FAYETTEVILLE — The one thing a Bobby Petrino offense has always been able to do on the college level — score tons of points — has been the one thing preventing the Arkansas Razorbacks’ offense from being a threat this year.

The Razorbacks’ offense has generated only 10 points in the past two games, and Arkansas ’ scoring has fallen to 17. 4 points per game to rank 11 th in the SEC and 109 th nationally.

In their two conference games, the Razorbacks have scored only three touchdowns, one generated by second-team quarterback Tyler Wilson after the air had been let out of the game in a 49-14 loss to Alabama.

“That’s kind of been the problem all year, getting those 60- and 70-yard drives and.... not scoring,” tight end D. J. Williams said.

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Arkansas’ highest-scoring games — 28 points against Western Illinois and Louisiana-Monroe — amount to a poor day’s offensive showing compared to Petrino’s track record at Louisville.

The Cardinals averaged 41. 18 points a game in Petrino’s 50-game career at Louisville. They scored fewer than 28 points only eight times, and Petrino’s 2004 team scored 28 points or more in every game while posting an 11-1 record and leading the country with 49. 75 points a game.

Moving the football has been in issue in only one game — at Texas — for Petrino’s Razorbacks, who rank seventh in the SEC with 352 yards a game. Pushing across points after they move into enemy territory has been the big issue.

“We execute, execute, execute, get in the red zone, and then we always do something [wrong ],” receiver London Crawford said. “I still think we’re going to make the play and go score.... We could easily, the way we drive the ball, we should be easily putting up 35 points a game.”

Petrino breaks downs the pitfalls in scoring territory by the run and the pass.

“Not enough power in the run game, not enough poise in the passing game and time [to throw ],” he said. “We just didn’t execute, you know, when the field got shorter.”

The inability to throw homerun balls in the passing game or turn breakaway runs into six points also has haunted the offense.

While Arkansas’ defense has given up 10 scoring plays of 20 yards or longer, the Razorbacks have generated only two touchdowns of 20-plus yards, both in the season opener against FCS opponent Western Illinois.

“That’s why you need big-play scorers,” Petrino said. “A lot of defenses play this way. They make you try to earn it, try to make you drive, and a lot of times you end up hurting yourself.

“ We do need to be able to convert when we have a chance to get one-on-one and score.”

Further underscoring Arkansas’ lack of big plays, its 11 offensive touchdowns have come on plays that have combined for 124 yards, an average touchdown distance of 11. 3 yards. The average touchdown distance for Arkansas’ opponents is 23 yards, and that includes seven touchdowns covering 3 yards or less.

The Razorbacks have simply been unable to sustain the kind of clock-eating touchdown drives that help demoralize a defense.

The problems the Razorbacks are contending with are myriad and include every facet of the unit: Lack of familiarity with Petrino’s system Pass protection breakdowns Penalties Lack of a strong blocking back or heavy-hitting tailback Youth in the receiving corps Inconsistent decision-making by quarterback Casey Dick

“We’ve got to not beat ourselves,” offensive coordinator Paul Petrino said. “A couple of times we’ve got down there and had penalties. We can’t do that. That’s when your execution has to be sharper. We have to be more accurate, more precise on everything we do.

“ Then we’ve got to bust a couple of runs to get it in. We’ve moved the ball well to that point, but we haven’t been good enough when we’ve got it down there”

Crawford said lack concentration is also a culprit.

“After 6, 7, 8, 9 plays, I know everybody’s tired,” Crawford said. “But we’ve worked too hard and conditioned too well to get down there and do that.”

Arkansas’ average start for drives, often the product of special teams play, also has been a limiting factor. The Razorbacks started their first five drives against Florida at or inside their own 20 and scored no points despite piling up 45. 2 yards per series.

When Dennis Johnson returned a kickoff 33 yards to the Arkansas 47 in the third quarter, the offense stuck the ball in the end zone in seven plays, capped by Michael Smith’s 6-yard run.

When Florida kicked off out of bounds in the fourth quarter, allowing Arkansas to start at its own 40, the Razorbacks drove 49 yards in 10 plays before Shay Haddock’s 28-yard field goal attempt was blocked.

While the Hogs rank second in SEC passing at 252 yards a game and seventh in total offense at 352 yards a game, their scoring average of 17. 4 points a game looks feeble in comparison.

Bobby Petrino said in July it would be hard for his offense to be an overnight success. Yet, he would have trouble believing the Hogs would slosh around so maddeningly after pushing inside opponents’ territory.