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Let's get to it.
There are no hot, fresh takes after watching your team lose their seventh consecutive game. None. We lost, again. And we lost again in large part because the same players and coaches made the same screw ups. Again.
Brandon Allen still has atrocious footwork. He still throws a solid one-quarter of his passes into the sideline. Still stares down receivers, still decides "screw it, I'm throwing into triple coverage." Still, apparently, our best option. Whatever. I'm over it. Done.
Tevin Mitchel still tackles like a dog chasing a laser pointer, with just as much success. Worthless. Consistently inept at bringing a ball carrier to the ground. Won't get better, doesn't want to get better. Whatever. Done with that, too. Do yo thing, Tevin. You tackle the hell out of that grass.
Jim Chaney still can't manage to get out of his own damned way and call plays that work, and call plays that ARE WORKING over and over. Brother Hugh damn sure doesn't have a problem calling 22 receiver-screens in a row, and it seemed to work out for him yesterday. Freeze got the ball in the hands of his best players... you, Coach Chaney, VOLUNTARILY PUT THE BALL IN AJ DERBY'S HANDS BEFORE ALEX COLLINS SAW THE FIELD. The backup quarterback carried the ball before the star running back. I'm so done just thinking about that one play that I'm not even getting into the halfback-pass debacle.
Still giving a ten-yard cushion in pass coverage. Even on third down. Even when rushing only three. Even against an offense that lives on receiver screens. Watching your defense line up on 3rd and 9 and knowing beyond the shadow of a doubt that the other team will run a 10-yard pitch-and-catch for a guaranteed first down is some bullshit. Like blind with rage, considering hard drugs bullshit. Another thing I can't take any more of this season. Fix it, Bert. Or Ash. Or whoever.
The only thing that has me clinging to hope is that seemingly every play that made me cheer yesterday came from a sophomore or freshman. We'll miss Small and Hocker and Swanson and Smith. Who else? Anyone?
Brooks Ellis. Darius Philon. Korliss Marshall. Demarcus Hodge. Hunter Henry. Alex Collins. Jonathan Williams. All underclassmen. All of the players who made the most impressive plays yesterday. Those are the players with whom Arkansas will win the games it will win next year. Those are the players I'm pinning my fanhood and football sanity to.
That's it. That's all I got. It ain't much, and it ain't good, but that's where we are. Vanderbilt is 14-6 in its last 20 games. Arkansas is 6-14 in its last 20. And that doesn't even include the loss to ULM. 1000 words of positivity is impossible at this point, and breaking down the same breakdowns week after week is too soul crushing.
Now we've got another week off, and Mississippi State in Little Rock after that. A winnable game, but the defense will have to tackle Dak Prescott and LaDarius Perkins. I'm not optimistic, but that's what I'll be watching for and hoping for. I'm not holding my breath, though.
I'll see y'all in two weeks.
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Trent Wooldridge will be that guy with enough bourbon. He loves the S-E-C chant and honks because he hates Texas. He puts honey on his pizza, demands aisle seats, and sees quitting golf as more of a hobby than actually playing golf. Follow @twooldridge and track his quest to transform his three-year-old into a southpaw ace in the bigs.