Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

We’re quickly into Week 3 of the Pressbox Roundtable, and this week we welcome home George Schroeder of USA Today as our national guest. Also, ArkansasExpats.com editor and regular ArkansasSports360.com contributor Doc Harper sits in again, along with KABZ-FM, 103.7 The Buzz’s Justin Acri.

Early in Schroeder’s career he worked at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, and the business has taken him to Oklahoma and Oregon. Now, after serving as lead columnist at The Register-Guard in Eugene, Ore. and contributing to SI.com, Schroeder is a national college football writer for USA Today, which celebrates its 30th anniversary with a redesign and relaunch of its web site this week. This weekend, he’ll be covering Southern Cal’s game at Stanford, then zipping down to Tucson to see what’s going on with new Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez, whose Wildcats are 2-0.

Readers, join with the panel. Let us know what you think in the comments section at the bottom of the feature.

We’ve got lots to talk about this week, starting with that stunner at War Memorial Stadium, so let’s get started. Acri, please pass the éclairs around:

MAJOR UPSET
Jim Harris: How do you rate the Arkansas loss to Louisiana-Monroe on a national upset scale? Is this Michigan-Appalachian State level? Is this the most embarrassing setback for Arkansas football in modern times, considering this was actually supposed to be a good Razorback team?

George Schroeder: This is far worse than Michigan's loss to Appalachian State in 2007. This was a come-from-ahead implosion by what we all thought was a legitimate Top 10 team. I know, Tyler Wilson was knocked out. That's big. But unless he was going to play middle linebacker, I'm not sure why it should have mattered. Remember the 21-point lead? It's bad that Arkansas had no answer at quarterback when he went down, and that the Hogs couldn't — or didn't — simply run the ball for points. But beating ULM should not have required ANY second-half points.

Doc Harper: How many different ways can you write “absolute disaster”? Between players getting carted off, Tyler Wilson suffering some sort of head injury, ESPN changing its “GameDay” plans, the second worst AP poll drop in history, it's simply awful. Alabama week in 2010 was such an amazing week, and everyone spent the offseason thinking that kind of energy would happen again, and now it's gone.

Justin Acri: I can’t answer that any other way then to say “yes” and “yes.”

Harris: I’m just glad we don’t have to hear about The Citadel being the worst day in Hog history now.

Schroeder: Regardless of how it happened, or why, it's as bad a loss as could be imagined, because I'm not sure anyone imagined it. Arkansas had aspirations of a BCS championship. Those might have been farfetched after Petrino's motorcycle crash, but no one expected the team to run into a ditch against a Sun Belt team. If the loss leads to a tailspin, it could resonate negatively in Arkansas' upcoming or ongoing coaching search.

TIDE ROLLS IN
Harris: Alabama comes rolling into Fayetteville for this Saturday’s game. Does Arkansas have even a prayer of beating the No. 1 Crimson Tide?

Schroeder: Is Wilson playing? If so, sure, Arkansas could win. No one is going to pick the Hogs — but no one would have picked them before the ULM loss, either. How will Arkansas' defense stop the Tide? But if Wilson is healthy — and if the Hogs can keep him off his back — there's at least the chance for a shootout, which could go the home team's way. But prayer should probably be on Arkansas fans' agenda.

Doc: A prayer? Sure. The initial point spread on Sunday was 13, which seems really low, but it shows Vegas thinks Arkansas has a fighting chance. (The line has since jumped to 20).