FAYETTEVILLE – It’s not often that a 34-3 loss can be considered a step in the right direction, but that’s the case for Arkansas following last Saturday’s game at Auburn. No, it wasn’t the type of performance that’s going to spark a dramatic turnaround this season. This year’s team has almost zero chance of winning five more games to become bowl eligible.
But there was at least some hope as the Razorbacks trailed just 17-3 while holding the nation’s No. 9 team to just 53 rushing yards midway through the third quarter. In fact, the Hogs’ defense played more than well enough to win the game.
It was horrendous special teams and the offense’s inability to stay on the field that ultimately led to a lopsided final score. The special teams is a huge concern going forward, as the Razorbacks now rank near the bottom of the FBS in several statistical categories.
Arkansas is 126th in punting, 121st in punt coverage, 114th in opponent kickoff returns, 78th in kickoff returns, and 72nd in field goals.
“Special teams, we’re very disappointed,” head coach Chad Morris said on Monday. “The amount of emphasis we place on special teams around here, and to put the production out that we did was unacceptable. Your fundamentals have to hold up under pressure, and that’s something we’ve got to go back and we’re going to look at.
“It was unacceptable, and we’ve got to get better in all phases in our special teams.”
The Razorbacks had finally found a little offensive momentum against the Tigers coming out of the halftime break, when once again the special teams let them down.
Auburn’s Noah Igbinoghene took the ensuing kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown, and just like that the Tigers were up 24-3 and had regained the momentum.
Morris said this week’s goal is to make whatever personnel moves are necessary to help solidify all of the special teams units.
“The thing about this, as I looked at it, it can be fixed,” Morris said. “We just have to go back to putting the pressure on to where when the pressure is on, fundamentals have to hold up.”
The offense was far from great against Auburn’s very stout defense, but there were some positives to build on as the Razorbacks prepare for this Saturday’s meeting against Texas A&M.
Quarterback Ty Storey was back in the starter’s role and played fairly well considering Auburn’s defensive front seven is among the nation’s best.
The junior finished just 13 of 31 for 141 yards and an interception, but five of his incompletions came in the final quarter when the Tigers were well ahead and could afford to bring extra pressure.
“Ty played really well,” offensive coordinator Joe Craddock said. “He graded out really high. He had a couple of missed assignments, but he did really well. He got us in a lot of right calls, the right checks. He managed the game really well.
“I thought our offense made some improvements. We were definitely on the right track and we’ll continue to build on what we did last week. Like I told our guys, we’ll be in a good position in October if we’ll keep continuing the way we did and keep building on last week’s performance. It was not acceptable and we’ll never accept losing at all. But I do think we definitely did some things that we can take forward and build on.”
Arkansas will now prepare for another tough task against the Aggies (2-2), whose only losses came against Alabama and Clemson, two of the top three teams in the nation.
Saturday’s game is set for 11 a.m. and will be televised by ESPN.