FAYETTEVILLE — There’s no denying that Taylen Green played poorly in Arkansas’ win over UAB, but it did highlight one his best traits as a quarterback.
The leadership that coaches and teammates praised throughout the offseason was certainly tested as he missed on his first five throws, one of which was an ugly interception, and the Razorbacks fell behind 17-3 early.
Green, who also rebounded from a slow start in the opener against UAPB, eventually settled in some later in the game and did enough to help Arkansas stave off the Blazers in a 37-27 win at Razorback Stadium.
“It bothers you, but you’ve got to flush it fast and get back out there,” head coach Sam Pittman said. “I think because of who he is and his leadership skills and all that, I think he lets things go a little bit faster than someone that maybe wasn’t built like him mentally.”
That was the case when he severely under threw a deep ball on the first play of the season and also missed a few other throws before finishing 16 of 23 in the opener — granted, it was against a terrible FCS foe.
There were also a couple of bad throws against Oklahoma State the following week, including missing a wide open wheel route that would have been a touchdown in double overtime, but he accounted for 477 total yards and gained the respect of many neutral observers who tuned into ABC.
Even on Saturday, when he finished just 11 of 26 passing, Green completed 8 of 12 attempts after halftime and also hurt the Blazers with his legs by running for 96 yards and two scores, including the touchdown that sealed the victory.
“He’s going to miss a pass,” Pittman said. “He’s going to miss one Saturday, too. All we can go off is how they perform at practice, and he’s fantastic in practice. … He makes a lot of plays with his feet when we needed it. Obviously, the last touchdown was well-blocked up, but he’s fast, and got around there and scored.”
It also wasn’t all his fault. The bad throws stand out more than other mistakes, but Pittman was sure to point out that some of Green’s receivers didn’t exactly help him out.
While Pro Football Focus credited the Razorbacks with only two drops, their in-house number was much higher.
“We can run the ball, probably need to run it more, but we can also throw it,” Pittman said. “We just weren’t quite as accurate. Didn’t run as good of routes as we could have and we dropped five balls.”
One thing is for certain: There is no quarterback controversy at Arkansas three games into the season. As Green racked up incompletion after incompletion Saturday, there were naturally some groans in the stadium and calls for backup Malachi Singleton on social media, but that was seemingly never a thought for those actually on the field.
“At the end of the day, we’re a team, so when one of us has an off day, it’s up to the 10 other guys to pick them up,” right guard Joshua Braun said after the game. “With Taylen, he’s our guy, man. He’s our leader, so when he needs us, we’ve got to be there for him.”
Other Sam Pittman Presser Tidbits
Here are a few other quotes, not verbatim, from Sam Pittman’s weekly press conference looking back at the UAB win and previewing the Arkansas vs Auburn game…
- On Auburn’s offense: Auburn has a really good team. Very physical on the OL. Obviously Hunter is a great running back. Their QB, Brown, had an exceptional game and can really sling the ball.
- On Auburn’s defense: Defensively, a little different than what Durkin was at A&M. A lot of odd, three down. A lot of blitzing. They’re using their jack linebacker really well. Great corner in Scott and safeties. They run to the ball and look like an SEC team.
- On his film assessment from the UAB game: Schematically, we just didn’t play well at all. They had the ball most of the first half. We just didn’t play well defensively, especially in the first half and pretty much the entire game. DIdn’t tackle well, missed assignments. Offensively, we can run the ball and probably need to run it more, but we can also throw it. We just didn’t throw it and didn’t run great route, plus dropped five balls.
- On the usage of Luke Hasz: We certainly have targeted plays for him. We understand the value in him and try to get him the ball. Tried to get Gumms the ball, as well. We understand what we have in him. It just didn’t work out last week as much.
- On the differences between Auburn QBs Payton Thorne and Hank Brown: With Thorne, it was more of a zone read, counter read. They threw more RPOs with Brown. It’s the same principle. With Thorne, they ran or kept it more. That’s really the difference. They didn’t change a whole lot schematically. They did a little more dropback with Brown last week.
- On Travis Williams returning to his alma mater: Obviously the whole team knows he played there and he’s well liked in the building. We didn’t play well, so we have to get that fixed. If that’s a little extra motivation, we’ll certainly take it.
- On left tackle Fernando Carmona: He plays extremely hard. He’s a great run blocker. He’s a good pass blocker, but just needs to be consistent with his hands. He’s one of the leaders on the offensive line.
- On Amaury Wiggins filling in for Addison Nichols at center: For his first game, I’d say he was fine. He made some mistakes. We’re going to look at others, as well, to see if we can have a competition there. Certainly we’d like to have Nichols back, but we need a competition for the No. 2 center.
- On Luke Hasz’s blocking: He certainly has improved his blocking. He’s always had the will, but he’s improved his technique and hands. He’s more comfortable in blocking.
- On what needs to improve on defense: We have to be better in the immediate flat area. Our eyes weren’t good. They’ve got to get better. Those things aren’t going to show up much if we can get them on the ground. We missed some tackles.
Watch the full Arkansas football press conference here:
Arkansas Football Injury Report
Here’s the latest on several players who are dealing with injuries ahead of the Arkansas vs Auburn game…
- CB Hudson Clark (back): Hurt his back early in the OSU game… Pittman said he is “doubtful” vs. Auburn after missing the UAB game
- CB Jaylon Braxton (tendinitis): Held out of the UAB game, but Pittman said he “anticipates” him being able to play against Auburn
- C Addison Nichols (ankle): Left the UAB game after three plays because of a high ankle sprain he was already dealing with… Pittman said he’s doing better Monday than last Thursday, so he anticipates him being able to play against Auburn
- OL Patrick Kutas (back): Will miss his fourth straight game against Auburn
- DB Miguel Mitchell (undisclosed): DNP the first three weeks… Not clear if it’s injury related or not… Pittman said previously that he’s “out for right now”
- DB Jaden Allen (knee): Pittman said the freshman had “cartilage repair” done on his knee and that he’s not expected to play this season.
- LB Justin Logan (shoulder): After being limited and wearing a green non-contact jersey during the spring, Pittman said he probably won’t play this season.
- OL Zuri Madison (ACL): Missed the spring and will miss the 2024 season with a torn ACL suffered in a scooter accident.
Arkansas vs Auburn Depth Chart
Here is the official depth chart for the Arkansas vs Auburn game, from the UA’s game notes…
Offense
| POS | First | Second | More |
|---|---|---|---|
| QB | Taylen Green | Malachi Singleton | KJ Jackson Blake Boda |
| RB | Ja’Quinden Jackson | Rodney Hill | Braylen Russell Rashod Dubinion Tyrell Reed |
| TE | Luke Hasz | Ty Washington | Var’keyes Gumms Andreas Paaske |
| WR-Z | Tyrone Broden | Jordan Anthony -OR- CJ Brown | Davion Dozier |
| WR-X | Andrew Armstrong | Monte Harrison | |
| WR-W | Isaiah Sategna | Isaac TeSlaa | Khafre Brown |
| LT | Fernando Carmona Jr. | E’Marion Harris | |
| LG | E’Marion Harris | Brooks Edmonson | |
| C | Addison Nichols | Amaury Wiggins | |
| RG | Joshua Braun | Ty’Kieast Crawford | |
| RT | Keyshawn Blackstock | Joe More |
Changes from last week:
- The only change on the Arkansas football offensive depth chart is at left guard, where Harris is now listed as the starter after previously being listed with an “or” alongside Patrick Kutas. Kutas, who is still dealing with a back injury, has been completely removed from the depth chart. Walk-on Brooks Edmonson is now listed as the backup.
Defense
| POS | First | Second | More |
|---|---|---|---|
| DE | Landon Jackson | Quincy Rhodes Jr. | |
| DT | Cam Ball | Keivie Rose | Danny Saili |
| DT | Eric Gregory | Ian Geffrard | |
| DE | Nico Davillier -OR- Anton Juncaj | ||
| LB | Brad Spence | Stephen Dix Jr. | Alex Sanford |
| LB | Xavian Sorey Jr. | Anthony Switzer -OR- Bradley Shaw | |
| NB | Doneiko Slaughter | Tevis Metcalf | |
| CB | Marquise Robinson -OR- Jaheim Singletary -OR- Kee’yon Stewart | ||
| S | TJ Metcalf | Hudson Clark | Ahkhari Johnson |
| S | Jayden Johnson | Larry Worth III | |
| CB | Jaylon Braxton | Selman Bridges |
Changes from last week:
- There are no changes to the defensive depth chart, but it’s worth noting that Braxton was listed as the starter last week even though he was held out with an injury. Instead, both Robinson and Singletary started.
Special Teams
| POS | First | Second |
|---|---|---|
| K | Kyle Ramsey | Matthew Shipley |
| P | Devin Bale | Sam Dubwig |
| KO | Devin Bale | |
| LS | Ashton Ngo | Max Schmidly |
| H | Devin Bale | Sam Dubwig |
| KR | Isaiah Sategna | Rodney Hill |
| PR | Isaiah Sategna | Bryce Stephens |
Changes from last week:
- The only change to the special teams depth chart was the elimination of “or” between Ramsey and Shipley.
- It’s also worth noting that Hill took over the kickoff return duties following UAB’s first kickoff of the game Saturday.
How to Watch Arkansas vs Auburn
Date: Saturday, Sept. 21
Location: Jordan-Hare Stadium (Auburn, Ala.)
Kickoff time (TV): 2:30 p.m. CT (ESPN)
Commentators: Mark Jones (play-by-play), Roddy Jones (analyst), Quint Kessenich (sideline reporter)
ESPN FPI: Auburn has a 58.6% chance to win.
Odds/Betting Line: Auburn, -3.5 | O/U 58.5 (BetSaracen)
***
More coverage of Arkansas football and Arkansas vs UAB from BoAS…
