FAYETTEVILLE – The worst part of Arkansas’ 34-27 loss at Colorado State last Saturday isn’t the embarrassment that comes with dropping one to a school from the Mountain West Conference. After all, expectations for this year’s team were pretty modest, with very few pundits giving the Hogs a decent chance at reaching a bowl game under first-year head coach Chad Morris.
It was how Arkansas lost that stings, because the Hogs’ second-half collapse was almost identical to the many losses that cost Bret Bielema his job after five frustrating seasons.
The Razorbacks began to pull away in the second half, gaining a 27-9 lead over CSU with 7:28 remaining in the third quarter. But like clockwork, the Rams completely swung the game’s momentum, scored 25 unanswered points, and left Razorback nation with yet another bitter pill to swallow.
Morris was asked about Arkansas’ streak of collapses in his weekly press conference on Monday.
“We were one stop and one score away from that thing being over with,” Morris said. “When you lose focus and you lose attention to details, that’s the message.
“[The message] is not going to change, it’s not. It’s the way we address it every day. It’s the way we address it on the field going into the fourth quarter, it’s all about the finish. It’s how we train. We train for moments like this, and at some point we’ve got to break this cycle. There’s going to be a moment that we’re going to break it. But it’s there, it’s evident, and we’ve got to break the cycle.
“I don’t know what’s happened in the past, but this is on my watch, and this is how we approach things. It starts with accountability and it starts with me. Hey, it’s right here on me and I’ll continue to address it every day. I’ll continue to hold the coaches and the kids accountable. I assure you that we’ll get that fixed.”
The Razorbacks (1-1) don’t have much time to feel sorry for themselves because they’ll welcome one of the nation’s most dangerous offenses to Fayetteville on Saturday when North Texas (2-0) arrives for a 3 p.m. kickoff.
The Mean Green won just one game in 2015, but third-year head coach Seth Littrell has made quite a turnaround in Denton, Texas.
He finished 5-8 with a bowl berth in 2016, and last year he put together one of the most impressive coaching performances in all of college football as North Texas went 9-5 and won its division in Conference-USA.
The Mean Green stunned SMU with a 46-23 win in the season opener before handling Incarnate Word, 58-16, last weekend.
Littrell’s squad averages 52 points per game and ranks No. 1 in the nation in passing offense at 457 yards per game, which means a tough test for an Arkansas squad that just gave up 389 yards to Colorado State.
“Coach Littrell, I’ve know him for quite some time, even when he was a coordinator. They’re a really well-coached football team, great ball coach,” Morris said. “His guys are playing well. This is the best football team they’ve had. They’ve got a lot of guys back. I think they’ve got seven on defense and eight on offense back.”
Quarterback Mason Fine will test Arkansas’ defense with several big-play threats.
“Mason Fine, the quarterback. They’re going to throw the ball around,” Morris said. “I’ve played (Fine) since he started there. This guy plays with a chip on his shoulder. He’s got some very talented receivers around him. Jalen Guyton is one of them that transferred from Notre Dame.”
Saturday’s game will be televised on the SEC Network Alternate channel.