Razorbacks Ready to Play Saturday Night
Don’t fret, football fans. The most wonderful time of the year is finally here. The first kickoff of the season is now only a day away and the team is as anxious as we are.
“We just need to play somebody,” said interim head coach John L. Smith.
With the weather moving through town, many fans have expressed concern about how it will affect the game. Smith, however, is not concerned by the chance of rain.
“That field’s not gonna be slick,” Smith said. “We don’t have a plan B. Our plan A and B are all worked into it. The only thing that would change slightly was the amount of times that you would throw the football, and it might (change) their plan as well.”
Smith said there is always a plan in place for the chance of rain, but the staff doesn’t expect it to be an issue this weekend, because, as Smith put it, “the sun always shines on the Hogs.”
The Razorbacks will be the focus of a lot of national attention this year and there are rumblings that the team will be in the hunt for the national title, but Smith said he does not want that to be something the team thinks too much about and instead wants them to focus on playing the game at hand.
“We’re thankful to be where we are,” Smith said. “And the only thing we’re wanting to do is take care of ourselves. We have to have singleness of purpose, singleness of vision and make sure that we concentrate. It can’t be next week. It has to be this week, it has to be this play, this moment in time.”
Smith has made it clear that he is going to let his coaches coach and he said he does not expect to interfere with play calling. In addition, Smith said the game day routine for the players will be the same as it has for the past few years.
“We do the same things over and over,” Smith said. “I guess that’s why we’ve had success with it. We believe in it, we preach it, the kids believe in it.”
And I believe in it to. This is a team that can and, I believe, will do something special this year.
