FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas' most critical drive against LSU last Saturday, a 12-play touchdown series that spanned the third and fourth quarters, featured plenty of third-down plays and the Razorbacks converted on every one of their four tries.
Whether it was third and short, third and medium or third and long, the Hogs covered the spectrum, reflecting a growing trend for an offense that has climbed to ninth in the nation with a 49.6 percent conversion rate on third-down plays.
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NO. 8 OLE MISS AT ARKANSAS
WHEN 2:30 p.m. Saturday
WHERE Reynolds Razorback Stadium, Fayetteville
RECORDS Ole Miss 8-2, 4-2 SEC Arkansas 5-5, 1-6
TV CBS
The conversion rate ranks third in the SEC, which is a significant achievement for a Jim Chaney-directed offense in its second season under Coach Bret Bielema, who prefers a strong rushing game.
"We're clicking on a pretty good pace against some pretty good third-down defenses, so that's been fun," Chaney said.
The Razorbacks' third-down success will be put to a stern test Saturday as No. 8 Ole Miss comes into Fayetteville with the SEC's top defense against third downs (30.6).
Part of Arkansas' success in its 17-0 victory over LSU could be attributed to a game-plan wrinkle that gave quarterback Brandon Allen sprint-out plays and quick bootlegs to give the Tigers' pass rush a moving target.
"I think we did that a lot more than they expected," said Allen, who completed 6 of 10 passes for 85 yards on third downs, including a dropped pass for first-down yardage.
"One of the things I really mentioned to [Bielema] was how well Brandon Allen played on third downs," said former Georgia quarterback David Greene, who reviewed film with Bielema for his SEC Film Room show on the SEC Network. "He made a bunch of third-down throws that kept drives alive."
The clinching touchdown series, a drive that took 6:16 off the clock, helped Arkansas finish 10 of 17 on third-down conversions (58.8 percent) against an LSU defense that had been ranked seventh nationally by allowing a 30.3 percent conversion rate.
Jonathan Williams' 3-yard run converted third and 1, AJ Derby's catch from Allen for 13 yards converted third and 7, and a 14-yard catch by Keon Hatcher moved the chains on third and 11. Alex Collins then provided a 5-yard touchdown run on third and 1 to put Arkansas in command at 17-0 with 11:03 remaining.
"That was as big a part of the game as anything we did," Chaney said of the 55-yard drive. "To go down in the fourth quarter and score and make it a 17-0 game, I think our kids had a lot of confidence at that point."
Arkansas' offense similarly dominated with a 4-for-4 showing on third downs on their first touchdown drive. Derby caught a 5-yard pass, Hatcher snared an 11-yard pass and LSU was flagged for pass interference on Hunter Henry as the Hogs converted third downs that needed 3, 8, and 14 yards, respectively. Williams' 1-yard dive over left guard for a touchdown, also on third down, capped the 15-play, 60-yard drive.
"I think it's composure," said offensive guard Sebastian Tretola, who had a key block on the middle linebacker on Williams' touchdown.
"Our quarterback and our offense are playing confident when we get to that down," running backs coach Joel Thomas said.
The Razorbacks have been on a fairly consistent arc of improvement on third-down plays since going 2 of 10 in their season opener, including 1 of 6 in a lackluster second half of the 45-21 loss at Auburn.
Since then, the Razorbacks have converted third downs at a 51.9 percent clip.
"Great designs by Jim Chaney and the offensive staff," Bielema said. "Our offense has had success by the plan they were given, and then on top of that the players execute that plan very well."
In nonconference games, Arkansas went 27 of 45 on third downs, a 60 percent rate that helped the Razorbacks go 4-0 while dominating Nicholls State, Texas Tech, Northern Illinois and Alabama-Birmingham in time of possession by more than 32 minutes.
The Razorbacks third-down numbers in conference play -- 43 of 96 (44.7) -- aren't as gaudy, but Arkansas has done it against defenses that rank 19th (Mississippi State), 29th (Auburn), 30th (Alabama), 47th (Georgia) and 85th (Texas A&M) in third-down defense.
"We're just running the play that Coach Chaney calls to the best of our ability," offensive tackle Dan Skipper said. "Every play we run is designed to be an efficient play, so just do what he says and do it right."
Sports on 11/19/2014