Hogs focused on turning FGs into TDs

FAYETTEVILLE — It’s can be hard to nitpick an offense that just dropped 40 points and 333 rushing yards on a top-15 team, but Arkansas was not perfect in its demolition of Texas.

As good as they were, the Razorbacks left points on the field when they had to settle for four field goals, including three inside the 10-yard line. Had they cashed in with touchdowns instead, the final score would have looked much worse for the Longhorns than 40-21.

It gave freshman kicker Cam Little an opportunity to shine on a big stage, but head coach Sam Pittman said missed assignments doomed each of the four drives that ended in three points instead of seven.

“I knew the answer, but I asked them to do a study of the four drives that we kicked field goals on, and every one of them ended up on mental assignments,” Pittman said. “We have to clean that up. When we go out and play an SEC team, we have to get those seven points any time we have an opportunity."

The Razorbacks, like most teams, already prioritize red zone efficiency, but Pittman said they have put an even bigger emphasis on that this week as they prepare for Saturday’s matchup with Georgia Southern.

Although he didn’t single anyone out, Pittman said the overarching theme of the missed assignments were in the blocking game - both along the offensive line and at skill positions. Not only have they reviewed those mistakes on film, but they also spent two periods in Tuesday’s practice addressing them with additional reps.

“Part of that is we had some young kids in the game at the time and it was a learning experience for them, but I'd rather them learn in practice and be right in the game,” Pittman said. “We're going to be better there. We means all of us, not just the young man that made the mistake.”

Despite struggling to finish those drives with touchdowns, Arkansas has actually been one of the best red zone teams in the country through two weeks. Officially, it has scored on 10 of 11 trips inside the 20-yard line, but that includes final possession against Texas that ended with kneel downs.

If you exclude that drive, the Razorbacks would be one of only four FBS teams to be perfect on 10 or more red zone trips. However, four of those ended in field goals - including the aforementioned three inside the 10 against Texas.

Arkansas has shown it is capable of moving the ball down the field through two weeks, but left tackle Myron Cunningham pointed to turning those field goals into touchdowns as an area of focus moving forward.

“We talked about it, definitely, during the game,” Cunningham said. “We just have to focus on finishing those drives. Especially if our defense sets us up how they did during the Texas game, we can’t go out there and have a three-and-out and settle for a field goal. We get down in the red zone, we have to score.”

The Razorbacks will get another chance to do just that Saturday when they host Georgia Southern. Kickoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. CT and the game will be televised on the SEC Network.