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Backup Offensive Guard Quits Football

Last updated Tuesday, August 7, 2007 10:45 PM CDT
in Razorback Central

By Alex Abrams
THE MORNING NEWS

FAYETTEVILLE -- Offensive guard Colin Tucker has decided to give up football after seeing limited playing time over the past two seasons at Arkansas, coach Houston Nutt said Tuesday.

Nutt said he met with Tucker, and it was during that time that the sophomore informed Nutt of his decision to quit the Razorbacks.

"Everybody wants to play," Nutt said. "It's tough, it's going on his third year, he's a redshirt sophomore. There is a lot of competition out there, so it's tough."

Tucker, from Richardson, Texas, worked with the scout team during his freshman season in 2005, and he didn't see any action as a redshirt freshman last season.

Heading into the start of preseason practices, Tucker was listed as the third-team left guard behind junior Mitch Petrus and sophomore Michael Aguirre. But it didn't seem likely that Tucker would be able to move ahead of either player for playing time this season.

"(He's) a good young man that has done everything we've asked him to do," Nutt said of Tucker. "(I) wish him the best."

Wildcat No More

The Wildcat formation is now officially known as Wild Hog.

Nutt agreed to change the name of the formation after hearing from Arkansas fans who wanted the name to better suit the Razorbacks.

"It was important to (Nutt) and I brought it up to our staff and even mentioned it to our players," Arkansas offensive coordinator David Lee said.

"Their concern was that I brought in a lot in new terminology from (the) Dallas (Cowboys), and then to change completely the terminology again. It would be something else the players would have to learn.

"If it's that important to our fans ... then we can certainly call it (Wild Hog) publicly, even if maybe at times we use the term Wildcat. We don't want anyone to get their feelings hurt."

The formation gained national attention last season because of its ability to fool defenses.

In the formation, Arkansas running back Darren McFadden lines up at quarterback, takes the direct snap and has the option to run the football, hand it off to fellow tailback Felix Jones or throw it.

Arkansas' coaches have added some new wrinkles to the formation since preseason practices began late last week, like having Jones line up at quarterback and McFadden at wide receiver.

"The signal is the same as the Wildcat, that's what's important to me. I don't care what we call it," Nutt said. "We have a lot of names, I just want to make sure that we have 11 (players) on the field."



Reader Comments (26 comment(s))


The following comments are provided by readers and are the sole responsibility of their authors. The Morning News does not review comments before their publication, nor do we guarantee their accuracy. By publishing a comment here you agree to abide by our comment policy. If you see a comment that violates our policy, please notify the web editor.

Swinehunt wrote on Aug 8, 2007 7:46 AM:

" Good luck to Colin Tucker in whatever he moves on to. On another endeaver-----I am very excited about the "Wild-Hog option". Look for new tricks out of the formation. "

Bama Hog wrote on Aug 8, 2007 8:25 AM:

" I think they should call it the "WildGus Package". "

Bama Confusion wrote on Aug 8, 2007 10:07 AM:

" The formation has been in the playbook for about four years. "WildMatt" or "WildHouston" makes a lot more sense than "WildGus." Nice try though. "

Bama Hog wrote on Aug 8, 2007 1:10 PM:

" Yeah, with DMac at the helm. No HDN stop signing in as Bama Confusion and use your real login, "One Diminsional Coach". "

cardsfan wrote on Aug 8, 2007 3:34 PM:

" I am really tired of all the HDN bashing. One dimensional? Hardly. What about all those 3rd and 9's when we roll out right and attempt 6 yard curl-in's to Monk? That takes a certain amount of offensive creativity. "

Bama Hog wrote on Aug 8, 2007 4:43 PM:

" You have a point. And to top that off, 90% of the time on those curl routes, Monkl was the only WO on the field. But hings should be better now we have David Lee who has coaching experience with Tony Romo under Bill Parcels of the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League. "

Bama Confusion wrote on Aug 8, 2007 4:44 PM:

" Wow! What was I thinking letting DMac and Felix run so much. Boy, that didn't work out too well did it. 10 wins and a New Year's Day bowl. Heisman trophy runner-up. Almost forgot - a receiver set the single season TD record last year too. "

razorbackbacker wrote on Aug 8, 2007 4:47 PM:

" As far back as I can remember, The Hogs have had just a few teams that could get the job done by passing the football. I can't really put a finger on it but what ever is the reason why we run the ball so well is a positive. It is not just just coach Nutt that has had trouble with passing. Not many great passing quaterbacks have wanted to come to Arkansas. Just the few Montgomery, Ferguson, maybe Brashier and Mustang. The job over the years was by running and it still is. Even the pros that win want a stout running game and just evough passing to get by. I think that Houston is doing the right thing, stay with what you do best and the best for Arkansas is tailback U. Beat them up with 4 running backs like O.U. or even Texas of olden days did then let a James Street beat you with a pass over the middle when you least expect it. The quaterback will be there this year count on it. But the running backs will win for us. "

Bama Confusion wrote on Aug 8, 2007 5:44 PM:

" Agree with 'backer. And it's consistent with what you see at many schools. How many great quarterbacks have come out of Alabama (only Starr & Namath come to mind), Auburn, Georgia, Tenn (only Manning), LSU (none, LA QBs Bradshaw & Favre went to Directional State and S Miss)? Everyone, including HDN, would like to pass better. But nobody lights up the SEC every week through the air. You have to be able to run to survive. And pounding a team into the ground (see Hogs over Auburn & Tenn)is very demoralizing. I'll take the wins. "

hogfanintx wrote on Aug 8, 2007 8:24 PM:

" hey "bama confusion and razorbacker" umm what happens when d-mac and felix jones are gone? Backs like that don't come along everyday. the year before last what was the record? 4-7? Year before that what was it? 4-7? Were you taking the wins there? a combined 8 in two years? Problem is a good coach plays to his stregths, but has the flexibility and courage to change. But that's ok I suppose you guys will be ok losing every bowl game and to LSU every year as long as you get 1 ten win season every ten years. Pretty typical. "

GonzoHog wrote on Aug 9, 2007 5:23 AM:

" Play to his strengths? has flexibitlity to change? This is the same guy that thinks we should have started Mustain the rest of the season, and gave up a few more interceptions, because of the future, rather than the present. Give up 10 wins this year to get 12 the next. Yea right, that's the kind of "TEAM" concept I'm talkin about! Let poor Mitch get some reps man, we don't don't need no stinking wins!! "

Bama Confusion wrote on Aug 9, 2007 6:37 AM:

" Maybe when these two are gone we can go find a Hillis or a Cobbs or a Talley or a Hill or a Cowins or a Morton or a Forte or maybe even a D'anthony Curtis. DMac and Hillis are great, don't get me wrong, but I believe the key is Markuson. And don't forget we got sucker-punched by the NCAA over the probation by dragging that non-event out over two recruiting seasons. And even with our strength in running, we will have the most talented receiving corp ever when next year's freshmen join the current crew. "

Swinehunt wrote on Aug 9, 2007 7:25 AM:

" To fully understand the offensive style of the Razorbacks [running game] you must realize that for fifty years Frank has hired coaches to fit his style ONLY. Perhaps a whole new concept will be born with the new AD. It is time for a change----of AD. "

hogfanintx wrote on Aug 9, 2007 7:59 AM:

" "gonzo" They couldn't have lost more games with Mitch than they did with Casey. All I am saying is change sometimes isn't easy and you get a few bumps in the road. I think MM actually threw one more td than int. That percentage is a lot better than Matthew Staffords was last year at GA. Simple fact is one dimensional won't cut it week in and week out year after year. Hope David Lee can make HDN realize that. Nobody else has been able to. "

Bama Hog wrote on Aug 9, 2007 9:16 AM:

" To answer your question, I guess you were thinking one diminsionally, which was my point in the first place. Got any more weak arguments? "

hogfanintx wrote on Aug 9, 2007 10:31 AM:

" whose question were you answering there " bama hog" "

Bama Hog wrote on Aug 9, 2007 12:42 PM:

" To answer your question, Bama Confusion, I guess you were thinking one diminsionally, which was my point in the first place. Got any more weak arguments? " "

Bama Hog wrote on Aug 9, 2007 12:42 PM:

" Bama Confustion = HDN "

razorbackbacker wrote on Aug 9, 2007 2:03 PM:

" Regardless of who runs it, if the O-line comes thru anyone can take the snaps and cause it to happen. If the O-line and defence doesn't gell then like the man said it will be a long season. I think we will see a difference with the passing this year not because of Gus or Lee, but because Dick is that good and not playing hurt and several guys not playing hurt on offence. When Mac and Hillis was hurt they teed off on the quaterback those last 3 games. If they where healthy it would have been a different game. "

dfwhogfan1 wrote on Aug 9, 2007 2:40 PM:

" Agree with razorbackers last comment (and his first one for that matter). Listen, a lot of us several years ago were saying what are we going to do for rb when cobbs and talley are gone and look what happened. We seem to always have very good backs but we also always seem to have a great line to go with it. I too believe Casey will be much better and with what DLee brings to the table should only help. Yes hogfan, we have to show it on Saturdays and be consistant, but I think it will happen. Also, Stafford is going to be way better than MM..sorry, just my opinion. Saw him play to much down here not to think that. He is stronger and bigger and I think mentally tougher. No, I am not getting in to a MM debate either. Just an opinion. "

Bama Hog wrote on Aug 9, 2007 4:15 PM:

" Did you see MM play "up there" (in high School?) "

Chiefsbacksfan wrote on Aug 9, 2007 4:39 PM:

" It seems to me like this could be a solid team. If real Hog fans would stand up and say they've heard all they want to hear from the folks with personal agenda's, this team could be back in the SEC race. As to the backup offensive linemen. I doubt LSU, Auburn, South Carolina, Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, or well, any team in the SEC would even consider this a story. "

GonzoHog wrote on Aug 10, 2007 5:05 AM:

" I'm amazed this is not as big of an issue as the A. Norman transfer. No rediculas comments about HDN running this young man off? I guess you would have to be from Springdale for that to happen. "

hogfanintx wrote on Aug 10, 2007 11:14 AM:

" "gonzo" Norman is from Springdale..lol "dfw" You may be right about Stafford ending up better than MM. Time will tell. That being said I saw 4 or 5 of his games at highland park, I also saw 6 or seven of MM's. Honestly I would love to have either of them. I think staffords size would help him in the pocket and make him appear more durable, but I think MM was much more accurate on his throws. Just an opinion. "

GonzoHog wrote on Aug 11, 2007 9:16 AM:

" hogfanintx: You are absolutely correct about MM's TD-Int ratio, compared to M. Stafford. Have you even started to consider what they would have looked like if he had played any significant time against the top defenses that LSU, Florida, and Winsconsin had last year? He was catching up with the Int's pretty good up to that point. Let me guess, your answer will be: "We really don't know what would have happened, since he didn't get to play, right?" Yea right, he probably would have just figured it out, and just quit throwing them all together right? Just an opinion. "

razorrod wrote on Aug 21, 2007 7:58 AM:

" exactly. who knows. of course poor coaching and preperation probably played into that a lot. I mean you have to put your QB's in a position to make positive plays. I honestly believe HDN didn't do that for either QB last year. "


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