One of the imperatives in this game was to make the Hogs pay for last year, and we did that. The final margin was only two scores, but Arkansas made it look closer than it really was by scoring a late garbage TD and this game was never in doubt other than briefly in the third quarter after the Hogs closed the gap to 20-14. This was a solid, convincing victory.

That said, we looked far from perfect. While they got the job done, our offense was only inconsistently effective. A lot of the blame goes to Stephen Garcia and Chris Smelley. On the surface, their combined 219 passing yards and 2 passing TDs along with the TD Garcia scored on the ground does not look too bad. However, neither was particularly accurate. Garcia supporters will remember the perfect fade Garcia threw to Kenny McKinley in the fourth quarter to more or less put the game our of reach for the Hogs, but Garcia was 4/11 with an interception and threw numerous shaky passes when he had receivers open. Smelley's numbers were a little better, but he is lucky to escape the game without an interception, also threw bad passes when he had open receivers (Smelley must be the only person on the planet who can overthrow 6'5 Jared Cook), and cost us a couple of touchdowns when did not see open receivers and threw it to guys in coverage.

Should we blame our quarterbacks' pedestrian performances on Spurrier's decision to alternate them almost every other play? Perhaps. I can only imagine that it is difficult for Chris or Stephen to find a rhythm when they know they are not going to stay in the game long. On the other hand, lots of Spurrier's ploys worked yesterday. We did have open receivers all over the field, which indicates that Spurrier beat Arkansas's defense from an Xs and Os standpoint. Part of that scheme success probably owes to the confusion the QB alternations caused Arkansas. If our quarterbacks could have made a few more of their throws, we might have scored 50 on these guys. So it may not have been such a bad idea to alternate Garcia and Smelley, even if it did not work as well as it might have. Part of the problem also owes to our receivers dropping ball. Jason Barnes looked like the next Sidney Rice a few weeks ago, but now he looks more like the Troy Williamson of Vikings fame. On a side note, I thought the wide-tackle formations were generally effective and can only wonder why we did not use this formation against LSU in the second half.

We also finally saw a solid performance out of our running game. Both Eric Baker and Mike Davis played well in the second half, particularly during our final TD drive. If I remember correctly, we did not throw the ball once during that possession. Who would have thought we could drive the length of the field on the legs of our tailbacks? I do not want to make too much of running success against an Arkansas team that has a terrible defense and was likely worn out at the end of the game, but seeing that we can run the ball to some degree was promising.

Our defense played well for most of the game, although Arkansas did mount
a couple of decent drives. Casey Dick passed the ball well against us other than his three interceptions. My general impression is that the only thing keeping our defense from being truly great is that we do not generate much of a pass rush when we do not blitz. Casey Dick (and his brother Nathan on the final drive) often had a lot of time to throw the ball, and I doubt that any defense is going to have much success against a Petrino-coach team without getting in the quarterback's face. Luckily, we took advantage of the inevitable bad throws Dick always tends to make. Jordin Lindsey's interception was a great play and helped us put the game away.

One thing to be happy about is our performance defending the run. Michael Smith came into this game as one of the country's most productive tailbacks, and we held him to 25 yards on seven carries. With Florida and Clemson coming up, we will need to continue to defend the run well.

Special teams play was so-so. We did well in the return game, but Chris Culliver's inability to keep his head at the end of the game will cost us his services in the first half against the Gators (Culliver's suspension will also be felt on defense). Captain Munnerlyn fumbled a punt, but luckily we got it back. One day we are going to lose one of those. Finally, Succop continues to perplex. He made a great 54 yard kick that might have been good from a couple more yards out, but missed a gimme chip shot later in the game. Succop's struggles have yet to cause us a game, but they might against better competition.

All in all, this was a good but not great performance. I am happy with the victory, especially considering that we likely wrapped up an Outback or Peach Bowl bid. However, neither Arkansas or Tennessee (who lost to Wyoming yesterday) are good teams, so we should not overestimate the value of beating them. I saw little to indicate that we have what it takes to hang with the Gators. Unless we get perfect play from our quarterbacks, we will not be able to score enough points to beat Florida. What we saw yesterday from Garcia and Smelley simply will not cut it. We will also need better play to beat Clemson. The Tigers are not a good team and have a very shaky defense, but they are better than Arkansas and will play their best game of the year when we come to town.

I got in touch with the Arkansas bloggers at Razorbacks Expats for a little Q&A action. Read on for insider info on Bobby Petrino, Casey Dick, and the rest of the Hog crew. My answers to their questions are here.

One coach was forced out after two straight eight-win seasons and his replacement was poached in the middle of the season -- and the middle of the night -- from the NFL. In the meantime, the old coach moved to a rival in the same division. Now, the Houston Nutt-led Ole Miss is pegged as a surprise team in the SEC while the Bobby Petrino-led Arkansas is favored to be the worst team in the division and the worst team in the conference whose name does not begin with a "V."

Just another offseason in Fayetteville.

OFFENSE

O-line. The line was pretty good for the Razorbacks, though a relatively small number of pass attempts and a pair of incredible running backs helps you look really good. Rimington winner Jonathan Luigs returns at center, but Arkansas also loses a couple of high-impact starters. Oh, and the offense is completely different. ADVANTAGE: SOUTH CAROLINA

Quarterback. Hooray! Casey Dick is back! Last year: 150-of-262, 1,695 yards, 18 TDs, 10 INTs. You know a quarterback is good when the coaching staff looks at him and says, "I think we'd actually be a better team if he weren't on the field," which is what Houston Nutt and Co. did several times last year. And Darren McFadden did have a better QB rating than Dick. ADVANTAGE: SOUTH CAROLINA

Running back. Darren McFadden is gone. Felix Jones is gone. Peyton Hillis is gone. No one returning to the Razorbacks had 50 carries last year. Oh, and they won't get too many more than that in the new, pass-based system. ADVANTAGE: SOUTH CAROLINA

Wide receiver. Who knows? The primary mission of receivers for the last few years has been: "Block for McFadden and Jones. Unless you're Marcus Monk, and then just run a go route." None of the returning wideouts had even 20 catches to their name in 2007. ADVANTAGE: SOUTH CAROLINA

DEFENSE

Defensive line. The Hogs managed just 23 sacks last year, or 1.85 sacks per game -- tied for 73rd in the FBS. Three starters return, all with at least 10 TFL in 2007, which is better than South Carolina. ADVANTAGE: ARKANSAS

Linebackers. Freddie Fairchild had 9.5 TFL in 2007, 4.5 of them sacks. He was also third on the team with 92 tackles. And now he's gone. None of the other expected starters has done much to commend themselves. ADVANTAGE: SOUTH CAROLINA

Secondary. They return no starters from 2007. None. Zero. This could be a major blow to the Razorback defense: Their pass efficiency defense was second in the nation, holding opponents to a 97.68 QB rating. ADVANTAGE: SOUTH CAROLINA

SPECIAL TEAMS

Well, their biggest kick return threats were -- you guessed it -- Darren McFadden and Felix Jones. But K Alex Tejada wasn't bad on FGs (73.9 percent) and Jeremy Davis averaged 40.1 yards on punts. Both are back. ADVANTAGE: PUSH

COACHING

This is a tough one, mostly because we really don't know how good a head coach Petrino is. Sure, he had four good years in Louisville -- but first it was Louisville in Conference USA, and then it was Louisville in a watered-down Big East. He did win a Big East crown in 2006, but a loss to Rutgers cost him a chance at the BCS title. Then again, look at Louisville in the first year after his departure. Still, we have a longer record with Spurrier, and we know he's capable of sustaining success once he's achieved it. ADVANTAGE: SOUTH CAROLINA

RESULT

McFadden and Jones beat us last year. No other way to put it.

WARNING: VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISED, due to the violence committed upon South Carolina's defense and Tyrone Nix's reputation.

That said, Arkansas has never been a team South Carolina can afford to overlook. It doesn't really matter how good or bad each team is; the game is always entertaining. Even if the entertainment comes from watching Darren McFadden do sprints. In any case, this year, this should be a victory. Should be. LIKELY WIN

THE REST OF THEIR SEASON

There's a reason that the Hogs are expected to be last in the SEC West: They're not a very good team. At least, they don't look like it. Supplement the usual division slate of Auburn, LSU and a potentially resurgent Alabama with Florida, at Kentucky and at South Carolina from the East. Sprinkle in an out-of-conference game against Texas. Even with a split of the Mississippi teams, the Hogs are still a long way from a winning season. 4-8

You would think Bobby Petrino would know better.

After all, this is the same guy that joined the Atlanta Falcons and then bolted because -- regardless of what he might say -- the job got too hard when the team lost Michael Vick.

Now, the Gypsy Coach of the South steps into essentially the same situation at Arkansas. A team that has been good but not great. (Though the Hogs were a better college team the last two years than the Falcons were an NFL team in the two years before Petrino came.)

And a team that has lost its most valuable pieces.

Darren McFadden and Felix Jones are gone. And the rest of the league couldn't be happier.

 
See ya later, guys. You won't be missed.

"I'm just glad that we don't have to game-plan for them anymore," said Kentucky defensive end Jeremy Jarmon.

It's easy to see why.

There are a number of statistics that show how impressive -- and indispensible -- the McFadden-Jones tandem was. Here's just a few:

McFadden holds Arkansas' career records for rushing attempts, yards (by 1,040!) and 100-yard games (22, leading the next member of the list by six, or half a season). He owns the top two seasons in terms of rushing yards, as well as the 12th.

Felix Jones is the all-time Arkansas leader in yards per carry for a season and a career, fifth in career yardage and fourth in the number of career 100-yard games.

And on and on it goes.

Amazingly, Petrino appears to have faced not a single question about the departure of Darren McFadden and Felix Jones during his session in the print and Internet room. (C&F is going by the transcript, since he had to miss Petrino's remarks.) Petrino did talk a little bit about Michael Smith, apparently the front-runner for the starting position.

"He's a smaller running back that is very quick and has a great burst," Petrino said. "Can do a lot of things with him. ... So we're going to have to try to figure out ways to utilize his strengths and get him the ball in the open field."

Of course, Petrino has a different plan for the offense. And it will be hard for the offensive line and QB Casey Dick to operate a pass-first offense in a game situation for the first time. And for a few times after that. (In fairness, if past history is any indication, it might be hard for Dick to operate any offense that doesn't consist of "hand the ball to the impossibly strong and fast guy and watch him run.") The Gypsy Coach of the South can play it down as a "learning experience" that "hasn't been difficult" if he wishes; we'll see when the games begins.

The smart money says this will be a hangover season for Arkansas, much as 2004 was for Ole Miss (after they lost Eli Manning). When a team has a great player, it can be intoxicating, creating a buzz around the program that feels good at the time.

But if you rely too much on beverages to have a good time, no amount of coffee and tylenol can stop the world of hurt you face the next morning.