The Razorbacks got to 2-1 with a 37-27 win over UAB, but the victory feels underwhelming. The Hogs trailed 10-0 in the first quarter and 17-3 in the second, but outscored the Blazers 34-10 after that, not putting the game away until the closing minutes.
The Arkansas offense was mostly fine: after an ugly interception on the opening drive, the Hogs’ final eight drives of the game produced scoring opportunities (that is, got a first down inside the UAB 40). The Hogs closed those with four touchdowns, three made field goals, and one missed field goal. Taylen Green completed just 11 of 26 passes, missing numerous open receivers but creating a lot of offense with his legs. Ja’Quinden Jackson was excellent, rushing 15 times for 147 yards and a score.
The Hogs only had nine drives because they struggled to keep UAB’s offense off the field. The Blazers held the ball for almost 33 minutes, using an efficient combination of the run game and the short passing game to attack the Hog defense underneath. The Razorbacks missed a lot of tackles and failed to disrupt the UAB offense for most of the game.
Two perspectives
Just like after the Oklahoma State game, there are two perspectives here, one positive and one negative.
The positive perspective is that an underwhelming 37-27 win over a weak opponent isn’t necessarily a cause for concern, if you look historically. For example, the final score is almost identical to Arkansas’ 38-28 win over Troy in 2011, another game in Week 3 where the Hogs had to leave their starters in for the full game against a weak opponent from the state of Alabama. That team went to to have an 11-2 season with a win in the Cotton Bowl. There are plenty of other examples. This game was sandwiched between two big games, so it was hard for Arkansas to match the intensity we saw last week, or even to match UAB’s intensity.
The negative perspective is that the Hogs continue to have glaring weaknesses. The defensive line, thought to be a team strength, has struggled to get consistent pressure on the quarterback. The Hogs didn’t sack Alan Bowman last week (understandable given that the Cowboy line is pretty good), but the only sack on Saturday game from blitzing linebacker Brad Spence, and the Hogs didn’t seriously affect the passer until the final drive. Beyond sacks and pressures, the Hog defense just isn’t forcing much chaos at all. Through three games, Arkansas has forced just two turnovers, and both were at the end of a half and led to no points. Bobby Petrino’s offense is having to work for its points.
Of course, Petrino’s offense isn’t totally innocent either. Green’s accuracy is all over the place, but he’s lost a lot of yards to drops. Arkansas entered the game with the second most “drop yards” (lost passing yardage due to drops) in the SEC, and that definitely got worse on Saturday. Tyrone Broden failed to record a catch despite several targets, and you could charge him with two or possibly three drops. If he can’t hold onto the ball, the Hogs need to give those snaps to someone else. CJ Brown played some snaps on the outside, but he dropped a perfect pass right on his hands that ended up killing a drive. At this point, Andrew Armstrong is the only reliable receiver for Green; at one point in the fourth quarter, Green had nine completions: seven to Armstrong and two to Isaiah Sategna. That’s not going to cut it.
And Arkansas’ bizarre trend of bad football in Fayetteville might be concerning too. Since the 2022 Liberty loss, the Hogs have mostly played horrible in front of home fans. The Razorbacks went 0-3 in SEC play in Fayetteville last year (losses to Mississippi State, Auburn, and Mizzou, the latter two in blowout fashion) and also a loss to BYU and an ugly 28-6 win over Kent State.
If playing in Fayetteville is an issue, it won’t be a problem for the next two games. The Hogs are at Auburn next week and in JerryWorld the week after that.
As with last week, I sort of think that the right perspective is a little bit of both. This was a trap game and it’s not surprising that Arkansas didn’t have a ton of intensity, but there are also concerning issues.
Green’s accuracy issues
Green completed just 11 of 26 passes against UAB. Although drops caused some issues, many of his throws were way off line. Petrino’s passing scheme is as excellent as Hog fans remember, and the Razorbacks have had receivers running wide open in all three games this season, but Green’s ability to actually find those receivers has been streaky.
Clint Stoerner, for his part, has continued to beat the drum that Green’s accuracy is a major issue:
In a follow up, Stoerner made a very good point: very little of Arkansas’ offensive production has come within the system. A good example came on the opening drive of the third quarter. Facing third-and-2 at the UAB 31, Petrino pulled a classic Petrino and dialed up a deep fade for tight end Ty Washington, in a play almost identical to Chris Gragg’s crazy catch in the 2008 UL Monroe game. Although Washington was open, Green instead chose to scramble, converting the first down with his legs. The play worked, but it wasn’t within the design of the offense.
A possible counter-argument to that would be that Petrino has intentionally designed his offense to not be over-designed. Part of the reason Petrino had so much success with Lamar Jackson – and others who tried to replicate it were unsuccessful – was that Petrino let Jackson’s athleticism work for him. He’s clearly trying to do the same thing with Green. If that means that open receivers occasionally are passed up, it’s worth it as long as Green’s athleticism continues to make the offense work.
Of course, accuracy is a known issue for Green. I wrote about it in my deep dive into Green’s game when he first committed to the Hogs:
This is a high-risk, high-reward pickup. If Petrino has another great quarterback development in him, Green has the potential to be an elite player who is a perfect fit for what Arkansas wants. He does a ton of things well: excellent on designed runs, excellent at evading pressure, and capable of getting the ball out quickly and pushing it down the field. Those traits make him a perfect fit for a Power Spread offense.
The accuracy is what has to improve. Without it, the Hogs might can have a decent run game and hit a few big passing plays, but they won’t be able to consistently move the football and drive the secondary back.
That last part is what we just saw against UAB. The Hogs hit some throws down the field and ran it just fine, but missed throws and drops kept the passing game from looking good. If the Razorback aerial attack looks like that against Auburn, the Hogs probably don’t win.
Other scores of note
LSU 36, South Carolina 33. Rocket Sanders finally had a breakout (19 carries for 143 yards) but it wasn’t enough for the Gamecocks in a close loss.
UCF 35, TCU 34. Down 31-13 in the second half against his former offensive coordinator Kendal Briles, KJ Jefferson led a masterful comeback, throwing for 230 yards and rushing for 46.
Auburn 45, New Mexico 19. After a very slow start, the Tigers ran away from the Lobos in the second half. Expect them to stick with redshirt freshman QB Hank Brown, who played the entire game.
Toledo 41, Mississippi State 17. This really feels like Arkansas’ 44-17 loss to North Texas in Chad Morris’s first year. I thought Jeff Lebby was a pretty bad hire but State looks awful. The Hogs absolutely cannot lose in Starkville this year.
Texas A&M 33, Florida 20. I think this more “Florida bad” than “Texas A&M good”, but we’ll see as the season goes on. Next week’s Florida-Mississippi State showdown should be plenty pitiful.
Thanks for reading! Be sure to follow us on Twitter and on Facebook.
The latest from Fayette Villains, straight to your inbox
Enter your email to subscribe and receive new post alerts and other updates. You can unsubscribe at any time.