First half thoughts on the Arkansas came out in all red unis. They said it was the first time Arkansas has ever broken out the same colored tops and bottoms. Since I've never been a fan of the high school uniform look, here's hoping it will be the last time.
The coverage of this game -- in case they haven't made the point enough times -- is Fox. Pat Summerall and Brian Baldinger providing play-by-play and color. I hate having Summerall do games now. He used to be one of the best, but he's not able to stay on top of things any longer. Add in the fact that Summerall is an NFL guy, knows the NFL game and then Fox just plops him in a college bowl game and it hurts to listen.
He and Baldinger seem to assume that the viewers along with himself, are seeing a college game for the first time this season. Talking about Darren McFadden and Kevin Jones like their performance is some sort of burst-on-the-scene-revelation. Admittedly it's the first game of the season on the Fox network channel, so to them it may well be. Most everyone else taking the time to watch this game, however, has at least a passing awareness.
Arkansas has had good field position thanks to great returns by Jones and McFadden. They just haven't been able to finish drives. Twice they stalled out inside the 20, and missed field goals. McFadden and Jones can't get free at that point and the passing of Casey Dick doesn't scare anyone.
Missouri started the game tight, but got over their opening jitters. The Tigers actually offer offensive balance with Chase Daniels throwing and Tony Temple running absolutely wild through the Razorbacks. Temple already has more than 150 rushing yards and both TDs. Daniels has under 100 yards passing, thanks to plenty of Mizzou receivers dropping passes.
At the end of the half, Summerall mentioned that Missouri players were a little ticked at the Razorbacks players talking up their speed and how much faster the players are in the SEC. So far, beyond McFadden and Jones, speed hasn't been noticeable from Arkansas.
