Wednesday Practice Report
Ed Orgeron distinctly remembers the last time Arkansas’ Felix Jones handled an opening kickoff against his team. Jones returned it 100 yards for a touchdown, covering the distance in 18 seconds.
The big play got the ball rolling for the Razorbacks, who went on to thrash Ole Miss 38-3 last October on a crisp, fall day in Fayetteville. This year, Orgeron has learned his lesson.
“We have a plan,” Orgeron said. “We’re trying a bunch of stuff. We’re looking at what worked against them and what didn’t.”
Jones is fifth in the nation in kickoff returns, averaging 31.6 yards per runback. He has already taken two to the house this year. And when paired with Darren McFadden (24.4 ypr) he helps form a formidable one-two combo when it comes to handling kickoffs. It’s one of the reasons why teams have started directing their kicks away from Jones and McFadden.
“We’ve seen it all,” Arkansas coach Houston Nutt said. “They have pooched it, they have sky-kicked it, they have squibbed it. They have done everything, where Felix and Darren couldn’t get the ball.
“Everybody has schemed it. We have the two best returners in America and these guys are kicking away from them.”
JOHNSON MISSES PRACTICE
Arkansas wide receiver Robert Johnson was held out of practice Wednesday, but is expected to play Saturday at Ole Miss.
Johnson has been suffering the effects of a sore right ankle he injured before the Razorbacks’ 66-7 victory over North Texas on Sept. 29.
“We’ve got to have his leadership,” Arkansas coach Houston Nutt said. “He’s great on the sidelines. He’s into the game on every snap. He’s helped us a great deal.”
Johnson, a 6-foot-2, 210-pound flanker, has made six receptions for 89 yards and one touchdown this season.
ON EVEN FOOTING
Ole Miss defensive coordinator John Thompson has lived an itinerant coaching existence, moving from one job to the other year after year.
“He’s been around a little bit,” Razorbacks coach Houston Nutt said.
Seven years ago, Thompson landed at Arkansas, where he was an assistant under Nutt for two years and served on the same staff as Razorbacks offensive coordinator David Lee.
“We both know each other,” Nutt said. “We both have the same vantage point. They have been watching us play. We’ve been watching them play. We have a lot of film involved. He’s going to know us by film. We’re going to know him by film. Now you got to go play and execute.”
Hire Jimmy Johnson to achieve the 1st SEC championship and National Championship within 3 years.
Allen - if you’re going to fanticize, why not go for Vince Lombardi or Tom Landry?
Seriously, anyone who thinks Jimmy Johnson would return to coaching at the college level just hasn’t been paying attention. He’s “been there and done that” and seems perfectly content living on the coast and doing the NFL TV gig.
Our offense is like Tyson vs Douglas.We run run run like Tyson is punchin punchin looking for that knockout run or punch.Buttttttttttttttt it never happens.One punch UA.Thanks Nutt.
If you want real coach hire Malzaun like everyone wants.All these other dudes are just Nutt clones.No creativity at all just the SOS
Arkansas had their chance at Switzer and Johnson but they were so much smarter than Broyles that he wouldn’t hire them.Think about it.
Our offense is so predictable that my wife(who doesn’t know much about football)actually predicted what play we would run against Auburn severaly times before they happened. A Little League coach could come up with a gameplan to stop our offense. It’s simple stack 9 guys in the box and beg Casey Dick to throw the ball so they can pick it off. I say let DMac run quarterback half the game and give Nathan Emert a shot the other half of the game.
I live here in Austin TX - the heart of the beast - and Mack Brown, head coach at UT said this today: “If we aren’t getting better, it’s the coaches fault. That is our job to make the players and the team better. Injuries can hinder it but we recruit players to be able to play whether its first team or 3rd team. If they can’t perform, it’s my fault. Not their’s.” WOW! No wonder Texas is always competing for the nat’l title. You wonder how Nutt would respond to that… Listen, I am a huge Houston Nutt fan but there really is something wrong with the UA football team and it ain’t the players. I don’t want to see him go or get fired but he appears to be unwilling to change his football philosophy and that is troublesome. Something has to give……