Fayette Villains

Let’s play Panic or Don’t, a new game where we look at different concerns and decide whether to panic about them or not.

Panic: the Secondary

Bryce Young could have named his passing yards (for the second straight year). He threw for 559 yards last season and easily could have topped it had the Tide needed him to in this game. After he went out, things got dicey for the Tide’s vertical passing game. Jalen Milroe was really not accurate, and Bama’s receivers aren’t amazing to begin with. Arkansas’ corners – Dwight McGlothern, Hudson Clark, and Malik Chavis – are decent. Not great, but decent. Myles Slusher is fine at nickel when healthy, but he got burned for two touchdowns and looked slow. Sam Pittman said afterwards that he had a bad calf and was pulled after that, so that’s slightly reassuring, assuming he gets healthy quick. But the Hogs cannot find two safeties to put on the field together. Simeon Blair, Jayden Johnson, and Latavious Brini are rotating through two starting spots and none of them look SEC-caliber. All three are poor open-field tacklers, the Hogs are routinely busting coverages through the middle third of the field, which is usually where safeties have their zones (and linebackers, see below).

Don’t: Malik Hornsby

Hornsby didn’t play on Saturday, with Cade Fortin instead entering the game in the fourth quarter when Jefferson was hurt. Pittman said after the game that Fortin is the backup and “that’s been decided for some time.” Not on the depth chart released by the university… but whatever. Fans panicked when Hornsby deleted all Arkansas-related stuff from his Instagram, but he later put out a Tweet suggesting that he’s still a Hog. Will he be a Hog after this season? Unlikely, but we’ll see. Will he play again this year? That’s the bigger question. He’s never shown much as a passer and had a drop as a receiver against Texas A&M, so I’m not sure where he can contribute. It’s harder than you’d think to get a guy involved based solely on his world-class sprinter speed.

Panic: Bumper Pool

Bumper Pool is about to become Arkansas’ all-time leading tackler, which is great for him. He’s been a great contributor for his entire career. But an interesting note from the preseason has now become germane: his name is not mentioned on any draft analyst’s list of the top 20 or so draftable linebackers for next year. You’d think a guy with that size and that kind of nose for the football would be able to find a home in the NFL, but the thing holding him back has become more and more obvious: his coverage. Along with the safeties, Pool has struggled dropping back in coverage all season long, contributing to Arkansas’ disastrous middle-of-the-field pass defense. Combine that with the fact that he’s not a good open-field tackler, and you have problems. It came to a head on the game’s critical play: a third-and-15 with Alabama clinging to a 28-23 lead.

Pool was the spy on Milroe. Watch #10:

And that was the game.

Barry Odom actually made the correct call here: the Hogs had been taking Pool out on third downs to get better coverage guys on the field, but brought him back for this one, presumably on the theory that Milroe was not a major passing threat and that his legs were a bigger concern. But the right call doesn’t matter if your senior, captain, four-year starter can’t make a key tackle.

Don’t: the Receivers

This one is rapidly moving towards “Panic” territory, but I’ll give this unit a bit longer to get it figured out. Matt Landers is really struggling, and it’s now apparent why he couldn’t quite cut it at Georgia. He had another wide open drop, and he doesn’t use his 6’5 frame very well in traffic. Warren Thompson was a surprise scratch with an undisclosed injury. Ketron Jackson took most of his snaps and looked really good. So that’s a bright spot. Freshman Jaedon Wilson got some snaps, but dropped his only target on a perfectly-thrown pass that hit him in the hands. Trey Knox was again a nonfactor outside of one big completion. I really expected him to be a bigger part of the gameplan this season, but outside of the opener against Cincinnati, that hasn’t happened. He’s been banged up a bit, but still. Jadon Haselwood is good but not dominant. He vanishes for long periods of time.

Around the SEC

A few thoughts on the biggest games of the weekend.

Mississippi State 42, Texas A&M 24

This is about what we expected and also what we feared. That loss in Arlington was a bad loss for the Hogs. It was the 2021 Auburn game all over again. If the Aggies were on their way to a 10-2 or 11-1 season, fans could feel a little better about giving one away. But the Aggies are looking at 7-5 or so. Jimbo Fisher’s contract is still worth $95 million, fully guaranteed. What’s the plan in College Station?

Georgia 26, Mizzou 22

Signs of life in CoMo, or the Bulldogs just full of themselves? Mizzou led 16-3 at the half. Kicking five field goals ultimately doomed the Tigers, who really could have used at least one more touchdown. Georgia looked quite bad, but Mizzou’s defense is legit.

LSU 21, Auburn 17

As mentioned above, Bryan Harsin remains employed. The Plains Tigers jumped to a 17-0 lead and QB Robby Ashford actually looked competent. But then they didn’t score again. Harsin called for a double-pass from the LSU red zone that ended in an interception in the fourth quarter. Auburn’s offensive line and receivers are terrible, and the defense is merely decent. Next up: a trip to Georgia.

Ole Miss 22, Kentucky 19

Kentucky’s last three drives ended in turnovers, with two of them coming in field goal range. Ole Miss is a good team that still has a lot of question marks. Jaxson Dart is fine, but he’s no Matt Corral. That could be a problem in the biggest games, but Ole Miss could go 10-2 again with this joke of a schedule. Kentucky has a good defense, but Will Levis has been a bit overrated by many pundits.

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the day after

The Day After: Week 5