a Big East team and Sun Belt team in the same season? Lifetime even? That's right, the Arkansas Razorbacks. Even herculean efforts from Tyler and Cobi Hamilton, who broke the SEC record for receiving yards in a game, couldn't will the Razorbacks past the Scarlet Knights from New Jersey, and the Hogs fell to a measly 1-3.

Then came the Hog's first road trip of the year, destination: College Station, Texas to Kyle Field to play the Aggies of Texas A&M. Unfortunately, the game was only close for a half, as A&M's Johnny "Football" Manziel lead the Aggies to 51 straight points in the 2nd half. Manziel set a school record with 453 yards passing against the porous Razorback defense, and rushed for over 100 more. Old Knile made an appearance when he took a short pass out of the back field 64 yards for a score, but then went on to fumble a few times throughout the game. The defense was absolutely dominated, and the Razorbacks limped on to 1-4.

Then came Auburn, the Battle of The Bad, the War of the Worst. It was a game where the SEC's worst offensive and defensive units would be put against eachother. Well, the last ranked Arkansas defense looked nothing of the sort as they forced 5 turnovers and came away with 8 sacks. 8 sacks! The last turnover before this game was on the goal line in Little Rock against ULM when Ross Rasner picked off Kolton Browning. The Hogs, of course, went on to win 27-14 and looked on to a date with Kentucky, where they would try to establish a winning streak against a team with more injury woes than themselves.

Kentucky, who was without several starters limped into Fayetteville on a dark and stormy night. The rest, for the Wildcats, was a scary story. A vicious group of men dressed in black (anthrocite?) destroyed the Wildcats in horrific fashion, the 28 points scored in the first half were the most allowed all year in a game for Kentucky. The Hogs went on to score 21 more points, as the starters scored 7 touchdowns on 7 straight drives, and freshman tailback Johnathan Williams caught two touchdowns for 70+ yards a piece. The game concluded in the 3rd quarter after a second lightening delay. I fear what Tyler would've done to the Cats had he played all 3 quarters, much less 4.

The Flogging in Fayetteville leads us here, to the bye week, a week where the Hogs will yet again avoid defeat...you know, because we're not playing anyone. The Razorbacks look like they've made a big turnaround and are on the hunt for bowl eligibility, it all starts next week as they return to the site of the Massacre on Markham to face Ole Miss. Perhaps the corny name for the outcome of this matchup can be Redemption in the Rock? I certainly hope so, with South Carolina and LSU on the schedule every win counts, they have to at least beat Ole Miss and Tulsa, and that leaves Mississippi State as a toss up. It's been a wild ride, Hog fans, but we've got five weeks left, stay tuned and find out if Arkansas can obtain bowl eligibility!