Razorback Football

[The Whyte Boar]

Yeah, I don't get the people bemoaning our talent year after year when we compete in most games and lose a shit load of them just by dumb decisions and mistakes.  We have the talent right now to be several games better.

[animal]

If we could pass block up front, we likely have a different record. That is the most frustrating part about Pittman. Our weakest link each year which is his specialty.

Yes but from what I understand from some of the Know-it-all's on Youtube reviewing the game tape the QB is still holding the ball too long and flat out missing easy reads. I didn't see the game so I can't comment any further.

[Barton Fink]

Yeah, I don't get the people bemoaning our talent year after year when we compete in most games and lose a shit load of them just by dumb decisions and mistakes.  We have the talent right now to be several games better.

Which dumb coaching decision cost us a loss this year? Turnovers have cost us every game.

[BleedinRed]

You don't have to be a 5 star highly paid athlete to not fumble the ball.  

[DirkPiggler]

Which dumb coaching decision cost us a loss this year? Turnovers have cost us every game.

Avoiding turnovers is a coachable skill.  It's not like we're handing the ball over because some ogre is just snatching it away from our poor overmatched QB/RB/WR. 

Even if you avoid that, it's not just about this year.  We probably lost 5-6 games over the last couple of years primarily because of a decision Sam made (or didn't make). 

[animal]

Which dumb coaching decision cost us a loss this year? Turnovers have cost us every game.

Yep

Don't get me wrong I'm confident there were dumb coaching decisions, bad clock management etc. if we don't turn the ball over that's probably at least two extra wins this season.

By my math that places us at 7-3 and feeling pretty good about our dumbass hick head coach.

I think we can agree these guys are capable of winning games in this league. They are not capable of sustainable success because of depth, poor game prep, shit luck whatever too many things have to go right for us to even win A conference game. We feasted on shit OR inexperienced QBs in several of our early games. Once we faced more experience it all fell apart. That's on this defensive staff

[Barton Fink]

Avoiding turnovers is a coachable skill.  It's not like we're handing the ball over because some ogre is just snatching it away from our poor overmatched QB/RB/WR. 

Even if you avoid that, it's not just about this year.  We probably lost 5-6 games over the last couple of years primarily because of a decision Sam made (or didn't make). 

And you believe we never coached not to turn the ball over and how to properly take care of the ball?

[Barton Fink]

Maybe I'm in the minority. I played baseball and basketball for several years. I never made a turnover/error that I felt was due to a coach. If a coach put me out of position, sure that's on him but if I made a mistake it's on me.

[DirkPiggler]

And you believe we never coached not to turn the ball over and how to properly take care of the ball?

I believe that whatever they are teaching isn't working and maybe they should change it.  Or maybe they are teaching it properly but not reinforcing it enough.

We led the league in fumbles lost in 2023.  Were two off the lead in 2022.  And that's with three different OCs, so it's not just Petrino or Enos who's to blame although they do bear some responsibility. 

[Barton Fink]

Maybe it's the players they are teaching. Turnovers killed us several times this year. You think they were just ignored and continued to happen? I've never in my life had a coach that didn't harp relentlessly on mistakes that cost us a game. Never.

What if you had better players that were not prone to turning the ball over? Does thst mean the coach is better. Again, I don't get it.

[Pig Benis]

We led the league in fumbles lost in 2023.  Were two off the lead in 2022. 

Didn't know that. I'm assuming we have to be leading again this year?

[DirkPiggler]

Maybe it's the players they are teaching. Turnovers killed us several times this year. You think they were just ignored and continued to happen? I've never in my life had a coach that didn't harp relentlessly on mistakes that cost us a game. Never.

What if you had better players that were not prone to turning the ball over? Does thst mean the coach is better. Again, I don't get it.

Maybe it is.  But there are plenty of other teams lacking in talent who don't turn the ball over as often as we do.  Most of these turnovers aren't happening because some massively bigger, stronger guy yanks it out of their hands.  They are mostly unforced or due to poor fundamentals...not keeping ball close to your body, one-handing it under pressure as a QB, etc. 

I don't think anyone would argue that Vandy has a better roster than we do, or that they had a better one in 22 or 23 either. They have three fumbles to our eight so far this year, seven to our ten last year, and ten to our eleven in 2022. 

At some point you just have to go on the results, regardless of who's at fault.  It's easier to change the one guy at the top than the 85 working for him.

[DirkPiggler]

Didn't know that. I'm assuming we have to be leading again this year?

Nope.  Tied for third most with Auburn with 9 total so far.

Oklahoma has 13, South Carolina 10.

[Barton Fink]

I guarantee you if you asked a player from Bama and a player from our team what do you need to do to protect the ball, they would give you the same answer.

[DirkPiggler]

I guarantee you if you asked a player from Bama and a player from our team what do you need to do to protect the ball, they would give you the same answer.

Would you get the same answer if you asked them what they do to practice it?  Or how often they work on it?

Maybe you would.  I legitimately don't know.  But again, this year is the first time where the primary cause of our close losses were turnovers.  Other years it was poor strategic decisions and lack of preparation.  And then there is the recurring theme of the team not showing up for home games.

[FNG]

I'm looking at NCAA LiveStats (as of 11/16) which lists Arkansas with 23 fumbles/9 lost and opponents with 8/4 lost.

Of those 23 fumbles, Green (10) and Singleton (4) account for 14. Two running backs, Dubinion (3) and JJ (2) account for 5 more.

A number of the QB fumbles can be attributed to blindside strip sacks but, if the data are accurate, ball security technique seems suspect at the very least by the skill positions that should practice it the most.

Fumbling the ball at almost a 3:1 ratio against all opponents does not inspire confidence in the coaching staff.

[Barton Fink]

My guess is yes. There isn't a special drill that some coaches know about that is guaranteed to cause less TOs. Every year you see media clips of preseason practices where different coaches run the same drills that work on ball security. It is taught from middle school thru to the NFL.

On not playing well at home, I completely agree. I think coaches have 3 main things they are truly responsible for. Recruiting good players, motivating them to play for you, and putting them in a position to win the game. Pittman has failed at motivation. I think players like him but they don't revere him.

[Barton Fink]

I'm looking at NCAA LiveStats (as of 11/16) which lists Arkansas with 23 fumbles/9 lost and opponents with 8/4 lost.

Of those 23 fumbles, Green (10) and Singleton (4) account for 14. Two running backs, Dubinion (3) and JJ (2) account for 5 more.

A number of the QB fumbles can be attributed to blindside strip sacks but, if the data are accurate, ball security technique seems suspect at the very least by the skill positions that should practice it the most.

Fumbling the ball at almost a 3:1 ratio against all opponents does not inspire confidence in the coaching staff.

Often times it's when and where we lose the ball makes it feel even worse.

[The Whyte Boar]

Turnovers are coaching.  Penalties are certainly coaching.  Stupid things like subbing in your second string defensive line in 4th quarter with the game on the line while the defense has been playing lights out only to get gashed and give up the winning score is coaching. 

I don't get it.  Some of you don't want to blame coaches for anything.  We make the same mistakes year after year despite significant turnover in players and assistants.  One thing remains the same.

[vegashog]

no one on here is not blaming the coaches, but...

let's take away all player accountability while at the same time say since they are getting paid they should be expected to make plays and not fuck up.