Despite causing more turnovers and posting more yards, Arkansas couldn’t finish the job against Texas A&M. After a dreadful game last weekend against San Jose State, the Hogs were competent yesterday against the Aggies and looked like a team that could compete in the SEC.
Like every game, there was good…and there was bad. Here are the trending stocks for the Hogs after the Texas A&M game.
Trending Up
1) Play Calling and Offense:
Arkansas looked a lot more like how Arkansas should look under Chad Morris, despite the Hogs going more pass heavy against the Aggies than normal. Fans saw jet sweeps, triple screens, and passes down field. Morris’s offense averaged four yards per carry and 11 yards per catch. It was actually fun to watch. Arkansas totaled more yards than A&M on offense, posting 395 yards compared to the Aggies 340.
The Hogs still struggled to convert on third down (5 of 13) but they averaged 6.4 yards per first down play, which is a great step in the right direction. And it took a timeout to figure out but Arkansas converted on 4th and 2 in the fourth quarter with a pass play, which was a smart call.
Red zone play calling on both ends of the field was a little more questionable but hindsight is 20/20.
2) Rushing Defense and QB Pressure:
The Aggies came into this game with already low rushing numbers and the Hogs defense didn’t let the trend break. After giving up an average of 163 yards on the ground the two previous games, the Razorbacks held the Texas A&M Aggies to just 89 total rushing yards.
The Razorback defensive line was able to disrupt the Aggie offense heavily and notched 20 pressures on Kellen Mond, which was more than Clemson in Week 2 and equal to Auburn in Week 4. Two of the Razorbacks sacks came on blitz packages but two were under normal pressure. The Hogs were also blitzing when Mond threw his end zone interception.
3) Competition and effort:
Arkansas showed that they would fight when their backs were against the wall. They didn’t fold in the wake of a turnover or when their starting quarterback got hurt. Yes, they lost the game, but the Hogs did show guts and a will to fight, providing competition all the way to the end. This is a recipe for success, which will hopefully come sooner than later. There were only a few plays where we didn't see maximum effort, including the 22-yard touchdown catch and run by Quartney Davis.
Trending Down
1) Red Zone Offense
Arkansas was 50 percent in red zone. Even though the Razorbacks scored on half their trips to the red zone, the offense looked stagnant. Both of the red zone touchdowns came from over 10-yards out. One more successful trip in the red zone could have resulted in a different outcome to the game. Arkansas needs to utilize their playmakers like C.J. O’Grady, Treylon Burks, or Rakeem Boyd more near the goal line.
Arkansas is now sitting at 65% on the season in red zone success...which is tied for 124th in the nation and their red zone touchdown percentage is just 44%, tied for 117th in the nation.
2) Pass Defense
Once again Arkansas’ young secondary wasn’t great, now averaging 286 yards through the air over the last three games. The Hogs let Aggie QB Kellen Mond pass for 251 yards and three touchdowns with one interception. Arkansas's defenders all graded in the 60s or below in coverage, with starting corner Montaric Brown bringing in the rear with Bumper Pool. Brown and Pool each had critical defensive pass interference call. All three of Arkansas's linebackers gave up catches each time they were targeted.
The most critical was third down conversions. Jhamon Ausbon caught seven balls for Texas A&M. Six of those seven were first downs. Every time the Aggies needed a first down, they threw to Ausbon, who averaged 11.7 yards per catch on the night.
3) Execution
Arkansas has to find a way to win games and they do that by executing. It doesn’t matter if they can stick around if they can’t pull it out in the end. Whether its costly penalties on last minute drives, the offensive line allowing pressure, dropped balls or bad throws, Arkansas needs to execute better to pull out a win.
Arkansas will have bye next week before taking on the Kentucky Wildcats in Lexington. This will be the first matchup with the Wildcats since the Hogs dominated them back in 2012. Kickoff time between the Razorbacks and Wildcats will be announced on Monday.
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