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Athlon released their annual quotes from SEC coaches anonymously discussing other SEC teams this week, and what they said about Arkansas was, well, tepid at best?
You might remember that last year, they said this about Arkansas:
- "They are going to be terrible in Year 1"
- "They are really going to struggle"
- "They are going to be slim in a lot of spots"
Of course, that all turned out to be spot on. But what they said about the Hogs this year, is at least not quite so strongly negative. I certainly wouldn't categorize it as "good" or even "positive" but certainly not as bad as last year. I mean, last year was "really" going to struggle and this year there's no "really" so I think that's progress.
So we've got that going for us. Which is nice.
Some of the quotes only really discuss last year's team, but I pulled the ones that more directly describe their thoughts on this year's team here:
"They will continue to struggle a little bit. They should be better but continuing to struggle."
"Based on what they are doing, I just don’t think they can score enough. It starts with the offense – they are not set up to score a lot of points. It’s ball control, grind it out, I-formation, play-action football."
"Their quarterback is back (Brandon Allen) and they should be better as a result, but I’m not sure if he’s the answer long-term."
"Alex Collins is a hard-nosed runner, physical kid. I do really like him. He can get them tough yards and a few scores. But that can’t be your whole offense."
"Keep in mind, Bret didn’t inherit much. The recruiting transition from Petrino leaving to John L. Smith for a year was never going to be smooth. There were guys on that roster they wouldn’t have taken when he was at Wisconsin. So he needs time to get that done. But they need a boost at the skill positions, such as receiver and cornerback. They just don’t have a lot of playmaking there."
You can read all the quotes about Arkansas as well as all other 13 SEC schools here.
So what do you think? Are they on the money again this year or are they underrating the Razorbacks?
