Athletic Media Relations

The following statements are from University of Arkansas Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics Jeff Long and head football coach John L. Smith:

Statement from University of Arkansas Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics Jeff Long:

“With our 2012 football season concluded, I met earlier today with Coach John L. Smith to inform him we would be making a change in leadership within our football program. I have great respect for Coach Smith and I thank him for the sincere commitment he has shown our program. He made a difficult decision in uncertain times to return from his alma mater to guide the young men in our football program, and I will always be grateful for his efforts.

I would also like to express my gratitude to our assistant football coaching staff, and our support staff. They have shown remarkable professionalism and a true commitment to the student-athletes in our program. They demonstrated great character in maintaining their commitment to our program.

Last April, when I appointed Coach Smith for the 2012 season, I indicated I thought this would provide us the opportunity to take the time necessary to identify the right coach for the future and to do so in a time that would allow us to attract quality candidates. Our new coach will be an individual who shares the passion for success our fans do and who is willing to work relentlessly to achieve our goals. It will be someone who embraces the expectations of winning a national championship and succeeding in the classroom with discipline, honesty and integrity. The leader of our student-athletes will continuously stress academic accountability and the value of earning a degree from the University of Arkansas. Our new coach will embrace what this program means not just to the university, but to the entire state of Arkansas and will share the vision for the future success of Razorback Football.”

Statement from University of Arkansas football head coach John L. Smith:

“I am very grateful to Chancellor (David) Gearhart and Jeff Long for the opportunity they gave me to return to the University of Arkansas and coach this football team. I have enjoyed guiding this group and I am extremely proud of how everyone in our program stuck together and showed tremendous character by competing throughout the season. Everyone on our staff has my appreciation as they all believed in our goals and stayed committed to the development of these young men. I would like to thank the Razorback fans for demonstrating their support for these student-athletes and this coaching staff during a challenging time. I enjoyed every day of this experience and this profession has been and will continue to be rewarding to me. During my time here, it has been incredible to be a part of helping this program grow and I wish everyone involved nothing but success in the future.”

Smith was hired to a 10-month contract last April and his employment agreement runs through Feb. 23, 2013. Smith will remain in the department as a consultant through the completion of his 10-month contract. Smith will be reassigned to assist with the transition to the new coaching staff once a new head coach is named. All assistant coaches have the option to remain a part of the football staff pending the hiring of a new head coach.

The Razorback Hockey team on Friday night beat a strong Missouri State team 3 – 2 on the ice at Jones Center in Springdale.  The #6 ranked Razorbacks, who recently took three of four at the Pelham Classic in Alabama, have eleven wins, seven losses, and one tie against the toughest early season schedule in the team’s history.

The fourth ranked Missouri State Bears bring a potent offensive attack to North Fayetteville, where they met a stifling defense that held them to fewer points than all but one other game so far this year.  The Bears have scored 5 points or more 16 of 17 games this season, and their lowest total output was three before they met the Razorback buzzsaw defense.

The Hogs started the scoring with a shot by Easton Oliver.  The 6’2″ 190 pound Defenseman out of Plano, TX, slipped one into the net during a power play at 16:56 in the second.  The Bears tied it up at 10:00, only to see Martin Sundstedt, the Freshman out of McKinney, TX slap another home three minutes later.  With 6:11 left to play in the period, Michael Kress, the Freshman Criminal Justice major from Brooklyn, NY netted the final Hog goal.

Missouri State netted a meaningless, unthreatening, and completely useless second goal one minute later, as the Hogs and their fortress in the net, Kevin Scheer, held on for the win.

The Hogs once again played to a full house, and expect to do so again when they play the second game of the weekend tonight at 7 pm.  They are on their home ice at the Jones Center, and if you’re not there it may be because you are slightly effeminate, or because you regularly root for Texas or Al Quaeda.

GO CHEER ON YOUR ICE HOGS!!

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Mississippi’s Bo Wallace and Bryson Rose liked winning a Southeastern Conference game so much that they decided to do it again.

Rose kicked a 31-yard field goal as time expired to give the Rebels a 30-27 victory over Arkansas on Saturday. The win is the second straight in the Southeastern Conference for Ole Miss (5-3, 2-2), which snapped a 16-game league losing streak in its last game against Auburn.

Rose’s field goal was his third of the game, including a career-best 53-yarder that put Ole Miss up 27-20 early in the fourth quarter.

The Razorbacks (3-5, 2-3) tied the game at 27-27 with 2:09 remaining on a 4-yard touchdown run by Dennis Johnson, who finished with a career-high 161 yards.

However, Wallace — who finished with 278 yards passing — directed Ole Miss on an eight-play, 61-yard drive that set up Rose’s game-winning field goal.

The win gave Ole Miss its first back-to-back SEC wins since late in the 2009 season, which is also the last time the school reached a bowl game. The Rebels, who were a combined 1-15 in the conference the last two seasons, are now one win away from bowl eligibility in coach Hugh Freeze’s first season.

Ole Miss trailed 10-0 early before rallying to take a 21-17 halftime lead after Jeff Scott’s 1-yard touchdown run with 20 seconds remaining in the half. The score capped a 10-play, 75-yard drive that took just 1:01 off the clock.

Wallace accounted for 316 yards of total offense for the Rebels. The sophomore, who ran for, passed for and caught a touchdown two weeks ago against Auburn, finished 29 of 37 passing — including a 4-yard touchdown pass to Vince Sanders in the first half.

On the game-winning drive, Wallace accounted for 38 yards — 355 passing and 13 rushing. He was 3 of 4 passing on the drive, including a 14-yard completion to Scott on a third-and-9 to keep the drive moving. Wallace’s final play was a 13-yard run through the heart of the Arkansas defense to set up Rose’s game-winning kick.

The Razorbacks had won two straight entering the game, and they nearly overcame a blocked punt that led to an Ole Miss touchdown and a pair of interceptions by quarterback Tyler Wilson. Arkansas outgained the Rebels 464-355 in total yardage, and Wilson finished 24 of 43 passing for 297 yards, but it couldn’t stop Ole Miss when it needed to the most.

Johnson nearly single-handily helped the Razorbacks tie the game late in the fourth quarter. After Wilson opened the drive with a 9-yard completion to Cobi Hamilton — who finished with 12 catches for 146 yards — Johnson gained 41 yards on his next two carries.

The senior then bowled his way into the end zone from 5 yards out on his third straight carry, capping a four-play, 55-yard drive.

Arkansas left 2:09 on the clock, however, which proved exactly the right amount of time for the resurgent Rebels.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The University of Arkansas football team downed Kentucky 49-7 in front of 67,153 fans in a shortened game due to inclement weather. The game was called after the second lightning delay with 5:08 remaining in the third quarter. The first delay lasted 66 minutes in the first quarter. The 42 point margin of victory was the second-largest in school history against an SEC opponent.

Tyler Wilson

Senior quarterback Tyler Wilson had a career game going 23-for-31 passing with 372 yards and a school-record-tying five touchdowns. Wilson bested his previous career-high of four touchdowns in a game.

Leading the Razorbacks in receiving was freshman running back Jonathan Williams. The Allen, Texas, native caught three passes for 150 yards and two touchdowns. Williams is the first freshman and second Razorback in school history to have two touchdown receptions of 74 yards or longer in the same game. Williams caught touchdown passes of 74 and 77 yards, joining Cobi Hamilton who had touchdown receptions of 85 and 80 yards vs. LSU in 2010.

On the ground senior running back Dennis Johnson and junior running back Knile Davis led the team with 82 and 68 yards respectively. Johnson recorded two rushing touchdowns and one receiving touchdown.

The Razorback defense put on a show holding the Wildcats to 170 total yards and six total first downs. The defense forced the Wildcats to six three-and-outs in shortened play.

Jonathan Williams

The Arkansas offense opened the game with a bang, scoring a touchdown on the first play out of the gate, as Wilson connected with Williams for a 74-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead. The Razorbacks’ second possession of the game was much of the same as the offense drove 75 yards down the field on 11 plays in a drive that culminated in a three-yard touchdown run by Johnson to give UA a 14-0 lead.

Play was halted due to inclement weather in the area in the middle of a UA offensive drive in the first. When they resumed, the Razorbacks picked up their drive and scored on a five-yard touchdown pass from Wilson to Johnson. With the touchdown the Razorbacks went up 21-0 over the Wildcats.

The Razorback defense followed with an impressive three-and-out. Following the defensive stop, Wilson again found Williams in the first play out of scrimmage, scoring on a 77-yard pass play. The touchdown by Williams gave the Razorbacks a 28-0 lead to close out the first quarter.

In the second quarter, the offense put together an 11-play, 80-yard drive that ended in an eight-yard touchdown pass from Wilson to junior wide receiver Javontee Herndon to put UA up 35-0 over UK.

The Razorback defense once again held the Wildcats to a three-and-out. Following the Kentucky punt, Arkansas answered with an eight-play, 69-yard drive resulting in a two-yard touchdown run by Johnson, 42-0 Arkansas at the half. The 42 first half points are the most points any Razorback team has scored in the first quarter since Oct. 31, 2006, when the Razorbacks scored 42 against Eastern Michigan.

The first drive of the second half ended in more points on the board with an 18-yard touchdown pass from Wilson to junior wide receiver Julian Horton to give the Razorbacks a 49-0 lead. With the touchdown Wilson tied the Arkansas record for touchdowns in a game with five. Ryan Mallet holds the record compiling five touchdowns in a game four different times in his career.

With 6:46 remaining in the third quarter the Wildcats put their first points on the board with a 61-yard touchdown pass, 49-7. The score would hold due to inclement weather.

The Razorbacks will enjoy a bye week before taking on Ole Miss in War Memorial Stadium on Oct. 27.

University of Arkansas head men’s basketball coach Mike Anderson and the team met with the media on Thursday as a part of the 2012 Men’s Basketball Media Day to discuss the upcoming season.

Coach Anderson spoke about his enthusiasm for this season with the current team.

“This team really excites me, it really does,” coach Anderson said. “We did some good things last year. We have to be able to do it both at home and on the road this year.”

Coach Anderson also spoke about how he is trying to build upon what he did last season with the Razorbacks. Last season, the Hogs recorded a school record, 17 home wins.

“We are certainly looking forward to getting prepared for year two and building on some of the things that we did in year one,” coach Anderson said.

The second year of the coach Anderson era will begin on Friday, Nov. 2 with an exhibition game against Southwest Baptist. The start of the Razorbacks’ regular season will begin when they take on Sam Houston State in Fayetteville on Friday, Nov. 9.

Arkansas men’s basketball team hosts Primetime at the Palace on Friday at 9 p.m., officially tipping off the 2012-13 basketball seasons. Doors open at 8 p.m.

After dropping a pair of games to Missouri State (D2) in front of a raucous Springfield, Missouri, crowd, the Ice Hogs (2-6-0) head north to Michigan for the first time in the program’s history.  The team leaves this Friday and will take on Grand Valley State University twice–once on Saturday at 8 pm EST and again on Sunday at noon EST.  As fans will remember, the Hogs split with Grand Valley in dramatic fashion last season.   After dropping game one by a score of 3-1 on Friday night, October 14, 2011, the Razorbacks rebounded in game when Jimmy Nemeth scored in the eighth round of a shootout.  Needless to say, a rivalry between the two programs was born that night.

This year, northern powerhouse Grand Valley is off to a good start.  After posting 4-0 and 9-6 victories over Lawrence Tech University and Lansing Community College, respectively, the Lakers dropped a close pair of games to a talented Robert Morris-Peioria squad this past weekend.  The Lakers are led in scoring by Nic Bectel ( four goals in four games), Dalton Brennon (three goals and an assist in three games), and Chris Norkus (two goals and two assists in four games).  Goaltender Jiri Aberle has backstopped the Lakers for three of their four games and posted an impressive 1.60 GAA in the process.

After the Hogs complete their visit to Grand Rapids, they’ll head south to Adrian College.  Adrian is the defending ACHA DIII 2011-12 National Champion and has gotten off to a fast start this season. READ MORE

The University of Arkansas football team defeated Auburn 24-7 inside Jordan-Hare Stadium on Saturday afternoon in front of a crowd of 85,813.

Arkansas’ defense was tough throughout the entire game, bringing a spark to the whole Razorback squad. The defense collected eight sacks, the most in a game since the Razorbacks had eight sacks vs. Texas in the 2000 Cotton Bowl, and also had 11 tackles for loss. Trey Flowers accounted for 3.5 sacks to lead the defense.

Senior Ross Rasner, sophomore Alan Turner and freshman Will Hines all had an interception, with Turner and Hines grabbing their first interception of their careers.

Senior Terrell Williams led the defense in tackles recording a total of 12, seven being solo. Rasner was not far behind with 10 total and 8 solo.

Senior quarterback Tyler Wilson was 22-of-29 passing for 230 yards. Senior running back Dennis Johnson led the Razorbacks on offense rushing for 76 yards and two touchdowns.

Senior Cobi Hamilton led the wide receivers with seven catches for 86 yards with a long of 41 yards.

Senior punter Dylan Breeding had five punts racking up a total of 255 yards with an average of 51.0. Breeding had three punts of more than 50 yards with a long of 70. READ MORE

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Johnny Manziel threw for a school-record 453 yards and three touchdowns and ran for another score to lead Texas A&M over Arkansas 58-10 on Saturday for the Aggies’ first Southeastern Conference win.

The Razorbacks were done in by a porous pass defense and three turnovers, as their once-promising season continued to crumble with a fourth straight loss.

Arkansas (1-4, 0-2) led 10-7 after one quarter before the Aggies (3-1, 1-1) scored 51 straight points to take the lead and cruise to the win. It broke a three-game losing streak to the Razorbacks, who beat A&M 42-38 last season after trailing 35-17 at halftime.

Manziel added 104 yards rushing to also break the school and SEC records for yards of total offense with 557.

Tyler Wilson threw for 373 yards and a touchdown, but he threw two interceptions as Arkansas was shut out after the first quarter.

Steven Terrell had two interceptions and Tramain Jacobs returned a fumble for a touchdown for Texas A&M.

Ryan Swope had five receptions for 141 yards and a touchdown, recording his school-record 10th career 100-yard game. Thomas Johnson added 108 yards receiving and Mike Evans had 83 yards and a score as A&M piled up 716 yards of total offense.

Manziel, a freshman, has accounted for 15 touchdowns in the Aggies’ last three games.

Texas A&M’s 58 points are the most it has scored against the Razorbacks in the 69-game history of the series.

Manziel, who finished 29 of 38, went 5 of 5 on the first drive, capped by a 4-yard touchdown pass to Evans to make it 7-0. Evans bent down to scoop the pass before it hit the ground for his first career touchdown.

The Aggie defense forced a punt, but Taylor Bertolet’s 39-yard field goal attempt on the next possession was wide right.

Wilson found Knile Davis on a short pass that he took 64 yards for a touchdown to tie the game about 7 minutes before halftime.

A 26-yard field goal by Zach Hocker gave Arkansas a 10-7 lead near the end of the first quarter.

The second quarter was all A&M, with Bertolet redeeming himself after his early miss with a 46-yard field goal to tie it early in the quarter. His 26-yard field goal about 4 minutes later gave A&M a 13-10 lead.

Terrell’s first interception came on the next drive by Arkansas. He fumbled at the end of the return, but it bounced back into his hands to give A&M the ball at midfield. A 29-yard run by Ben Malena got the drive going, and he finished it off with an 11-yard touchdown reception to push the lead to 20-10.

A tough drive by Arkansas where the team fumbled twice, but recovered both times, followed to force the Razorbacks to punt.

The Aggies went deep on the next play, with Manziel using a pump fake and Swope a double move to get behind the defense for an 80-yard touchdown reception.

Things weren’t any better for the Razorbacks after halftime, and Wilson’s first pass of the second half was intercepted by Terrell. He returned it 30 yards and A&M extended the lead to 30-10 with a 21-yard field goal.

Christine Michael bulled into the end zone on a 10-yard run later in the third quarter to leave A&M up 37-10.

Damontre Moore forced a fumble by Davis, which Jacobs scooped up and returned 28 yards for a touchdown on the Razorbacks’ first play after Michael’s touchdown.

Manziel capped his scoring for the day when he circled around and even went backward before zipping into the end zone on a 6-yard run with about 10 minutes left to make it 51-10. Trey Williams added a 13-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter.

Cobi Hamilton finished with 11 receptions for 162 yards for Arkansas, and Davis had 65 yards rushing.

…is a failure to communicate understand what it is we are seeing on the field and how it happened.

Bobby Petrino is partially to blame for the clusterf*ck that is this current team, but the majority of it is with assistants he hired and the players he recruited – all of which fit his idea of a successful program.

Tyler Wilson Isn't Happy

Petrino recruited his ass off, offensive and defensive players.  He signed way too many wide receivers and not enough corners.  His classes have had way too much attrition at the same f*cking positions.  Some quit, some were arrested and kicked off the team, and some were just misses.  Some of his personnel decisions made some of our weak positions weaker and still make me scratch my head.  Some of his assistants are obviously not great player developers at their respective positions.  David Gordon and Eric Bennett were damn good true freshmen corners that would be 4th yr and 3rd yr starters at those positions right now with Winston and Tevin Mitchell backing them up.

He signed a sh*tload of safeties, yet our current starters are a former corner and a guy too small to play linebacker.  Guys signed as safeties get moved to OLB and never contribute, ala Daunte Carr who was supposed to be a badass sleeper signee at safety.  Linebackers get moved to d-end for whatever reason – if Tank had spent the last 4 years playing MLB he may be a damn good one, instead he spent the last 4 years bulking up as much as possible to play end and ended up slower than sh*t sliding off a rock on a cold day.  Offensive line has lost several 4* recruits – Berna to injury, Oden to drugs, Feldt to being a pussoire.  Our starting O-Line this year could have been those 3 along with swanson and bailey – all Jr’s and Sr’s with experience.  BMFP had an eye for bodies he could mold into football players, and players he could teach to play football.  It’s not always easy to guage if said bodies can handle 4 years of hard time in a hell-hole prison.  Guys you were counting on quit because they can’t play under that management style; Tyler Gilbert, Brock Haman, Quinta Funderburke, Cam Feldt.  Others just refused to put in the work to become the player BMFP pictured when he recruited them…like Robert Atiga, Terrell Williams, Alfred Davis.

The Absent Warden

BMFPis a micro-managing prison-warden perfectionist hardass.  This program was his prison, the assistants his hapless guards, the players his prisoners.  Players hated him, his assistants hated him.  Jeff Long and Bob Gearhart hate him.  He demanded working your ass off.  He knew every detail of every aspect of this team and he called all of the shots.  His assistants did what he told them to do, coached the way he told them to coach.  The players worked their asses off for him for fear of having their mommas-boy-everybody-gets-a-trophy-coddled-p*ssy-ass feelings hurt by his diatribes for being a p*ssy.  He squeezed productivity out of his players that defy the laws of physics.  It worked and would have continued to work as long as he was in charge.  Without him running the show, it immediately, and much faster than imaginable by anyone, became like a prison where the guards are buddy-buddy with the inmates and let them run the f*cking thing – complete chaos.

The assistants no longer have BMFP yelling at them, telling them what to do – and they don’t know what to do.  No assistant worth his job title would work for a head coach like him; see Ellis Johnson and Lorenzo Ward.  They use their hate for BMFP and his coaching style as a reason to not coach that way, thinking this team and these players will be better having a softer staff that cares for them and appreciates them – this approach can work, but not for a group of prisoners just released from 4 years of oppression.

Weber State Isn't Going to Call Back

The players that remain in the program need the hardass discipline, its the only way they know to play.  Like the inmates no longer respecting the guards with no hardass warden backing them up, these players do not respect this staff.  They don’t practice hard.  They don’t play hard.  They screw up all of the small details that make a huge difference.  Even changing staffs completely isn’t going to work for this team, not this year and probably not next year.  Just look at kragthorpe and Louisville post-Petrino.  Kragthorpe was a successful coach that built Tulsa into a pretty damn good mid-major program, yet he couldn’t control, contain, or coach that which BMFP built.

Sum it all up and voila, you get what we have on the field.

The players aren’t that terrible – a strong dictator leading the way is the only thing keeping them from being pretty good, yet Tyler Wilson is the closest thing to that on this team.  The defense played for a quarter and half with Alabama yesterday.  The punt snapping gaff and the interception return that gave bama’s offense the ball at the 6 and 3 yard lines broke this team.  Without those two plays, Alabama walks into half time up 7-0 or maybe 10-0.  Mid-way through the 2nd quarter the entire defense, players and coaches, quit.  Without tyler, this offense had very little chance to move the ball on Bama.  Our back up qb’s are not good and not prepared – something that would never have happened with Petrino in charge.  The best could have hoped for was a close low scoring game, but when the defense quit, so did everyone else.

This team, with Tyler returning (god-willing), will still put forth some good efforts at home.  they don’t want to suck, but they are very fragile.  I still think they beat Rutgers, Kentucky, Ole Miss, and Tulsa in close games at home.  On the road, this team will fold at the first signs of adversity and pack it in like they did yesterday.

View this post by BASS and responses on the message board.