Bielema: MVPs: Jonathan Williams (off), Jared Collins (def), Tretola and D'Appollonio on STs
— Thomas Murphy (@TomMurphyADG) October 27, 2014
Coach B: Brooks Ellis will practice on Tuesday and see how things go; Toliver should be back on Tuesday or Wed and should play at M-State.
— Hawgs Illustrated (@HImagazine) October 27, 2014
Bielema: Brooks Ellis will be back at practice tomorrow. We're excited about where he is.
— Bo Mattingly (@SportsTalkwBo) October 27, 2014
It will be interesting to see if the defense can return to form with Ellis. Mississippi State is a great offensive team, so it'll be a challenge. With the Bulldogs' running game, Ellis' presence could be vital.
Coach B: We played Mississippi State great last season and looking forward to playing against them as No. 1 team this season
— Hawgs Illustrated (@HImagazine) October 27, 2014
Yeah, that was a tight game in Little Rock last year. Of course, Mississippi State wasn't able to use Dak Prescott as their quarterback, so this is a pretty different team just based on that alone.
BB: Mississippi State is a great football team and they're effective in the red zone and the kicking game. Our team is excited to play.
— Razorback Nation (@RazNation) October 27, 2014
BB: Defensively, Mississippi State is big up front and the linebackers are very active.
— Razorback Nation (@RazNation) October 27, 2014
Bielema on Josh Robinson: He has a lot of yards after contact. They run him out of a lot of formations.
— Bo Mattingly (@SportsTalkwBo) October 27, 2014
Robinson did run for over 100 yards against Arkansas last year. The Razorback coaches should be plenty familiar with him.
Bielema on McFain: The thing about him is he gets the ball up in the air very quickly. I don't think he feels the pressure.
— Bo Mattingly (@SportsTalkwBo) October 27, 2014
BB: McFain hit a 54 or 55 yard kick last week in practice. He has come quite a long way since the first time I saw him kick.
— Razorback Nation (@RazNation) October 27, 2014
No matter how this season ends, this kicking situation will be one of the great mysteries. Arkansas recruits one of the most highly-touted kickers in the country to replace Zach Hocker, but said prospect gets beat for the job in preseason camp by walkon senior, senior gets awarded scholarship, senior appears to struggle in games compared to practice, recruit remains redshirted in favor of another walkon that wasn't even on the radar in August, new walkon converts 49-yard field goal in first game attempt.
Coach B: We're the first team in college football to play five straight Top 10 teams
— Hawgs Illustrated (@HImagazine) October 27, 2014
We're still rolling with describing A&M as a top 10 team? Okay. I get it, they were ranked when the two teams met and to earn this record, that's what matters. But the Aggies have fallen almost completely off the map.
Coach B: We probably go into a game with 3 of 3 things up our sleeve, but we spend little to no time on that as not to take away key time
— Hawgs Illustrated (@HImagazine) October 27, 2014
BB: We only spent about five minutes on the Tretola play over three weeks before we ran it.
— Razorback Nation (@RazNation) October 27, 2014
Bielema on trick plays: It's a moral booster to our guys
— Bo Mattingly (@SportsTalkwBo) October 27, 2014
BB: Our top prospects for the offensive line had blown up my phone Saturday night following the Tretola touchdown pass.
— Razorback Nation (@RazNation) October 27, 2014
BB: There is a bit of lobbying going on amongst the linemen but I don't think you'll see another linemen throw any passes anytime soon.
— Razorback Nation (@RazNation) October 27, 2014
Gotta hand it to Bielema. People are still talking about this today in weekend recaps all over the country. You would have thought that if anybody outside of Arkansas was still talking about anything regarding the UAB game Arkansas would have done something wrong, but this seems to have worked perfectly.
Coach B: Whether it is going to be 4 players or 14 from Arkansas each year, we need to get all of them. It is a collective effort.
— Hawgs Illustrated (@HImagazine) October 27, 2014
BB: We enjoy being able to recruit out of Texas and Louisiana and other places of that nature but getting kids from Arkansas is important.
— Razorback Nation (@RazNation) October 27, 2014
Having such a deep crop of in-state prospects this year is really the first big break Bielema's gotten since he became Arkansas' coach. Despite all the team's struggles on the field, Arkansas should end up with one of the Razorbacks' more highly rated recruiting classes since these recruting rankings became a thing, and the in-state kids are the core of it. And getting them all? Huge.
Coach B: We have cowbells revved up on Ipod for practice.
— Hawgs Illustrated (@HImagazine) October 27, 2014
That has to be so miserable.
BB: I have a rule of thumb now that I must develop a second string kick off unit for instances when we start to score quite a bit.
— Razorback Nation (@RazNation) October 27, 2014
Coach B: Different coach in charge of each special team, but ultimately I am in charge. Opening up punt return job this week.
— Hawgs Illustrated (@HImagazine) October 27, 2014
Bielema said Arkansas is opening up punt return job this week. So D.J. Dean will have to compete to retain the job.
— Robbie Neiswanger (@NWARobbie) October 27, 2014
Don't think I've ever seen a team with this much special teams fluctuation at this point in the season. New kickers. Possibly new punt returner. Korliss Marshall's suspension. Craziness.
BB: Brandon Allen can handle the throwing game much better than he did a year ago.
— Razorback Nation (@RazNation) October 27, 2014
BB: I think there was a stat from the Alabama game that there were zero drops. That's incredible progress.
— Razorback Nation (@RazNation) October 27, 2014
BB: Recruiting is going to be huge this year to get some receivers that can help us down field.
— Razorback Nation (@RazNation) October 27, 2014
Yes, the Arkansas passing game has enjoyed moments of success this season and should only get better. The Razorbacks only lose Demetrius Wilson and A.J. Derby after this season, and add JoJo Robinson, K.J. Hill, and all the other newcomers (and all the other redshirts from this season). Things are looking positive.
I'm sure there will be some clamoring for one of the backups to replace Brandon Allen next season but don't count on it. Short of injury, I can't imagine Bielema replacing a 5th year senior at quarterback with over two years of experience for a freshman with no experience. Bielema talks about the importance of experience all the time. I can't see that happening. This is mostly just reaction to a tweet I saw last week. Carry on.
BB: I used to think that SEC was bad for college football. But it is amazing how deep this league and it is an eye opener.
— Razorback Nation (@RazNation) October 27, 2014
Um, ok?