Bizarro World...

[Jay_Lupo]

Remember that Seinfeld episode where everything is the opposite from what it is in reality? They called it Bizarro world or something like that. Anyway, Arkansas is there today.

The Hogs have rushed for less than - or right at - 100 yards and are up 28-17 in the 4Q.

Casey Dick, in his last 12 attempts, is 12-for-12, 158 yards and three touchdowns on passes of 23, 24, and 4 yards. Monk caught the 24 and 23-yarders.

What the hell is happening?

BTW, congrats Gamecocks (if ya'll read this). Great, great game today.

[Jordan]

Casey Dick should be good for your team in the coming years. I've heard great things about him, even before he started. As he continues to gain experience, Nutt will likely feel more comfortable "opening up" the offense a little more.

[WooHawg]

LoL, yeah Jay. I bet that our receivers were in shock out there to have some balls thrown their way. Like I said in another thread, I am happy for Marcus Monk. Casey Dick had a great game and really stepped up in the second half. Did anyone happen to see Houston Nutt postgame interview?

[Jay_Lupo]

No but I heard it on the radio. He sounded like a wild Indian. Needless to say, I bet that was a happy locker room today. Dick did step up. That was impressive. I'm happy for Marcus too. He definitely deserved to have somewhat of a big game. 63 yards and 2 touchdowns on this team is a HUGE game for a reciever. I believe Washington had over 50 and Hillis over 40 too. Dare I say balance? I may have to go see 'em play in The Rock next week now. After last week I was preparing to sell my tickets.

[WooHawg]

Yeah talking about patting yourself on the back at the end of the interview, Nutt acted as if he had just won the National Title. Nothing wrong with being happy and I am sure everyone in the locker room was just relieved with the win. I still hope he gets fired regardless if we beat Miss. State and LSU. Here is the interview..

http://media.putfile.com/Houston-Nutt-postgame

I'm just happy for the players. All that has, or hasn't happened this year they are still fighting. Guys like Monk who everyone expected so much from and he just hasn't had any thrown to him hardly. The defense started out bad at the start of the season and they have definately improved so hats off to Herring.

[Jordan]

Yeah talking about patting yourself on the back at the end of the interview, Nutt acted as if he had just won the National Title. Nothing wrong with being happy and I am sure everyone in the locker room was just relieved with the win. I still hope he gets fired regardless if we beat Miss. State and LSU. Here is the interview..

http://media.putfile.com/Houston-Nutt-postgame

I'm just happy for the players. All that has, or hasn't happened this year they are still fighting. Guys like Monk who everyone expected so much from and he just hasn't had any thrown to him hardly. The defense started out bad at the start of the season and they have definately improved so hats off to Herring.
I still think Nutt is the best choice for your team right now. Getting rid of him while the team is already in a kind of "rebuilding" stage would likely put you guys in at least a 3-4 year rut.

[WooHawg]

I still think Nutt is the best choice for your team right now. Getting rid of him while the team is already in a kind of "rebuilding" stage would likely put you guys in at least a 3-4 year rut.

I disagree Jordan, keeping Nutt next year puts us in a 3-4 year rut. :) As a person, I like Nutt alot. If he does stay, nothing I would like more than Nutt to have a great year next year. I just think its time for a change. Not sure what the rest of the razorback fans here think.

[jbuzbee]

Nutt did go crazy. I liked it though. I have to say though...remember the Heinz Ketchup commercials? You know..."Good things come to those who wait". Well, I think Nutt took that commercial to heart....and it ain't true. He's waited until it was too late to start Dick. Its obvious that McFadden, Jones, and Dick are our best players at their respective positions. Maybe, dare I say likely, we beat Vandy, Georgia, and Alabama if Nutt bites the bullett and plays the freshmen more. McFadden and Jones got 6 carries between the two of them against Vandy....McFadden now leads the SEC in rushing yards per game and Jones is likely going to also surpass Cobbs' freshman rushing record. Against Georgia and Bama Johnson had absolutely atrocious games....maybe we win those games with some adequate QB play. Those were very close, winable games.

p.s.: Lupo ----- Catholic 17 Pine Bluff 7 :p

[Cianne]

McFadden now leads the SEC in rushing yards per game

Not anymore! Felix Jones seems to hit the outside faster than McFadden as well. But that's just from watching the Ole Miss game.

[jbuzbee]

Felix Jones is a really good running back....possibly great even. But there is no way on this earth he turns the corner faster than McFadden (see toss play against GA to confirm).

[Jay_Lupo]

Ole Miss bottled McFadden up real good. They did the best job by far that anybody's done. He wasn't effective. But that allowed Jones and Dick to be successful. They were all over DMac though. But no, there is no way Jones gets to the corner faster than McFadden. Jones has awesome, awesome vision and is a small, low-to-the ground guy and that enables him to dart in and out of holes quickly (see Fred Talley). We don't have a player on our whole team as fast as McFadden is.

Nutt should've taken the shirt off Dick sooner, but how can you blame him too terribly much? The guy is a true freshman and Johnson's been in the system for 3 years and been the No. 2 guy for a season. But I agree he should've been put in sooner, just not as soon as Vandy, Bama, USC, those games. Auburn - the week it started circulating that Dick would be the next to get the pt, not Mortensen - is when they should've thrown him in there. But hey, at least he did it and it's paying off. Mitch is gonna have some comp. next year and may even have to take a shirt. He's already said he'd be fine with redshirting. Dick may give him a chance to do that.

What Casey was doing in the second half was great. We haven't had that kind of volley passing-wise since the Clint Stoerner days. He was smokin.
Oh, but Nutt definitely should've played McFadden more early on. How could you not see the kind of talent he's got?

And Buzbee, I heard (from my coworker that covered the game) that PB should've easily beaten Catholic the other night. I heard from him, the radio and the ADG that The Z's were dominant the entire game everywhere, but just made stupid play after stupid penalty after stupid play and blew it. It's a team full of morons. PB sucks man. White Hall would whip their ass. Who's Catholic play now? Russellville? If they get by them, they get to play future SEC-ballers Mitch Mustain, Damian Williams, Andrew Norman and Springdale. They won't get by Russellville, and if they do, they'll be slaughtered - literally - against Springdale. I'll take Springdale -40 in the 1st half. It's funny how all the Rockets think they're all that and a bag chips. If this was a typical PB team, they would've stomped a mudhole in ya'll. Catholic sucks. AAAAA-Central way, way, way down. But who cares? Everybody knows Springdale's gonna win and win big.

BTW, did you know that McFadden's got a bad ass little brother at Oak Grove. He's a sophomore and was their starting QB and FS this year. He's good too. I covered their game with WH. I seriously doubt he's as fast as his older brother, but he was the fastest guy on that field that night.

[jbuzbee]

For the record I was at the game and PB sucks. They did not score an offensive TD all night, in fact they didn't move the ball past Catholic's 40 all night. Their lone TD came on a fumble returned for a TD by their defense. Catholic scored on a long field goal, and two long runs.

I think Nutt is loyal to a fault to his seniors....which hurts us when the seniors aren't the best players on the team. Its obvious to me that for the most part...our freshmen are the best players on this team. I'm starting to wonder if guys like Thornton, Coleman, and Valdez are better than the guys starting in place of them. We won't know cause they got a shirt and since practice is closed no one knows how they've done. Isn't the point of redshirting a guy to save him for later cause you already have a guy filling that position that is better and more experienced? I mean, Jamaal Anderson doesn't start or get any PT until the Georgia game and the guy has more done more on that D line than almost anyone (except probably Keith Jackson)...he certainly is a better pass rusher than Anthony Brown was (he had 0 sacks).

[Jay_Lupo]

Here's Erick's story of the PB-LRC game. Sounds to me that PB blew it. The radio said they blew it. The ADG said they blew it. My cousin, a former S for Catholic who was at the game, said they blew it, etc... etc.. But I really don't care at all. PB is terrible. They got beat by Sheridan for Christ's sake. I'm just saying, prepar for a beating this week. I just talked to and ADG writer who covers catholic some, and he said they were gonna get whooped this weekend. Long live Springdale. That's my team. Anyway, here you go. sorry guys, don't bother reading any of this if you don't care about Arkansas high school football.

By Erick Taylor
OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
LITTLE ROCK — For three quarters, Joe Hart’s Pine Bluff Zebras dominated Little Rock Catholic in just about every phase during their opening-round battle on Friday night. But as the old adage goes, the game isn’t over until the final horn sounds.
And when the clock at War Memorial Stadium flashed zero, the Rockets were the ones doing the celebrating.
The Rockets made all the right plays when it counted most and capitalized off a questionable Pine Bluff play call late in the fourth quarter to escape with a 17-7 victory in the first round of the Class AAAAA State Playoffs.
With the win, Catholic (10-1), which hadn’t won a postseason game since 1991, advances to the second round to face Russellville next Friday night. Pine Bluff, which made its return to the playoffs after a year’s absence, ends its season with a 5-6 mark.
“Pine Bluff is a very physical team,” Catholic head coach Ellis “Scooter” Register said. “And I knew we didn’t match up very well with them. But I’m proud of our guys because we never quit.”
Hart, though, wasn’t as jovial.
“We just let it slip away from us,” he said in disappointment. “Coming in, we knew we had to stay consistent, and for the most part we did. But a few little mistakes here and there cost us the game. I guess it was just bound for it to happen that way.”
Be that as it may, things were playing out just the way Hart had hoped they would until one play turned the tide.
Catholic, stagnant on offense for much of the game, had taken a 10-7 lead, but was forced to punt from the back of its endzone with 3:34 left in the game.
Pine Bluff, which owned time of possession and moved the ball at will in the second half, took over at its own 40 for what Hart, as well as many in attendance, felt would be the Zebras’ game-winning drive. Tailback Eric Wallace, who carried 22 times for 61 yards, rushed for 12 yards on consecutive plays to put the Zebras at the Rockets’ 28.
On the very next offensive snap, Zebra quarterback Mark Cain was intercepted by Catholic’s Michael Squires near the goal line, and the Rockets, who would get a 54-yard touchdown run from LaNorris Dukes three plays later, went on to win.
“It just didn’t go our way,” Hart said when asked bout the Zebras’ decision to put the ball in the air rather than keep it on the ground on the prior possession. It’s just frustrating because we had our chances, and we just couldn’t get it done. Really, two big plays kept us from winning this game.”
Along with Cain’s interception, Catholic also kept its go-ahead drive alive by converting on 3rd-and-23 in the third quarter.
Neither team, though, could do much offensively in the first half, with both ballclubs crossing midfield just one time each. The Rockets had just 58 yards at the break, with 37 of those coming of their opening drive.
Catholic, after forcing the Zebras into a three-and-out on their first series, took advantage of a 26-yard punt, ran seven plays and used up nearly five minutes before Nathan Ashburn buried a 27-yard field goal with 5:38 left in the first quarter. The drive actually stalled at the Zebras’ 49, but a questionable pass interference call at the 34 prolonged the Rockets’ march.
But the AAAAA-Central champs, who had a hard time keeping the Zebras’ defensive lineman and linebackers out of the backfield all night, wouldn’t get much more for the remainder of the half, and surrendered the lead when Ryan Gieggar picked up a Kyle Short fumble and raced 51 yards for a touchdown with 3:02 remaining in the quarter.
Pine Bluff, which had just 55 yards in the first half thanks to an equally impressive Rockets’ defense, punted the first three times it had the ball, but was able to move the ball down to the Catholic 21 after Cain ran 11 yards on a fake punt. The Zebras came away empty handed, though, after Cain’s 7-yard completion to Eugene Stocker on fourth down came up a yard short. The two teams traded a pair of punts and interceptions just before the half, leaving the Zebras with a 7-3 lead.
Pine Bluff, after a few minor adjustments, began to find its offensive rhythm in the third quarter. After forcing the Rockets to punt, the Zebras used up almost nine minutes off the game clock to move from its 15 to Catholic’s 23. But a pair of penalties and two fumbles pushed the ball backwards.
But Catholic, again, struggled with the Zebras’ front four and was facing a 3rd-and-long when Short delivered a 34-yard strike to Squires down to the Zebras’ 48. Two plays later, the two hooked up again, on the same play, for a 30-yard gain to the Zebras’ five. Drew Tubbs would score on the next play, finishing off a 73-yard, six-play drive.
Pine Bluff had to punt on its next series after driving into Catholic territory, but got it back after its defense held. Unfortunately, the Zebras’ run ended three plays following, and the looks on their faces told everything.
Dukes, Catholic’s high-profiled tailback, was held to 30 yards on 10 carries before his game-clinching 54-yarder. He finished the night with 84 yards total. Short was sacked seven times in the game, with the Zebras’ Michael Love being credited with three.
Cain finished the night 12-of-24 for 78 yards and two interceptions. However, the senior showed a great deal of poise in the pocket and managed to rush for 30 yards on six carries.

[jbuzbee]

Let me tell you about how much I trust a writer FOR THE PINE BLUFF newspaper........NONE. Ya think he might have a little bit of a bias? Maybe.

Some examples:

Neither team could get it past the 40 all night.

Except for the three scores that Catholic managed....Yeah, I know one was a 54 yard run but far be it from me to quibble. Are we gonna call an offense anemic because all its TD's are long ones?....by that standard Springdale's offense sucks cause all their scores are 50 yards plus. We all know thats not the case.

PB's QB showed great poise.

Despite only passing for 78 yards and two interceptions including the critical game winner.

[Jay_Lupo]

ET's the best guy on our staff. Maybe the ass-whoopin Russellville throws on the Wabbits ... I mean Rockets, on Friday will help your trust issues of my collegue.

[jbuzbee]

I make no determination of future games....I only relate what I personally witnessed at the Catholic-Pine Bluff game. I also used his own words against him...which I enjoy doing. Also Wabbits is Holy Souls....a junior high squad. Don't get mad cause PB's glory years of the early 90's is OVER.

[jbuzbee]

Wow....surprise Lupo!!!

Catholic 16 Russelville 7

I think somebody needs to say boo-ya!!! I know we're not gonna beat the "Springdale 5" but we did get further than anyone...including you and Erick (people with this name should pick Eric or Erik...not both)...thought that we would. Catholic is damn good and deserving of that #3 ranking in the state. LeNorris Dukes is badd. I think if he was bigger he would be heavily recruited. Think of the talented players on some of the teams Catholic has beaten....Kodi Burns....Van Stumon...etc.