Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema came in for criticism in some sections of the college football world after Saturday's 16-12 upset loss against Toledo in Little Rock.
The criticism came mostly in response to his comparison on Wednesday of No. 1 Ohio State's schedule the rest of the season -- with only one ranked opponent remaining -- to his own team's schedule, with eight remaining ranked opponents at the time.
ESPN analyst Danny Kanell, a former Florida State quarterback, posted a Tweet after the conclusion of Arkansas' game, "And that's why you should worry about your own damn sched and stop crying about someone else's," in obvious reference to Bielema's remarks.
ESPN's Desmond Howard, a former Heisman Trophy winner from Michigan, wrote that it was difficult for the SEC to make the claim as "best from top to bottom" after the Razorbacks' loss and Auburn's struggle to beat FCS opponent Jacksonville State in overtime.
In Columbus, Ohio, Big Ten writer Austin Ward of ESPN.com said he showed the Arkansas score to an unnamed Buckeyes player, who then mockingly chanted "SEC! SEC!"
Injury report
The Razorbacks added key players to the injury report on Saturday. Receiver Keon Hatcher was spotted on crutches after the game, indicating a foot or leg injury. Hatcher was in on the final play of the game and was not mentioned in Coach Bret Bielema's postgame injury report.
Offensive tackle Denver Kirkland came out during Arkansas' final possession clutching his right elbow and his status was unknown. Running back Kody Walker suffered a thumb injury that kept him out during the second half.
Linebacker Josh Williams and safety Josh Liddell both exited with leg injuries.
Kickoff returner Eric Hawkins was blasted on Toledo's free kick in the final minute and carted off on a stretcher. Bielema said Saturday that medical personnel kept Hawkins' head and body immobilized as a precaution. Bielema said when he went over to check on Hawkins, he was moving his hands and extremities and "stuff like that."
There was no update on Hawkins' condition Sunday.
Allen foiled
Brandon Allen accumulated the highest passing yardage of his career Saturday against Toledo, but it wasn't a cause for celebration as the Razorbacks sputtered in the red zone over and over.
It was Allen's second consecutive career high in passing yardage after throwing for 308 yards in the season-opener against Texas El Paso. Saturday, he passed for 412 yards on 32 of 53 passing. The senior from Fayetteville guided the offense with precision into scoring territory throughout the game, but things broke down from there.
He struggled when he threw passes into the end zone. Allen had Hunter Henry open in the third quarter after Jared Cornelius' long punt return, but overthrew him. On the next play, he threw for Keon Hatcher breaking across the end zone, but Hatcher fell and Toledo's DeJuan Rogers came up with an interception.
Allen threw a fade without much arc for Hatcher on Arkansas' next-to-last series, and it was broken up by Cheatham Norrils. Allen had an opening for Henry on the Hogs' second-to-last play, but missed high.
Fall out
The Razorbacks fell from 18th to out of the rankings in both the Associated Press Top 25 and the USA Today Coaches poll. Arkansas received six points in the AP poll, while Toledo got 29. The Razorbacks had three points in the coaches poll to Toledo's six.
Third and long
Toledo, like Texas-El Paso last week, converted a handful of third-and-long situations to keep drives alive against the Razorbacks.
Quarterback Philip Ely had completions covering 32, 25, 27 and 13 yards to convert on third down when the Rockets needed 11, 15, 18 and 10 yards to move the chains.
"I think he did a great job reading coverage for the most part," Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema said of Ely. "He threw some pretty clean balls that were in a place where only their players could catch it. I thought in the third and extra longs he was a very accurate thrower down the field."
Toledo converted 2 of 6 third-down tries in the second half, but one, an 18-yard throw from Ely to Cody Thompson on third and 3, set up Damion Jones-Moore's 11-yard touchdown run.
"They were getting the ball out quick," Arkansas defensive end JaMichael Winston said.
"Give all the credit to Toledo," Arkansas safety Rohan Gaines said. "They have some great athletes, they called great plays and they obviously schemed us up."
Pick negated
Arkansas safety Rohan Gaines grabbed a ball that bounced off teammate Henre Toliver's helmet and cradled it as he fell out of bounds in the second quarter. The officials ruled the play an interception, but the replay booth overturned the call, saying Gaines came down out of bounds.
"I thought I caught it inbounds," Gaines said. "But obviously I guess I fell out of bounds with it."
Flag day
The Razorbacks were flagged nine times for 85 yards after drawing six penalties for 68 yards in the opener against Texas El Paso. In addition to a holding call on Eric Hawkins that sent a 59-yard punt return touchdown by Jared Cornelius back to the 26, Arkansas had three other holding penalties that brought back long runs or a key play, like Alex Collins' slash to the 1 line in the fourth quarter.
"When you have that many penalties, you can't win football games," center Mitch Smothers said.
"That killed it," quarterback Brandon Allen said. "It really did. Any time we had momentum going on offense we'd have a holding call or something would get called back."
Rocket men
Toledo's 16-12 victory over No. 18 Arkansas was its first road victory against a team ranked in the top 20.
Quarterback Phillip Ely, 6-1, 202 pounds, pointed out the Rockets were big underdogs.
"Being the underdog, that's my story," Ely told the Toledo Blade. "I've been an underdog my whole life. Too short to play quarterback. Too small. I lack drive or whatever. It's just fun for the underdogs, me and my team, to really pull out a victory like this."
Stat chat
Arkansas ranks No. 12 in passing offense with 360 yards per game, and the Razorbacks will face Texas Tech, the nation's No. 2 team in passing on Saturday. Texas Tech averages 441 passing yards per game.
The Razorbacks are No. 90 in rushing offense with 142.5 yards per game; Texas Tech is No. 58 with 201.5 yards per game.
The Red Raiders rank No. 2 in total offense (642.5 yards per game) and the Razorbacks are No. 25 (502.5).
Six in a row
Arkansas offensive coordinator Dan Enos has lost games against Toledo in six consecutive seasons. Enos lost five in a row against the Rockets as head coach at Central Michigan before Saturday's setback.
Owning Arkansas
Toledo's last two official games resulted in victories over Arkansas teams -- a 63-44 victory over Arkansas State in the GoDaddy Bowl to cap their 9-4 record last season and Saturday's 16-12 victory over Arkansas. The Rockets face Arkansas State again in Toledo on Sept. 26.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Offense
TE Hunter Henry
• Henry, a junior from Little Rock, finished with eight catches for a career-best 117 yards in front of his home fans.
Defense
CB Henre Toliver
• Toliver, from Marrero, La., led the Razorbacks with eight tackles while being used mostly as a nickel back against Toledo. He also had a team-best two pass breakups and one tackle for loss.
Sports on 09/14/2015