rb-peyton hillis

pt.guard

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To increase his speed while maintaining that weight is pretty impressive.

Of course, his versatilty....including his ability to catch passes down the field might hurt him at the next level when they ask him to bulk up some more and convert to tight end. [:)
 

Colonel_Reb

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I hope they let Peyton run the ball more this year. As long as he leads the team in one category, I guess I won't be too upset. I just hope they don't waste him like they did last year in their running game.
 

backrow

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him and Rutgers'Brian Leonard could be he next Alstotts... they are both great receivers out of the backfield and Mike was used very heavily as such early in his career. Plus both (Leonard and Hillis)can be power runners fueled by their strength, size and great speed.
Go Peyton!
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ocaamikedm11

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Leonard is definitely going to get carries, and Rutgers was respectable last year and went to a bowl game.. He will be a someone to root for here on the board..
 

Jimmy Chitwood

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reality check here folks: Arkansas head coach Houston Nutt said the exact same things about Peyton last year before the season started...

that being said, Hillis is arguably the most complete running back package in the nation (along with Leonard). with him in the backfield with mcfadden, who really is a truly special back, Arkansas should look a lot like Auburn from a couple of years ago when they had both running backs go in the top 5 in the NFL draft. of course, we know that Hillis is not going to get that kind of hype or number of carries because of his skin tone.

but in fact, Hillis and Leonard should be compared to Auburn's ronnie brown from two years ago rather than Alstott. why? because they have the total package: size, versatility, and breakaway speed. of course, i never got to see Alstott when he was in college; he might have been much faster then...
 

Colonel_Reb

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Good points about Hillis Jimmy. I hope some of these SEC coaches grow a pair and let these guys run. There could be 3 white starting HB's this year in the SEC, but we will be lucky if one splits time with a black. It really is a shame. Just think of the extra fan interest they could receive by showing off their white ponies. I know a bunch of SEC fans who want to see whites run the ball. In a perfect world...
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backrow

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Jimmy Chitwood said:
but in fact, Hillis and Leonard should be compared to Auburn's ronnie brown from two years ago rather than Alstott. why? because they have the total package: size, versatility, and breakaway speed. of course, i never got to see Alstott when he was in college; he might have been much faster then...

yup, he was faster back in his Boilermaker days... coming out of high school he had to bulk up considerably but his college playing weight was about 232 or so, all power...
and i think Hillis is better and more complete than Ronnie Brown, too bad he can't fully prove it by getting a chance to get a ball more often...
 

Jimmy Chitwood

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thanks, backrow, i didn't know that.

Hillis' running stats, as they are, are very misleading. he gets almost zero carries from the tailback spot. rather, he gets most of them when lined up as a fullback on simple dive plays, which we all know gives him no chance at all to read the defense and see a hole or make a cutback. he just hits it up in there as hard as he can.

imagine what his ypc would be if he lined up from the deeper, and more effective, running position.
 

whiteCB

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Jimmy Chitwood said:
thanks, backrow, i didn't know that.

Hillis' running stats, as they are, are very misleading. he gets almost zero carries from the tailback spot. rather, he gets most of them when lined up as a fullback on simple dive plays, which we all know gives him no chance at all to read the defense and see a hole or make a cutback. he just hits it up in there as hard as he can.

imagine what his ypc would be if he lined up from the deeper, and more effective, running position.

Great points Jimmy. Also running from the FB spot your just so much closer to the line of schrimmage that there is no way to get enough time to choose a hole. Rather than just lining up deep and taking the handout and geting to choose a little where to go.
 

Colonel_Reb

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Here is the only recent article I could find on Peyton and the Hogs. I sure hope Mustain gets the starting nod by season's end. They need help bad at QB. It is sick to see Peyton listed now only as FB. The coaches play him at HB sometimes, but maybe H back is a more appropriate description of him on some running plays. He's got the best hands on the team and shows it every game. He could the team in receiving yards this year. Of course, he's an awesome blocker too, but thats a waste for his talent.

UA home lineup has fans fired up
BY BOB HOLT

Posted on Thursday, May 25, 2006

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FAYETTEVILLE  Arkansas is coming off a 4-7 football season, but ticket sales never have been more brisk.

Through May 18, Arkansas had sold 43, 585 season football tickets for its six games in Fayetteville in 2006.

That's 66 more season tickets than Arkansas sold for its four Fayetteville games all of last season, when the total was 43, 519 by September.

Sales for 2006 are 27 percent ahead of where they were on May 18, 2005, when sales were approximately 34, 000.

"We've had some new customers, but most of it seems to be that people are more excited about renewing [their orders ] earlier this year," Arkansas ticket manager Mark Scobey said. "Usually we end up calling them and sending a lot of reminders. But so many people got on the bandwagon and started sending theirs in early."

On May 1, a deadline to guarantee the same seats as past years or the opportunity for improved seats, Arkansas had its first "million dollar day" for ticket sales, Scobey said.

"We've had other days where we might have sold $ 500, 000 or $ 600, 000, " he said. "But [on May 1 ], we sold $ 1. 1 million through [orders ] online, over the phone and in the mail."

Arkansas has approximately 50, 000 season tickets for sale each year  excluding the allotments for students, visiting teams and skyboxes  and Scobey said they might be sold out by June.

Scobey said there have been very few fans who didn't renew their ticket orders or who decreased the number of tickets they ordered. Many fans have increased their orders.

"They've either been renewing at the level they were at or buying more tickets," Scobey said. "That's what has made it really good."

Why the rush to buy tickets when the Razorbacks suffered their worst record in Coach Houston Nutt's eight seasons ?

"I don't think it's just one thing," said Harold Horton, a vice president for the Razorback Foundation who has spoken with many fans. "I think it's a combination of a bunch of things."

That combination includes: a Fayetteville schedule featuring games against Southern California, Alabama, and Tennessee, which have won a combined four national championships since 1992. Nutt's decision to hire Gus Malzahn, who as Springdale High School's coach led the Bulldogs to a 14-0 record in 2005, as offensive coordinator and turn over the play-calling duties. An impressive recruiting class led by Springdale quarterback Mitch Mustain  the Parade, Gatorade and USA Today national player of the year  and wide receiver Damian Williams. The return of 19 starters from last season, led by All-SEC tailback Darren McFadden, tailback Felix Jones and fullback Peyton Hillis.

"You see a lot of new people coming in and getting involved in the program that hadn't been a part of it before, and you see a lot of people that had been contributing at a lower level that have now increased their level of giving to try [to secure better seats and parking ]," Horton said. "There is no question there's a great amount of interest, and there's a great amount of anticipation that we're going to have a good year.

" I don't think I've ever seen the level of excitement of what we're going through right now. It is big out there. The electricity is in the air."

In addition to hiring Malzahn, Nutt also hired a new quarterbacks coach, Alex Wood, who has NFL experience.

"It helped me when I made some coaching changes, and I guess it's helping Houston, too," said Arkansas Athletic Director Frank Broyles, who coached the Razorbacks for 19 seasons from 1958-1976. "Changes create interest and create optimism and create hope.

" I don't know of a time when I made a change that it didn't create more interest. That's what Houston has done."

USC, which opens Arkansas ' season on Sept. 2 at Reynolds Razorback Stadium, is 37-2 the previous three seasons. The Trojans fell short of winning a third consecutive national title when they lost to Texas in the Rose Bowl last year.

Tennessee is back on Arkansas' schedule for the first time since 2002 and Alabama has been the SEC's marquee football program for decades.

Arkansas' Fayetteville schedule also includes Ole Miss, which was a rival before the Razorbacks joined the SEC.

The Razorbacks' Little Rock schedule is highlighted by a game against LSU, which shared the 2003 national championship with USC.

"When have we ever had a schedule of this magnitude in the state of Arkansas ?" Horton said. "Our fans have never had anything like this before."

Four of Arkansas' losses last season were by a combined 13 points, including a 23-20 loss at SEC champion Georgia and 19-17 loss at West champion LSU in the last game.

"I think the fans are excited about the way we finished the season, and they're excited about the players we've got coming back and the players we've got coming in along with some new coaches," Nutt said. "Our fans are hungry, our players are hungry, and our coaches are hungry times 10."

Malzahn's addition is making fans excited about the possibilities on offense, plus Reggie Herring returns for his second season as defensive coordinator after the Razorbacks showed steady improvement.

"Reggie's still hot," Horton said of the reaction Herring draws at Razorback Club meetings. "The fans love listening to him. He gets their hair to stand up on the back of their necks. They're ready to play when Reggie is finished with his talk."

Malzahn also has been a popular speaker at Razorback Club meetings.

"Gus is well-received," Horton said. "People want him to come and speak to them. They ask for him."

Broyles said he can't remember the last time there was so much anticipation about an upcoming season.

"There's excitement and passion with our fans, and that's why we're selling tickets faster than ever before," Broyles said. "It shows our fans know we don't stay down for very long."
 

Triad

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Good news for Hillis. Arkansas starting tailback Darren McFadden was injured in a bar fight at 4 am last night. He damaged his big toe in the altercation (I've never heard of that before). He is expected to miss several weeks of action. Maybe this will free up some carries for Hillis. They play USC September 2nd.


McFadden Bar Injury
 

Colonel_Reb

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This will definitely help him get more carries at the beginning of the season. I can't wait to hear what the Arkansas fans will say about this brawl.
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Jimmy Chitwood

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we can't believe how stupid mcfadden is! seriously, why is a guy with his talent, and he is a once a generation type back, hanging out in one of the worst neighborhoods in Little Rock, at a bar, getting in a fight with some guy he doesn't even know? WTF is he thinking?!?

these afaleets do some of the dumbest stuff imaginable, and they do it thinking that they are invincible or something. why jeopardize a potentially multi-million dollar career just to prove that "you're hard yo." what an idiot!
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Jimmy Chitwood

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surfsider that is hilarious!
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Colonel_Reb

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Yeah, good stuff surfsider! Probably not far from the truth either.
 

Jimmy Chitwood

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so many people are trying to pigeon hole Peyton Hillis as just a fullback, but Arkansas' new offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn doesn't see him that way. he views Hillis as a phenomenal athlete. period. here is what he had to say in an ESPN article the other day about Hillis:

"He's versatile enough to play any offensive skill position," Malzahn said. "He's got good enough hands, he's a good enough athlete, he's fast enough to play any skill position, receiver included."

i added the emphasis, but you get the idea. he thinks Peyton is a true running back who is good enough to do it all, so hopefully Peyton will get a lot more touches this year, whether it be as a tailback, in the passing game, or even as a punt returner again (he averaged 10.3 yards per punt return last season).

additionally, Malzahn coached a nearly all-white Arkansas school (Springdale) to national prominence, and has shown a willingness to recruit white players early in his college coaching career. let's hope this continues!
 

Colonel_Reb

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In reading a lot of articles on McFadden's injury, most writers are ready to write off the season. They give Jones and Hillis some credit, but think "turf war toe" is some kind of superman. There are doubts as to whether he will be back by Sep. 23 to play Alabama. One thing is for sure, he will be affected by this injury for most of the season and it gives Peyton Hillis a chance to move back to TB. That is good news for Hillis and Arkansas fans and I hope he makes as much out of it as he can.
 

backrow

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great news for Hillis, although Arkansas will probably miss this McFadden kid, who is good in his own right as well and when boyh him and Peyton shared carries equally they were lethal... i hope that Hillis will get as many carries as possible now that McFadden's out.
 

Colonel_Reb

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Peyton had 61 yards on 4 punt returns, a 1 yard carry, and 4 receptions for 47 yards to lead the team in receiving. Mitch Mustain looks like he will go to Hillis often. 20-0 over Utah State ain't impressive, but its a win.
 

backrow

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in last game he had 9 yards on punt return and... -5 on 1 reception... what the hell???
 

Triad

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backrow said:
in last game he had 9 yards on punt return and... -5 on 1 reception... what the hell???

He's not playing on offense, not even as a blocking fullback.
 

whiteCB

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Don Wassall said:
Hillis is stronger and faster than ever, which makes him ready to go back to, as this article says, "being a consistent blocking and pass-catching threat." 
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[url]http://www.nwaonline.net/articles/2007/07/05/razorback_centr al/063007hillis.txt[/url]

I mean why did Hillis pick Arkansas to attend. Didn't he know that Houston "Isa" Nutt would never play him over the black RBs on the team. Did he have no idea that white RBs are told to bulk up and play FB. I'm just wondering becuase a hell of an athlete just wasted 4 years of his life opening holes for guys he could run over with ease.
 

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whiteCB said:
I mean why did Hillis pick Arkansas to attend. Didn't he know that Houston "Isa" Nutt would never play him over the black RBs on the team. Did he have no idea that white RBs are told to bulk up and play FB. I'm just wondering becuase a hell of an athlete just wasted 4 years of his life opening holes for guys he could run over with ease.


It could be that he's oblivious to the Caste System, but more likely he, like most whites, has unthinkingly internalized part or all of the propaganda after hearing it, uncontradicted, over and over and over again since he was a toddler. Unless there's an enlightened influence in his life, whether a relative or friend, it's difficult to expect anything else as far as Hillis ending up at Arkansas. And where could he go to actually be the main runner? Sadly, it's hard to imagine any of the I-A programs using him much differently than in his "racially mandated" role.
 
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