You hear the word “vanilla” a lot in the game of football. It’s been beat to death since the Arkansas Razorbacks’ 20-13 victory over the Portland State Vikings this past Saturday. In his Monday press conference, Coach Chad Morris said, “Our focus for game one was executing our base offense and running the football. We were basic for a few reasons… By design we were vanilla.”
A win is a win…kind of
I want to be the first to say despite starting the season 1-0, the display we saw was not something to be proud of. However, it’s hard to put it solely on the shoulders of the coaching staff. Did Ben Hicks have some bad throws and take a few too many check downs? Yeah, I would say so. Could they have managed the clock better right before halftime so more points could have been added to the board? Absolutely.
Overall, they did their job running the football as they surpassed the 200 yard mark. However, that could have been done in the passing game as well. Ben Hicks finished the day 14/29 (48%) for 143 yards. Though his numbers were nothing to write home about, you can’t blame it all on him. It’s hard to imagine there would not have been at least one or two more scoring drives had his receivers not dropped four passes. (The official count was 4. I counted 5.) Converted TE Chase Harrell, who coaches raved about in camp, was guilty of 3 drops.
Almost any football fan would have looked at this game and expected it to be a dress rehearsal for Arkansas. For that reason, it was speculated that Morris probably would not expose the entire playbook for the world to see. Especially in Week 1 before a crucial showdown with Ole Miss. I’m in the minority but I am fine with that game plan. However, it just should have been executed much more effectively.
Crucial game
Morris does not have his back up against the wall quite yet. However, coming off of a 2-10 season there has been no game in his career bigger than the one in Oxford this weekend. The Rebels did not have a good showing in their opener either. Head coach Matt Luke’s seat is getting hotter by the week. Adding all of this together, I smell a recipe for another exciting game to add to the chapter of this rivalry.
For two teams that will more than likely finish last and second to last in the SEC West, the stakes could not be any higher. Morris answered all the questions regarding Portland State. You can take them as excuses or however you please. The bottom line is this offense has to be better moving forward. Whether it is Ben Hicks or Nick Starkel taking the snaps, they have to show improvement. Else, the fan base will continue to lose confidence in this staff.
Hawg fans, check out this week’s TexHogs podcast:
