Hawgs Illustrated: Vol. 17, Issue 17

Easily my least favorite cover so far this season. Didn't have much to choose from my take that worked for the cover, so this is what I had to settle for. I hope I shoot better at the Tulsa game tomorrow.

Ole Miss 23, Arkansas 21

Houston Nutt had his big homecoming to Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville on Saturday. He received a warm welcome from the 74,168 in attendance. I don't think I have ever heard a collective "Boo" as big as the one resonating out of the seats when Nutt took the field with his Rebels. The game was another heartbreaker for Arkansas. Several key mistakes in the game haunted the Razorbacks and eventually accounted for the deficit in the game.


D.J. Williams tearing out 41-yards after a catch. Williams had a career night with 10 catches for 129 yards.


Wide receiver Greg Childs goes up for an in-your-face catch in front of Nutty.


Michael Smith bounced back from the concussion he suffered a week earlier against Kentucky. Smith had 129 yards on the ground and 31 in the air against Ole Miss. He only needs 80 to break 1,000 for the season, there are still four games left.


Ole Miss took advantage of the Razorbacks' weakness in its secondary.


Lucas Miller caught a bullet at the back of the end zone from Casey Dick for a critical touchdown on fourth and seven.


After scoring once more with just over a minute in the game and the score at 23-21, the Hogs attempted an onside kick. Sophomore Aaron Fenton recovered the ball after it was bobbled by Ole Miss. The moment was HUGE and the stadium erupted. It was an amazing moment to witness. It's not very often you see a successful onside kick, especially in a big game like this that meant so much to both sides.


As fate would have it the Razorbacks couldn't move the ball down the field for a chance to win the game. The bitter pill came on first down when receiver London Crawford caught a deep pass from Casey Dick at the 20-yard line. The play would have given the Hogs a first down easily within field goal range and a couple of chances to get in the end zone. The play was called back on offensive pass interference. That was pretty much the ball game and most Arkansas fans are still pretty sore about the way the game ended. The call could have gone either way. The official closest to the supposed penalty when it happened didn't throw a flag. It almost seems like the officials have it out for the Razorbacks these days.

Arkansas faces Tulsa next and Gus Malzahn's No. 1 ranked offensive machine. The Golden Hurricane has scored 50 or more points in eight games this season. Yikes!

Hawgs Illustrated: Vol. 17, Issue 15 & Vol. 17, Issue 16

So the last two issues of HI have essentially been the Michael Smith issues. I hope the team gets more offense going against Ole Miss. Smith is a great tailback, but I'd like to put someone else on the cover for a change.

Kentucky 21, Arkansas 20

Arkansas lost a heartbreaker in the final minutes of their game Saturday at Commonwealth Stadium in Lexington, Ky. The Hogs were up 20-7 on the Wildcats at about the midway mark of the fourth quarter when things just fell apart. The photo above contrasts the irony from last week's game that found Auburn desperately trying to move the ball up the field for a comeback in the final minute of the game. This time it was Arkansas being picked off to end the game.


Michael Smith went off again for the second weekend in a row. Smith eclipsed his 176 yards against Auburn by carrying the ball for a career-high 192 yards on 35 touches against Kentucky. He also had a 22-yard touchdown catch. As fate would have it Smith suffered a concussion in the fourth quarter and was eventually benched.


Arkansas' defense stood strong for three quarters. Elton Ford had a huge interception in the first quarter.


The Hogs' defense forced a couple of fumbles. There were four Kentucky turnovers in the game.


Casey Dick struggled to get the passing game going.


He was out of synch most of the night and couldn't get the ball into the hands of star freshman Joe Adams and Arkansas' other receivers.


What really killed the Hogs' momentum in the game was several questionable "illegal shift" penalties. A bootleg touchdown by Casey Dick was wiped out due to one of the calls. After the game Bobby Petrino was at a loss for why the flags were thrown in the first place. I'm sure he had plenty to say, but he bit his tongue to keep from getting in trouble with the NCAA.


If there was one reason why Arkansas lost the game in the fourth quarter it was due to Michael Smith's concussion. If he was still in the game Arkansas would've gotten their first downs to run the clock out and win the game. The Razorbacks' true freshmen that tried to fill his shoes just couldn't get the ball moving forward. I'm sure most fans feared this scenario would happen and it did. In the end the offense needs more weapons on the ground than their 175-pound tailback. Petrino has challenged his other players to step up and help Smith out. Now certainly is the time.


This was my "WT(heck)" photo of the night. I guess "Wildcat" isn't necessarily the right name huh?

Former Arkansas coach Houston Nutt will be bringing his Rebels to his old house in Fayetteville this weekend. With all of the bad blood that was spilled over his leaving it's shaping up to be one heck of a homecoming.

Arkansas 25, Auburn 22

Arkansas picked up a big win Saturday by upsetting No. 20 Auburn in front of the War Eagle faithful in Auburn, Ala. This is the second straight time for the Hogs to beat a ranked Auburn team in Jordan-Hare Stadium. The shot above is of free safety Matt Harris celebrating after clinching the game with an interception with less than a minute left on the clock.


Joe Adams continued to produce for the Hogs against the Tigers. Four catches for 60 yards wasn't his best showing of the year, but he did throw a 6-yard touchdown pass on a trick play to quarterback Casey Dick.


Michael Smith was the hero on Saturday. The Hogs' big-little man carried the ball 35 times for 176 yards against Auburn. THIRTY FIVE TIMES! He's only 5-foot-7 for crying out loud. He broke away on one of his carries for 63 yards and a touchdown. Michael Smith's not a hero, he's Superman. Oh, he also two receptions for 46 yards. Wow!


The Razorback defense came together against Auburn and held the Tigers to just 193 yards, of which only 56 came on the ground. Arkansas' defense gave Auburn quarterback, and Fort Smith native, Kodi Burns a hard time all night.


A really hard time.


Defensive tight end Adrian Davis returns an interception. The Hogs had three picks on the Tigers.


Quarterback Casey Dick went 17-32 for 222 yards in the game with five carries for 22 yards and two touchdowns.


The highlight of the game was definitely Dick's six yard touchdown reception from Joe Adams in the third quarter to bring the Hogs within four points of the Tigers. Didn't catch Sportscenter last night, but it deserved to be on it.


It was nice to get some jube shots for a change after three straight losses for the Hogs. Surprisingly things were pretty subdued compared to two years ago when Arkansas upset then No. 2 Auburn.


Considering the events as of late with the coaching situation at Auburn, I'm sure Tommy Tuberville wished he could ride Nova out of Jordan-Hare Stadium and far away from the impending drama sure to sweep through the Tigers' camp in the coming days. War Eagle!

Arkansas faces the Kentucky Wildcats next in Lexington, Ky.

Hawgs Illustrated: Vol. 17, Issue 14

Another week, another football cover.

Florida 38, Arkansas 7

The Hogs dropped another one on Saturday to Florida. This time though Arkansas played three quarters of good football before breaking down in the fourth quarter. Yeah they only scored seven points in the game, but they also held the Gators to 17 points for three quarters. A huge improvement compared to Bama and Texas.


Wide receiver Joe Adams is quickly becoming a star for Arkansas. The freshman had five catches for 68 yards on Saturday. I'm sure he has more big games to come this season. This kid picked Arkansas over USC.


The biggest improvement on Saturday was Arkansas' defense. The squad is very young and they showed a lot of heart against Florida.


London Crawford had a decent game. Most importantly, no big drops.


The offensive line still had its issues. Florida sacked Casey Dick four times.


But the Hogs' defense did get Tim Tebow once, not this shot however. Last year's Heisman Trophy winner didn't really go off on Arkansas like most expected. That was due in large part to the Razorbacks' defense stepping up, for the first three quarters at least.


More defense.


Linebacker Jerry Franklin had a huge interception late in the third quarter. Before the pick Tim Tebow had thrown 203 passes without an interception. You'd think the play would've been a turning point for the Hogs, a momentum changer. It was. That's when the Gators went off and scored 21 more points in the fourth quarter.


Michael Smith had Arkansas' lone touchdown of the game. It wasn't anything special to shoot, but it was their only touchdown.


Bobby Petrino spent a good portion of the game yelling and glaring at the officiating crew. If there was one aspect of the game that was just horrible it was the officiating. They completely blew a couple of obvious calls and then missed other penalties altogether.


If only Petrino had looked up into the crowd and caught a glimpse of "Bubba Hog." I'm sure that would've turned that frown upside down...at least for a few seconds.

Next up, a road trip to visit Tommy Tuberville and the Auburn Tigers.

Hawgs Illustrated: Vol. 17, Issue 13

Most certainly my best cover to date. Now if I can just get such a dynamic cover shot to go with an Arkansas win. (Fingers crossed)