The loudest cheers from the fans inside Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium on Saturday came for the Frisbee-catching canine who tickled young and old alike by leaping to grasp the orange discs thrown by its human during prolonged breaks in play in Arkansas’ first proper home game of the season against Alabama-Birmingham.
It was hard to blame the fans, really. The reason they came to cheer provided encouragement in only spurts. Arkansas’ ultimately dispatched UAB, a school in such dire straits that it didn’t even field a football team, 37-27, though only about three-quarters of the 75,000-plus who came to watch stuck around for the ending. Razorbacks sports information folks did provide the note that the number of tickets sold marked the largest crowd at DWRRS for a home opener since Southern California in 2006, anyway.
Tough to say whether the Hogs will reach such a mark again. Ja’Quinden Jackson was nearly the only thing that could be considered an obvious bright spot against a lower-tier team in the American Athletic Conference, though kudos to Andrew Armstrong, whose eight catches for 137 yards are SEC-No.-1-receiver worthy.
“For whatever reason we were off,” coach Sam Pittman said. “Teams that are good, they find a way to win no matter who you play. Fortunately, we found a run game that bailed us out of it.”
The flip side is that Arkansas did nothing terribly, either. The defense allowed 27 points to a team that scored six against Louisiana-Monroe, but never looked overpowered. The offense, outside of Jackson’s rushing game (147 yards and a touchdown), ran like my 1984 Chevrolet Silverado in cold weather: press on the accelerator too hard when it’s cold and it’d die, but when it was going, it went with some giddyup. A perfect microcosm: Taylen Green’s insurance touchdown with less than four minutes left came after a fumble he nearly let UAB pick up.
Arkansas vs UAB Not Quite a Resounding Bounceback
A bounceback from last year’s 4-8 debacle is required for coach Sam Pittman to keep his job. A quarter of the way through the season, things remain about where they were when the year began. Little Arkansas has done has suggested the team can flip that record upside-down, but Jackson’s presence and the defense’s picking up where they left off (top-50 last year) does hint at bowl-eligibility.
The biggest takeaway from Saturday was the question mark that is Taylen Green. A Boise State transfer, Green clearly won the job in fall camp, and the yardage he put up in the air – and on the ground – in the season’s first two weeks, including against ranked Oklahoma State – were impressive. Less impressive was his game film, which showed poor accuracy at a rate far too high to give the Razorbacks a season-altering passing game. Several throws were askew again versus UAB, including two that would have resulted in first downs inside the Blazers’ red zone.
Instead, Arkansas had to rely on its kicking game, a weak spot early on, to pick up points. Kyle Ramsey was good enough, knocking through attempts of 28, 51 and 40 yards, though he missed a 45-yarder, as well. They were necessary points, too, given the closeness of the final score.
Green at his best conjures memories of KJ Jefferson, the four-year starter who left Arkansas for Central Florida after last season and hit a bit of a road bump in his first game down there. Last year was a lot worse. He went from the Razorbacks’ GOAT at quarterback in the eyes of many fans to a cast-off, newly perceived as unworthy to don the jersey as a starter.
Arkansas Football QBs Past and Present
Both QBs are superior runners while their passing skills left something to be desired. Jefferson was more accurate, but took more chances. Green made at least three back-foot or across-his-body completions against the Blazers. An on-the-run throw midway through the fourth quarter that resulted in a first down was key just after UAB cut Arkansas’ lead to three points and it helped along a drive that ended with his game-sealing scamper. The stationary, in-the-pocket passes, however, troubled him.
“I think he’s just trying to make a play,” Pittman said. “I don’t know that you can reel him when he gets out. I don’t think he’s leaving the pocket too fast.”
That’s a bit of a good-news/bad-news thing for the Hogs. Arkansas’ offensive line is clearly improved, as evidenced by Jackson’s start to the year (he’s likely going to lead the SEC in yards rushing by Sunday morning) and the mere seven sacks the line has allowed through three games. We use “mere” because last year’s total of 47 came out to almost four per game. Green will be chased more often against SEC foes than he was against UAB. And while he’s been comfortable thus far, just about any coach will tell you such a situation too often is less than ideal.
A little good. A little bad. A lot of “meh.” Three games have yielded almost nothing to point Arkansas’ direction as north or south. Or put another way, Arkansas is doing what Arkansas usually does, meaning heartache feels like an inevitability as Auburn licks its chops for next Saturday.
“We can’t compete in the SEC playing like we did tonight,” Pittman said. “We’ve got to do better.”
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After Arkansas vs UAB, some locker room drama erupted over Jarius Wright and Joe Adams getting denied entry into the UA locker room. BoAS reached out to Wright, along with a couple other former Razorbacks, to get the story:
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