Podcast: Recapping Arkansas' 70-0 win over UAPB with ESPN analyst Rocky Boiman

[Music] you're listening to the hog Sports Network daily podcast now here's your host Matt [Music] Jones you know when I got home from uh work yesterday my son asked me if he could play Playstation and I said sure one game and I know what he means when he wants to play Playstation he wants to play the college football game so he played the game and uh the final score was 100 to nothing he he's all about you know not he's at that at age he six he doesn't want to be competitive he just wants to score points that'll be dead gum if we didn't see the same game play out in real life a couple of hours later as Arkansas beat Little Rock 7 to nothing in a game that only lasted 50 minutes by the way just imagine what Arkansas could have done last night at War Memorial Stadium had this game been allowed to go 60 Minutes as it is it's the fifth largest win in school history in terms of a blowout wins third most total yards they've ever had it's the largest margin of Victory they've had in 96 years the Razer backs are 1 and0 they beat uapb you know the question yesterday was can they cover yeah they can cover they covered in the first half they're leading 49 to nothing and win by 70 Matt Jones I'm here in fville I did not go to the game last night because I got to be here on set but uh Christina long was there and Ethan Westerman were there from wholehogsports.com and they join us from high above Markham Street and downtown Little Rock this morning from their Penthouse suits Christina Ethan thanks for being here yeah of course we are uh living in luxury for sure Little Rock hey just I mean as being there was it as bad in person as it looked on TV it was it was pretty bad I mean on once you got to the point where you were realizing that they were really going to score on every drive and that they weren't going to let up it was it was interesting I'd never really seen it like that Ethan I don't know what what it felt like for you yeah know after the very the I'd say the first couple drives you knew exactly where this night was going and it was going however Arkansas wanted it to go it just felt like the only team that was going to stomp Arkansas last night was themselves right I mean uapb we we get word before the game about 30 45 minutes before kickoff that uapb had worn uh quote illegal uniforms they wore their black uniforms their home uniforms and they didn't get uh per to do that you got to have written permission from the host team to do that the conference has to approve it as well to say that you know the uniforms contrast enough like for instance Arkansas and Missouri they a lot of times when they play in fville Missouri whether they're black or last year they wore their gold uniforms in fville uh but they get pre-approved authorization for that Arkansas declined the penalties they declined the 15 yard penalties they declined I think the penalty where uapb was going to have to take a timeout at the beginning of each quarter as part of this I mean Christina it was like they knew what they were about to do to uapb and there was why why humiliate them any further yeah that's true I mean somebody pointed out I think it might have been you Matt when we were texting during the game was this had happened the last time they played on our Thursday in Little Rock against FAMU right and did they accept the penalties then they did yeah uh they they accepted the penalties and I think Florida A&M had to use a timeout at the beginning of each quarter and that was different because Florida A&M they didn't wear their home jerseys what they did that night was that they had white jerseys and they had this real faint orange outline around white numbers and so you couldn't see the jersey numbers there and that was the penalty so this this rule in the NCAA rule book and you got to get you know real deep down in the weeds to find this but basically it's got you know a few different bullet points of of what you can and cannot do what's acceptable as it relates to uniforms and then you know the penalties typically are are the same regardless of of what the actual infraction is that's even crazier because imagine how having a cool uniform made that you think looks really great and then you get out there and it's like we can't read the numbers and you're going to be penalized if you wear this they had to have known I mean I think Arkansas they they communicated him to him beforehand hey we're wearing our red jerseys you're going to be expected to wear your white jerseys that was just uh I don't know maybe that was just a precursor of what was to come Arkansas they absolutely dominated UAP I mean we'll just run through a few of the numbers 10 for 10 10 possessions 10 touch Downs that has never been done before at Arkansas according to ESPN no division one team has done this in the last 20 years where they've scored on their first 10 possessions of the Season Arkansas they get 687 yards of total offense only two other times in program history have they had more yards of offense uh the most that they've had since Darren McFadden's junior year in 2007 when they beat North Texas real bad in fville and then uapb they're held to 130 yards and they could not run the ball at all against dark all seven rushing yards on 23 attempts that's a minus 3.3 yard per attempt uh average it was it was Total Domination and you know when Arkansas beat Western Carolina down in Little Rock last season to start the year it was kind of a similar you know feeling it was a blowout Victory they wi 56 to13 but there were red flags raised in that game they couldn't run the ball they could only run it for you know less than three yards per carry and and that was a a warning that they were going to struggle running the ball the rest of the year and they did I don't know what you're worried about with Arkansas coming out of this game against uapb it doesn't mean that there's not issues and I'm sure Oklahoma State's going to expose some things when they play in Stillwater next weekend but I don't know that you know there's any hand ringing really this morning because they just thoroughly outplayed uapb in every facet of the game whether it be passing the ball running the ball run blocking special teams defense they beat him soundly Sam Pitman the only thing that he could have to to kind of somewhat complain about after the game was the fact that Arc had six penalties for 48 yards Christina yeah I mean it's it's exactly like you said and that was what they needed I mean this is why this is what FCS opponents oftentimes not all the time because not all of them are the same and uapb is not an FCS team that has been a good team I mean they love won two games last year so it's it's not like you're playing it's not like you're Colorado playing North Dakota State last night or was it South Dakota state north dakot um North Dakota State like you know that that's a you know a program that's historically good and has recent success so this was not that I mean you will have FCS teams that put up good games and we'll see more of them this weekend but with UAP I mean this is this is what Arkansas was supposed to do and they it was good to see them do it as far as optimism for the rest of the year especially now that they have longer time to rest to get ready for a huge game and Oklahoma State you know they didn't Overlook uapb they did what they needed to do took care of business and now they can move on to this huge G his huge test in Still Water we'll have rocky boyman who was on the call on ESPNU last night with us a little bit later to talk about what he saw from Arkansas uapb want to tell you you can go to wholehogsports.com right now and read all of our content from the game we were up like raccoons through the middle of the night getting this ready for you analysis commentaries Richard Davenport's got a great recruiting column online this morning morning subscribe today at hhog sports.com Ethan the offense you know we talked about this yesterday on the podcast and and the patrino effect is it patrino that was the the reason that they had the offensive success last night or was it the fact that uapb was just so bad defensively you we were talking about this uh you know they this isn't really that uncommon for them to have a loss this big this isn't even their worst loss of the last decade yeah I mean anytime you score on every possession of the game the offensive coordinator needs a little credit I mean that I think Sam Pittman said it last night that I don't care who you're playing that's really tough to do the fact that um I believe ESPN stats said that was the first time in the past 20 years a team has scored on their first 10 possessions I mean a lot of teams have played subpar FCS opponents um patrino definitely deserved some credit for the offensive success last night I mean it they clearly believed um they could score every time they touched the ball I mean they were nine for n on third down attempts um that's another really difficult thing to accomplish um but I think that if anything last night what we learned was that as long as patrino is you know on the sideline as the Razer back's offensive coordinator he is not thinking about anything other than getting the end zone He is wanting to He is wanting the six every single time we you know I wrote that story about a week and a half ago uh for our uh our our tab preview in the newspaper and it ran on our site too and I ended it with this quote from ton green and he said with Bobby patrino we believe that we're going to score every time we take the field and you know you kind of think that's hyperbole but lo and behold that's what they did last night no that's exactly what they did and you know it it became more clear on that last drive when you know whenever Tor green had that just kind of acrobatic highlight real scramble um I I would love to see how much yardage he actually covered on the field cuz he went IAL vertical I mean he well he started about 10 yards backward yeah I mean he started about 10 yards backward and then he goes from the right hash mark over to the sideline and then he ends up inside the the left uh pylon in the front of the end zone yeah he probably they've got those catapult system so you could you can go back and and check how much he ran on that play but yeah it it well over 100 yards but my my point being that on that drive you knew you knew from the moment Arkansas got the ball hey they're trying to score right here because Bobby was calling up deep passing plays even that scramble by T green I mean it was a clear designed passing play um and he even said it after the game he knew as soon as he started to take off because it happened with nine seconds left that he scored he was like oh wow I either have to score or get out of bounds or else this is going to go to the half and lo and behold he was able to make something out of nothing and find his way in the end zone Green 16 of 23 for 229 yards and two touchdowns through the air and that was after a little bit of a shaky start he didn't look great the first couple of drives but then he settled in on both of those possessions where he threw touchdown passes he went three for three on those drives and then you know as we mentioned what he did with his legs 88 rushing yards on six attempts a couple of more touchdowns he had two runs of 30 yards or longer and it wasn't just green Christina I mean it was the entire running game J quendon Jackson goes over 100 yards and he sat basically from about the mid second quarter on uh about everybody it felt like who got who touched the ball scored maybe with the exception of deignan who was real limited Tyrell Reed scores a touchdown brayan Russell scores a touchdown in his first game as a Razer back I was real impressed with a couple of the runs that he had Rodney Hill had a touchdown in the first quarter the the Run game was really good and and I think that's an encouraging sign for Arkansas because as you wrote they didn't have a lot of success running the ball last year they had eight touchdowns last night against uapb they had nine all of last season yeah I mean it was one I realized that set I was so so surprised by that I I went and checked you know I double checked the numbers for last season I was like there's no way they only had nine rushing touchdowns all year and then now they've almost equaled that um but I mean I think and what I wrote last night was it seemed I imagine it was pretty cathartic for people that watched them struggle to run against Western Carolina in the opener and then for the rest of the season because that was supposed to be a strength and I know you know rocket Sanders had injury stuff and was kind of off and on and it wasn't the season people expected him to have but when you entered last season expecting Arkansas to have this great Run game between your quarterback and your star running back and then you don't have that seeing it get off to a better start even though it is the uapb they have to carry it on the road they have to do it against you know bigger better opponents but starting off this way after the harbinger of what was to come against Western Carolina last season was a good sign I think and getting those other running backs in the mix too because you know jaquin and Jackson he had a little bit of an injury in preseason practice been fine ever since he had some injury stuff last year you know we've already seen Rashad deignan be limited with some injury so being able to show that okay there are other guys in this room that can do it and one thing Pitman said was he really likes this room because he feels like they have guys with different skills they have some lighter speedier guys some more bull you over kind of guys um and I think they can feel really optimistic about getting all those guys quality work in this game and then now knowing that they have all these this variety of tools they can use when if they need to and also just when they want to and you mentioned the injury to him I mean that was one of the questions about him going into the game is just how healthy is he he missed some time in the preseason not a whole lot I don't think but you know the ankle injury has been something that you know I think there's been they've they've taken care of it maybe that's the way to say it but it didn't look like the ankle bothered him at all right I mean and I asked him after the game you know he had an injury last season where it was an ankle a low ankle sprain that kind of turned into a foot injury with like a tendon in the bottom of his foot and he was basically playing through a foot and ankle injury all of last season and still put up like 700 yards and I asked him you know now that you're playing healthy um just how did it feel to be able to run all over the field like that and he said I felt like me again you know so I think that was something that was really important for him and probably like his own confidence um and being able to play I assume Rel you know relatively painfree at least compared to last season um and then for fans you know there were some questions about if it was going to if he would be fully healthy and then it turned out that Rashad deignan was the one that wasn't fully healthy and we don't really know what the injury is there but he missed about they said he's been practicing but not full go the way that they would want someone to if they were going to start a game and get a lot of carries so that was why he was a little bit limited usually when you pitch a shutout the the story is about the defense the next day and and and all we've talked about so far as offense 10 drives 10 scores 687 yards and and and on and on 70 points Ethan the defense I thought looked really good last night uapb did not have and and again you've got to you you got to measure this with the realization of of who they are playing and and how bad they outclassed uapb at every position across the field but with that said uapb did not get a first down that was not penalti until their fourth drive of the game I think they only got six first downs the entire game we mentioned the run defense how good it was uapb this defensive line that Arkansas thinks could be a strength for them with players like Landon Jackson and Nico davay and Anton Juna and others they did to the uapb defensive front what you feel like they have to do to them in order to feel good about what they're going to look like down the road yeah and I think I wrote this in my takeaway story that's on our website is that it's telling to me that the furthest down the field that uapb ever got was the 27 yd line like it's not that they just pitched a shut out it's the fact that uapb never even got in the Red Zone like they weren't on the they were never even on the doorstep of getting in um and I think in a game like this I mean there's of course I think we're going to hit on it a little bit later there's always the discussion of should you even be playing these lower teams like this but the truth is this they it was on the schedule it's who they played and they did exactly they left no like serious like concerns and I think that's the biggest win here whenever you're talking about defense at large is you don't want to walk out of a uapb game with some concerns and they just kind of checked every box yesterday I mean will that translate to week two versus Oklahoma state will that translate into SEC play who knows like we don't know it's not a great you know barometer for how good the defense is but week one they can check the box of they did exactly what they needed to do and probably even beyond that special teams it was a good night for special teams uh you had the new Long Snapper Austin no never heard his name during the game so you know that's that's that's a good thing um saw Ramsay kicking which I think maybe surprised people a little bit that he was the first team kicker and then you know we talked about this on the podcast yesterday these are the games where you expect punt return touchdowns and they had one from Isaiah satania that was called back they could have had one from Bryce Stevens had he not tripped up at about the four yd line on the turf and then it gets called back because of penalties so the Special Teams penalties I think that's where Pitman was coming from Christina in terms of being frustrated with the the penalties last night because those were two big plays in the return game that were called back Becomes of penalties and then Saia he also had a big gain a 42 y called back a reception because of another penalty uh but overall you know again special teams you think they're going to be fine in a game like this they were I do want to get your thoughts on Ramsey kicking over Matt Shipley and and what went into making that decision yeah I mean I was a little surprised by that I I had I kind of have wavered on my prediction for kicker throughout the year you know obviously they get Shipley and it's pretty clear like they brought him out of the portal you know after the season to be their kicker and then he struggles in Spring and there's a concern they bring in Ramsay and then I was like okay well if they're going to bring in another guy they're probably feeling like they want that to be the guy and then it kind of became well is he here to kind of like you know back be a backup option for Shipley and also to kind of press Shipley forward and force him to develop a little bit um and then it became Rams you know I was kind of leaning toward Ramsey and then Ramsey had a rough practice and missed a bunch of kicks but oh he had a groin injury so that's why it happened and then I was back to Shipley and then they come out and it's Ramsay um and so I was a little surprised especially given we didn't know what the status with the groin injury was I mean we knew had told us that he was back and he was you know kicking but you know that could be a nagging thing I we weren't sure and um so I was a little bit surprised from that standpoint it'll be interesting to see it was you know since they didn't take any field goals and uh they also didn't punt we didn't see any punting um so we haven't seen Devon Bale in action with that yet now that they have the new punter there but um I I was a little surprised with with Ramsay but I'll be interested to see what they do in a game like Oklahoma State where you will probably be trying some field goals um and who they run out there if it's still ramsy if they kind of switch it up if there's any kind of like how short a leash they have with whichever guy they run out there um knowing that they have that other option will definitely be something to watch how many times can Arkansas score this year before they have to punt that's something to watch when they go to Oklahoma State I want to tell you about Hogs Illustrated you can see the new one right here with dalen green on the cover Ethan had a feature story on him the cover story in this week's edition you can stay on top of all your razer back sports with a digital subscription to the Hogs Illustrated app it gives you complete access to our website at wholehogsports.com monthly subscriptions begin at $17 you can join now at Hogs Illustrated docomo boyman coming up a little bit later when we come back are these types of games good like like what do you what does Arkansas get out of playing a team like uapb have that discussion but first award from our sponsors LPGA week in Northwest Arkansas returned September 23rd through the 29th for the 18th consecutive year watch former Razer backs and 2024 Olympians Maria FY and Gabby Lopez compete against the world's best female golfers at the Walmart Northwest Arkansas Championship presented by PNG at Pinnacle Country Club in Rogers the NWA Championship is so much more than a golf tournament with something for everyone to enjoy in activities for fans of all ages daily tickets are only $10 and kids 17 and under get in free with a ticket at adult get your tickets today at NWA championship. comom at Kindle King we're proud of over four Decades of design we're continuing the legacy of great Creative Design by combining our brands of Kindle King soapbox and Shop cart together these Brands represent a new focus in marketing design with individual attention to specific areas through our design expertise supported by a team of talented professionals we showcase our best we are Kindle King we are soapbox we are shop cart we are [Music] design hey welcome back want to tell you about our September lineup at the Hogs Illustrated Sports Club beginning on September 4th that's next Wednesday Kevin trainer is going to speak to us he's a longtime administrator for the University of Arkansas also president of the the uh used to be called kosida it's the communications group of uh Professionals in college sports so he'll be on September 4th later in the month Brandon Marcelo of 247 Sports on September 11th Jordan Weber the Arkansas gymnastics coach on September 18th and Hunter Ure will be with us on September 25th you can reserve your seat now for all of those luncheons plus our luncheons later into the fall ozarks.com o k s tx.com all right Arkansas and uapb have played two times in the Sam Pitman era and arkans out scored uapb in those two games 115 to3 that is notable on its own they've only done it in seven quarters they played two 10-minute quarters after halftime last night when they played in 21 they shortened the second half quarters to 12 minutes in the third and the fourth quarter so you take those two games away and you actually take 16 minutes of game time away and they still outscored this team by 112 points it's a total Miss mism match I feel like it was more of a mismatch last night than it was even in 2021 which is saying something because Sam pman had a pretty good football team in 2021 uh now things can change with uapb obviously from from one year to the next huge mismatch in this game I say this all the time that in the FCS there are tears I think a lot of times people look at FCS teams and they say well you know all you kind of group all of them into the same Bock you can't do that I mean look at the Colorado game against North Dakota State last night look at uh Montana State going to an FBS team at New Mexico and winning their first game watching Still Water this weekend watch how well South Dakota state will play Oklahoma State should probably be a pretty good game if you're going to continue these FCS games and they're going to continue because teams want these games they need the win getting Bowl eligibility is such a big deal to a team and then once you get Bowl eligibility kind of you know raising your profile within the teams that are Bowl eligible so you can get a higher tier Bowl that's why these FCS games are played in part not to mention you know there are other things like uh you don't have to pay as much for the games you get players more game experience by playing these games so I I understand why they're played but man if you're going to play an FCS game Christina go find a a better FCS team than uapb because this is two times where it it doesn't even look like they belong in the same state let alone on the same field yeah I mean it's it is hard because it's it's that symbiotic relationship of okay the FCS teams get money out of this and the FBS team gets the presumed win or the early season kind of warmup game before they go around the rest of their schedule so I I don't think it would go away and I know you said you you know that that makes sense but I do feel like it's hard to know these games get scheduled so far in advance and uapb you know not a historically dominant program or anything but you can't know that they were going to be coming off a 2 and 10 season and that they were going to be near the bottom of of all of FCS but I think you can a couple years ago what I think you can you real I mean maybe you can you realize in 2018 they lost a game 90 to6 and that was to another FCS team that was to another FCS team they lost to South Dakota state 2018 granted really good program but they lost that game 90 to6 this wasn't even their worst loss in the last decade okay yeah you're right so so with UAP specifically I mean I I look back at like the Missouri State game that was a good FCS team to schedule I know they won't be FCS for much longer but that was a that was a good one they were a good team it was the Bobby patrino team they gave Arkansas a good game um it's just it's hard sometimes because there's not that many there's a ton of FCS teams but there's not that many Missouri States or you know Montana states to go around and so you kind of run into playing that game I like that Arkansas schedules instate teams now I mean I I don't think anybody was excited to watch you know the helmets of Arkansas and uapb meet you know I don't think that was that had like a lot of draw but I do like that they're playing inate teams now because I meant to say this when we talked a little bit about some of these State Games the other day on the podcast you know we talked about how there's no part of the The Little Rock problem is they're not getting good games in Little Rock and there's no sort of passion about the the matchup itself and I think part of that is because there's no instate rivalry because a there's no team on the same level as Arkansas being like a power program but even still they had they didn't get to play for so long that there was no chance for any kind of rivalry or passion to come up you know so that's why I'm excited about Arkansas and Arkansas State next year I think that's cool I know that's not FCS but I think that's a cool game but but going back to the FCS point I I do think if you're when you're going to schedule FCS you have to try and schedule some better opponents but it is hard when there's only so many to go around I feel like you can reach Bowl eligibility for the most part by scheduling group of five teams instead of the these FCS teams I mean now I know Arkansas's had their their issues with the north Texas and Western kuy and Colorado states of the world recently but I think for the most part you can go down and you can dip into the sun Bel you can dip into the the mac and and play some of these teams and still accomplish that uh I don't know I got an issue with SEC FCS games because as time goes on those games just become more and more and more uh lopsided I mean for the most part and and and there are some games like you mentioned Arkansas Missouri State a couple of years ago that's an outlier for the most part this is maybe not 70 to nothing but you know the total mismatch before halftime that's what you're seeing uh in these games it's uh I I I don't know I I don't like seeing it Arkansas plays Alabama A&M next year as their FCS opponent that game's going to be in fville they don't have any more FCS teams that are scheduled moving forward bo uh they will uh I'm I'm sure they'll play more after 25 they just don't have any more of the game scheduled I think a lot of that is because they're waiting to see what the SEC is going to do with this nine game schedule the SEC has has always been a proactive conference Christina and I wish they would be proactive about this say hey no more of our teams playing these games against FCS teams I doubt it happens you know the Big 10 they've been proactive in their own ways too the Big 10 they they had an FCS ban for a time and then it got lifted I think that was after they went to a niname conference schedule uh so hey I I'd like to see the SEC get rid of these FCS games because I just I don't know that they're a lot of fun to watch I don't know that the teams I wonder what's being said in Arkansas's building this morning about hey what did we really learn about ourselves last night given the the competition Arkansas's ones they would have gotten a more competitive scrimmage from Arkansas's 3es than they got from APB yeah so I mean I guess in your mind would the ideal be to open with because you want to have ideally I think most teams would want to have an opener that was considered a lighter opponent so that you get that chance to kind of get right or because you've been playing against yourselves for so long and you haven't been able to actually hit people really and now you finally get to and so you want a little bit of an easier opponent so would would your preference be that they play you know a sunb belt team or something like that in the opener yeah schedule I didn't it didn't my preference is to have a better opening game I don't like these and and I think coaches will tell you too that the players have a hard time harder time getting up for these types of games to begin the season than say like two years ago when Arkansas played Cincinnati in fville and that was a big game that they were able to look at as you know the the summer went along or even you know and and I know the the co year was a little bit different but they got to look forward to the Georgia game to open up the season those I would like to see more Marquee type Tye games and I think it would be better for college football to have more Marquee type games in week one because this is the only week where they don't have to go ahead ahead with the NFL for attention now I know that the NFL is being played on Sunday and college games are being played on Saturday but put more Marquee games you know frontload your schedule with more Marquee games uh but yeah anything but uh Arkansas uapb because that was pretty pretty rough last night Christina long you can read uh her stuff at hhog sports.com Ethan as well we appreciate you guys uh being with us have a safe trip back to fville when we come back we're going to be joined by Rocky boyman he was on the call for ESPNU last night and the Razer Banks beat uapb 70 to nothing we'll have a discussion with him after another word from our sponsors taste sip sample and discover the very best restaurants and chefs Northwest Arkansas has to offer at the bite experience at the LPGA a unique culinary experience on site at the Northwest Arkansas Championship tickets are available Friday September 27th through Sunday September 29th offering access to the best golf viewing and food and beverage samples from over 30 local restaurants you don't want to miss this tickets are available for $45 a day get yours before they sell out at B nwa.com at kle King we're proud of over four Decades of design we're continuing the legacy of great Creative Design by combining our brands of Kindle King soapbox and Shop cart together these Brands represent a new focus in marketing design with individual attention to specific areas through our design expertise supported by by a team of talented professionals we showcase our best we are Kindle King we are soapbox we are shop cart we are [Music] design hey welcome back I want to tell you about Bentonville glass which has been serving his community since 1971 committed professional versatile if you're looking for a quality leader in Northwest Arkansas or looking for skilled craftsmanship look no further than Bentonville glass for all your glass Market needs with the highest quality products you can find them in Bentonville at 507 South Main or online at Bentonville glass.com Rocky boyman was on the ESPN new Call Of Arkansas's 70 to nothing victory over uapb last night at War Memorial Stadium and he joins us now Rocky good morning we appreciate you taking the time to talk with us absolutely Matt it's a pleasure to be with you and had that game not ended Arkansas may have 170 points at this at this point right now well you know I was talking about this earlier what happens if they don't take 10 minutes off the clock in the second half I mean I mean you're you're looking at all kinds of school records or or you know I mean this is this is going to be one of those games that you're going to see it mentioned a ton of times in the the media guide you know for the rest of time they probably win this game by 90 if if they don't take those the time off the clock they do and look I mean that that you know team they play God love them you know just a totally different tier of an Arkansas right and and I know they went out there and played hard but uh you know look and and I I'm sure you guys have talked about it this morning is is you know unbelievable was when that was and the Total Domination I I think that the question is still going to be okay great but what's that g to look like you know when we play Oklahoma State next week what's that gonna look like in a couple weeks when we play at Albert you know those kind of things I think those questions are probably still lingering in the minds of Arkansas fans I I did my homework on you Rocky uh this is the second time that you have called an Arkansas season opener do you remember the first I do I remember being down there uh was it against uh was it South Alabama or Louisiana Tech Louisiana Tech and and where I'm going with this was it was a very different season opener and that one it's a total nailbiter Arkansas scored a touchdown very late in that game to win to totally different set of circumstances last night yes yes yeah yes it was look and it was great and um you know I think it's it's good to have those games I know that just look I coach my my son's youth team so look you kind of need some of those games here and there just to get in there and get some work and feel good about yourself and and and get some of the wrinkles uh kind of ironed out a little bit and and I think for what it was Arkansas did everything they they should have done in that game and and still I think you you take a lot of good things out of that game for sure you're going to see another one of these matchups uh tomorrow when Miss plays firmman you're in o for to cover to call that game now SEC FCS games what is your take on this are they and I understand why they're played and you mentioned that you need to have some of these games to make you feel good but there's such mismatches I I just wonder what your thoughts are yeah there's a school thought out there of look just just just pay these schools and and not have to have to play the game but um I I I think look I think the other side of it is if you're Arkansas Pine Bluff for instance or you're you know whatever you you're going to remember playing a a big boy school right you're you know a couple years 10 years from now 12 years from now you're going to watch an Arkansas game like man we out on the field those guys boy it didn't go great but but we you know we went at them and so I think there's there's memories that are made there and then I think from from you know like an Arkansas's perspective um yeah it's an opportunity to to build depth and as you well know Matt I mean is all about how much depth do you have because guys are going to get banged up guys are going to need going to need a breather and and you the only way to get good at anything how did you get good at Radio you did it over and over and over right same thing with football players you got to get out there and get real world live bullet experience in a game like this allows a team like Arkansas to go ahead and do that most days after a shutout win we would be talking more about the defense than we are the offense but just because of the uniqueness of What petrino's offense did last night that's obviously been the discussion but you played linebacker and Order Dame you played in the NFL I want to get your thoughts on the Arkansas defense and what you saw from them last night against uapb uh I mean it was it was domination and and again I came into that game because I you know just in talking with the coaches and reading stuff and listening to podcasts I knew this fan base and everybody was excited about the linebackers well the linebackers didn't get to make many damn plays because the defensive line was making all of them I mean ni davier is a dude now I mean he was he was I mean I liked him last year I liked him even more he he's a guy that was like okay that guy clearly stands out right amongst even even all the other you know dominant performances out there so I thought the dline was fantastic Eric Gregory looked L real d off Atlanta Jackson of course looked great again I would have like to seen you know you know Brad Spence made made some plays but I didn't get to see much out the linebackers as I wanted to because of how well the dline played but uh I I thought they did great um you know and they did what they should have done against a team like that what you saw from them how do you think that translate when they play a really old offensive line against Oklahoma State next week yeah it's it's it's going to be uh obviously it's going to be different uh so you yeah use the opportunity to to iron some things out and and work on some technique things and it's it's not going to look the same but again having you know I I feel like I know good players when I see them and I look on that D line especially I see see good players good players that I think would be able to compete against any any opponent any SEC opponent again especially those defensive ends and a couple of those D lineman um so I think that'll that'll translate and you know and I think there's experience there that's ultimately what it comes down to and while the Arkansas linebackers maybe don't have as much experience at Arkansas because they've come in from different places they they have pling experience right I mean you know Xavier Sor he's got some experience you know Switzer has some experience so I think that's a good thing that'll translate well I don't know that scoring on consecutive possessions necessarily surprises when you see the type of talent difference between Arkansas and Pine Bluff but to do it in the season opener I think that is is probably my biggest takeaway because you know a lot of times in the season opener you're going to have I mean heck even Arkansas their first drive they fumbled the ball out of bounds they could have thrown an interception on the first play but you're going to have turnovers you're going to have uh you know mistakes penalty wise you didn't see a lot of I don't think you saw any pre- snap penalties against Arkansas last night you saw one hold that that nullified a long catch by satania yeah but it was it seemed like they were extremely prepared for the first game of a season I I agree with you 100 perc yeah a game like that yeah usually first games matter who you play just have you know mental mistakes and procedural stuff and and they were able to settle in and and play well and the flip side is Matt we could be sitting here talking like boy they played a a lesser caliber opponent uh and and squeaked by byy or man the offense looked terrible no they did what you should have done against an opponent like that you come out you settle in and and you you you take it to them and that's what they did they didn't have very many self-inflicted mistakes and uh so I think that that certainly says something the preseason is always for coaches it's about accentuating the positives you don't hear them you know drwn on a whole lot about the things that they're seeing that they don't like but something that's stood out to me with Sam Pitman this year is that there just seems to be a real confidence in this team that he's coaching you talked to him before the game the other day I wonder what were the takeaways that you had from speaking with him no I agree with you and I think you know and obviously the media and everybody's made a big deal of Bobby patrino coming in and it is a big deal but I I just feel like you know good coaches good leaders good and I think I even said this on the broadcast last night you know good CEOs of companies aren't the ones that try to do everything and try to think they're smart and put all this on their plate no the best one is know how to delegate well because you can't do everything you can't you know worry about the ins and outs of the offense the offensive line blocking scheme and then boy what's the defense doing on third long and then boy my culture and how do we make sure I'm instilling this and then we got to recruit you know there's just so much you got to do and it just seemed in talking with Sam he's now in a good spot where he trusts you know both Bobby and Travis say look okay you guys you guys do what you do there with those two things I'm going to be in charge of the roster right and the the roster is built and and he gets the last word on that and all the things and that that's no small task right so he's in charge of that and then just kind of being the the head man on the team and and and the big decisions and you know the pivotal points of the game making the call and I think he just seems more comfortable now that he he has confidence in both those coordinators that they're going to do a good job they're going to be prepared that's not a question at all and now he can focus on doing the important things which is being the head coach Rocky boyman with us for a few more minutes was on the call last night when Arkansas beat uapb on ESPNU put your shoulder pads back on for a minute Rocky as a linebacker defending ton green how difficult would it be yeah I'm excited I'm I'm in the booth now I don't have to do such things anymore but uh no it's it's it was you know a guy like that as I even said last night it's just tough because you can have the perfect defense called you can be in the right spot you can have all the guys covered up you can do everything is is supposed to happen and a guy like that just flat makes a play I mean that touchdown run he had was was absolutely incredible and again as I said I mean d coordinators right now are like how do we stop that you know like you know so that's uh I mean his athleticism and and I think he settled in I mean you know he early on okay they tried the bomb early I'm sure there were some Jitters there um but then he really settled in that that second to last drive before the half uh was certainly his best drive he went three for three for 55 yards in a touchdown I believe uh he just finally looked looked comfortable um so I I I think he he played well now look the question is you know as I'm watching that game okay he's not gonna have that amount of time to throw here next week he's not gonna have that amount of time to throw against alurn uh so for him it's GNA be you know getting the ball out of his hand right getting the ball F where's the open guy in the scheme and getting the ball out of his hand I thought Malachi Singleton by the way was phenomenal at that that Bo boom back foot hit there's the guy balls out of his hand so I I think as ton green develops um you know that's the thing you want if you're Bobby patrino you want to see further development that quick decision making the quick processing because the athleticism and the just sheer playmaking ability which you have to have is absolutely there and I felt like you know patrino we know patrino is going to put his quarterbacks in the right position uh to make plays he's an incredible play caller and and say what you want to about his his head coaching throughout his entire career the play calling has been top self Elite if green can can hit some of these passes it feels like Arkansas could could like you said give some of these SEC defensive coordinators a little bit of a nightmare they can I mean the addition of jnd and Jackson I think is is gonna is the Home Run I think that guy's a legit NFL looking running back he runs hard he's big runs behind his pads uh you know so you can you know you obviously got to have a a ground game in the SEC that's a staple of an Arkansas program but but you know as well as I did not I mean last you know three years is is is great as much as I love KJ Jefferson just you weren't able to stretch the field yeah weren't able to pick up those chunk yards plays and you know those two things in particular is what Bobby patrino does he he finds a way to stretch the field puts his quarterback and advantage positions and he feeds the studs finds the best players and you got some good wide receivers out there and finds ways to get to you know get the ball in their hands let's get you out of here on this the big game or or one of the big games this weekend is uh the Irish going down to Agy land to play Texas A&M hey you know it's the first time they've been to Kyle Field since your senior year uh what do you remember about playing there what makes it difficult and and do you think Notre Dame can go on the road and and and pick off the Aggies this week Matt I'm trying to forget that game I played terrible we lost it was hotter than hell it was awful so thank you for reminding me no um it was uh no it's it's of course a tough a tough tough place to play and you know and and we went there Bob Davies our head coach he was the former D beloved d-coordinator there and we just just played like crap um but uh I I I think the Irish will play I think much better than we did on that particular day I'm worried about the offensive line as you well know uh they're starting offensive excuse me offens a tackle uh torn peek and they got a I believe a three star freshman uh starting his place and then you take into consideration Mike ELO he knows what Riley Leonard does well and he knows what he doesn't do well so uh as you know being his former coach so I think that's going to be a tough game but you look at that schedule the Irish win that game they they they are set up really really nicely I mean they don't play near the schedule that a lot of these SEC teams do so you you got to go there's a big game open the season tough environment you got to go win that thing and I think things are are starting to shape up well for the other they do it'll be a lot of fun to watch that you know this better than anybody Notre Dame brings out everybody's best we're going to see that when they come to fville next year they have to get up for they have to get up for every single game because they know the opponent is going to get up for them that ought to be a lot of fun watching 102,000 people up for them in College Station tomorrow night Rocky we appreciate you being with us good luck on your call tomorrow night in Oxford and uh talk to you soon Matt let's do it again man thanks so much all right appreciate it Rocky boyman from ESPN and we appreciate you being with us today on our podcast we'll be back on Tuesday quick programming note we're not going to have a podcast on Monday on Labor Day so we'll be back on Tuesday as we start to look forward to Arkansas and Oklahoma State hope you come to our website wholehogsports.com in the meantime and we'll see you next week have a great Labor Day weekend everyone