Bret Bielema Straight Up Out-Coached Les Miles

Doing more with less is something that Arkansas Razorbacks coaches have to deal with. In a state that rarely produces more than 4 or 5 highly recruited athletes a year, the Hogs always have to go outside their borders for top tier talent. Yes, Arkansas pumps a lot of kids into the Razorbacks program every year, and we all love seeing the local boys shine. But facts are facts, and if Arkansas doesn’t maintain a pipeline in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi, then the team is usually missing some key elements. But sometimes it’s hard to get kids to leave their home state, and it can be especially difficult to get them to use one of their precious official visits to come to Arkansas. (Of course, once they see campus and the facilities, all preconceived notions of redneckery are put to rest…for the most part.)

That’s why it’s so surprising to see Arkansas and Bret Bielema 1) getting looks (and commits) from top talent around the country, and 2) physically dominate teams like LSU for 4 quarters. The Tigers are a damn fine football team. At one point, they looked to be the best team in the SEC west. They still lead the conference in rushing yards, and have a potential Heisman finalist lined up at running back. LSU sits in one of the most fertile recruiting grounds in the nation, and it reflects in the caliber of athletes that Les Miles brings in every year. LSU has recruited better athletes than Arkansas has, according to pretty much every metric available.

So how did they get their ass kicked so bad last Saturday? The answer is Bret Bielema, Dan Enos, Robb Smith, and the rest of the Arkansas coaching staff. This 2015 Razorbacks squad is an anomaly, for sure. Decimated by injuries and the loss of key playmakers on defense, the Hogs started the season with one of the worst 4 game stretches in Arkansas history. Losses at home to Toledo, Texas Tech, and then a neutral site loss to TAMU had the Hogs at 1-3, and looking like a team that would not make a bowl game in 2015.

Oct 10, 2015; Tuscaloosa, AL, USA; Arkansas Razorbacks head coach Bret Bielema talks to wide receiver Drew Morgan (80) during the game against the Alabama Crimson Tide at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Marvin Gentry-USA TODAY Sports

Somehow, Bret Bielema kept the team poised, and got them to believe in themselves more than even the fans did. Arkansas won against Tennessee on the road, then lost to Alabama on the road. After a BYE week, the Razorbacks turned into the most explosive offense in the SEC, and have now won 4 games in a row on their way to bowl eligibility. The Hogs are now 6-4, just barely outside of the top 25, have won back to back road games against SEC opponents, and have 2 home games left against struggling conference teams.

HOW?

There was no reason for LSU to lose to Arkansas. They had the Hogs at home, at night, in Death Valley. The Tigers have Leonard Fournette, and have more athletes roaming their sidelines than just about any other program in the nation. How many athletes, you ask? Let’s take a look at LSU’s recruiting rankings the last 4 years compared to Arkansas.

2012 LSU Tigers

#10 Overall Class

This was a vintage LSU class. 23 players entered the program, and 5 of them were ESPN top 150 commits. The class was headlined by some big out of state kids like Kwon Alexander, but overall, 15 of the 23 commits came from inside Louisiana.

2012 Arkansas Razorbacks

#24 Overall Class

Bobby Petrino’s last class was a pretty good one had he stuck around. Instead, he went full Petrino and got fired. As I’ve discussed in previous article, this class basically all transferred away because of academic or off the field issues. Of the 24 commits in this class, only 5 were from Arkansas.

2013 LSU Tigers

#5 Overall Ranking

This was a great class, no doubt about it. After signing day, Tiger fans were wondering just how these players would pan out in Baton Rouge, and how far they could take the program. Headlined by in state superstar Kendell Beckwith, this wasn’t as Louisiana heavy of a class. 12/27 signees were home grown.

2013 Arkansas Razorbacks

#24 Overall Class

Bret Bielema’s first class saw him sign some big time skill players in Alex Collins, Hunter Henry, and Drew Morgan. He also stocked his team with some JUCO kids to fill some gaps from transfers. While this class had some meat to it with big guys like Denver Kirkland and Dan Skipper, it was not as good as it could have been. If Bielema would have had a whole season to go after some of his targets, he may have got a better class. In the end, 8 of the 23 players were from Arkansas.

2014 LSU Tigers

#3 Overall Class

The 2014 class really was the stuff of legends for Les Miles. Headlined by the #1 overall running back Leonard Fournette, this class also saw the #1 and #3 receivers jump on board in Malachi Dupre and Trey Quinn. Also, the #1 guard in the nation, Garrett Brumfield, decided to be a Tiger. Rounding out the offense was the #2 dual threat QB in the nation, Brandon Harris. That is a class that looks mighty, mighty fine on signing day. What makes this even more interesting is that all the players I mentioned were from Louisiana. So Les didn’t even have to get on a plane to sign the premiere talent in the nation that year.

When it was all said and done, LSU signed 23 players overall. How many were born on the bayou, you ask? 12 out of the 23 players were from the land of Jindal.

2014 Arkansas Razorbacks

#28 Overall Class

Bit of a drop of for Bielema, at least by recruiting service standards. I’m not the kind of guy that stares at star rankings, but a 5 star player is a 5 star player. And they usually perform up to 5 star standards. While Bielema and the Hogs may have been short of stars, there weren’t light on talent.

Fun Fact! The lowest rated player (not from a JUCO, because they don’t get rated the same way) in Bielema’s 2014 class was Louisiana native Jared Cornelius! The Tigers didn’t even offer him. Which made his game sealing touchdown run last Saturday all the better for him, I’m sure. Of the 24 commits in the 2014 class, only 5 came from Arkansas.

2015 LSU Tigers

#4 Overall Class

Another epic class from Les Miles and the LSU Tigers. That’s 3 straight top 5 classes. Impressive, to say the least. This was a rather worldly class from LSU, who saw only 1 of their top 4 rated signees come from Louisiana. Still, when you get to the meat of this group, it’s a homegrown heavy grouping of athletes. 15 of the 25 commits in this top 5 class were from Les Miles’ backyard.

2015 Arkansas Razorbacks

#21 Overall Class

This class got Hog fans very excited. Some of the best in state talent that Arkansas had seen in years, and Bielema got almost all of them to stay home. Arkansas doesn’t get the benefit of the doubt that teams like Alabama, LSU, USC, or Notre Dame gets when it comes to athletes. If the kid is a 3 star/borderline 4 star, his rankings will adjust based off where he signs. Does he go to Arkansas? 3 star kid. Does he sign with LSU or Alabama? Go ahead and give them the 4 star bump.

More from Razorbackers

This was Bielema’s most Arkansas heavy class, seeing 10 of the 24 commitments coming from inside the state kids. Another fun fact! Do you know who the lowest rated player in the Razorback’s 2015 class was? Dre Greenlaw! The current team leader in tackles! He’s also #6 in the conference and #53 in the nation in number of tackles. 3rd leading freshman tackler in NCAA. BARELY a 3 star recruit. Whoops.

Les Miles really has every advantage over a team like Arkansas. He CLEARLY has a better funnel for players thanks to his in state talent. He’s had superior class rankings in every way, and I don’t argue that the classes weren’t better than the Razorback’s classes. To the contrary! I’d go so far to say that they are undoubtedly better classes when taken at face value. But when it comes down to coaching and scheming, the Mad Hatter has fallen short to the Boss Hog the past two years. By 17 points both times, no less.

Bret Bielema out-coached Les Miles, plain and simple. With less athletes and on the road, the Arkansas Razorbacks squad dominated the line of scrimmage all night long. They held Leonard Fournette to under 100 yards rushing, and made the LSU offense and defense look lost.

Next: Top RB Recruit to Visit Hogs

You can talk about the supposed “Alabama Hangover” if you want, but I don’t give that much weight. Arkansas lined up and whipped LSU, and they became bowl eligible in the process. Recruiting rankings don’t always correlate to victory. We’ve heard from the Bret Bielema doubters for the past 2 years that “you can’t out LSU LSU”.

Maybe not. But you can out-coach and out-play them, that’s for damn sure.

Woo Pig.

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