All Hogs

Random Obervations: What You May Not Have Noticed During Auburn Game

Male Models, DC vs. Marvel, a Saban sighting, a shot to the specials and family matters

Kent Smith

In this story:

FAYETTEVILLE – The heat of the Arkansas-Auburn game has been setting just off to the side of the burner long enough that it is now OK to provide the readers with a list of things they might have noticed, but probably didn't notice and wish they had noticed. 

Thank goodness someone was there to notice these things for them just in case. Here are the random observations from Saturday's 41-27 win.

Is Billy Napier the second coming of Nick Saban?

If you didn't sit through the last few minutes of the SEC pregame show leading into the game, then you might have missed the interview with Billy Napier about Florida's game against Georgia.

If you go back and listen to that interview with your eyes closed, you will hear it. The spirit of Nick Saban is so strong with this one that his voice and cadence pours through the Gators' coach. 

Word has it that if you light a candle and stare into Napier's eyes while chanting the name Nick Saban once for every national championship he's won, Napier's hair will grow, brush itself straight back and recede just a little bit along the hairline.

It should be noted that Napier worked with Saban for four years as his wide receivers coach. However, that's not enough to account for what's going on here.

There's clearly only one explanation – Nick Saban is a shadow man looking to extend his coaching career in a way where he'll never have to retire.

Maximum Male Models

In the show opening for the game, the SEC Network crew threw in a shot of various Arkansas players walking off the bus in the sharpest of threads. Even as a married man of...

Hold on. I have to get this right. Do the math in the parentheses first, twenty, solve for x, subtract the difference, and ummm....

Even as a married man of 19 years, it was hard to see these guys get off the bus and not think these were some handsome young men. Half the Auburn women's tennis team put in their names into the transfer portal the second they saw this footage.

Sporting their sunglasses as they off-loaded, it looked like America had stumbled upon a casting call for an eyewear advertisement series.

Why do I suddenly want to watch an Avengers movie when this is over?

For those who didn't catch it, and how could you not, the band kept playing the Avengers theme song. 

They played it over and over. It never stopped and it was hard to find a rhyme or reason. 

It's a shame to see a school turn on Cam Newton like that. The guy brought the school notoriety and a national championship with his signature Superman chest reveal straight out of DC Comics and the band tries to flip everyone to Marvel.

Speaking of Superman

While KJ Jefferson was repelled inches short of the goal line like he'd been hit by something generated from a Green Lantern ring on his first touchdown, his second was a powerful 13-yard show of force. 

He was so forceful that referees forgot they could throw a taunting flag when Jefferson mocked the Cam Newton Superman chest reveal to the Auburn fans.

It was hard to tell if Auburn fans were more frustrated by the taunting or by their football team allowing it to happen. 

That was supposed to be Cam Newton?

While we're on the subject of Cam Newton, viewers may not have noticed the statue Auburn has of him in front of the stadium. That's because when the SEC Network showed it, the statue was virtually unrecognizable. 

Not only did it not look like Newton, a huge opportunity was missed. The quarterback everyone loved to hate was known for his smile and iconic Superman reveal.

Not only does the statue fail to incorporate at least one of these aspects, it features neither.

You know you were thinking it

When it flashed across that Mississippi State athletics director John Cohen is in talks to become the new Auburn athletics director, everyone in Arkansas collectively thought the same thing:

It's a four hour drive from Starkville to Auburn. There's no game in Tuscaloosa to slow him down, so if Arkansas holds on to win this one and traffic is light on Highway 82, Cohen could make it to Jordan-Hare in time to Bret Bielema Bryan Harsin once this game is over. He'd probably get a police escort just outside Maplesville, so it's definitely possible.

That photo of Rocket and his son was pretty cool

At one point in the game, a photo of Raheim "Rocket" Sanders and his son flashed up on the screen. Fatherhood looked good on the young man. 

It seems Sanders drives back to Florida to be with him when he gets a chance, which included the recent off-week.

What also must have looked good by the third quarter of this game were those Razorback jerseys they were each wearing. Sanders had the chance to go with an Auburn jersey out of high school, but opted for Arkansas.

Now seeing the mess that is the Auburn football juxtaposed with the career he has built at Arkansas that seems to be generating a strong path to a possible career in the NFL, the future for the younger Sanders in that photo seems to be brightened by the choice and work ethic of his father.

Speaking of family

It appears the toughest coach on the Arkansas staff is KJ Jefferson's momma. If you didn't see it, Jefferson told the SEC Network crew that if he doesn't have it together, she will walk down the stands to the edge of the sideline, signal a coach to get Jefferson, and then fill his ears with firm wisdom.

Looks like the Razorbacks have a quality candidate for SEC Coach of the Year.

That's not KJ

At one point a graphic for Jefferson came up on the screen. However that definitely wasn't Jefferson in the photo. 

Thinking that someone may have called in the wrong No. 1 image, a check was made comparing roster photos to the face displayed. It wasn't Jalen Catalon, nor Auburn's TJ Finley or Donovan Kaufman. 

With it not being a confusion of someone wearing No. 1, there was no recognizable solution found as to whom ESPN had as Jefferson's stand-in.

That's gotta hurt

If you blinked you probably missed it. At one point late in the game Dwight McGlothern jumped a route, narrowly missing the interception.

If you were focused on the dropped interception then you may not have noticed the most painful thing about that play. As the ball shot away from McGlothern, it took an unfortunate bounce, tagging Bumper Pool in the specials.

The immediate painful reaction from Pool makes it clear what happened. The linebacker made a full recovery, returning to the game to scoop up an onside kick for a huge return. 

Wait, looking at the stat sheet here and it appears that didn't actually happen. Well, at least Pool appears to be OK.

Arkansas divider

HOGS FEED:

ROCKET SANDERS KEEPS CHECKING OFF PERSONAL GOALS

KJ JEFFERSON WANTED TO 'GROUND AND POUND' AUBURN IN SECOND HALF

RAZORBACKS GET BLASTED BY 30 POINTS IN EXHIBITION LOSS TO LONGHORNS

TEXAS STILL A BIG GAME TO PLAYERS WHETHER IT'S AN EXHIBITION OR NOT

RANDOM NOTES ON RAZORBACK BASKETBALL

PITTMAN SAYS ENDING STREAK TO AUBURN IS BIG DEAL TO HIM, PLAYERS

IS ARKANSAS GOOD TEAM OR A BAD TEAM?

AUBURN HAS SO MANY ISSUES THAT ARKANSAS MAY NOT BE ONE

Arkansas divider

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Published
Kent Smith
KENT SMITH

Kent Smith has been in the world of media and film for nearly 30 years. From Nolan Richardson's final seasons, former Razorback quarterback Clint Stoerner trying to throw to anyone and anything in the blazing heat of Cowboys training camp in Wichita Falls, the first high school and college games after 9/11, to Troy Aikman's retirement and Alex Rodriguez's signing of his quarter billion dollar contract, Smith has been there to report on some of the region's biggest moments.