As bad as the tape looked, its incredible we kept it as close as we did. A couple of those plays he and Carter highlighted were home run plays if the team executed. Just got out played. Plain and simple.
The plays have been there all season, just go through the progression and stop forcing it to armstrong 27483949575 times and trust the other wide fucking open receivers. Blackstock is a fucking bum and needs to be processed.
i mean the reason we lost to oklahoma state and a&m is turnovers. it's not more complicated than that. if green is going to turn it over 3 times a game it really doesnt matter if he can make a couple of great plays a game. we aren't going to win shit doing that.
also petrino going air raid sucks. why have we run exactly 0 QB power and QB sweeps? the play calling on offense this year has been atrocious. the defense has been outstanding. i would be in favor of promoting williams tbh. he seems like a good coach and a good recruiter
Aggies were instantly in the backfield every play yet we ran like 1 wr screen. Many people are asking if the game has passed Bobby by.
I remember when they thought she was in some random barn in stuttgart, police were fucking everywhere (lol what a great prank!!)
We couldn't establish the run because the blocking by the oline was trash, just too many mistakes by them. Talen also is just getting antsy in the pocket and leaving it when he doesn't have to. Not to mention forcing it to armstrong only and not going through his progressions because there is always someone open for a gain but Talen isn't getting the ball to them and if he does he's throwing so far behind the receiver that they have no chance at a catch. Except for dick for hands broden, hes dropped most of his good passes and the rest have been so far behind him he's had zero chance to make a catch.
It's just frustrating to see the same mistakes by players this many games into the season with no improvement. Blackstock is going to get picked on every damn game because he's a bum. The weakest link on the oline by far luckily it's talens throwing side so he can see if he needs to high tail it out of there.
I would be fine never winning another basketball game ever again if we could have one more 10 win season in football
I’d force it to Armstrong too if the other WR we kept trotting out there is Broden. He’s fucking terrible Sategna is just too small
Broden is maybe the worst receiver I’ve ever seen. He must be amazing in practice or something they need to get Ty Washington involved if he’s healthy
I don’t put much of the blame on Bobby at the moment. We have guys running wide open. It was a lot of what I saw with FSU earlier this year. Players getting open and either the QB missed them, the WR dropping the ball, Talen being late on the throw, or the OL not picking up their blocks resulting in Talen bailing (in some cases before he should have). Overall it’s execution which also falls back on Petrino, but I don’t think his playcalling is the problem. It’s basically everything else.
Opponents in Back Half of Season Should Sprinkle Gas on Petrino’s Offense By Adam Ford - October 12, 2024 Spoiler With Arkansas football at 4-2 and enjoying a few days off in its first open weekend, this is the perfect opportunity to evaluate what we’ve seen from the Hogs through six games. Today, we start with the offense. After the disastrous hire of Dan Enos nearly cost Sam Pittman his job amid last year’s 4-8 debacle, a lot was riding on the new offensive coordinator hire. Pittman put the health of the program over his own ego in hiring Bobby Petrino, the only guy since Houston Nutt who had been more successful than him as the Arkansas football coach. Six games in, how does the hire look? Arkansas’ offense has definitely been a mixed bag, but it is certainly much better than last year and, after the Tennessee game, the trend appears to be positive. Petrino’s offense is a little bit of a glass cannon. It’s hard to stop, but frequently stops itself. It’s explosive but often implosive as well. As ESPN’s Bill Connelly wrote ahead of the Tennessee game, “the volatile Razorbacks are a danger to both themselves and their opponents at all times.” Arkansas’ offense collects a lot of chaos statistics. The good: they generate a lot of explosive plays and are very good on third down, especially third-and-long. The bad: they turn it over a bunch, suffer a lot of negative plays and are very bad at finishing promising drives with touchdowns. Things stabilized a bit against Tennessee. For the first time against an FBS opponent, the Razorbacks didn’t turn it over. That’s a big deal. Before the game, ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit mentioned that turnovers were the main difference between the Hogs being 5-0 and 3-2. That was bookended by Pittman telling sideline reporter Holly Rowe after the game that he knew his team could play with anyone if the turnover margin was even. After ugly offensive performances against UAB and Auburn where the Hog offense was heavily dependent on Taylen Green running with the football (either on designed runs or scrambles), Petrino spent the two games before the bye focusing on keeping his quarterback in the pocket and getting the ball out of his hands more quickly. That paid off against Tennessee with a crisp offensive performance that provides some hope that the Razorbacks are finding an offensive identity. Let’s go through the Razorback offense position-by-position. All stats are either from Pro Football Focus or official NCAA stats unless otherwise specified. Taylen Green’s Big Step Forward for Arkansas Football Let’s see how Taylen Green stacks up to his predecessor, KJ Jefferson. The gold standard of good quarterbacking in Fayetteville (since Brandon Allen) was Jefferson’s 2022 season, when he completed 68% of his passes, averaged 8.8 yards per pass attempt, 5.6 yards per rush, and created a first down or a touchdown on nearly 40% of his action plays. You can see on the chart that in 2023, former OC Dan Enos tried to keep some of the basic tendencies the same: Jefferson posted a similar average depth of target (ADOT), and the same designed run and scramble rate. However, he took sacks far more often (42 sacks, if you want the raw numbers) and didn’t move the chains at nearly the same rate. The offense, as no Arkansas fan needs to be reminded, simply stunk. Green is a very different kind of quarterback. His stronger arm means he generally throws the ball further down the field, and he’s outstanding in his ability to escape sacks (Jefferson had some highlight-reel sack escapes, but he also ran himself into a lot of sacks during his career). I’ve highlighted the main issues with Green so far this year. First, he’s being pressured on 43% of his dropbacks, much higher than he was ever pressured at Boise State and higher than Jefferson was pressured in either 2022 or 2023. That’s hardly his fault, but Green’s escapability is saving Arkansas a lot of sacks; Green is on pace for 26 sacks this year, Jefferson was sacked 42 times on a lower pressure rate in 2023. Second is the amount of time it takes Green to throw the ball. He spends 3.22 seconds per drop back in the pocket this season, which is the longest of any SEC starter. Many of Petrino’s passing concepts are long-developing, but 3.22 seconds is longer than any of Lamar Jackson’s three seasons in Petrino’s offense. Green held onto the ball way too long in his first four games against FBS competition, peaking at 3.66 seconds against UAB, a game in which the Blazers played a lot of press man to limit separation that Razorback receivers could get. But against Tennessee, the Hogs finally got that number down: Spending just 2.87 seconds per dropback in the pocket, Green turned in his best passing performance as a Razorback despite being pressured on almost half his dropbacks. Petrino dialed up plenty of shallow cross, mesh and slant routes to give Green easy throws over the middle that came out of his hand quickly. He also took advantage of Green’s preference for throwing to his right, as Green was 10 of 10 for 104 on throws that were short and to the right. With his quarterback in rhythm, the downfield stuff that is a staple of the Petrino scheme started to work in the second half. Green was 3 of 3 for 78 yards on vertical passes in the second half, finding Andrew Armstrong twice and Tyrone Broden once. All three passes were thrown with pinpoint accuracy. If Green can continue to hit those throws, this offense will be very hard to stop. Pittman is hopeful Green will be ready for LSU, but if he’s not, then the Hogs will get at least one game of Malachi Singleton. Singleton delivered the game-winning drive against Tennessee, but remains mostly unknown. He lacks the high-end physical tools and athleticism of Green, but fans were impressed by his mechanics and accuracy during his extended look against UAPB. Jackson Continues to Earn Tough Yards Like Jefferson’s 2022 season for quarterbacks, Rocket Sanders’ 2022 season is the gold standard for Hog running backs since at least Alex Collins. As you can see in the chart below, Sanders had a lot of help in 2022, as Kendal Briles’ offense gave him a huge cushion of 3.4 yards before contact per rush that year. When the Hogs transitioned to Dan Enos’s offense in 2023, Sanders had a rough year. Ja’Quinden Jackson, by contrast, is an after-contact monster. His 3.8 yards after contact per rush is good for fourth-best among SEC starters. Arkansas’ use of him has been strategic: 39 of his carries have scored or moved the chains, most among all SEC backs. Against the excellent run defenses of Texas A&M and Tennessee, Jackson’s run cushion has dipped. Over those two games, he got just 19 yards before contact on 30 carries (0.6 yards before contact per rush). The good news here is that the three SEC opponents the Hogs have played rank 2nd, 5th and 6th in the SEC in PFF’s run defense grades — and four of the five remaining SEC opponents rank 7th or worse, including LSU in two weeks at 15th. So Jackson may get a boost very soon. I included Braylen Russell’s numbers in the table as well. His yards before contact got a boost due to the fact that both of his carries on the game-winning drive against Tennessee generated a lot before he was touched, but so far, he’s not generating a ton after contact. We’ll see if those numbers go up as he settles into a role as the “fourth-quarter finisher.” Can Anyone Help Andrew Armstrong? Andrew Armstrong is having a truly incredible season. He’s been targeted on 31% of the routes he’s run and he leads the team in yards per route run by a fairly large margin. He’s Arkansas’ only proven press-man beater, able to win on fades, curls and comebacks, as we saw against Tennessee. His 242 receiving yards against man coverage is the most on the team by a mile. Theoretically, the Hogs should have little problem with man coverage due to the many tall, large-handed receivers on the roster. But Tyrone Broden on the other side is having a rough year. He finally had a catch against Tennessee – his first contested catch of the season in 12 tries – but he’s still dropped (5) almost as many passes as he’s caught (9). So why does he keep playing? The simple answer is that the Hogs don’t appear to have better options. Isaac TeSlaa is as sure-handed as they come, with zero drops in two seasons in Fayetteville, but his low target share (12%) backs up what the film shows: he’s not very good at getting open. In fact, PFF charts TeSlaa with zero targets against man coverage so far this season. Isaiah Sategna has firmly emerged as the second option. He’s generated 112 yards after catch and 13 first downs, both second behind Armstrong, but way ahead of any other wide receiver on the roster. And he’s only been charged with one drop (in the endzone against Tennessee). An interesting side effect of the offense transitioning from “Green running” to “Green throwing” has been Ja’Quinden Jackson’s role as a receiver. He had just one catch for eight yards total in the UAB and Auburn games, but over the last two, as the offense focuses on Green throwing from the pocket, Jackson has begun to behave like a typical Petrino running back in the passing game. Against Texas A&M and Tennessee, Jackson caught five of six targets for 69 yards. He’s got good hands, so look for him to continue to provide a threat as a receiver. Shoring Up Pass Protection Arkansas’ high pressure rate allowed is going to be a feature of a Petrino offense that likes longer-developing pass concepts and likes to involve the running backs as receivers, but the offensive line has one clear weakness in pass protection, as you can see below. Right tackle Keyshawn Blackstock has allowed 24 pressures this season, more than the next two starters combined. Why not replace him? Well, Blackstock has the second-best run blocking grade, and when teaming up with right guard Josh Braun, the Hogs are strong when running right. Braylen Russell’s 24-yard run against Tennessee that put the Hogs in scoring range came over the right side thanks to good blocks by both Braun and Blackstock. Against Tennessee, getting the ball out faster proved to be the best antidote to pressure. Petrino quarterbacks will always be pressured, so it was a positive to see Green have good timing on his throws despite constantly facing a pass rush. The tight ends have also contributed in a major way as blockers. Luke Hasz has had a disappointing season as a receiver, but he grades as a very good run blocker in a scheme that uses a lot of outside zone (a play that needs a good block from the tight end to work). The Hogs also miss Andreas Paaske, who was off to an excellent start as a run blocker before suffering a concussion against UAB. Getting him back would be huge if the Hogs want to run the ball down the stretch. Areas for Arkansas Football to Improve It’s no secret that Arkansas’ offense is still far from reaching its potential. The Hogs leave a lot of points on the table right now despite the fact that they are moving the ball well. Being a better situational offense means finishing promising drives with points, especially touchdowns. One key area for improvement is early downs. The Hogs are being bailed out by being very good on third-and-long, but they’re finding themselves in too many third-and-longs due to issues on first and second down. Part of the issue is that they’ve faced good run defenses, so early-down running isn’t moving the ball much. That will change in the coming weeks, but many of Green’s best passes have come on third down too. It felt like the Hogs found a rhythm with early-down passing in the second half against Tennessee. Will that continue? Ultimately, if the Hogs can build on the identity they showed against the Vols, they’ll be in good shape. Still, the only consistency for this offense this year has been inconsistency. Halfway through the year, we’re still not quite sure how good this unit can be.
Hogs Defense Losing A Certain Luxury with Murderers’ Row of QBs Ahead By Adam Ford - October 13, 2024 Every few years, Arkansas football seems to come out of nowhere to field a very strong defense. Many of the Razorbacks’ best defenses over the years have been unexpected. Spoiler There was the 2006 defense, led by a defensive line with all four starters from Little Rock, including All-American defensive end Jamaal Anderson. Then there was defensive coordinator Robb Smith’s 2014 unit, which had the perfect combination of a player that had fallen into the Hogs’ lap (Darius Philon), a veteran (Trey Flowers) and a perfect junior college pickup (Martrell Spaight). And who can forget Barry Odom’s first defense, in 2020, that flustered opposing quarterbacks with a max zone defense spearheaded by Jalen Catalon? The 2024 defense is trending towards these memorable units. Despite showing some softness in the second half of the Oklahoma State game (a result that continues to look worse after the Cowboys’ 0-3 Big 12 start) and throughout the UAB game, the Hogs have allowed 14, 21, and 14 points in SEC play. One of the touchdowns against Texas A&M came on a drive that started first-and-goal. Compared to the relative chaos of the Razorback offense, Travis Williams’ unit is pretty tame. It’s good at not giving up explosive plays, it’s very good against the run and it gets off the field on third down. The “good against the run” part is particularly impressive when you look at a list of the top teams in the SEC at creating rushing yards after contact: the top three entering Week 7 are Texas A&M, Auburn and Tennessee – the three SEC teams the Hogs have faced. The quality of rushing offenses they’ll face moving forward is about to go down. However, the Hog secondary is about to be seriously tested. Garrett Nussmeier, Jaxson Dart, Quinn Ewers and Brady Cook are still on the schedule, and those quarterbacks have plenty of very good receivers to throw to. If run defense defined the first three SEC games, then pass defense will define the last five. Here’s a position-by-position look at the defense, with all stats coming from Pro Football Focus or official NCAA stats unless otherwise specified. Defensive Line Remains King in the SEC Want to know what makes the SEC different? Look to the defensive line, where the gap between the SEC and other conferences is largest in terms of NFL draft picks. It’s hard to have a consistently successful defense without a good defensive line. The line was supposed to be a team strength, and it’s safe to say this unit is living up to expectations. Landon Jackson in particular has been dominant, with a PFF overall grade ranking him fourth among SEC edge starters. Among those 32 players, he ranks fifth in run stops and third in pressures. He has just two sacks, but he’s clearly having a major impact on opponents whether he’s playing the run or pass. The seniors in the middle are also playing well, particularly Eric Gregory, who is proving very difficult for opponents to move. He sacked Nico Iamaleava through a double-team block on Tennessee’s first drive last week, and then ran Iamaleava out of bounds on the game’s final play. Are there any potential concerns with the line? Certainly not with the starters, but depth could be an issue later in the season. It can’t be easy for the Razorback staff to take Jackson, Gregory or Cameron Ball out the game, but if they don’t rotate throughout, they could end up with another situation like the one late against Texas A&M, where little-used backups were on the field as the Aggies drove for the win. The pass rush has also disappeared at times, like in the second half against Oklahoma State. Is the consistent pressure the Hogs got against Tennessee here to stay? We’ll find out soon enough. Pressure will be key to rattling some of the quarterbacks still on the schedule, like LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier, who threw a couple picks against Ole Miss on Saturday while under pressure. Speed is the Rebuilt LB Corps’ Best Friend After the surprising offseason loss of Chris “Pooh” Paul to Ole Miss, Travis Williams knew he had to hit the portal to find a new star linebacker. He went back to a well that has been friendly to the Hogs during the Pittman era, snagging Xavian Sorey Jr. from Georgia. Sorey hasn’t been dominant this year, but he leads the team in run stops and has been effective when he does rush the passer. His speed is what jumps out when you watch the defense play, as the Hog linebackers have been very good at flocking to the ball. Stephen Dix made his first start against Auburn and has now started all three SEC games. He’s another typical linebacker for Williams’ “Over” front, which emphasizes smaller, quicker linebackers that can flock to the ball. Dix stole a starting job from Brad Spence, who has still played quite a bit. Spence has struggled in coverage: all eight targets against him this season have been caught for 71 yards. Arkansas Secondary: Fantastic Despite a Missing Piece The secondary was a relative unknown entering the season. The Hogs were having to replace Dwight McGlothern and Alfahiym Walcott (plus Snaxx Johnson, who transferred in the spring). Travis Williams and co-defensive coordinator Marcus Woodson added several transfers, but a lot of hope was pinned on Jaylon Braxton, who was a Freshman All-American last year. With Braxton missing the last several games due to injury, the cornerbacks have proven to be a nice surprise, especially South Alabama transfer Marquise Robinson, who missed the Oklahoma State game with an injury but has played almost every snap since. He’s allowed only 10 catches all year and just 25 yards after catch. The safeties have also played well, with Jayden Johnson building off a promising 2023 and TJ Metcalf showing us why the staff was excited about him in the offseason. Metcalf’s big game was against Auburn, where he played a direct role in forcing four Auburn turnovers, picking off two passes himself, tipping one to a teammate and then stripping an Auburn running back. PFF graded him harshly against Tennessee, charging him with six allowed receptions for 71 yards. To be fair, most of those receptions came in zone coverage where Metcalf was merely the nearest defender to the receiver. Even without Braxton, Arkansas’ secondary has been able to not only hold down the fort, but excel at times. Yes, that includes an outing vs the uber-talented Nico Iamaleava, but the quarterbacks of LSU, Ole Miss, Texas and Missouri are considerably more seasoned than Tennessee’s redshirt freshman. The “luxury” Arkansas has had of facing less capable and/or experienced signal-callers ends this week vs LSU. Expect Braxton to be needed back more than ever given the gauntlet ahead. Pittman expected Braxton to return to practice during the open week as he recovers from tendonitis. If he is back in the lineup for the LSU game, where does he fit over the second half the season? The other corner spot is held by Jaheim Singletary. Singletary had been rotating with Kee’yon Stewart, but after Stewart allowed an early 58-yard touchdown pass against Texas A&M’s, he’s barely played since, including recording zero snaps against Tennessee. Braxton could take Singletary’s snaps, but it’s hard to see him replacing Robinson given how well he’s played. The coaches probably don’t mind having too many good options in the secondary. How Special Can the Arkansas Special Teams Be? Special teams ended up playing a key role in the win over Tennessee. Yes, the Hogs missed yet another field goal, but in the fourth quarter, Devin Bale uncorked a bouncing 66-yard punt that was downed at the Tennessee 21. After a Vol three-and-out, Isaiah Sategna attempted a dangerous return to help his team gain some field position, gaining about five yards on a 43-yard punt. The end result? Arkansas ended its previous drive at its own 15, and then got the ball back at its 41 for the game-winning drive. That’s a gain of 26 yards that has to be credited to special teams. Bale has been a bright spot on special teams, averaging 45.5 net yards per punt with six punts downed inside the 20 against only one touchback. Opponents have attempted only four returns for a net of 11 yards against him. Booming punts to flip field position could be a factor in a future game this year. Another thing that could be a factor is field goals. Kyle Ramsey is just 7 of 12 this year, though all five misses have come from 40-plus yards. Ramsey appears to be out for a while with a groin injury suffered on his second-quarter miss, so Matthew Shipley is the main guy for now. While Ramsey is just 4 of 9 (44%) on kicks 40-49 yards, Shipley for his career is only 15 of 28 (54%) on kicks from that range, so I’m not sure he’s much of an upgrade there, even if Shipley has kicked against better competition during his career (Shipley at Hawaii, Ramsey at Abilene Christian). Arkansas’ offense improving its situational execution might include avoiding negative plays when on the edge of field goal range. The Hogs have attempted nine field goals in the 40-49 range (and passed up at least three other opportunities to go for it, presumably due to a lack of confidence in Ramsey), but they haven’t had a single attempt in the 30-39 range. Sometimes playing for shorter field goals, or at least not taking negative plays that make field goals longer, can be a way to earn points which will be a premium in this tougher back half of the season.
Anything involving KJ not throwing deep fades to freaks like Treylon or running QB draws is gonna be a shitty time. Young fella got paid and has some nice cars now
They lost to FL 2 weeks ago and Cincinnati last weekend. KJ has been benched. Feel bad for him but I just don’t think he has the mentals unfortunately. He was so good early on, relying heavily on his physical talents but in the past couple years he’s just a beat too slow to make a play when needed. His shit O line last year sure didn’t help. Hope he got a ton of NIL to get him setup for life. https://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/a...portedly-benched-by-ucf-in-favor-of-freshman/
I also think he’s legit got shoulder issues from the beating he took behind our line. I too hope he is set financially for a while and still really (mostly) enjoyed watching him here. I would’ve packed it in with our shitty coaching staff last year too so I don’t hold any grudge
Yeah I don’t know how he wasn’t just talking nonstop shit about the O line. I’ve NEVER seen a position group look that bad here at AR. And supposedly our HC’s specialty. Maddening.
If instagram is any indication he has blown a lot of that NIL money on stupid shit. And he has a kid. Wonder what he will do in the future. This year was his last big pay day
I don't watch a lot of LSU football but the last two games played he has been All-Universe. Also, heard at a watch party that most of the Bball team is hurt and they've cancelled those pre-season "games" with shitty teams
who cares about first part football is a stupid sport only stupid people care about I think we have at least 3 players that won’t be playing in exhibition game vs Kansas on Friday, idc I’m still going
Why was Jackson Woodard a walk-on? Viva Las Vegas for Former Hogs at UNLV On the complete other end of the spectrum, another former Arkansas coordinator, Barry Odom, has been a resounding success as head coach at UNLV. In the midst of a messy NIL dispute that has mucked up the quarterback room, the Rebels have started this season 6-1, with half of those wins coming against Power Four opponents. After serving as linebackers coach at Arkansas, Michael Scherer followed Odom to UNLV to serve as his defensive coordinator, and the results so far have been exceptional. While the Rebels’ scoring defense mark is pretty good (56th nationally), it’s been their playmaking that has been elite, as they rank 8th in the nation with 2.3 forced turnovers per game. Those takeaways have mostly been engineered by two former Razorbacks dominating the awards list in the Mountain West Conference. Safety Jalen Catalon, at UNLV after spending a year at Texas, has been named MWC Defensive Player of the Week twice and is tied for second in the nation with four interceptions this season. Linebacker Jackson Woodard, a walk-on at Arkansas, has arguably been even more impressive. The MWC Preseason Defensive Player of the Year, he’s earned Defensive Player of the Week honors three times, posting 63 total tackles and four interceptions. The Little Rock native has made a name for himself as the leader of one of the most dangerous defenses in the country. The band of former Razorbacks will have their hands full this weekend trying to stop Heisman frontrunner Ashton Jeanty and Boise State in a rematch of last year’s conference championship game – which the Broncos won in a rout, courtesy of Taylen Green’s MVP performance. Odom and Co. will surely be looking for some revenge, but they’ll have to deal with the scary sight of Jeanty looming in the backfield.
That was fun. Obviously they were missing Dickinson and we were missing Aidoo, but our guards were way too much and I don’t think the addition of either big men would matter. Only an exhibition and we’ve seen how we shouldn’t overreact after last years exhibition. Fland is special. Nelly looked rough at first and then settled in, think he’s coming back from injury and heard he was supposed to be on a minutes restriction. Knox too, was a bit surprised he played. Wagner looked like he was supposed to coming out of HS, just needs to not force some things on the fast break. Big Z was up and down. Fun team, talent wise I have no worries. Hopefully we avoid those Cal brain fart games.