FAYETTEVILLE — Watching Arkansas football games isn’t for the faint of heart.
Even with a midseason coaching change, the Razorbacks have continued their recent tradition of playing (and losing) close games. Both of Bobby Petrino’s games since being tabbed the interim coach have been decided by 3 points, giving Arkansas four one-score losses this season.
While this has been agonizing for fans of the cardinal and white, neutral observers have been treated to arguably the most entertaining college football in the country.
Some prefer stout defense and low-scoring games, but most want to see explosive plays and a lot of points — something Arkansas has supplied in spades this year.
Not only do the Razorbacks lead the SEC and rank fourth nationally in total offense at 513.7 yards per game, they’re also giving up 443.9 yards. That is dead last in the conference and 127th out of 136 FBS teams.
Arkansas’ elite offense paired with an abysmal defense means the total give and take in its games averages a whopping 957.6 yards. That narrowly edges out Air Force (956.2) for the most in the country and is more than 50 yards more than the next-closest Power Four team (Tennessee, 901.9).
It hasn’t been a grind-it-out style of play, either.
The Razorbacks’ 141 plays of 10-plus yards on offense are seven more than any other team and they’ve allowed 123 such plays, which ranks ahead of only Kent State (124) and Georgia Southern (126).
There’s a good chance that whenever someone flips on an Arkansas game, even if they’re channel surfing and don’t stay long, they’ll see a big play of some sort.
Arkansas Needs Perfection on Offense
Arkansas fans certainly want the defense to be at least marginally better.
With even just an average defense, the Razorbacks would likely be 6-1 and in the College Football Playoff race. Alas, the entertaining nature of the games has kept them from completely jumping ship amid a 2-5 start.
Despite bad weather that forced a two-hour delay and a four-game losing streak by the home team, Razorback Stadium was mostly full and lively for the latest heartbreak, a 45-42 shootout loss to No. 4 Texas A&M. That came a week after a 34-31 loss at No. 12 Tennessee.
Quarterback Taylen Green deserves a lot of credit for keeping Arkansas in those games. Of course, he also frequently gets blamed for the losses because of mistakes.
Against the Volunteers, it was a pair of costly fumbles. Against the Aggies, he took multiple sacks on which Petrino said he would have preferred to see his quarterback simply throw the ball away. A 20-yard loss to start a drive midway through the fourth quarter was particularly back-breaking, prompting a three-and-out after Texas A&M went up by 10.
There have been numerous occasions this season, including Saturday, when Green managed to escape and run for large gains after running backward. It’s a major reason he’s already ran for 589 yards and is on pace to shatter Matt Jones’ single-season record for rushing yards by an Arkansas quarterback.
“It’s a fine line,” Petrino said. “You don’t want to take away his instincts and athletic ability, but he does need to understand the situations of the game.”
Unfortunately for Green, he has no wiggle room for errors. Because the defense has struggled so much, the fifth-year senior — and the offense as a whole — has to play perfect for the Razorbacks to have a chance.
That means turning red zone trips into points, which they have done at a higher rate (83.3%) than every FBS team except Navy (84.0%). Two of Arkansas’ five failures came against Texas A&M, when it settled for field goals inside the 5-yard line.
“What we need to do now is be a little bit more consistent driving the ball and scoring touchdowns when we get in the red zone,” Petrino said. “When we have to settle for a field goal and take three points, I think it really hurts our opportunity to win.”
Petrino Gaining Public Sentiment
One-score losses are nothing new for Arkansas. It has the nation’s worst winning percentage in those games since 2012 (.274, 17-45) and Sam Pittman’s inability to flip those into wins were a major reason behind his firing last month. In fact, 19 of his 34 losses were by eight points or less.
The trend has continued under Bobby Petrino, but public sentiment seems to be more positive about his two losses.
Those wearing rose-colored glasses look at how the games have played out and argue that his side of the ball is doing its job. He can’t be blamed, they say, for the horrible defense he inherited and had no role in building.
Petrino’s first act as interim coach was to fire defensive coordinator Travis Williams and two other defensive assistants, but there’s nothing he can do about the defensive personnel. He’s forced to play the same players who were giving up yards and points in droves earlier in the year.
“We still have some assignment issues that open up big plays, explosive plays for them,” Petrino said. “Although we were getting to the football, we missed more tackles than we did the previous week at Tennessee, which was a thing we tried to build on and actually went in the wrong direction.”
Each of the Razorbacks’ last five opponents have gained at least 475 yards. Perhaps they can flip that narrative with their next four opponents being in the bottom half of the SEC in total offense.
Getting to the quarterback and forcing some turnovers would help in that regard, especially since they haven’t had any of the latter in their four games against Power Four opponents this season.
“As the young kids say, we haven’t had a turnover in a minute, whatever the heck that means,” Petrino said. “My grandkids say it’s been a minute. I’m like, a minute? Feels like a year.”
It’s possible that doesn’t happen and Arkansas continues to lose shootout after shootout. Even in that case, a segment of the fan base will want to hand the full-time reins over to Petrino and give him an opportunity to improve that unit as a complement to his elite offense.
Other Bobby Petrino Presser Tidbits
Here are a few other quotes, not verbatim, from Bobby Petrino’s weekly press conference looking back at the Texas A&M loss and previewing the Arkansas vs. Auburn game:
- On Arkansas’ offense vs. Texas A&M: Offensively, I thought we executed at a pretty high level. The O-line did a nice job, particularly run blocking. Our receivers blocked well downfield. That’s why we got some huge, explosive runs. Passing game, we were pretty efficient with where we were supposed to be on our routes and timing. They got us some with their pass rush late.
- On Arkansas’ defense vs. Texas A&M: Defensively, we played with a lot of effort. We couldn’t get off the field. If we could get one of those fourth-down stops or limit them to a field goal, then we have a chance to win.
- On his relationship with Auburn coach Hugh Freeze: I know Coach Freeze pretty well. When he was at Arkansas State, I hired one of his guys away – Kevin Peoples. He was really professional about it.
- On any freshmen D-linemen who might step up moving forward: That’s a conversation we’re going to have later today. We have two practices on film with the freshmen and young guys. They were competing hard last night. Our pitch count is pretty high for the defensive line, so we’re trying to rotate some guys in and keep them fresh.
- On Auburn’s offense: They’ve been struggling with their offense. They ran the ball well last week, though. They have a receiver (Cam Coleman) we really have to understand where he’s lined up. He’s very, very special. We actually had him committed to us at A&M. He’s as good as any receiver in the country.
- On the confidence of Arkansas’ offense: Our guys are very confident and have executed at a high level, particularly against two good defenses in Tennessee and Texas A&M. We get another challenge this week with Auburn coming in. We have to do a great job of preparation this week.
- On the atmosphere against Texas A&M: The crowd was awesome. To have the changed time and the amount of rain that came down, I was wondering if people were going to come. We needed the home field advantage and they came out. I know it motivated our players and they felt it. That’s a credit to our fans.
- On Arkansas’ offensive line: They’ve done a nice job. It starts with our center being able to understand the offense and make the calls. They’ve done a nice job of working together. They do a good job of pushing each other. They take a lot of pride in it and when there’s a mistake, they address it amongst themselves.
- On Taylen Green’s leadership: He leads in a number of ways, on and off the field. He’s a good role model for a lot of players on our team. Then he goes out there and competes and shows toughness and poise. He’s able to overcome a bad decision here or there, learn from it and go move the team. He’s an easy one to point to as the leader of our offense.
- On offensive line coach Eric Mateos: He’s done a great job recruiting the players we have coming in and the ones we were able to keep, you have to recruit even harder. I like the depth we have. We have a good young crew coming up, so there’s some stability there.
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:
- DT Danny Saili (undisclosed): Missed the Texas A&M game with an undisclosed injury. … Petrino is still unsure of his status this week, but did say he participated in Sunday’s conditioning work.
- DT David Oke (undisclosed): Missed the Tennessee and Texas A&M games. … Petrino said last week that he “will be out for a little bit,” but said Monday that he participated in Sunday’s conditioning work. … Unclear what this injury is, but he missed the first two games of the year because of a knee injury suffered in fall camp. … Has appeared in only three games, so a redshirt is still on the table.
- DB Quentavius Scandrett (undisclosed): Missed the Tennessee and Texas A&M games because of an undisclosed injury. … No update on his status Monday.
- TE Andreas Paaske (back): Out for the year after undergoing season-ending back surgery. … Having played in five games, he is not eligible for a medical redshirt, which means his collegiate career is likely over.
- WR Jalen Brown (leg): Suffered a broken leg (fibula and tibia) against Notre Dame. … Had season-ending surgery.
- WR Monte Harrison (foot): Suffered a broken foot against Arkansas State. … Opted to have surgery, likely ending his season.
- WR Ismael Cisse (wrist): The Stanford transfer will miss the entire season after suffering a wrist injury in the weight room that required surgery this summer.
Arkansas vs. Auburn Depth Chart
Offense
| POS | First | Second | Other |
|---|---|---|---|
| QB | Taylen Green | KJ Jackson | Trever Jackson Grayson Wilson |
| RB | Mike Washington | Braylen Russell | Rodney Hill AJ Green |
| FB | Maddox Lassiter | ||
| TE-H | Rohan Jones | ||
| TE-Y | Jaden Platt | ||
| WR-X | O’Mega Blake | Andy Jean | Ja’Kayden Ferguson |
| WR-W | Raylen Sharpe | Kam Shanks | |
| WR-Z | CJ Brown | Courtney Crutchfield | |
| LT | Corey Robinson II | Kavion Broussard | |
| LG | Fernando Carmona Jr. | Blake Cherry | |
| C | Caden Kitler | Kash Courtney | Brooks Edmonson |
| RG | Kobe Branham | Marcus Dumervil | LJ Prudhomme |
| RT | E’Marion Harris | Shaq McRoy |
Notes…
- There are no changes on the offensive depth chart.
Defense
| POS | First | Second | Other |
|---|---|---|---|
| DE | Quincy Rhodes Jr. | Charlie Collins | Frank Mulipola |
| DT | Cam Ball | Keyshawn Blackstock | Kevin Oatis |
| DT | Ian Geffrard | Danny Saili | |
| DE | Justus Boone -OR- | Phillip Lee | Kavion Henderson |
| LB | Stephen Dix Jr. | Bradley Shaw | Wyatt Simmons -OR- Andrew Harris |
| LB | Xavian Sorey Jr. | Trent Whalen | Tavion Wallace |
| NB | Jordan Young | Shakur Smalls | |
| CB | Julian Neal | Selman Bridges -OR- | Keshawn Davila |
| S | Miguel Mitchell -OR- | Caleb Wooden | |
| S | Larry Worth III | Quentavius Scandrett | |
| CB | Kani Walker | Jaheim Singletary |
Notes …
- There are no changes on the defensive depth chart.
- There is still an “or” between Boone and Lee. However, Collins got the nod last week against Texas A&M.
- There is still an “or” between Mitchell and Wooden, but the latter has started the last six games.
Special Teams
| POS | First | Second |
|---|---|---|
| K | Scott Starzyk | Charlie Von Der Meden |
| P | Devin Bale | Gavin Rush |
| KO | Devin Bale | Charlie Von Der Meden |
| LS | Ashton Ngo | Zach Haber |
| H | Devin Bale | Gavin Rush |
| KR | Rodney Hill | Markeylin Batton |
| PR | Kam Shanks | Raylen Sharpe |
Notes …
- There are no changes on the special teams depth chart.
How to Watch Arkansas vs Auburn
Date: Saturday, Oct. 25
Location: Razorback Stadium (Fayetteville, Ark.)
Kickoff time (TV): 11:45 a.m. CT (SEC Network)
Commentators: Dave Neal (play-by-play), Fozzy Whitaker (color analyst), Morgan Uber (sideline reporter)
ESPN FPI: Arkansas has an 50.7% chance to win.
Odds/Betting Line: Auburn, -1 | O/U 57.5 (BetSaracen)
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