Pizzazz is in works for Hogs ?

FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas Coach Houston Nutt suggested more adventurous offensive play-calling by David Lee is in the works for the second half of the season.

The Razorbacks looked stagnant for most of Saturday’s 9-7 loss to Auburn, compiling just 127 total yards and seven first downs before their touchdown drive late in the game netted 66 yards and four first downs. On that drive, the play-calling was bold, and the Razorbacks finally played with the spark and urgency that had been missing virtually all night.

“You’ll see more creativity,” Nutt said. “You will see more. I encouraged David last night, ‘Turn it loose. Let it go. Don’t hold anything back now.’ You’ll probably see more of that, especially since people are going to start crowding, crowding and crowding the box.”

Nutt made sure to point out a few factors: The Auburn defense is very good and getting better; the Razorbacks are missing several key offensive weapons; and the team’s play-calling had not been a major issue in his eyes early in the season.

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“At the beginning of the year, I was proud of how it was going,” Nutt said. “You’re making 42 points a game, you’re rushing the ball. You’ve got your line going. You’ve got two of the greatest backs in America. We were fine.

“ Look at the Alabama game and I don’t know what I would change except for one or two plays.”

The Razorbacks’ inability to burn defenses with their passing game has begun to affect the rushing attack in recent weeks.

“When you call a play, you don’t expect a play to get 1 yard or minus-1 yard,” Nutt said. “You don’t call a play to McFadden and think, ‘OK, this is going to go for just one.’

“ It’s easy to think, ‘Oh, they’re running it up the middle again.’ They wouldn’t say that if [Darren ] McFadden hits a crease, or like Felix [Jones ] does last week and he creases and he hits down the sideline.... My point is, you never know when these guys are going to break.” Defensive numbers

The Arkansas coaches’ video showed six players with at least 10 tackles against Auburn, which indicated the Hogs’ gang-tackling mentality in the SEC West game. The tackle parade was led by Freddie Fairchild and Matt Hewitt, who had 15 stops apiece.

Also with 10 or more were Weston Dacus (14 ), Elston Forte (14 ), Marcus Harrison (13 ) and Ernest Mitchell (10 ). The Razorbacks have made significant defensive strides since giving up 21 points in the final eight minutes of a 42-29 loss to Kentucky. Arkansas ranks sixth nationally in pass efficiency defense, 22 nd in the country in pass defense (184. 5 yards per game ), and 40 th in total defense (342. 0 ypg ).

D-Mac’s day Saturday’s 43-yard performance ranked among the worst in Darren McFadden’s career at Arkansas, but the talented junior still managed to hit some career-defining plateaus in the loss. McFadden eased past Ben Cowins for first place on Arkansas’ all-time rushing chart, and now has 3, 582 yards to Cowins’ 3, 570. McFadden also went ahead of Alabama’s Shaun Alexander to take over 10 th place on the SEC’s career rushing list. The junior from Little Rock has averaged 115. 5 rushing yards per game during his 31-game career. McFadden stands 249 yards behind Auburn’s Carnell Williams (3, 831 yards ) for ninth place in SEC rushing annals. Coach Houston Nutt said McFadden’s showing was not affected by his sore ribs. “The ribs were fine,” Nutt said. “I thought he was running very hard. He couldn’t have made a couple of those runs he did against that defense if there were any rib problems. The bottom line was we weren’t blocking. We’ve got to stay on blocks longer.”

Tight circle The biggest concern for the struggling Arkansas Razorbacks this week and in the near term is not fraying at the edges and avoiding the inner turmoil that sometimes afflicts frustrated teams. “We still have a lot to look forward to since we have half the season left,” senior linebacker Weston Dacus said. “The biggest thing will be keeping our heads up and start making plays.”

Arkansas fell to 3-3 overall, 0-3 in SEC play, after Saturday night’s 9-7 loss to Auburn. The Razorbacks seized a 7-6 lead with 96 seconds remaining on a 13-yard pass from Casey Dick to Lucas Miller, but a kickoff out of bounds by Brian Vavra and a heady two-minute drill by Auburn’s Brandon Cox set the Tigers up for their gamewinning field goal with 21 seconds left.

Nutt said his approach with the team Sunday was to present the second half of the year as a second chance.

“It’s a brand-new season,” he said. “You are at the midway point. What we’ve done best is keep everybody in our circle. We’ve done that since 1998, to keep the team inside this circle with one heartbeat and one family... and have fun.”

Worth noting Arkansas lost to Auburn 9-7 despite not allowing a touchdown. The last such loss for the Razorbacks was a 6-0 defeat against Memphis State on Sept. 25, 1993, at War Memorial Stadium. Arkansas’ 193 total yards against Auburn was its lowest output since amassing 139 yards in a 30-3 loss to Georgia in the 2002 SEC championship game. Houston Nutt said sophomore Jerell Norton will continue to return punts despite muffing and recovering two punts against Auburn. Razorbacks punter Jeremy Davis leads the SEC with 14 punts downed inside the opponents’ 20-yard line. Arkansas has scored in 141 consecutive games. Looking ahead The Razorbacks look to crack the SEC victory column with a visit to Ole Miss’ Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. The Rebels are 0-4 in SEC play. The game will not be televised. Ole Miss lost 27-24 to Alabama on Saturday. Arkansas also suffered a three-point loss to the Crimson Tide, 41-38, earlier in the season. Players of the week

OFFENSE Lucas Miller Um... how about Lucas Miller ? In Arkansas’ much-maligned receiving corps, Miller has begun to establish himself in the vacuum left behind by injuries to Marcus Monk, Ben Cleveland, Crosby Tuck and Robert Johnson. Miller had two catches Saturday, and they were both big. His 12-yard reception in the second quarter picked up a rare first down, and his leaping 13-yard catch with 1: 36 remaining accounted for Arkansas’ only touchdown.

DEFENSE Marcus Harrison Plenty of candidates here, including Weston Dacus, who had 14 stops and forced a key fumble at the Arkansas 6, as well as a pair of 15-tackle standouts in Freddie Fairchild and Matt Hewitt. However, both Fairchild and Hewitt had easily avoidable personal foul penalties. The pick this week is defensive tackle Marcus Harrison, who had his best game of the season with 13 stops, including two tackles for loss, that helped clog up the middle for the Razorbacks defense.