ALCORN STATE VS. NO. 20 ARKANSAS

Stuffed Hogs: Offense works to push past futility at goal line

Arkansas running back Rawleigh Williams III, bottom left, attempts to run the ball against Texas A&M linebacker Richard Moore (7) in the first half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Sept. 24, 2016, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

FAYETTEVILLE -- If Arkansas tailback Rawleigh Williams put the bottom of his cleats on the goal line and laid down on the field, his helmet would touch the 2-yard line.

The Razorbacks took 10 snaps within that distance from the goal line Saturday, and none of them ended with a touchdown. One resulted in a holding penalty on the Aggies that put the ball on the 1-yard line with a fresh set of downs. The other nine snaps -- eight of them running plays -- resulted in a combined loss of 12 yards.

A look at the length of the 40 runs for Arkansas against Texas A&M last week

;Run distances

Category;Rushes-Yards-TDs;Average

0 or less;*19-(-35)-0;-1.8

1-3 yards;8-16-0;2.0

4-10 yards;10-58-1;5.8

10-plus yards;3-88-0;29.3

Totals;40-120-1;3.0

*Includes 1 sack for -9 yards, one kneel for -1 yard

Williams ran at left tackle and left end and then right guard. Kody Walker tried a dive up the middle. Willliams got a yard over the right side, and Austin Allen tried quarterback sneaks up the middle before receiver Keon Hatcher ran wide around left end, but the Aggies stuffed it for a loss.

Frustration was all Arkansas got in return.

"I thought we had a good plan, and we've got to get better ... results," offensive line coach Kurt Anderson said. "That's on us as an offensive line to get a good push and get us in the end zone. Running backs hit that thing and get us in the end zone."

The Razorbacks had 120 rushing yards against Texas A&M to drop their average to 158 yards per game heading into Saturday's nonconference finale against Alcorn State at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.

That's 42 fewer yards per game than Bielema's ideal average of 200, with the bulk of Arkansas' rugged SEC schedule ahead. The Razorbacks rank 11th in the SEC in rushing yards per game and 12th with 3.78 yards per carry.

Balancing out a passing attack that is No. 22 in the country in passing efficiency with a productive run game, which is currently No. 87, will be a focal point for Arkansas in its final eight games.

Players and coaches spread the responsibility around for the Razorbacks' inability to drive the Aggies off the ball, create or locate a seam, and push the ball across the goal line.

The feelings created by those failures, for a team that prides itself on being physical in the trenches, can do one of two things, Coach Bret Bielema said.

"It can destroy you or make you stronger," Bielema said.

"When you play good teams, when we execute, it looks good, and when they execute it doesn't," Arkansas offensive coordinator Dan Enos said. "To be quite honest with you, we don't have 15 passes you can run from the 6-inch line. And they're selling out [to stop the run].

"Obviously in hindsight, sure, we'd love to have called something that scored a touchdown. I don't have a magic wand. I can't wave a magic wand over the play and make it work."

Enos said a couple of plays on the goal line, "We blocked very well and we missed cuts, which hurt us."

Two of the calls were quarterback sneaks in the third quarter after Williams plowed for 1 yard on first and goal from the Aggies' 2. Allen moved the ball inches from the goal line on second down. Then came what might have been the call of the game.

The quarterback's initial momentum was blunted up the middle, but tight end Austin Cantrell grabbed Allen's hips and spun him to right end, where Allen was rolling to his back as he stretched the ball inches across the goal line. Allen was ruled down before scoring on the field, and replay officials Ben Oldham, Tom Ritter and Jeff Roberson upheld the ruling.

"There were a lot of missed opportunities out there during the game," Allen said on game night. "We're going to watch the film and really kick ourselves in the back, just knowing what we left out there."

Williams said the goal-line rebuffs were on the players, not the plays.

"Some missed cuts, and I think there were missed blocks here and there," he said. "It was an offensive effort that we didn't do what we needed to execute."

The goal-line stuffings made up a strange day for the Arkansas running attack. Twenty-two out of 38 called runs gained 2 yards or less, and the Razorbacks had 17 run plays that resulted in no gain or lost yardage.

On the flip side, Williams broke off a 55-yard run to the Aggies' 2 that set up the first goal-line stand by the Aggies. Williams also had a run from the 9 on which he was one step from scoring before safety Armani Watts stripped the ball free at the 1. The same play resulted in an 8-yard touchdown run for Williams on his next carry.

"I think we're making progress," running backs coach Reggie Mitchell said of the running game. "A&M last week presented a tough challenge. And we hurt ourselves with some of the things we did. Misreads by the backs at times. I think we're heading in the right direction with the run game."

Having a power running game is a key to the type of balance Enos and Bielema want to strike on offense.

Simply laying the fault for the red-zone fizzles on the offensive line doesn't fit, Arkansas coaches and player said.

"Really, they blocked their tails off on Saturday," Allen said. "Watching the film, A&M did some different things where they ... plugged the backers whenever they'd see chip-blocks on the ends."

Said Bielema: "The last three weeks on Sunday ... you definitely feel that your O-line played better than you thought on Saturday."

But he also declared, "Up front, you'd like to get a bigger push, from tackle to tackle. Right now we just don't have it. We can and we will and we'll continue to develop it. But right now we don't."

Sports on 09/30/2016