Arkansas’ Long speaks on vacancy in football schedule

FAYETTEVILLE - After exchanging birthday greetings with fellow 56-year-old birthday boy Bob Holt, the veteran Arkansas DemocratGazette sports writer, Arkansas Athletic Director Jeff Long was asked Wednesday to address a variety of topics at the Northwest Arkansas Touchdown Club luncheon at Mermaid’s Restaurant.

Among the topics Long was asked was how Arkansas was trying to fill the 2018 football scheduling slot that Michigan vacated to play Notre Dame.

Michigan, who canceled the 20172018 home and home with a contract buyout, put Coastal Carolina in Michigan’s place on the 2017 schedule rather than a Power Five conference opponent that Long intended.

“How is it going? I would say not very well,” Long said. “Because there aren’t Power Five opponents with availability. So everything we are doing we are trying to convince people either buy out a contract or move a game to accommodate us or we pay much more money than we should have to pay.

“It’s an uphill struggle. The staff and I are working on it. There is not a day that goes by that we are not having a call trying to convince somebody to do something different.”

Long was asked about the value of continuing to play through 2024 its annual SEC game with Texas A&M rather than a home and home.

“It’s a win for Arkansas,” Long said. “It gets us into really our largest fan base outside the state of Arkansas. The recruiting down there is very important and it’s not just recruiting of athletes, it’s recruiting of students. We’re getting a large number of high quality students out of the Dallas area.”

And in football’s most talked about and futuristic stadium.

“For us it’s a great opportunity to

need a win as bad as we need one to get things started off right, so we’re expecting to get their best.”

While the Hornets have lost two straight, the Bulldogs (1-2) are feeling good about themselves after outlasting Marianna 18-12 last week to collect a win on homecoming.

Javonte Newton provided the game-winning points with a 1-yard run with 2:30 left in the game, and Desmond Newton intercepted a pass in the final seconds to seal the victory.

“It was homecoming week last week, so it was a pretty difficult week to prepare them and keep them focused,” Anthony said.

“I think they did pretty well in getting prepared for it. It was a seesaw battle, and the good thing was we stuck together. There wasn’t any finger pointing or anything like that. Everybody pulled together trying to get the job done, and it paid off for us. I think it was a learning experience for us, and I think we grew up some.”

After allowing 81 points in losses to St. Frederick (La.) and Mineral Springs, Anthony made several changes, and they paid off handsomely.

The Trojans’ defense accounted for one touchdown, while a long kickoff return set up Marianna’s other score in the contest.

“I think that was the biggest key for us last week,” Anthony said. “They had no extended drives on us. I thought it really helped us. It gives us something to build on.”

The Bulldogs rebuilt their secondary with Javonte Newton and Desmond Newton going to the cornerback spots, while Marquez Welch slid to safety.

Patrick Thomas was moved from linebacker to defensive end, and Anthony was pleased with the results.

“He’s just hard to handle,” Anthony said of Thomas. “He doesn’t weigh a lot, but he’s full speed whenever he goes, and it’s hard for a tackle to block him as fast and quick as he is.”

Over the past two weeks, Strong has had a great deal of success running the ball.

Both Desmond Newton and Javonte Newton have topped the century mark in the last two weeks, but Anthony expects the Hornets will be focused on slowing down the duo.

“They like to be physical, and they’re going to make it real hard to run,” Anthony said. “Our yardage from our backs is coming from six or seven plays, so what we’re planning on doing is the stuff that’s not working is going on the backburner. We’re going to stick with what’s working right now and just do that out of different formations and different sets. We’re going to try to give the defense some things they haven’t seen before. We’re going to try and get the ball to Javonte and Desmond as much as we can from different locations.”

If the Bulldogs are to open conference play with a win, Anthony said stopping the Hornets’ running attack will be vital.

“We’re going to have to stop their run game. They have a really good quarterback. They don’t pass it a lot, but they run a lot of read-option, and we’re going to have to contain him,” Anthony said. “We’re going to have to protect the ball better. We had three turnovers Friday night, which was disappointing. Our defense is going to have to have a night like they did on Friday night where they just really make it hard for Harmony Grove to get anything going. Offensively, I think we need to be more consistent with what we do.”