HOW WILL PETRINO'S HOGS DO IN 2009?

That is the question that all Hog fans would like to know but really don't want to know right now. Seriously, would football be nearly as fun if you knew what your team was going to do beforehand? Nope. That's where the old saying comes from, "That's why they play the games", because anyone could figure out who should win on paper. I'm going to go ahead and try to guess who should win the Hog's games on, not paper, but more like a liquid crystal HD monitor if you catch my drift.



Here's how I can see our season playing out. I have no doubt that we will be better than last year. Will our record be better? Yes. How much better? Let's take a look. I see us winning the games we should on paper which would be SW Missouri St., Auburn, Eastern Michigan, Troy, and Mississippi St. Yes I included two SEC teams which really should never be counted as automatic W's, but I am because I think Auburn and Mississippi St. are not going to be very good this season. Auburn may be better than expected but we have them at home as well as MSU and I think we will beat them so there. That's five wins minimum this season that I think are pretty much automatic. Going from there I think it can go one way or the other, we can win the rest of our home games which would add Georgia and South Carolina, giving us 7 wins, and then I believe we'd beat Texass A&M in Dallas, which Petrino is counting as a home game. That would be 8 wins. I can see that happening, or I could see us losing a tough game at home to Georgia which would be tough to come back from the next week playing Alabama. That would take our win total down to 7 unless we stole one on the road. The Hogs have 4 extremely difficult road games in Alabama, Florida, Ole Miss, and at LSU. We could lose all four and probably should if you play the games on paper. But luckily the Hogs are not doing that, remember? Here's my fun little take on what the Hogs will do this season:



Week 1
Missouri State: I see this game as a close nail biter for a bunch of young Hogs that goes down to the last possession. I think our quarterback will make a beautiful long pass on 4th and 1 to a true freshman wide receiver to keep a late 4th quarter drive alive and finally get the ball into the endzone to win the game with a minute to go.........Errrrr, wait a minute that was last year. This one won't even be close and it better not be for Hog fan's sakes. I don't think most Hog fans would mind seeing an ugly blowout or even a boring blowout as long as the Hogs take care of business. No deja vu necessary please. The Hogs get it started with long runs by Michael Smith and long passes by Mallet to several receivers. Tyler Wilson plays the entire second half and ends up with some nice numbers as well. The defense does a good job not giving up many points but does give up some yards to this Bear bunch. Hogs win 56-9.



Week 2
Bye: Hogs beat the crap out of Bye so bad that Bye fails to show up for the next eleven weeks. ;)


Week 3
Georgia: The Bulldogs come a barking into DWRS and are ready to go as this is the first time they have faced a Bobby Petrino coached Hog team. Mark Richt has his Dawgs ready as they come out trying to push the Hog D around in the first quarter. They run right down the Hog's throat and dominate the entire quarter. Petrino gets his team's attention though and the offense gets it going. After falling behind in the first quarter 10-0, the Hogs put up 13 quick points on a long Dennis Johnson TD run and a play action pass from Mallet to Jarius Wright. Alex Tejada missed the extra point after the Wright TD. The Hogs D finally shows up and holds Georgia to 3 points in the second quarter and the game is tied at the half at 13 apiece. Both offenses come out on fire in the second half and both teams score two TDs each. Late in the 4th Mallet takes the Hog's offense down the field on a beautiful 68 yard drive that takes up 4 minutes of the clock. Tejada redeems himself from the missed PAT in the first half, with a 36 yard field goal to take a 3 point lead with only 38 seconds to go in the game. Georgia gets the ball back after a squib kick at their 42 yard line. Two plays later they get the ball to the Hog 41 yard line where they try the 58 yard field goal. The kick is long enough thanks to a 22 MPH breeze, but thanks to the spirit of Paul Eells, Tusk #1, David Bazzell and the new yellow uprights, the kick goes wide left. Hogs win 30-27!!!


Week 4
At Alabama: The Hogs run into a stout Tide defense and can't get much going at all in the first half. Neither can the #8 Tide as their freshman quarterback gets chased all over the place by the Hog d-line and blitzers from all over. The Hog's defense shows it can play in the SEC and holds Bama to 24 points, but the Hog offense just can't get it going on a wet day in Tuscaloosa. Mallet passes for 2 TDs and Tejada adds a field goal to make the final score: Bama 24 Hogs 17


Week 5
Texass A&M: The Hogs come into Donald W. Reynolds South otherwise known as Jerry Jones Palace, also known as GigantiJumbotron Dome, and last but not least Dallas Cowboys Stadium, and face long time SWC foe the Texass A&M Aggies. The Aggies come into the game with a deceiving 3-0 record, but they figure out pretty quickly that the Hogs are no cupcake and get down 24-0 on some precise passing by Mallet and a pick 6 returned by Matt Harris. The Hogs have a field day against this Big 12 patsie and rout the hapless Aggies 48-13.


Week 6
Auburn: It's back to conference play for the Hogs and as usual the Tigers bring in a stout defense and a hard nosed running game.....Wait, Tuberville's gone. Gene Chizik brings in his Tigers along with former Hog offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn, and his hurry up spread offense. Luckily Auburn does not have the personnel to run this offense and has a tough time moving the ball on the Hog defense. Arkansas on the other hand has no trouble going trough Auburn's defense like a buzzsaw. It looks to get ugly, but Bobby pulls on the reigns and saves it for another day as the Hogs go to 4-1 overall and 2-1 in the SEC. Hogs win 31-20.


Week 7
At Florida: The Hogs weathered and worn after four straight weeks of tough football run into the teeth of a fired up top ranked Gator team that's looking for it's second straight national championship and third in four years. Luckily for the Hogs Florida is coming off a tough game the week before against the LSU Tigers in Death Valley in which they won to stay undefeated. The Hogs find it tough going in the first half, however are able to hang with the Gators going into halftime only down by 7. In the second half Tebow gets the Gators offense going and scores 3 touchdowns, two passing and one running. The Hogs do their best to hang in and score two touchdowns and a field goal. In the end the Gators are too much for the much improved Hogs, and win the game 38-27.


Week 8
At Ole Miss: The Hogs show up to an extremely disappointed Oxford where the Rebs are sitting at 3-3 after being ranked in the preseason top 10 by pretty much everyone. But Houston Nutt has his team ready to play his Texass...the Hogs and tells everyone the week of the game that his team is still playing for the national championship of Mississippi. When told that Mississippi isn't a nation by the member of a press, Houston said that's what his ring from the 2008 season had engraved on it, so the press member didn't know what he was talking about. After all of that hubub everyone was just ready for a game and what a game it was. The Hogs offense is clicking on all cylinders and run for 2 touchdowns in the first half and pass for 2 more. Tejada kicks 2 field goals as well and the Hogs go into the 2nd half up 34-24. Ole Miss doesn't ever give up though as they are winners and fighters and came back on the Hogs to even up the score at 34 in the third setting up for a monumental 4th quarter that nobody will believe. The Hogs get it going with a draw play on 3rd and long that Ronnie Wingo takes up the middle for a 64 yard touchdown. Houston is dancing on the sideline much to the dismay of the Ole Miss faithful in the stands. Little does he know that the ESPN cameras pick up audio of him saying, "That was a called play, and I called that play brutha." Of course Houston is still confused as to which team is his on the field, so his coaching staff and the media gave him a mulligan for stupidity. The fans however did not find it funny and booed him the rest of the game. The Rebels did manage to score a couple more field goals but the Hogs added another touchdown to finish off the 3-4 Rebels 48-40.


Week 9
Eastern Michigan: The Hogs welcome the Eagles to Fayetteville for a stomping of epic proportions. The Hogs get up 49-o in the first half and Mallet gets benched for changing a called run play for a deep post pass to Lucas Miller who is back to form after his preseason injury. Mallet explained after the game that he jut wanted Miller to have a big play after being out for so long. Petrino didn't care he told Mallet it's his way or the highway. Mallet said yes sir and promptly pulled Petrino's boot out of his butt and headed to the bench. Tyler Wilson did a fine job in mop up duty and finished the Eagles off. Hogs
win 73-3.




Week 10
South Carolina: The Gamecocks come into town and after many years of being called the surprise team in the SEC, they actually have surprised many. They come into Fayetteville with an 8-1 record with their only loss being the the Crimson Tide of Alabama. They are as cocky as their coach and their mascot, and they pay for it. The Hogs don't like their attitude and jump on them early. Mallet throws are a thing of beauty whether deep posts or fly patterns, or the perfectly timed dump screens to his backs. Michael Smith has the game of his career with 4 TDs and in a very close game to the finish as South Carolina comes within inches of beating the Hogs. The Hog D pulls off a goalline stop with 1:20 remaining in the 4th that gives the Hogs the victory. The Hogs win 41-34.


Week 11
Troy State: The Trojans show up to Fayetteville with nothing but a victory on their minds, thanks to their confident coach that has professed his prediction of a win against the Hogs to anyone and everyone that will listen. Bobby Petrino said before the game that he didn't think the Hogs had a chance with a slight smirk. He even told the team that in the locker room. This of course fired his team up so much that they came out with fire in their eyes, even though they were facing a much inferior team. The Hogs blow the roof off of the Broyles building with the most efficient performance by a QB in Hog history. Kevin Scanlon's numbers don't hold a chance now as Mallet goes nearly perfect with 28-30 for 377 yards and 4 touchdown passes. Hogs win 56-24.


Week 12
Mississippi State: The Dawgs of MSU come to the Rock with hopes of finishing out of the SEC West cellar but leave with their collective tails between their legs. They did keep the game ugly, helped by the heavy sleet and snow, and held the Hog offense to it's lowest point total of the season, however the Hogs showed they could win ugly games as well as the shootouts. The Hog defense showed up ready to go and made MSU coach Dan Mullen wish he had never left the comfort of Tim Tebow's arms at Florida. Mullen may have an offense some day if he ever gets a QB but it won't be this day. The Hogs win in a defensive struggle 13-6.


Week 13
At LSU: This game has SEC West implications for both teams. Arkansas can cause a three way tie with Alabama and LSU if they can find a way to beat the Tigers in Death Valley, and after the 18th tiebreaker if the flip of the coin goes the Hog's way they could go to Atlanta. The game started off well enough as the Hogs established the run game with Michael Smith, Dennis Johnson, Ronnie Wingo, and Broderick Green. The Tigers didn't have an answer for the myriad of backs the Hogs threw at them. The Tigers took a different approach as their quarterback threw for 200 yards in the first half. Mallet seemed to struggle as the crowd noise was deafening, and he never got it going consistently. He did still pass for 268 yards to set the new Hogs season passing mark at 3428 yards. However the Hogs could not stop the Tigers and lost their chance to go to Atlanta as the Tigers won 31-21.


The Hogs finish the regular season 9-3. The Hogs expect a call from the Cotton Bowl but since the SEC got two teams into the BCS Championship game Florida and LSU, and Alabama got into the Sugar Bowl, the Hogs are headed for the Capital One Bowl in Orlando where they will fact the Ohio St. Buckeyes. The Hogs and Buckeyes play a heck of a game with little defense, and lots of offense. The Hogs get screwed on a late offensive pass interference flag on London Crawford. The video showed that he was going for the push on the defender but missed and somehow caught the ball instead. The touchdown was nullified and the Hogs lost the game 37-31.


Hogs finish 9-4 in one of the most exciting seasons in Hog history. This leads up to the 2010 season when the Hogs go to their first BCS bowl game ever since the BCS was created.