After first honoring veterans, Chad Morris made it sound like his football team had charged up San Juan Hill or stormed the beaches at Guadalcanal.
Nutshelling a 24-17 loss to LSU on Senior Night in Fayetteville, the first-year Arkansas coach spoke of "the hurt and the fight that they've been through" after arriving on campus. "It started with 27, down to 15. They love the Razorbacks with all their heart and we love them."
Honorable sentiments, to be sure, but here are some cold facts: These departing Razorbacks helped get Bret Bielema fired and may be headed to the first 10-loss season in Arkansas football history. This is not a golden age of Razorback football, in case you haven't noticed, and the fan base has basically adopted a take-it-or-leave-it approach regarding the team, many staying home or leaving the stadium early.
It was not lost on this writer that another longtime Arkansas chronicler found something better to do on this football Saturday than cover the Razorbacks. Wally Hall filed his "like it is" column in Sunday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette from Arkadelphia, where Henderson State and Ouachita Baptist met for the 92nd time. The series is tied 43-43-6 after OBU, technically the road team, pounded its next-door neighbor 38-10, completing an 11-0 regular season.
Following an undefeated team, or just taking in the Battle of the Ravine, is much preferred to watching a tedious affair involving a Southeastern Conference bantamweight, which Arkansas has become.
Trailing 14-3 after a first half that the Razorback offense could have been outlined on a cocktail napkin, Arkansas revived those in the 48,950 who stuck around for the last two quarters. The LSU lead reached 24-3 before Arkansas showed a pulse with Ty Storey throwing a pair of touchdown passes to tight end Cheyenne O'Grady.
Then it was 24-17 and LSU fans, bowed and bloodied after the previous week's skunking (29-0) by Alabama, began reading from a script by Stephen King. Coach Ed Orgeron, who in another life might have been Earl Long and governor of the great state of Louisiana, unwittingly assisted the Arkansas comeback. Coach O made a curious decision to go on fourth and one rather than attempt a field goal that, if good for 27-10, would have put the Tigers up by three scores in the fourth quarter.
Arkansas stuffed that threat and challenged again with Storey passing to O'Grady, whose eventful night included taking an incomplete pass to the face mask in the end zone. (Think the officials missed a holding call?) Unfortunately for the Hogs, O'Grady picked a bad time to audition for "Dancing With the Stars" and was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct after his second touchdown catch.
"I thought that the touchdown before was close to being unsportsmanlike," Morris said. "I addressed it with him: I said 'you have to play smart;' my exact words were 'you've got to be composed."'
O'Grady's lack of composure forced the Hogs to kick off from their 20, allowing LSU to operate from its 41 after Clyde Edwards-Helaire's return of 25 yards. Arkansas' defense got off the field only after the clock went all zeroes. Joe Burrow, whom LSU named its starting quarterback on the Monday before opening against Miami, hit Derrick Dillon with a 14-yard slant and kept for 16 yards on the clock-killing drive. The game ended with LSU one yard from a touchdown that with a successful conversion would have covered the 13 1/2-point Las Vegas line.
Covering the spread should represent no moral victory for Morris' team, which has straight-up victories only against FCS member Eastern Illinois and second-tier FBS opponent Tulsa, both at home. The Razorbacks go on the road for their last two games, 11 a.m. Saturday against Mississippi State and 1:30 p.m. Thanksgiving Friday against Missouri, after which Morris and his staff get after recruiting in a big way.
What does one say about these Razorbacks without being overly harsh?
It's sad that Arkansas can't protect Ty Storey, a pretty fair country quarterback from Charleston, any better. "He stood in the pocket and took some hits," Morris said, "and the grit that he showed kept us in the game, especially in the third quarter into the fourth."
Or that an ankle injury is hampering Rakeem Boyd, who sometimes reminds you of another Arkansas running back (Darren McFadden) who wore No. 5. Or that McTelvin Agim, who surely has an NFL future, and Armon Watts don't play for a better defense. Or that a good season by kicker Connor Limpert is going unrewarded.
It could be worse, believe me. Arkansas could be Auburn and wondering if Gus Malzahn deserves all that money for four losses. Texas A&M has similar concerns about Jimbo Fisher, for whom the Aggies broke the vault.
Meanwhile, Louisville is tasked with replacing Bobby Petrino for a second time. Somehow, I doubt that Jeff Long, who fired him at Arkansas, has Petrino on his short list to replace David Beaty at Kansas. Bret Bielema is available, however, as is Houston Nutt, if Jerry Jones doesn't pick an ex-Hog coach to helm the Dallas Cowboys, another ship taking on water.
Sports on 11/12/2018