Playing Dirty: Arkansas – And The Valley Shook

It’s mid-October and for some reason it’s Arkansas Week! As always, we spoke with the great Tucker Partridge of Arkansas Fight to learn all about pigs. There are no plans or injury reports here, just jokes and chaos, and that’s exactly what the LSU-Arkansas rivalry is all about!

1. Look at us coming into this game with huge wins over the top ten teams! It honestly feels wrong that LSU and Arkansas are coming into this game with positivity. One or both of us should wallow in despair. The highly anticipated LSU-Arkansas games were a staple throughout the late 2010s and early 2010s. Is this game just another corporate Disney nostalgia bait?

As with the Lucasfilm and Star Wars acquisitions, Disney’s takeover of the SEC had mixed results. Sure, the characters you know and love, like Luke Skywalker and Alabama, are still around, but they’re hollowed-out, focused versions of themselves – offensive in their harmlessness. The only really good content is the supporting characters like Vandorbilt (all right, I apologize for that). However, I’m looking forward to the shockingly slick, CGI-de-aged Houston Nutt and Les Miles on the sidelines.

2. I’m going to ask you the same question I asked our Ole Miss friends last week: As an annual rival, what does Arkansas offer LSU fans that Auburn and Mississippi State don’t? Since the New SEC has decided to choose this series over the two, I would like to know why it is worthy.

We’ve had enough of minimalism. Minimalism is a millennial thing, and I’m sorry to report that we’re no longer the target audience. No, it’s now the reign of the maximalist Generation Z (Zoomers, if you will), and there’s nothing more maximalist than the Golden Boot. Other rivalries might boast an ancient trophy tied to tradition and history. The old iron pan from SMU-TCU comes to mind; Paul Bunyan’s ax for Minnesota-Wisconsin. Not us. We have a gold-plated, two-ton monstrosity that celebrates and warns against the arrogance, excess and hubris that are at the core of college football. This rivalry is not the college football America needs. It’s the college football America deserves.

3. Last year’s game between LSU and Arkansas was an unexpected thriller thanks to Jayden Daniels, KJ Jefferson and LSU’s complete aversion to the idea of ​​a defense. This year, both defenses appear to be improved and both QBs are redshirt juniors of normal age. Hmmm, this game is too normal for modern college football, we need to introduce something in 2024. Did you like CFB 25?

I have an Arkansas Dynasty Mode where I can live out the wild fantasy of Central Arkansas’ high school football system not being completely destroyed by state government mismanagement, gentrification, and redlining. It was a wonderful run and the game realistically shows that Arkansas could and should win every game by 2039 if they would simply hire me as offensive coordinator and put me in charge of game recruiting. It’s simple. All you need to do is maximize select prospects early and then hard sell as quickly as possible. I don’t know why more coaches don’t do that. Anyway, every time I play against LSU they go with this weird 3-3-5 defense that allows me to run for 200 yards per game inside the zones, so I hope you guys like that Weekend everyone does.

4. This is the first time ever that LSU and Arkansas will play in October. Of all our rivals, Darren McFadden could evoke more fear than any other single player. Which former LSU player is the scariest for Arkansas fans?

In the spirit of this college football year succeeding 2007, I would like to remind readers of a player who scared me to the core: Jacob Hester. That’s right. He wasn’t particularly fast, and he wasn’t particularly crafty, but he had 28 carries for 126 yards and 2 touchdowns against us, and I haven’t forgotten that since November 23, 2007. It didn’t make sense, in a Lovecraftian horror way where the more you saw, the less you understood.

When it comes to true fear, Patrick Peterson has always horrified me, especially because we’ve dealt with it over and over again during this time. He is one of the best athletes I have ever had the pleasure of playing personally.

5. Arkansas seems to have stabilized things after everyone thought Sam Pittman would be fired last year. Good for you all! Are fans excited about this dashing young OC who seems to be bringing an exciting new culture to the building?

So far, Bring Back Bobby is doing better than Bring Back Bo Pelini. Lots to think about.