FAYETTEVILLE — One week after getting no love, the Arkansas offensive line was recognized as a group by coach Bret Bielema, while the SEC picked out left tackle Dan Skipper as offensive lineman of the week.
It gave Bielema a chance to heap some praise on Kurt Anderson, his first-year offensive line coach. Offensive coordinator Dan Enos followed with praise, with some mock resentment for Anderson's background at the University of Michigan (Enos played at Michigan State).
Bielema is the fourth-year Arkansas head coach with a history of producing solid play in the offensive line. That group has been on a roller coaster this year, but it hit a high point on the ride with a near perfect game in a 58-42 victory at Mississippi State.
The Razorbacks rushed for 357 yards, passed for 304 yards and did not have an offensive penalty or give up a quarterback sack. For the first time this season in an SEC game, the Hogs did not punt. There were also no punts in an easy victory over Alcorn State.
Bielema announces team honors after all victories. He said the offensive MVP was the offensive line as a group. That would be Brian Wallace, Johnny Gibson, Frank Ragnow, Hjalte Froholdt and Skipper.
“It was an exceptional job by the line,” Bielema said. “I give credit to Kurt.”
Skipper earned SEC offensive lineman of the week for the second time this season. He was also honored as special teams player of the week in September. Running back Rawleigh Williams earned SEC offensive player of the week for the third time this season after rushing for 205 yards and 4 touchdowns, and throwing a touchdown at Mississippi State.
Enos also gave credit to Anderson, retooling an Arkansas front which returned only Skipper and Ragnow, both playing new positions.
“We have a great relationship, similar philosophies up-front,” Enos said of the mesh with Anderson. “He makes great game adjustments and is really sharp.
“You know, as a Michigan guy he's up there, his intelligence. Sometimes he has to slow down for me.”
Honestly, Enos did offer praise. He said Anderson's NFL experience as far as blocking schemes has been a great addition to the offensive meeting room.
“What we have to do as college coaches, there is a lot, like recruiting, psychologist and all the things we do and when you are in the NFL as he's been the last three years, you just get to coach football,” Enos said. “It just exposes you to a lot more schemes, just different ways to attack different fronts.
“It's awesome to have that in our room. He can say, 'We did this at Buffalo.' It's helped us in a lot of ways. He's really bright and has a great rapport with our players.”
Enos said there has been great development across the front, but especially with the three newcomers in the line in Wallace and Gibson. Wallace has started the last eight games, Gibson the last three.
“If those two play well, we play well,” Enos said. “When they play well, it gives us a chance. They have helped us in protection and that's given (quarterback) Austin (Allen) an extra tick. They have given us movement up front (in the run game).”
Bielema made special mention of both Wallace and Gibson, both of whom weigh more than 330 pounds.
“He's been awesome,” Bielema said of Wallace. “He was highly recruited. Our guys will tell you, if there is one guy in our program you don't want to get his hands on you, it's Bwall. He's powerful. The task has been to make sure he gets on the right guys.”
Wallace has blossomed as he's put more time in tape study and extra meetings with Anderson. Bielema has found the two going over tape early in the morning several times in the last few weeks.
“He's committed to playing with passion,” Bielema said. “He's a guy Kurt was really excited about when he first got here last winter.”
Gibson has played well in two of his three starts. He was spectacular against Florida two weeks ago, then may have beaten that game at Mississippi State.
“Johnny has been able to do some things on our pulling plays that are really good,” Bielema said. “First, he's 335 pounds. He's a GAM - that's 'Grown Ass Man.' He's taken his level of play up, playing with confidence.”
Enos said the offensive line has played particularly well against Ole Miss, Florida and Mississippi State. The rushing yards for those three games are 200, 223 and 357, respectively.
“The reason we play well, it starts up-front,” Enos said. “It's a cliché, but it's the truth.”
There was emphasis on playing with effort and strain against the Bulldogs.
“We told them, don't worry about mistakes, just play hard,” Enos said. “They were physical and they did play fast. Sometimes you worry about things, you don't play fast. We told them to let us worry about mistakes, just play with strain.”
Allen took advantage of that solid blocking with perfect execution. The junior quarterback got back on track after a couple of off games with his passing. He was 18 of 25 for 304 yards and 2 touchdowns. There were no interceptions.
Enos said the Hogs went with their regular cadence for most of the game, but switched to a “silent” count on third downs because that seemed to be the point when the Starkville crowd was loudest. The Hogs had no miscues with communication.
Allen had promised Enos that he'd get his play right in an apologetic text the Sunday following a 38-10 loss to LSU. Enos had called his footwork “antsy” after the LSU game.
“He was over that on Sunday,” Enos said. “Austin is hard on himself. I had texted him Sunday about a few things and he texted back that he was embarrassed and he would never let it happen again. I believed him.
“He played with focus, pocket posture and was outstanding. There was one play where his feet didn't get settled. He was trying to wait on a route to come open and buy a little time. That was the only time it happened. He played with great eye discipline.”
Defensively, the Hogs had one flurry of solid play that proved to be the difference in the game. They forced four punts in a 12-minute stretch that allowed the offense to build a 24-point lead. So what happened in that stretch to stop the Bulldogs?
“Our guys lined up with authority and we disrupted the run game better,” Bielema said.
Defensive coordinator Robb Smith had that good stretch measured down to the second.
“It was 12:22 and we did really good,” Smith said.
The goal now is “to get us to play that way all of the time. We were focused and we got a couple of three-and-outs. We have to be more consistent. As coaches, we have to put them in better spots," Smith said.
Smith said the Hogs tried to change things up at linebacker. Brooks Ellis moved out to weakside linebacker at times with De'Jon Harris playing in the middle. That seemed to slow down the running game, especially with quarterback Nick Fitzgerald on keepers. There was no answer in the second half when the Bulldogs just went an all-out passing game.
The Bulldogs finished with 533 total yards, 328 in the air. After the game, Bielema said there would be a move in the offseason to get more of a pass rush to avoid that kind of an air assault. He was asked about that comment on Monday.
“If you don't say you are going to change some things, you are putting your head in the sand,” he said, then noted that he and Smith are “on the same page philosophically.” He said there is a returning core of players to be a “good defensive team.”
One of the big keys will be the return of weakside linebacker Dre Greenlaw, the team's leading tackler before he went down with a broken foot in the first quarter of the Alabama game. He had forced a fumble before his injury.
Harris gave the Hogs some solid play at linebacker against Mississippi State, leading the way with 10 tackles. McTelvin Agim, starting his third game at weakside tackle, added seven tackles.
Smith said Harris “got better as the game went along. He was figuring out things on the fly. Agim uses his hand and sheds blocks and makes more tackles than about anyone we've got. He's still learning to play within the scheme.”
The Hogs also used Armon Watts and T.J. Smith at the inside tackle slots, too. Neither had played much in meaningful games until the trip to Starkville, Miss.
Smith knows what to expect at Missouri. It will be an uptempo offense. Missouri ranks first in the SEC in total offense and had 743 yards in a 63-37 loss Saturday at Tennessee.
“They ran a lot of plays against Tennessee,” Smith said. “They run the ball well. They've done a good job of thinning you out in the box with their formations. They do a nice job with the (run pass options). We have to make a conscious effort to stop the run.”
That's a no-brainer. The Hogs have allowed a school record 33 rushing touchdowns. Missouri has rushed for 21 touchdowns, 10 by freshman Damarea Crockett from Little Rock. Crockett has been suspended this week after a drug-related arrest.
The odds are that the Tigers will still muster a solid rushing attack. Backup Ish Witter rushed for 163 yards against Tennessee.
The odds are on the Arkansas side. Most Las Vegas books have the Hogs as a 10-point favorite. It's the only time they've been favored in an SEC game this year. They were also underdogs at TCU. They've won four of eight games as an underdog this season.
“The first time we are favored?” Bielema said. “Holy cow. We have been playing against the odds.”
The Hogs are trying to make it an 8-4 regular season. That would be an improvement of one win over last year. Is that good?
“As long as you are moving forward, I guess,” Bielema said. “What we really talk about is getting better every week. If you are getting better, you are moving forward. The four losses, they all suck. But they were against quality teams.”
The Tigers are 3-8, 1-6 in SEC play. The Hogs probably don't feel sorry for them. After all, they are just one week removed from getting no love, especially the offensive line.