TEXAS BOWL: ARKANSAS VS. TEXAS

Uptick notable, goals reachable

Arkansas quarterback Brandon Allen (10) calls out signals against Mississippi State in the first half of an NCAA college football game in Starkville, Miss., Saturday, Nov. 1, 2014. No. 1 Mississippi State won 17-10. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas improved 41 spots in the NCAA total offense rankings this season, but the Razorbacks believe they could have done much better.

The Razorbacks will take a No. 58 ranking in total offense into the Texas Bowl on Dec. 29 against Texas at Houston's NRG Stadium. They average 410.6 yards per game, up 15 percent from the 357.2 yards per game they produced last year in their first season under Coach Bret Bielema and offensive coordinator Jim Chaney.

More important, Arkansas ranked No. 45 in scoring at 32 points per game, a 55 percent rise from 20.7 points per game last season, helped by a handful of special teams and defensive touchdowns.

Bielema has said he is striving for an offense that puts up 200 yards rushing and passing per game, and the Hogs are well on their way, ranking No. 26 in rushing with 220.3 yards per game and No. 97 in passing with 190.3 yards per game.

The running game -- propelled by 1,000-yard rushers Jonathan Williams and Alex Collins -- improved by just more than 11 yards per game.

Quarterback Brandon Allen improved his completion percentage by nearly 7 percentage points to 56.3 percent, and bumped up his passer rating almost 20 points to 128.46 to rank 11th among SEC starters. He passed for an average of 177 yards per game, an improvement of 36 yards per game.

The Razorbacks have started games fast offensively, scoring on their opening drives in each of the past six games and driving for a touchdown on their first possession in five of the past eight games. Arkansas led or was tied at halftime in six of its eight SEC games

Closing games has been a problem. The Razorbacks were held scoreless in the second halves of three SEC games -- at Auburn, at Mississippi State and at Missouri -- and did not score in the fourth quarter of five SEC games.

The common denominator for the Razorbacks' four SEC losses by a touchdown or less? They did not score in the fourth quarter of any of those games.

"The continued evolution of our offense as a game goes on, in the fourth quarter specifically, to find a way to get points on the board and make some things happen in the second half [is key]," Bielema said.

SEC opponents outscored Arkansas 67-13 in the fourth quarter and one overtime period.

"I think obviously we've got to pick up our production in the second half," Chaney said.

It's understandable Arkansas' offensive numbers would decline after the Razorbacks rushed for 1,419 yards, 19 touchdowns and 354.8 yards per game in nonconference victories over Nicholls State, Texas Tech and Northern Illinois before entering the bulk of its SEC schedule.

But the Razorbacks ended up ninth of 14 SEC teams with 153 rushing yards in conference games, an area Arkansas aspires to improve upon.

"If you could rush for 180 to 200 yards a game in this league, you're probably pretty salty on the offensive line and at running back and tight end," offensive line coach Sam Pittman said. "I would say you could go around to every single team and it's pretty much that same thing. It's a defensive football league. There are great defensive players here."

The Hogs' offensive line -- touted as the largest in the nation in terms of weight per man -- failed to wear down opponents to make the going easier late in SEC games.

"I think as a team we certainly got better, but I wish we'd have gotten better than we are right now up front," Pittman said. "I wish we were a more dominant offensive line, and over these bowl practices we're trying to get to the point where we all certainly wished we would have been during the season, where we can go and physically dominate somebody."

Turnovers were not a season-long issue as they were in 2013, but there were a few games -- like Alabama, Georgia and Missouri -- where turnovers proved to be critical. Arkansas also had lower penalty totals in 2014, but critical ones helped spell the difference in the 21-14 loss at Missouri.

"You can always look back and say it could have been this or it could have been that, but we're a 6-6 team," Allen said. "That's what we earned.

"We have so many little things -- false starts and little penalties -- that are bringing back drives and getting us off schedule. I think once we clean up just the little nit-picky things our offense will be much better."

Sports on 12/21/2014