PTN EXTRA: Oklahoma State preview, and Arkansas Baseball Schedule in Arlington

[Music] hello everybody happy Wednesday welcome into another edition of ptn extra I'm Evan camoo That's Mike Irwin Mike it's a big week week two week one Arkansas football if you didn't know we're talking football I bet you all could have guessed at Home Arkansas football 70 to zero win last weekend against last weekend I should say what last Wednesday I think all the days are a little messed up right now don't you think yeah because of the way they're playing it's it'll stabilize now I I hope so now they play on Saturdays they played on Thursday beat uh UAP 70 to nothing we'll get into Oklahoma State in a second but give me just your overall reactions to that win against uapb well it's difficult from a standpoint of the fans because their natural inclination to say boy these guys were terrible and you don't give Arkansas much credit I've been trying to say ever since that game that you can learn some things about that game fans who who are trying to say this doesn't prove anything or wrong Arkansas had not had a blowout win that big in 95 years so when you do something that you haven't done in 95 years I don't care who the opponent is you can't convince me that's the worst team Arkansas's played in the last 95 years but we don't know we won't know for a while how bad that team was but a lot of SEC teams had games like that and one big so I think you can the fact that they scored on every possession and they they had their second and third units in there in the in the second half and they scored and so you had 10 straight touchdowns which never happened before four and then all three of those units pitch a St shut out when they're on the field I think it means something yeah absolutely to your point Alabama one big old miss one big Missouri W big I can go on and on it seemed like almost every SEC team won Big Texas another one of those teams that ended up winning pretty big now when when you're online and you're seeing all those fans coming after you saying no this isn't right this isn't what they should do you know this doesn't tell us anything you know to you what what's the message that you want to get out there when it is no well look they did something incredible they did something we haven't seen in almost 100 years well you acknowledge why they feel that way some of these fans because they're mad about last year and they're mad about some of this goes all the way back to you know Chad Morris and then last two years under belma so there's a lot of anger built up and I understand that but don't be ridiculous don't say stupid things like uh you know this quarterback he needs to do better because I mean he's completed 70% of his passes he was ranked in the top 10 of QB quarterback ratings for last week all over the country I mean he he did some things if you say for instance as one fan said uh you might as well have not even played this game just scrimmage just stay at home and scrimmage I mean things like that are silly yeah and it's again what's the point of staying at home and scrimmaging again when you're you're seeing these guys every day what good does it do for you it doesn't do much good if you're Landing Jackson man you're like I want to get after the quarterback even though you know he only had one tackle for a loss in that game he didn't even play Super well but the entire defense as a whole really stepped it up in that yeah and that quarterback had had not been hit you know so that's always a big deal I remember years ago Arkansas had a new quarterback in the spring and he looked awesome I'm not going to name him because I don't want to embarrass him but he was looking great running all over the place doing all this stuff and then in preseason camp the same thing because he was wearing a a green jersey and they couldn't hit him he gets into the first game of the year he starts getting hit and he starts fumbling and doing all these things so it's always a shock when you haven't been hit all that time to suddenly be exposed like that and and T and green hand handled it really well so yes there is a value no matter who you're playing to playing a real opponent as opposed to scrimmaging again the whole thing was silly when that was suggested safe to say Mike or when your confidence level is up as we get into this Oklahoma State game well at least I learned some things about I I my confidence level was up the minute Bobby patrino was hired all the way back in last December and then watching what they did in the spring and then watching a lot of stuff in the fall especially when you see the back and forth you see really good plays by the defense and the secondary then you see really good plays by the offense that's usually a good sign when both sides of the ball are making big plays and that's why I thought this team is going to be better I don't know how much better and the schedule's probably tougher this year so I don't know what that translates to in terms of wins but they're better look I I think we can both agree I think the schedule is going to be what holds this team back when it comes to the amount of wins you know on paper if you look at this Arkansas Team and and we've talked about this in the office behind the scenes of they look better on every facet at least on paper they showed that in game one but when you're talking about seven ranked teams in a schedule that's really where it comes to yeah Arkansas can be improved this year but is their schedule going to allow them to win the games and to keep Sam pitman's job yeah and you're looking at some of those teams and you're just asking yourself where's the win because all I mean you got Oklahoma State then you got all these SEC teams that look as good as they did more um you know you look at Texas you look at Tennessee you look at uh even even Mississippi state had a big win so a big blowout win so I don't know we we'll just have to see and I've always believe this injuries determine a lot if you keep tail and green healthy and jend and Jackson healthy and you keep those offensive linemen uh starting each week and you don't have to do a lot of subbing then I think they can they they'll be fine but you got to worry when you start getting injuries yeah and first before we even get to any of that SEC slate a trip to Still Water this weekend to play Oklahoma State Oklahoma State beat San Diego State one in FCS Powerhouse 44-20 Mike just your initial thoughts on this matchup well I really liked what Gundy said in his press conference he said they're actually pretty good but he said we looked and when we were preparing for that game we felt like they had maybe seven players that would be on both sides of the ball maybe seven players out there that could play in a power conference so that mean means a lot of guys out there that can't and he said uh considering all of that stuff he said and he was talking about Arkansas he said the difference is now we're going to be going up against a team with an offensive line as big as we are now we're going to go up against guys that are as big defensively as we are and so that's the difference and so I was impressed with what they did but my observation of s of of South Dakota state was yeah they're pretty good but they're just overmatched in Oklahoma state they're just loaded that's the problem with playing those guys they return depending on you who how you do this technically about 17 of the 22 starters that's unbelievable and all five offensive linemen and then they went and got people out of the portal to solve other problems so this team is experienced it's loaded Sam Pitman said hey we're not going to we're not going to fool these guys with schemes we're not going to go up there and do a lot of movement stuff and their linemen are going to jump and we're going to cause to be confused he said we will have to line up straight up and whip those guys and he said that's a challenge and it's a test to the physicality of offense we we thought and the defense for Arkansas itself we thought last year the physicality was going to improve we didn't really see that in the regular season this year it's really a question especially with this game look this is the first measuring stick for Arkansas where are you right now when it comes to power four teams in the SE before you get to SEC play can you go up and go toe-to-toe with a team like Oklahoma State in what is going to be a hostile environment in Still Water this weekend and that's the big question right physicality so what on the offensive side and what on the defensive side do you need to see from the Hogs this weekend whether they win or lose to be confident that this team can make a bow game in a couple of months you need T and green to I I I assume he's not going to have the day that he had against uapb but you need him to be able to have some big plays and you need the running game to work some not all the time but some and then you got to have that secondary the thing I think they can I think they can stop their running game um South Dakota State lined up and pretty much stopped their running game they slowed it down for but then what they do is they just throw on you because they've got all those Speedy wide receivers and I think that's what I'm looking at how does Arkansas's quarterback safeties guys on the edge how do they handle their Speedy receivers yeah just to read some stats from you from last weekend in the Oklahoma State San Diego State game San Diego State I keep doing that I did that all weekend South Dakota State it's the SDSU that I think are messing me up but Oklahoma state was able to rush for 149 yards they were able to pass for 245 so a really big day in the air for Alan Bowman as well Ally Gordon two touchdowns three total it actually says two on the ground so two on the ground he had one in the air as well I believe um so really just a big day for that Oklahoma State offense putting up 44 points in the win 23 first downs 394 total yards of offense so for the Arkansas defense who up front has to be the difference to hold olly Gordon and Alan Bowman accountable well our I will say this those guys and and Arkansas is too deep across the defensive front and at both defensive ends so all of those guys play well I think they got a shot I I was out of practice late in Fall Camp I think you may have been over there that day and I'm watching these Pro Scouts and they all they were doing was fing around Arkansas's D line there was like three or four of them just so you know there's Talent there but Landon Jackson you know he he's going to have to get to their quarterback and that's not easy because the the guy has been around he's a 60e guy and he's he look he he can read a defense he the offense is designed for him anyway and he gets the ball off quickly so you're going to have to just blow in there to put any pressure on him at all and that's going to be tough yeah I think to your point I like you went with Lon Eric Gregory another one of those guys but I think it's going to come down to the three guys in the middle those uh linebackers of being able to clean up potentially a M that the defensive line might give up whether that's olly Gordon getting into the secondary so really I'm looking at xaven Sor Brad Spence Anthony Switzer to see how big of a day can they have against this run rushing attack you know Alan Bowman's got a big arm it's going to be really exciting to see some of the Arkansas secondary going off with the Speedy wide receivers at Oklahoma State but I got to say I think again it's the linebackers that are going to make a difference in this game that's that's another big factor but look there there's something else at play and Arkansas took advantage of it at war memorial because it's not a loud environment but that is this whole thing now where you got the iPads and you've got the helmet communication system and so you can communicate and you can bring guys over to the sideline and actually show them I think that's what was the difference between t and green in the first quarter and the second quarter I think Bobby patrino had him over there and said look here's what you did wrong on this play when you had that incompletion yeah you need to do this okay I don't know that it works that well in at tbon picking Stadium because it's one of these weird places where there's like that much room between between the edge of the field and so as Pitman put it you're going to have guys hanging the other team's fans are going to be hanging over the edge of the of the stands and they can almost Reach Out And Touch you so he said we have to our coaches and players have to understand that they cannot let let them that distract them I remember Arkansas played Vegas one year and everybody thought it was going to be a nothing game but it turned out that the stadium they played in was like that and there were guys just screaming it and and the Arkansas players weren't used to fans just openly cussing at you and challenging you and there were two or three of those guys that turned around wanted to fight people in the stands you got to have discipline you can't do that you got to ignore these people but they're going to be right there a few feet away from you yelling stuff at you yeah and we can't forget as well this game could very well come down to a field goal and that's another big thing for Arkansas was we didn't really see Rams kick anyi we saw them kick no field goals CU they only scored touchdowns so what's going to happen when the kickers are under pressure will it be Shipley will it be Ramsey last week it was Ramsey you know this could very well come down to a special teams kick of 45 plus yards and Ramsay's got to go make it for the win in that in intense environment yeah and we saw some extra points that kind of look like a little wonky two or three times like goes off to one side so so yeah absolutely I mean that's an unknown factor until we get used to seeing whoever is going to be whichever of those guys because Arkansas the one thing you can say about the last three years they knew who their field goal kicker was mhm it's definitely not as nice having Cam little not any more than having Cam little and being able to say oh he can go out and hit a 50 60 yard field goal Mike let's switch gears as the last topic we'll bring up on ptn next today baseball the college baseball Series where Arkansas goes to Global Life Field is back for another year in 2025 here's a look at the three games Arkansas Hasen two of them are really familiar opponents K State the team that knocked them out in the fade Regional this year they play them at 70000 p.m. on February 21st of 2025 then the next day TCU another night game at 600 then finally Michigan at 11:00 a.m. that Michigan game last year Mike 43 very close game uh maon Molina started that one last year what do you got your eye on about this series as we're five six months out again those two night games against the last two teams that knocked you out you're going to draw a lot of Arkansas fans to that to to the thing live and a lot of people are going to be watching it because they want revenge well do they get revenge you know that that'll be a real early look at this team and how good is this team so they're getting tested right off the bat I like that I like the F fact that Van Horn just he he doesn't try to get out of things like this he wants this yeah and that that's the way to test this Arkansas Team when you look at you know the last couple of years the Hawks have been so so good in the regular season and then you get to the postseason and then the questions start to come they haven't been in the college baseball World Series since 2022 which for some hog fans that feels like an eternity uh for me and and Jacob are new here you know we just haven't experienced it yet so the question is you know what good does that do especially because look K State's not going to be the same as last year Ken Co pepper was a first- round draft Pi TCU didn't even get to the NCA tournament last year either so it's going to be a really different kind of environment but nonetheless Mike should be fun if you remember Oklahoma State last year that game they lost on that Saturday not to mention Oregon State another of those demon crushing games the top five match up at the time Hagen Smith had 17 K in that one yeah what what goes on in Arling is not going to have an impact on the end of the year it's just a great way to get it started and get everybody excited baseball more than any other sport is just a a marathon it just goes on and on and there's little Peaks and valleys you're rolling along pretty good and then maybe you have a couple of Series where you're not and so and then you can be playing really well right up to the end and all a sudden just goes away it's like somebody pulled a rug out from under you so Baseball fans College Baseball fans have to be just very very patient they just kind of sit back and wait and and believe me when when postseason play rolls around again if Arkansas has another Regional those fans are going to be going ah they're going to be a lot like these these football fans they're going to be saying ah we're not going to get out of this the Van Horn will fold they won they won't win it you know yeah and so it's almost like you got to get back you got to get to Omaha again before you're going to make some of these people happy yeah absolutely and it should be an interesting year a lot of turnover on the Arkansas pitching staff no more Mason Molina no Hagen Smith no Brady tiger so a lot of names have to fill in and we'll be curious to see where Arkansas is they'll host Oklahoma State here in feville during that football bye for those two game series you know nine innings one day 10 11 12 the next day that's what head coach Dave Van Horn said but overall last thing before we go your expectations really early for Arkansas baseball yeah I mean you always expect they're they're going to be pretty good I I I hope the the two games against Oklahoma State come about because they have a history of these of these fall games of scheduling them and they don't ever happen so I hope this one actually happens because I think it would give us a much better look than going over there and watching these scrimmages that we always see and a few fans show up for that but it would be nice to see you know I don't expect it to be full but you know three or 4,000 5,000 fans at a fall ball game against an actual opponent that would be good and I think it would show us a little bit anyway absolutely especially the Hogs get to return Kendall digs a name everyone thought was would be gone but he's back for another year we'll see how Ryder hellick steps up same thing with viiva aloy but that is going to do it for ptn extra on this Wednesday for Mike Irwin I'm Evan camoo for our amazing production crew thanks for joining in that is going to do it for ptn extra we'll see you next week