There’s two ways to look at it.
First, the positive. The Hogs went toe-to-toe with the preseason 5th-ranked team and popular SEC West champion pick on their vaunted home field. We saw clear adjustments from the BYU loss – more moving the pocket, more of the fake draws that freeze the rush, and more Rashod Dubinion, some personnel changes at receiver and offensive line – and it pretty much all worked. The Hogs posted 426 yards, 25 first downs, and 31 points. Yes, the defense got toasted, but it took awhile, and the toasting came against one of the most accurate quarterbacks in college football. And despite all of the penalties, the Hogs were right there at the end.
So the positive is that if Arkansas plays like this next week, they probably beat Texas A&M. Heck, they might could even beat Ole Miss in Oxford, given how the Rebels looked. The season isn’t a loss, and the SEC is really wide open.
So what’s the negative? Well, it’s a loss. The Hogs gave one away against BYU, so they needed to steal one. They had a chance Saturday, and didn’t get it done. Arkansas was whistled for 11 penalties for 69 yards, most of them on the offensive line. Game management was characteristically poor: the Hogs had used all three second-half timeouts by the first minute of the fourth quarter, leaving them unable to stop the clock in the end. And instead of letting LSU score and giving themselves 1:45 to score themselves, they let the Tigers run the clock out and kick an extra-point-distance field goal for the win.
So the negative is that Arkansas might not play like this next week, and the “so close” would be for nothing. Sam Pittman’s in-game management has made very little progress in the four years he’s been a head coach.
Anyway. This team is much closer to having an offensive identity, and that’s a good thing. They’ll be more fun to watch moving forward.
Other Scores
Texas A&M 27, Auburn 10. Texas A&M’s defense got torched by Miami, and now the offense has a concern at quarterback, as Conner Weigman left this game with an apparent ankle injury. Max Johnson came in and did the typical “backup doesn’t overthink it”, quickly leading a pair of touchdown drives that put the game out of reach. Less the hype train for Johnson get too far down the tracks, note that Johnson is very much a known entity, and he’s not as good as Weigman. Johnson couldn’t hold the starting job in Baton Rouge and has lost it to Weigman in College Station twice: both last November and this spring.
Anyway, the Aggies at least looked great on defense, but that may be a function of the opponent, as Auburn with Payton Thorne is going nowhere fast. The Tigers haven’t looked good on offense at any point this season, and they don’t have a clear option to replace Thorne, unless they want to run the Cadillac Williams offense again with Robby Ashford.
Alabama 24, Ole Miss 10. All the talk from Lane Kiffin coming into this game, just for Ole Miss to put up 301 yards of offense and 10 points. Jalen Milroe isn’t even close to a championship quarterback, and Alabama’s offensive line is merely decent rather than great, but the Tide are going to rely on their defense this year, and that’s all they needed here. Ole Miss had just 56 rushing yards and couldn’t generate any big plays.
South Carolina 37, Mississippi State 30. Mississippi State is a mess. They made the (understandable) decision to move away from the Air Raid, but they’ve realized this year that Will Rogers isn’t actually a good quarterback outside of that system. Rogers threw it 48 times for 487 yards in this one – a welcome change – but State’s defense has also sprung leaks, and Spencer Rattler threw for 288 yards and three touchdowns in a Gamecock win. State has one of the most veteran teams in college football, so struggling to get to 6-6 is a real waste.
Mizzou 34, Memphis 27. Memphis was off to a strong start, but Mizzou’s offense seems to have turned some sort of corner. The black and gold Tigers totaled 543 yards of offense and held off an upset bid.
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