It's another thing to go from no football to football.

Yeah.

I'll say this and then I'll explain what I mean.

A couple of things.

I truly believe that UTRGV is the fastest growing athletics department in the country right now.

And second, I feel like it's one of the greatest stories in college athletics.

When we got here, obviously we didn't have football.

How many years did it take to convince the powers that be that this would work?

There are plenty of positives to take away, so I need those, but I'm sure you've got some things that you would like to see them clean up as well.

Well, first of all, congratulations.

It's been a tough two years of SEC negativity.

And, you know, now you get an open date, so you get two weeks to kind of bask in a victory.

So the fans certainly deserve that.

And more importantly, the team deserves that.

Hopefully confidence is riding high.

So what did you think about that? And generally speaking, I guess, about running backs getting in a rhythm.

There are plenty of positives to take away, so I need those, but I'm sure you've got some things that you would like to see them clean up as well.

Well, first of all, congratulations.

It's been a tough two years of SEC negativity, and now you get an open date, so you get two weeks to kind of bask in a victory.

So the fans certainly deserve that, and more importantly, the team deserves that.

So hopefully confidence is riding high.

You know, the formula for winning never really changes.

The opponent makes it more difficult.

It was a scary moment for sure.

that's fair so you know phil brought this up earlier and it was discussed regarding an nfl quarterback last night but you know there's a feeling i guess maybe that there isn't a lot of trust with kj and the coaching staff

yeah look i mean he's got a guy that started five games in his career um You clearly have a guy, not because of what we've seen, but more because of what we heard from the offensive coordinator and the head coach about decision-making, knowing where to go with the football, when to get it out kind of thing.

And so, yeah, I could see there being a little bit of frustration.

I mean, you got these coaches that when they take a job, they bring in quarterbacks that know their system and – can really fast-track their offense to at least be productive.

And here we brought in a guy that brought in a new system with a new quarterback, and you're going to have to live with some of those growing pains.

So I tell you, I see it, and I'm from a distance.

I do watch all the games multiple times.

And I wonder if you're going back watching the All-22, what did you see from the run game that just stood out that might have been different from what you saw from any other part of the season? Because those 15 minutes were the best 15 minutes of the season.

... like the one game where it actually happened.

But they won, I think they won the time of possession maybe, and, a- a- and they had the turnover battle.

And, you know, I, I think there's a trust issue going on as I ...

And look, I am not, I am a coach supporter.

In this show, as a former coach, as a former head coach of 18 years, I support coaches, but I think Coach Silverfield has a trust issue right now with his quarterback.

Let's fast-forward to a minute and something left in the game, decides to punt, right? Takes the ball out of the offense's hands.

The quarterback says-

They are fun to watch.

You know what I need, Clint Conk.

Hi C- hi, Coach.

It's time for the- Morning ...

Natural State Football Report with Clint Conk.

[body thuds] Taking a closer look at football across the great state of Arkansas with the winningest coach in UCA history.

[body thuds] The Natural State Football Report is brought to you by Farm Brothers Flying Service.

For the past decade, they've been providing crop dusting services to the farmers of southeast Arkansas, and they can help you, too.

They are fun to watch.

It was, uh, a bit of a debacle.

Yeah, you know, they, they, they did a poor job of setting the edges, and, uh, you know, not just Reed, but their running backs were able to get to the corner, turn the corner, make big plays, score touchdowns.

And, uh, you know, that's a problem.

You know, offensively they had a turnover, led to a touchdown.

You know, they averaged, I don't know, offensively Arkansas did nearly, you know, five yards a carry.

But when you're ...

What were they, 3 of 12 on conversion downs? Your offense can't stay on the field.

Is it a matter of the s- [laughs] being the starter, it's all on him, or do you think that the change in coordinator and the new offense has something to do with it, too?

So what happened there was a bit of a debacle.

Yeah, you know, they did a poor job of setting the edges.

And, you know, not just Reed, but their running backs were able to get to the corner, turn the corner, make big plays, score touchdowns.

and uh you know that's a problem you know offensively they had a turnover led to a touchdown you know they averaged i don't know offensively arkansas did nearly you know five yards to carry but when you're what were they three of 12 on conversion downs your offense can't stay on the field you fall behind uh inability to run the ball consistently and when you do run it you can't stay on the field for whatever reason um you know it's just a bad day at the office and You know, Arkansas has got to play nearly a flawless game to be competitive in all three phases.

And they're just not built that way right now.

I like some of the individuals that you see.

I mean, Ben Bogle, I mean, my goodness.

It's obviously not been a great year for them so far in Saline County, but that was a big-time win for Little Rock Christian as they try to settle in in 7A.

So let's talk about Arkansas and the weekend that was, and that was fun, more fun at least than it has been lately.

Yeah, you know, like Phil and I were talking before the segment started, you know, they looked competent, you know, a fairly clean game, obviously, the one turnover, but reduced the penalty significantly.

You know, the improvement that we talked about that I think the fans want to see, you got to see that against Tulsa.

And you can say, well, that's Tulsa.

You know, that Tulsa team, and I know they played with their backup quarterback, but their win over Oklahoma State is looking better every week.

You know, they beat Oklahoma State, and Oklahoma State beat Oregon.

Oregon just thrashed USC.

Certainly.

Do you think the run game problems are a dude thing or a coaching and scheme thing? I think it's a

combination of both.

I do.

Ride that fence.

Well, no.

Too many missed assignments still, and that's coaching to me.

And then, you know, hand placement, step, you know, footwork, and on pad level, you know, they're too high.

be tough.

I don't know if it makes sense from a football standpoint, though.

It's very hard to get the repetition in practices and just the adhesiveness that you need to have between your quarterback.

Now, I've played two quarterbacks at times.

but it was done where there was a defined starter, and then the backup was going to get a series in the first half at some point or every fifth series or something like that because I can go back to 2005.

I had Chris Reel and Nathan Brown, and Chris Reel was our starter.

I made the change with Nathan, but Chris was playing really well too.

Nathan just gave us a different dynamic, and there was a place – And what we were doing for both of them.

it'll

[whistle blows] Now, let's toss around the pigskin in the zone with Coach.

Hi.

What? Hello.

Hi.

You're good? I'm good.

Can you not hear? I cannot hear.

Okay.

And I would think that is one of the major controllables that I was incredibly surprised by.

And Arkansas is doing kind of what, I mean, a lot of us expected, I think.

Well, from a record standpoint, they probably are where they're supposed to be, one and one.

It's just the fashion of the one and one that has everybody in knots right now.

And, you know, there's just not a whole lot of words that haven't been said already.

They're just not... playing very well.

They're not a very good football team.

I think the thing that surprises me when I watch them is the things that Coach Silverfield really wanted to improve upon, they really haven't done yet.

So where do you start, Doc? With the controllables.

All right, so what were the issues for you, Coach, offensively? What did you pinpoint for us?

Man, the same song, different verse.

I mean, the things that we were looking for to see improvement were the non-talented things, snap count, penalties, turnovers.

And they reared their ugly head again.

And I know that Coach Silverfield had talked about controlling the controllables.

I didn't think they did that.

We all talked about that's what we wanted to see out of this game.

When you see that, when you see what we had on Saturday, do you have hope for a deep passing game? And connecting those two, is that where you see this offense succeeding potentially?

You think some of that's going on?

Yeah, I do.

Definitely behind the scenes with the coaching staff.

I don't think that that's being presented to the players because you want them to stay on point and focused.

But there's no doubt that behind the scenes, the staff, the support staff, uh, they're formulating, breaking down film, uh, trying to get whatever intelligence they can gather of how Utah's fall camp, you know, is going, uh, that, that, that's being done with an opponent like this.

Now, once you get into the season and it's SEC game week after week after week, you know, you're staying on point as far as the main coaching staff where your support staff may be doing some of that a week or two ahead of time.

But, um, I'm sure they're game planning for what North Alabama played last week.

Did you ever concern yourself with the game day atmosphere outside of the actual game that you're coaching and the team that you're coaching?

You think some of that's going on?

Yeah, I do.

Definitely behind the scenes with the coaching staff.

I don't think that that's being presented to the players because you want them to stay on point and focused.

But there's no doubt that behind the scenes, the staff, the support staff, uh, they're formulating, breaking down film, uh, trying to get whatever intelligence they can gather of how Utah's fall camp, you know, is going, uh, that, that, that's being done with an opponent like this.

Now, once you get into the season and it's SEC game week after week after week, you know, you're staying on point as far as the main coaching staff where your support staff may be doing some of that a week or two ahead of time.

But, um, I'm sure they're game planning for what North Alabama played last week.

Did something that's never been done in the Division I era and maybe never done in the school's history, a quarterback throwing for 200 and running for 100, and I'll make a bold prediction that he goes for 3-1 before the year's over.

Very

soft.

Very soft.

They've not come out with a hardcore statement like the Big 10 and these other conferences are talking about.

This game does not look like the game in any shape or fashion when I coached up until 2018.

And, you know, I was a big player development guy.

Bring them in, red shirt them.

Does it worry you that they've brought in two defensive backs that did not make NFL teams after tryouts, and they're looking to potentially bring in another who's got the fifth year of eligibility who played at Liberty when they upset Arkansas?

... you know, until Tennessee got that last shot.

But I think he, I think just looking at him on TV, physically, he's probably in the best shape of his life and, uh, you mentioned receivers.

Um, you know, you've got this Marshall kid, Chris Marshall, who's been at, you know, four or five different places, uh, highly touted.

He's had a great camp apparently.

Look for a Courtney Crutchfield, somebody like that, who has the talent, 6'2", 6'3", length, can run, a good catch radius, attacks the football.

We, we saw that in high school.

He's had a good camp.

[laughs]

just as general of a statement as you've ever seen very soft

very soft they've not come out with a hardcore statement like the big 10 and these other conferences are talking about but This game does not look like the game in any shape or fashion when I coached up until 2018.

And, you know, I was a big player development guy.

Bring them in, red shirt them.

If they could play, great.

I kind of like the five for five thing because it takes out the appeals and the medical red shirts and some of those, you know, off the field.

Makes it a little bit cleaner for the coaching staff.

Does it worry you that they've brought in two defensive backs that did not make NFL teams after tryouts, and they're looking to potentially bring in another who's got the fifth year of eligibility who played at Liberty when they upset Arkansas?