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Game Thread Sugar Bowl: tOSU vs Arkansas, Tue, Jan 4th, 8:30 ET ESPN

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KingLeon;1828725; said:
If TP is willing (I'm sure he is) to put his body on the line for this game, we can really slice their D up. He may not be as good as Cam Newton but with our defense he won't have to be. He could pick up major yards on the ground. I hope that we impose our style and physicality because the Big Ten seems to have much better results when we can determine the type of game being played. I tend to like us in these types of games where the other team has a good pass happy offense but the defense isn't so hot.

Also, how have the Arkansas special teams been? And exactly what type of offense do they run?

Thing that scares me the most is their dline is one of the best in the SEC apparently and against Florida and LSU we struggled stopping them. However, that being said, our offensive line is head and shoulders above those previous offensive lines. We now have a Mike Adams at left tackle and are more than solid everywhere else. The month off will be great for JB's foot!

We'll see what happens. Great matchup. Difficult to predict what will happen.
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Special teams would be our weakness. We have a good place kicker but we struggle with kickoff coverage. Punter is average.

Good thing we don't punt often.

WPS
 
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KingLeon;1828725; said:
And exactly what type of offense do they run?
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Most people view Petrino as a pass-first coach who doesn't like to run all that much. In reality, he wants his offense to be balanced. His best offenses at Louisville were actually 55-60% run oriented. I remember his press conference when we hired him. The statement that jumped out to me was when he said: "I believe you have to be able to pass the ball when you want to, run the ball when you want to, and also be able to run the ball when you have to, and pass the ball when you have to".

At the start of this year we relied almost exclusively on the passing game. After the Auburn game Knile Davis stepped up big time at running back. He's put up incredible numbers since then and its really giving teams fits trying to slow us down.

In our 6 game winning streak we've averaged 42.5 points a game, 188 yards rushing(including sacks), and 310.5 yards passing per game. We've also had more rushing attempts than passing attempts in our past four games.

I don't know if you watched the LSU game or not, but in the fourth quarter we basically ran at will against their highly touted defense and crammed it down their throat on a 13 play, 88 yard drive that soaked up 6 minutes of the clock.

Petrino likes to strike early if he can, so he will usually throw out some plays at the beginning of the game that he thinks will fool the opposing defense, if that doesn't work then he'll start establishing the run more and try to develop play action, screen passes, whatever will work. One major improvement in Mallett is that he has gotten much better at taking what the defense gives him. Last year he seemed to rely a lot more on his cannon arm and striking deep. He's much more content to hit his receivers or tight end on quick slants or routes over the middle. Watch out for Cobi Hamilton, he's stepped up quite well to replace Greg Childs.

Its a very balanced offense, even against great defenses this year the only way we've been slowed down on O is by shooting ourselves in the foot with penalties or mental mistakes causing turnovers. Most opposing coordinators try to get pressure early on Mallett to rattle him, he's gotten a lot better at keeping his emotions in check and handling it.

I doubt we've seen a defense as good as Ohio States so I look forward to this match up of strength vs strength!
 
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I'm not sure how great LSU really is. They almost lost to UNC who had 16 players suspended...struggled with WVU and should have lost to Florida.

We will see how great the SEC really is in the bowl season. IMO this was a down year for the SEC.
 
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brutus2002;1828764; said:
We will see how great the SEC really is in the bowl season. IMO this was a down year for the SEC.
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Early Predicitions:

Wins:
Alabama will crush Sparty
Miss State (playing in their first NYD bowl game in years) will be up and ready for Michigan
Georgia should waltz past Central Florida
Auburn will beat Oregon
Kentucky in a close one over Pitt

Losses:
JoePa probably beats Florida
If Ponder plays, I like FSU over South Cackalacky
North Carolina beats Tennessee

Toss Ups:
LSU and Texas A&M - Leaning towards A&M
Ohio State and Arkansas - Lean towards Ohio State
 
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brutus2002;1828764; said:
We will see how great the SEC really is in the bowl season. IMO this was a down year for the SEC.
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It was a down year for some of the traditional powers, the rest of the conference is up as a whole. Florida has struggled after losing Tebow. Georgia and Tennessee barely managed to get bowl eligible. That is three traditional powers that were down. Alabama got a little beat up in the SEC West where at one point 5 teams were ranked in the top 20(still 5 in the top 25). Arkansas, Mississippi State(so long as Mullen stays there), and Auburn are all rising fast. Its going to be interesting over the next few years to see who can manage to stay on top.

I've read on some of the Razorback forums people disrespecting Ohio States schedule. I don't really agree with that. Its one thing to question TCU and Boise States schedule. You guys went up against traditionally great teams at home and on the road, and for the most part dominated. The only stumble was to Wisconsin who is playing some great football this year. I view the close game against Iowa like our close game with Mississippi State, they were pumped up and fighting to stay relevant(or in Miss St.'s case fighting for a fallen teammate).

I'm interested in what you guys think of the SEC "bias" that some of the media seems to have. We welcome it down here and relish being in the best conference. I can imagine it gets tiring for other parts of the country to hear about one conference being the best year in and year out.

What kind of game plan do you see your team coming out with on defense? offense?
 
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BigWoof31;1828773; said:
Early Predicitions:

Wins:
Alabama will crush Sparty
Miss State (playing in their first NYD bowl game in years) will be up and ready for Michigan
Georgia should waltz past Central Florida
Auburn will beat Oregon
Kentucky in a close one over Pitt
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Agree on all accounts except Pitt vs. KY, I think Pitt will probably win this one. I think the Bama / MSU matchup is a terrible one for Sparty and B10 reputation.

BigWoof31;1828773; said:
Losses:
JoePa probably beats Florida
If Ponder plays, I like FSU over South Cackalacky
North Carolina beats Tennessee
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I don't think PSU will win, they are just not that good. I know UF has not played well, but PSU is bad. As long as Garcia is the QB for USCe, they are liable to be blown out.

BigWoof31;1828773; said:
Toss Ups:
LSU and Texas A&M - Leaning towards A&M
Ohio State and Arkansas - Lean towards Ohio State
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I am not going to lie, Petrino scares me a little especially with some of the success teams have had against us in the passing game. Granted, we adjust well, but that is a source of fear for me vs Arkansas.
 
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