Sporting Life Arkansas

Jim Harris Live: Arkansas at Auburn

  It’s game day and kick off to the Razorback football season: Arkansas at Auburn; 3 pm Central. Jim Harris will be posting his thoughts throughout the game here, so check this page often. (Scroll down about halfway and you’ll see the posts from Jim.) To get you ready, here are a few quotes from Bret Bielema about today’s SEC and season opener: Bielema on Auburn being second in SEC on tackles for loss in 2013: “They’re productive.  I think defensively they weren’t necessarily at the top, but in critical areas they were very good—red zone defense, tackles for loss.  If they weren’t in the top half in categories on statistics, they were still very productive in the critical areas.  That’s something that has been a signature of their defensive coordinator for a long time.” Bielema on Brandon Allen: “The number one thing that you can’t put a price tag on from a quarterback standpoint is experience.  I think of all the positions to handle the hype, the media, the questions, the game planning, and the extent of work that goes into being a starting quarterback, he’s been there, done that.  He’s had a long time to process it.” Bielema on nerves for Saturday: “The only thing you can control is the controllables.  When I walk in the room, I feel bad for the other guy.  I think that’s the way you have to act as a person.  We’re confident in what we’re doing and a lot of people are talking about what we’re not going to do.  For us at Arkansas, we have to think about what we’re going to do and concentrate on that.” Arkansas at Auburn
2:49 p.m. — There are no changes or surprises in Arkansas’ roster today. Everybody is good to go. Auburn, as we’ve known, will start Jeremy Johnson at quarterback in place of last year’s star, Nick Marshall, who will miss some of this game due to an arrest earlier this summer. Regular Jonathan Mincy also will not start, giving way to Joshua Holsey, because of an academic situation. Highly touted Montravius Adams will start in place of the depth chart’s listed starter, Elijah Daniel, at one AU defensive end. At running back, replacing the graduated Tre Smith, is Cameron Artis-Payne, who was highly recruited out of high school.
2:47 pm — There’s nothing in college football quite like Nova, the golden eagle, circling the west side of the stadium and landing at midfield, as the full house here just witnessed. Everybody is nearly in there seats with still a few more minutes left before kickoff.
2:14 pm. I believe Auburn’s student body turnout at Jordan Hare Stadium, well ahead of all the other fans expected to fill 89,000 seats here, could fill the lower east side of Reynolds Razorback Stadium. Very impressive turnout. Yes, we’re back with the live blog from the site to open the 2014 Arkansas Razorback season, at No. 6 Auburn. Kickoff is 45 minutes away. In case you were wondering, and a lot of fans to keep up with type of miniutia, Arkansas is wearing ALL WHITE today — white helmets, white jerseys and white pants. Being two days before Labor Day, that seems appropos, as well is making it suitable for today’s sticky heat. A hard rain hit for a few minutes just after noon here, and when it quit and the skies cleared, it heated up around here like a sauna: 84 degrees feeling, according to Accuweather, like 97. You’re welcome to join in the conversation here, whether you’re back home watching the Saturday debut of the SEC Network, or if you listening in, or if you’re here and with a smart phone. Comment here, or email me at jim@arktimes.com to let me and everybody else know what you think (or we can keep it between us). Let me know what you want to know from here at Jordan Hare. As the game goes along, the blog will have the most recent items up top and work backward. Enjoy the game, and enjoy the blog.