Tag: Kendal Briles

Report Card: Offensive fireworks help gloss over Sooners’ defensive woes

Offense dominates the day and passes final Big 12 test en route to a 69-45 win over TCU. We graded the team’s performance in this week’s report card.

Oklahoma has rebounded from the nightmarish season from 2022. They’ll spend the rest of Thanksgiving weekend at 10-2, a sharp contrast from the 6-6 record they amassed before their bowl game last year.

Friday saw the Sooners end their final regular season as Big 12 members in true Big 12 fashion with an old-fashioned shootout. The two teams combined for over 1,000 yards of total offense and 114 points in a 69-45 Oklahoma win.

Senior Day festivities preceded the game, with more than 20 Sooners recognized. Oklahoma’s win also solidified their 59th undefeated home record as well.

As Oklahoma waits to see how the rest of the Big 12 race plays out, we’re here to grade their performance in the win over TCU. Here’s the final report card for the regular season.

2023 Season Preview: Sooners wrap up with the national runner-up

It was a magical 2022 season for the TCU Horned Frogs but can they build upon that in 2023?

It was a magical 2022 season for the TCU Horned Frogs.

Legendary coach Gary Patterson steps down, and in comes Sonny Dykes. TCU goes 12-0 in the regular season, becoming the first Big 12 team since the 2016 Oklahoma Sooners to go 9-0 in conference play.

The Horned Frogs then went on to win the conference’s first College Football Playoff game, beating blue-blood Michigan in the process.

This year they are replacing a lot of talent. They rank 118th in returning production per ESPN (ESPN+).

The offense that finished 27th a year ago is only returning 33% of its production, which ranks next to last in the country.

They have to replace Heisman finalist Max Duggan, their top two running backs Kendre Miller and Emari Demercado, and their top three receivers Quentin Johnston, Taye Barber, and Derius Davis. Additionally, former four-star wide receiver transferred to SMU.

In comes Chandler Morris, who won the starting job last year before being injured in the first game of the season.

Morris brings dual-threat potential and was really thought of as the better passer between him and Duggan. Can he replicate the work Magic Max did a year ago?

At running back, the Horned Frogs add Alabama Crimson Tide transfer Trey Sanders. Sanders only carried the ball 116 times for 528 yards and four touchdowns over three seasons with the Tide. A product of IMG Academy, Sanders was once the No. 1 running back in the 247Sports composite, the No. 6 player overall, and a five-star prospect in the nation. The talent is there to be a dynamic player for the Horned Frogs.

At wide receiver they bring in Oklahoma State Cowboys transfer John Paul Richardson and Alabama transfer Jojo Earle. Richardson caught 49 balls for 503 yards and four touchdowns for the Cowboys in 2022 and moves into a better passing attack than what he had with Oklahoma State. Last year with Alabama, Earle had 12 receptions for 155 yards and two scores.

The Horned Frogs will be replacing offensive coordinator Garrett Riley with Kendal Briles. A different system, but still expected to put up big numbers offensively.

Defensively they return 71% of their production from a season ago. On a defense that ranked 95th last year. Like the Oklahoma Sooners, they’re hoping their experience will help them grow as a defense.

The Horned Frogs return five of their top six players in tackles last season, including starting linebackers Johnny Hodges and Jamoi Hodge. They return three of their top five in sacks. However, they lost Dylan Horton and Dee Winters, who combined for 18 sacks a year ago.

It will be interesting to see how the Horned Frogs retool from a year ago. Dykes said he felt their skilled position players are better this year than last year. That could just be coach speak. It’s hard to lose a player like Quentin Johnston and be better. He was a dynamic player that could make plays at ever level of the passing game.

The thing that will be difficult to replicate is the success they had in close games. They went 4-1 in games decided by a touchdown or less, including wins over Michigan, Baylor, Texas, and Kansas.

Only time will tell. Ultimately, this could be a weird game for Oklahoma. Coming off what should be a hard-fought battle in Provo, Utah. Now, you come home on a short week and play at 11:00 am CT on Black Friday.

Still, I like the Sooners until I see how TCU responds from last season.

Score Prediction: 41-30 Oklahoma

Predicted Record: 10-2

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Rocket Sanders among top running backs in college football according to College Sports Wire

College Sports Wire’s Patrick Conn ranked the best running backs in college football for next season. Check out where he has Arkansas’ Rocket Sanders.

Arkansas football experienced a lot of change over the off-season, but the running back position is largely the same.

Raheim “Rocket” Sanders will once again lead the Razorback backfield, with [autotag]A.J. Green[/autotag], [autotag]Rashod Dubinion[/autotag] and [autotag]Dominique Johnson[/autotag] returning to help the SEC’s second-leading rusher from 2022. The only newcomer to the group is incoming freshman [autotag]Isaiah Augustave[/autotag] – a four-star recruit in the 2023 recruiting class.

With so much depth and experience returning to the Arkansas backfield in 2023, the Razorbacks are expected to pick up right where they left off last season. New offensive coordinator [autotag]Dan Enos[/autotag] has made some noticeable tweaks to the offense from what it looked like under [autotag]Kendal Briles[/autotag], but the philosophy of being a dominant rushing team has not changed.

Adding in the fact that [autotag]K.J. Jefferson[/autotag] is also back for another season, and it’s hard not to expect another big year for Sanders and the Arkansas backfield. Patrick Conn of College Sports Wire is also a big believer in Sanders entering next season. Conn shared his top running backs in college football for 2023 and had [autotag]Rocket Sanders[/autotag] ranked at No. 3 behind Blake Corum (Michigan) and Quinshon Judkins (Ole Miss). Conn says that 2023 could be Sanders’ best yet since arriving in Fayetteville.

The man they call “Rocket” was a force for the Hogs offense over the last two seasons, and despite the opportunity to go pro he returns for another season. Over the past two campaigns, Sanders has tallied 2,401 yards of offense and 18 touchdowns. This could be his best season yet with K.J. Jefferson also returning to Fayetteville.

As previously mentioned, Sanders finished last season as the SEC’s second leading rusher, behind Quinshon Judkins. He ran 222 times for 1,443 yards and 10 rushing touchdowns, while also hauling in 28 catches for 271 yards and two touchdowns on the year. Sanders was the only consistent presence on an Arkansas offense which struggled for most of the season.

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Oklahoma Sooners land commitment from four-star QB Michael Hawkins

Oklahoma lands commitment from 2024 quarterback Michael Hawkins!

After much anticipation, the Sooners have their quarterback for the 2024 recruiting class. Four-star quarterback Michael Hawkins committed to the Oklahoma Sooners on Saturday.

Hawkins, an OU legacy, whittled his recruitment down to TCU and Oklahoma. Before TCU was a finalist, it was Arkansas due to Hawkins’ relationship with Kendal Briles. Briles left his offensive coordinator post at Arkansas to take the same position with the Horned Frogs following the departure of Garrett Riley to Clemson.

Hawkins’s familiarity with Jeff Lebby won out. TCU was also recruiting another quarterback in three-star prospect Hauss Hejny, a TCU legacy.

Hejny committed to TCU earlier this week, which seemed to be the writing on the wall of Hawkins to Oklahoma.

With Hawkins in the fold, Oklahoma’s quarterback room looks like one of the best in the country over the next few years. Dillon Gabriel is the starter in 2023. Getting Jackson Arnold’s signature for the 2023 cycle followed by Hawkins in 2024 and Kevin Sperry in 2025, the Sooners look loaded for their move to the SEC.

In landing Hawkins, the Sooners get a dual-threat QB with remarkable accuracy. He put that accuracy on display at the UA Next showcase earlier this year, when he took home the accuracy award.

Hawkins was named a Texas District 5-6A first-team selection as a junior at Allen High School before transferring to Frisco Emerson for his senior year.

Hawkins’ commitment also has ripple effects for the class of 2025. This puts Oklahoma closer to landing his former teammate at Allen High School, five-star tight end Davon Mitchell. It also makes Maliek Hawkins, Michael’s younger brother, a genuine candidate to be a Sooner come 2025 signing day.

Hawkins joins four-star cornerback Jeremiah Newcombe in the 2024 recruiting class.

Hawkins and the rest of the Sooners staff can now turn their attention to securing offensive talent in the 2024 recruiting class. The Sooners are hoping to land wide receivers Bryant Wesco, Zion Kearney, and Isaiah McMorris as well as a trio of running backs like Caden Durham, Xavier Robinson, Tovani Mizell.

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Oklahoma QB target Michael Hawkins announces commitment date

Four-Star QB target Michael Hawkins announces new commitment date. Oklahoma Sooners set to battle it out with TCU.

Once thought a heavy Oklahoma lean, Sooners quarterback target Michael Hawkins backed off his original commitment date of January 31st. With the uncertainty created as Jeff Lebby was being approached for the Alabama offensive coordinator job, things became a little murky in the Sooners’ pursuit of the four-star field general out of Texas.

Things have stabilized regarding Lebby. He’s entrenched as the Sooners’ OC. Hawkins also has decided that he is ready to commit and will announce his decision on April 8th.

Hawkins said via his Twitter account, “‘Moment of clarity.’ I will be announcing my commitment April 8th…”

With his moment of clarity, Hawkins could set the table for Oklahoma as they look to break the ice on their 2024 class.

His decision also directly affects Big 12 rival TCU, who brought in Kendal Briles, the former offensive coordinator at Arkansas. Arkansas and Oklahoma led for months in the recruitment of Hawkins until Briles replaced Garrett Riley after Riley left for Clemson.

TCU is in the hunt for Hawkins because of Briles’ move and shouldn’t be counted out. As it stands, Oklahoma and TCU look set to duke it out on the recruiting trail for Hawkins and will likely do battle for four-star wide receiver [autotag]Bryant Wesco[/autotag]. Oklahoma appears the favorite for Wesco.

Hawkins’s recruitment also has a domino effect that could favor the Oklahoma Sooners if they were fortunate to land the quarterback prospect.  Davon Mitchell, a five-star tight end in the class of 2025, is a close friend and favorite target of Michael Hawkins when they played together at Allen High School. He seems highly invested in the final destination of his old QB. There are rumblings that Mitchell plans to reclassify for the 2024 class.

The desire to play together in college has been noted before. The Sooners would love to reunite Hawkins and Mitchell in Norman.

Additionally, Oklahoma could even get the jump on another Hawkins, as younger brother Maliek is a 2025 cornerback prospect who just received an OU offer this week. Landing Michael would position the Sooners to land the Maliek.

With months to spare before signing day, a commitment from Michael Hawkins could impact the present and future of Oklahoma football.

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National writer dubs Arkansas football ‘losers’ after offseason coaching hires

Not everyone is a fan of Sam Pittman’s offseason moves. Razorbacks dubbed “losers” by one national writer after staff changes ahead of 2023 season.

[autotag]Sam Pittman[/autotag] may have had one of the busiest and stressful offseasons that an Arkansas coach has ever had. After the wheels fell off early in the 2022 season and the Razorbacks limped to a 7-6 finish, Pittman virtually cleaned house when it came to key staff members including both coordinators – [autotag]Barry Odom[/autotag] and [autotag]Kendal Briles[/autotag].

Odom left to become the next head coach at UNLV, which could’ve been expected at some point as he has previous head coaching experience and no signs of giving up on running his own program. The most unexpected move was Arkansas losing Briles, who left for the same position – offensive coordinator – at TCU, after receiving a raise to stay with the Razorbacks. Mississippi State made a serious push to bring Briles to Starkville before TCU did, which he then used as leverage to receive another raise. When he tried to do the same after the Horned Frogs came calling, Pittman and Briles parted ways.

Brandon Marcello, national writer for 247Sports.com, isn’t a huge fan of Arkansas losing both coordinators and in his latest column “Coaching Carousel: Winners and Losers” listed Arkansas among the “losers” of this offseason.

“Arkansas lost this offseason more than half of its staff, including both coordinators who deserve a heap of credit for the Razorbacks’ sudden turnaround in 2021,” said Marcello. “Change could be a good thing, sure. Either way, this is an inflection point in the Pittman era.”

To replace Odom, Pittman hired former UCF defensive coordinator Travis Williams and former Florida State defensive backs coach Marcus Woodson as co-defensive coordinator. As for replacing Briles, Pittman turned to a familiar face in Dan Enos to run the Arkansas offense after having previously served as the Razorbacks’ offensive coordinator from 2015-2017.

Williams and Woodson don’t have experience being coordinators at the SEC level and while Enos has plenty of SEC experience – including a pretty successful couple of seasons last time he was in Fayetteville – there’s going to be a big adjustment for he and his players. That could be the reason why Marcello isn’t very high on the Razorbacks entering a critical juncture in the Sam Pittman era.

One thing that Marcello didn’t highlight was the other hires that Pittman made this offseason which were widely applauded. He hired [autotag]Ben Sowders[/autotag] from Louisville as strength and conditioning coach, [autotag]Morgan Turner[/autotag] from Stanford as tight ends coach and [autotag]Deron Wilson[/autotag] from Florida as defensive backs coach.

I think if you zoom out and look at Arkansas’ offseason from a bigger perspective, Pittman did about the best job anyone could’ve in his position. Will all of these hires pan out and be considered “home runs” in the end? Time will tell.

For now, it’s best to have patience and see where this goes. Spring practices are right around the corner and that will give us a better glimpse into the future of Razorbacks football.

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Report card: Arkansas’ offensive line, defensive lines stumble in season-ending loss

Arkansas offensive line – and defense, less so – lost that game for the Razorbacks.

Arkansas’ offensive line was supposed to be one of the best in the country. And at times, it was. Just not often enough.

Arkansas defensive coordinator Barry Odom was supposed to lead one of the better defenses in the country. And at times, it…

OK, that one doesn’t work.

The Arkansas defense gave up 468 yards of total offense to Missouri, more 100 beyond what the Tigers normally get in a 29-27 loss on Friday. The Tigers’ win ensured the two teams finished the regular season equal, both at 6-6.

The defense struggled all year, so in ways, it was expected. The offensive line’s serious issues were not. Quarterback KJ Jefferson was sacked six times and the Arkansas ground game had just 113 yards on 38 carries, one of the worst outputs of the season.

Blame was aplenty after the game. Let’s take a look at how each unit did in our estimation with a report card.

Lane Kiffin discusses how Ole Miss, Arkansas, Tennessee’s offenses have grown apart

Lane Kiffin discusses how Ole Miss, Arkansas and Tennessee’s offenses have grown apart.

No. 14 Ole Miss (8-2, 4-2 SEC) will play at Arkansas (5-5, 2-4 SEC) Saturday in Week 12 (7:30 p.m. EST, ESPN).

Arkansas offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Kendal Briles served in the same capacity under Kiffin at Florida Atlantic in 2017.

Charlie Weis Jr. replaced Briles in 2018 at FAU.

Kiffin hired Weis Jr. as Ole Miss’ offensive coordinator during the offseason, replacing Jeff Lebby, who went to Oklahoma as the Sooners’ offensive coordinator. Lebby served as offensive coordinator under Josh Heupel at UCF before joining Kiffin’s staff.

In October 2021 ahead of the Ole Miss-Tennessee game, Kiffin discussed why he implemented Baylor’s veer and shoot offense while serving as head coach at Florida Atlantic. The veer and shoot has also provided success for Heupel as a head coach at Tennessee and UCF.

“I saw it very close watching the Washington-Baylor bowl game that was in the 60s,” Kiffin told Vols Wire on the SEC teleconference last season. “I just was kind of enamored with it for awhile and started to study some of it and use some it at Alabama. I just said, ‘Alright, if I get a head job again, this is what I want to do’.

“It really is amazing — the system — and credit to Art Briles because all three of those teams are the top rushing teams in the country. You look at the SEC, where some people listening to us are saying, are great rushing teams, and they’re really not. I give a ton of credit to Art Briles.”

The three teams Kiffin was referring to is Ole Miss, Arkansas with Briles and Tennessee with Heupel calling plays as the Vols’ head coach.

Kiffin discussed the three team’s offenses again Wednesday and highlighted how they have grown apart from the true veer and shoot scheme Heupel is continuing to execute at Tennessee.

“There is a difference in the offenses and have kind of evolved in different directions,” Kiffin told Vols Wire on the SEC teleconference. “I think all three snap the ball fast, have similar mechanics of how it’s run from a tempo standpoint, but I think the systems have kind of grown apart.”

Mesh and more compact formations, combined with wide splits and tempo, have been used more with Ole Miss, Arkansas and Oklahoma under Lebby compared to Heupel and Tennessee. As Tennessee’s head coach, Heupel executed mesh on a fourth-down play at Florida in 2021.

Below are examples of mesh executed in Ole Miss, Arkansas and Oklahoma’s offenses that are not used with Heupel’s offense at Tennessee.

Twitter reacts to Arkansas’ loss vs LSU with frustration: “I want Sam Pittman fired”

The number of Arkansas fans calling for changes to the football program are growing after the Hogs fell to LSU.

My, how quickly things change.

It less than one year ago that Arkansas football fans were on top of the world. The Razorbacks had beaten Penn State in the Outback Bowl to get to nine wins and capped the best season in a decade.

Now, 11 months later, Arkansas is 5-5 and the group of those fans who want serious change with the program are growing in number.

Arkansas lost 13-10 to No. 7 LSU on Saturday. It was a game the Hogs weren’t supposed to win and they managed things that close without their most important player, starting quarterback KJ Jefferson.

But that matters little when fans’ favorite team is staring at the possibility of missing the postseason.

Let’s take a look at some of their post-game reactions via Twitter.

Twitter reacts to Arkansas’ worst loss in Sam Pittman era

Fans want serious changes with the Arkansas football program. Do you?

Sam Pittman knew it was the worst loss Arkansas’ suffered in his three years. He owned it.

The Razorbacks fell Saturday, 21-19, to No. 23 Liberty in a game that should have been a win.

It almost was. KJ Jefferson led two fourth-quarter touchdown drives, but was stopped on the goal line on a two-point conversion that would have tied the game with 1:11 left.

The old chestnut about it being a game of inches? Apply that to Arkansas fans’ thoughts, too.

The loudest in the social media space are adamant changes be made the Razorbacks program. While we (strongly) disagree, at least when it comes to Pittman, the groans are growing louder. And with LSU and Ole Miss coming next, the dull roar might turn loud quickly.

These are the best safe-for-work tweets from Arkansas faithful following the loss to the Flames.