LIKE IT IS

51,000 step up, answer Bielema’s Hog call

Arkansas coach Bret Bielema watches his team warm up before the 2013 spring game at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium.
Arkansas coach Bret Bielema watches his team warm up before the 2013 spring game at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium.

They came, and kept coming.

Bret Bielema got his first taste of the feast known as the Razorbacks Nation, and he got the first thing he ever asked of them, a record crowd for the spring football game.

The goal was 50,000 Hog-calling Razorbackers for the annual Red-White game, and it was obvious from the broadcast that the record was going to be even larger than hoped for. The crowd was announced at 51,088, and that was an estimate, but it was definitely a record.

It wouldn’t have been a surprise if some fans had chosen to stay home and watch it on television from an easy chair, but they didn’t.

They came to show support and help in a way that the NCAA allows. Bielema had made it clear: Big crowds show the loyalty, and that pays off with better recruiting classes, and if Saturday was any indication, the Hogs are moving up in the recruiting ratings next year.

They also came to see B-Ball firsthand.

There had been all types of reports about Bielema liking a ground-oriented, clock-controlling offense.

Bielema has said many times he likes a featured back,but so does Nick Saban, Steve Spurrier, Les Miles and, well, you get the picture.

Great coaches - the really great ones like Bear Bryant, Frank Broyles, Darrell Royal and the list goes on and on - run an offense that fits the players.

It took one play Saturday, the first one, to show that Bielema isn’t married to the run game.

Brandon Allen dropped back, rolled right and let it fly deep. Even though it fell incomplete, it wouldn’t be the only long pass of the scrimmage. Allen and Brandon Mitchell took shots at big gains.

The offense looked better overall than expected, and that may have everything to do with a staff that Bielema recruited one by one - he even held off a late charge by Alabama for offensive line coach Sam Pittman - until he was comfortable that he had the personnel to succeed sooner rather than later.

Before the game, in a taped interview, Bielema said he didn’t come to Arkansas to be competitive in three years, but in one.

That’s a great goal and exactly what the fans want to hear, maybe even need to hear right now.

The Razorbacks’ fan base has had to eat a lot of dirt sandwiches over the past year. Bobby Petrino, who took the Hogs to their only BCS game, was fired for a lot of reasons that everyone is more than aware of, and Athletic Director Jeff Long scrambled to find a coach who would keep the players happy.

They were, but they weren’t as focused or as disciplined, and last season was one that got on the nerves of even the most loyal fans, but the whole time Long was working to find the right fit for the future.

Lots of names floated around, none of them Bret Bielema, and the initial reaction to his hiring was “Who?”

Now, in just a few months, Bielema has shown a Petrino-type determination but with much more personality. He’s already found ways to fit in, including hosting the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame’s golf tournament and banquet next month.

He’s the biggest reason more than 51,000 showed up Saturday afternoon.

B-Ball is Hog Ball now, and fans wanted to see it first hand and show not just Bielema and recruits, but an entire nation, that loyalty starts with an R and ends with BACK.

It is more than four months until the Razorbacks play a real game, but Saturday left no doubt the fan base is still intact and hungry.

It also left the impression that Bielema is adjusting quickly to life in the South and the passion of the fans, but not even the most fanatical fan has higher expectations than the head coach.

He expects to win this fall, which could also help the next recruiting class.

Sports, Pages 25 on 04/21/2013

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