Offensive woes doom Arkansas against Texas A&M
Arkansas was always going to have a tough time matching up with a Bobby Petrino-led Texas A&M offense littered with talented playmakers, but only managing to score one offensive touchdown in a 34-22 defeat showcases the deep-rooted issues head coach Sam Pittman's team is dealing with.
An Arkansas offense that came into the matchup ranked No. 75 in the country in yards per game (384.2) continued to struggle, as the Razorbacks totaled just 174 yards against the Aggies.
In weeks past, the lack of offensive success may have been blamed on penalties. However, the Hogs weren't flagged a single time on the offensive side of the ball during the game. Instead, the unit converted just five third-down attempts on 15 tries.
Even when the offense drove down the field to give kicker Cam Little field goal opportunities, it wasn't pretty.
"I think when you look at it, we weren't any good when we went and scored," Pittman said. "We went and got field goals. We were converting 3rd-and-12 and 3rd-and-8, you know what I mean? We had two ugly plays and a first down then two ugly plays and a first down. So, we never were really in any kind of rhythm. If we got four yards running on first down that was like really, really good.
"I think what happened is we quit converting those third downs. I think we converted our first three in a row, and after that we went on a dry spell. I'm not sure if we didn't convert two more the entire game. Besides the 4th-and-1, most of them were lengthy in yards, six plus. Either we couldn't protect it, we couldn't get open or we couldn't catch it if we got open."
Prior to the game, the Razorbacks ranked 11th in the SEC in sacks allowed with 11 total. The offensive line continued to struggle, as starting quarterback KJ Jefferson was taken down seven times by the Aggies, who had 15 tackles for loss in the game.
"I think part of it is, you know, we're playing pretty good defensive ends, but you're going to play them every week," Pittman said. "They've got good ones. Part of it is that we're young. We got a lot of learning curve to do.
"We do have, in my opinion, the best tackles we have out there. And to be honest with you, sometimes two of them were on a seven-man protection where we're using the backs and tight ends, and they were busting it. They busted it twice and got to us on that."
A result of the poor offensive line play was a lack of a meaningful rushing attack, as the Hogs only scrounged up 42 total yards on the ground. The Razorbacks tried running inside, outside and even utilized counter-runs, but nothing seemed to work against the Aggies' front.
"On our first stretch play, we threw the ball out to the bubble and it was a mile-wide open hole, and we just, you know -- we threw it outside to the bubble," Pittman said. "And got no yards on the play. That's a little bit part of the RPO thing. I wish he had given it at that point. You can't do that. You have to go off of reads and things of that nature. To try to answer your question, we tried everything that we had practiced that we thought would work and it didn't."
If Arkansas wants to finish the season strong, it has to be able to look itself in the mirror and fix the problems at hand. Something about the offense clearly isn't working right now, and reevaluation is needed.
"I mean, you always evaluate what you're doing," Pittman said. "And the thing that is bothersome, because sometimes you go play somebody and they're doing something that you didn't practice. They're putting this spy or whatever it may be; line movement that you didn't practice. What's bothersome about it is we practiced it and what they gave us was we practiced it."
Arkansas will have another shot at getting the offense back on track when it travels to Oxford, Mississippi, next Saturday to take on the Ole Miss Rebels. The game is set to kickoff at 6:30 p.m. CT and it will be broadcast on the SEC Network.