AUBURN, Ala. — Did No. 17 Arkansas lack a “mental” edge, or just fail to set a “physical” edge in a 56-3 loss to No. 21 Auburn?
Take your pick, but it might be wrong to pin the most lopsided SEC loss in Arkansas history on lack of energy. It was too much like the defensive problems in other games to think the Hogs were on empty after eight straight games.
NBA legend Charles Barkley popped into the Arkansas radio booth late in the rout to offer a simple explanation. The Auburn grad, friend of analyst Keith Jackson, offered that the Hogs were coming off two tough games while Auburn had a bye week after easy victories over Louisiana-Monroe and Mississippi State.
Surely, there was still something in the tank for the Hogs the Auburn's first play, a 78-yard run touchdown run by freshman wide receiver Eli Stove. It was so much like the jet sweep Alabama used to gash the Hogs two weeks ago and other failures on the perimeter this season.
Never has a ranked Arkansas team looked so out of position on defense this late in the season. The No. 17 Razorbacks gave up a school record 543 yards on the ground. Rice had held that mark with 505 since 1953. It was also the most the Tigers had ever made in an SEC game.
Guz Malzahn's offense ran 56 straight plays for plus yardage before backup quarterback John Franklin took a knee for a 1-yard loss to end the game.
Most of the damage was outside the flanks. Of the seven rushing touchdowns scored by the Tigers, four were around the edge. But there were also three dashes up the gut, one of them a splattering run by Kamryn Pettway, the Auburn tailback who made 192 on 27 carries.
“When you don't have an edge, you don't have a defense,” Arkansas coach Bret Bielema said.
Clearly, Bielema thought the Hogs practiced with energy and determination. Never mind that they were coming off tough games against No. 1 Alabama and No. 12 Ole Miss, the latter an emotional 34-30 victory.
“We had some guys out of practice on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday,” he said. “But they came back and I thought we were ready.
“I thought our guys had a good week of preparation and I was excited to get in the game and I think they were as well.
“But obviously, after that whistle started from that first play in the first quarter, we didn't play well.”
Not only did the Tigers smash the Hogs on the scoreboard, they battered them. Quarterback Austin Allen sprained a knee early in the second quarter. He missed only two plays then, but ultimately retired after two plays of the final quarter when his knee swelled and tightened.
Offensive linemen Hjalte Froholdt and Brian Wallace limped off in the fourth quarter. Bielema said Froholdt “rolled up a knee,” probably not serious. Wallace felt something give in his foot, perhaps more significant.
The opening play was ugly. Stove had hardly played this season. He had only carried three times. In his only SEC carry, against LSU, he was stopped for no gain. He made 20 yards on two rushes against ULM.
Stove started in motion from the right side. He just circled the edge cutting inside a stand-up block against cornerback Jared Collins, with safety Santos Ramirez also slowing on the inside in the face of a stand-up blocker. Stove split them without breaking stride.
Bielema said it reminded him of some calls he'd made as a former defensive coordinator when there was belief that it would be a knockout punch. He said you came into the game knowing you held a ace in the back pocket. Is it a lack of athleticism on defense?
“Without a doubt,” he said. “As a coordinator there were times I couldn't wait to get off the bus with a call. I don't think it's so much a player as it is an area.”
It's the edge, without a doubt.
“It was very similar to the Alabama game,” he said. “We've got to get it fixed, whether it's technique or scheme.”
The Hogs have a bye week to analyze that issue. Bielema said the first will be to do a hard “self critique as coaches and definitely make corrections.”
Bielema didn't wait for questions to dive into the defensive issues, although later there was a reminder from the coach that the Hogs didn't score a single touchdown. He said there are offensive issues, too.
“Defensively, we definitely gave up too many free yards, too many things uncontested,” he said. “The first play that goes to the house you knew they couldn't wait to get off the bus and run that play.
“We have to take a serious look at some of the things that we are doing, how we are making guys play and what we are asking them to do.”
Nose tackle Taiwan Johnson, emerging as the vocal leaders, was the lone defensive player to come to the interview room. He said the start was bad and the game “spiraled our of control.” It was a pretty good assessment.
The run defense has been a problem at other points this year, but usually the gashes have come from running quarterbacks. Not so against Alabama and Auburn. Asked if anyone could have convinced him in preseason that these kind of problems could happn, Johnson shook his head no.
“I don't think so,” he said. “I wouldn't have believed we could do this poor of a job (against the run). If you told me this could happen, I wouldn't have believed you.
“It was tough. We have things we have to get corrected. We have to correct it now. Get it corrected now.”
The lone offensive player brought into the interviews was wide receiver Keon Hatcher. The senior led the way with seven catches for 81 yards. There were few other positive stats, with the running game stuffed for 35 yards on 31 tries.
“It's very frustrating,” Hatcher said. “We have things to get corrected. We definitely need the open week. We've got guys banged up. We have to get healed.
“But we have to get to work and do it fast. I'm going to make sure we go to work this week and get things fixed.
“We have to get going now. There is no time to hang our heads. Let's go. That's what I'm telling the team. Let's go.
“I believe in us. I'm seen what we can do. I know we can still finish this right. We've done it before. We are a three-loss team after eight games.”
Malzahn said the bye week did wonders for the Auburn offensive line, beat up after the Mississippi State game.
“The week off really helped,” he said. “We got fresher and healthier up front. Offensively, we carried over from the Mississippi State game about the physicality up front and getting a push.”
Bielema focused on the lack of a defensive edge on the perimeter three times during his time in front of the media.
“On the very first one, we didn't have the edge set,” he said. “We didn't sp[in down when the motion created the leverage on the play. For the most part, that was the story of the day. We have to look at the call or the scheme, that's really two types of starts to a play.
“From what I saw, there was a play that broke around our left edge in the third quarter where we have a defensive end in the right spot, but he sticks his nose inside and all of a sudden the ball bounces out. Again it's an edge issue, but you have to call that you expect that guy to be the leverage of the defense and it doesn't happen.
“There was a third and short and we ran McTelvin Agim inside to cancel the A/B gap and the ball bounces around the left edge and he goes for the first down. When you are playing against teams like this, especially like teams that like to run the football as well as Auburn, it is as simple as being gap sound, edge sound and support sound.
“Unfortunately, we aren't that way at this point.”