Perspective is important, and complaining about a 28-6 win is certainly better than complaining about a loss to a MAC team. The 2015 team has a lot of parallels to this one: a veteran quarterback, Dan Enos in his first season as offensive coordinator, a MAC opponent in Week 2, Sam Pittman on staff, and a surprising inability of a run-heavy offense to run the ball well.
Except, the 2015 team lost to its MAC opponent. Toledo stunned the Hogs in Little Rock. That team would turn around in Week 3 and rush for 228 yards against Texas Tech and wouldn’t really struggle to run it for the rest of the year. We’ll see if the Hogs can do the same against BYU next week.
As we’ll see in the Box Score Breakdown, the Hogs didn’t actually run the ball that badly. They posted a success rate north of 50% and averaged an excellent 3.19 line-yards per rush. They just didn’t get any big runs. Again, fans need to get used to that, as big runs are not a feature of Dan Enos’s offense the way they were a feature of Kendal Briles’s.
That means Arkansas is going to need better passing games from KJ Jefferson, who was more mediocre against Kent State after a very strong performance in the opener. Arkansas’ offense in general will need to be much better against BYU, a team capable of putting up some points.
Other Scores
Texas 34, Alabama 24. The problem with the whole “Texas is back” thing is that it is ultimately self-confirming: the very existence of the narrative encourages its eventual fulfillment. In this era of money-driven media, no national brand like Texas will ever fully die. It’s a shame that Nebraska missed the window on this by just a few years; had the Cornhuskers’ decline began in the 2010s rather than the late 2000s, they would have been buoyed by the constant support of the “Is Nebraska back?” narrative every season that reminds recruits and fans that they are supposed to be good.
Anyway, Texas was much better than Alabama on Saturday, and the Tide were lucky to only lose by ten. Seeing a Nick Saban-coached team essentially running a Malik Hornsby offense is bizarre, but Alabama is a long way from competing with Georgia.
Miami 48, Texas A&M 33. It was never really about Jimbo’s playcalling, was it? Bobby Petrino’s offense was fine – its downfall is that the offensive line is subpar (a problem given that Petrino’s offense is susceptible to a strong pass-rush) and QB Conner Weigman is merely good rather than great – but there is zero excuse for the Aggies surrendering nearly 400 passing yards to Miami.
My new favorite theory is that Alabama, Clemson, and Ohio State look less imposing defensively because Texas A&M has stockpiled so many elite defensive linemen – the most important position to have freak athletes – that other bluebloods don’t have them. And of course, A&M is simply wasting them.
Anyway, the big question by the time the Hogs go to Arlington is how interested are A&M’s well-paid five-stars in even playing the game? The Aggies have known cultural issues, so it will be interesting to see what happens to Jimbo Fisher’s big contract if his team just quits playing hard. I would guess that Petrino’s ass-chewing style won’t go over quite so well if the team is mediocre.
Mississippi State 31, Arizona 24 (OT) and Auburn 14, Cal 10. The SEC avoided total calamity with two wins over Pac-12 schools; the first two losses suffered by the Pac-12 this year. Neither win was impressive – Auburn in particular has offensive issues much more serious than Arkansas – but both are happy to have a Power 5 win on the resume.
Mizzou 23, MTSU 19 and Tennessee 30, Austin Peay 13. The Hogs didn’t look sharp, but these two teams looked worse. The Vols were tied late in the second quarter and Mizzou was never comfortable. Joe Milton has been unimpressive so far. Have opponents finally adjusted to Josh Heupel’s offense, or was Jaylin Hyatt the real power behind the throne in Knoxville?
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