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The thing about being willing to shoot your mouth off as a head coach is that when things get bad, your opponents love to pile on. Steve Spurrier can sometimes get away with it now because he's an elder statesman, but for the most part, you better be able to back it up if you're going to talk smack.
Or, you can be like Bret Bielema, and take pot shots at everyone only to watch them backfire. Slam Ohio State's schedule, then get beaten at home by Toledo, and people are going to notice. And talk mean about Texas Tech's style of football at a high-school coaching convention in the Lone Star State, and then lose to Texas Tech by a 35-24 score -- well, Kliff Kingsbury is certainly going to notice. (Mild language warning.)
"He just got his a-- kicked twice in a row and probably next week by A&M as well. So that did feel good." And if Kingsbury had stopped there, it would have been bad enough. But then he went into patronizing mode, pouring a gallon of salt into the wound.
"He's a prideful guy and says what's on his mind, but it just hasn't worked out for him," Kingsbury on Bielema.
— Kurt Voigt (@Kurt_Voigt_AP) September 20, 2015
To be sure, it's not like Texas Tech blew Arkansas completely out of the stadium, at least by the stat sheet. The Razorbacks did grind out 228 yards on 43 rushing attempts, with Alex Collins carrying the ball 28 times for 170 yards and a touchdown. Brandon Allen was solid, going 16-of-21 passing for 196 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.
But the Arkansas defense had no real luck slowing down the Texas Tech offensive attack. Patrick Mahomes was 26-of-30 for 243 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions, the latter being the only real ding on his line. Six Red Raiders receivers had catches that went for at least 11 yards (one on a 72-yard trick play that didn't show up in Mahomes' line). And the physicality that Kingsbury talked about? Texas Tech ran for 171 yards and three touchdowns on 27 attempts.
The fear for Arkansas now has to be that Kingsbury's predicted Hogs loss to Texas A&M isn't all they have to worry about. The Razorbacks still face games at Tennessee, Alabama, Ole Miss and LSU -- and that's just the road slate. Bielema has taken some flak over the last couple of weeks, but there might be more where that came from.