FAYETTEVILLE — Just two days after losing 48-22 to the Gamecocks, Arkansas coach Bret Bielema got the ultimate chicken or the egg question in hopes of explaining his offensive line problems.
Is it coaching or is it a lack of talent that is holding back the Razorbacks? Bielema backed Kurt Anderson, his second-year offensive line coach.
“I'm not going to make it that easy on you,” Bielema said.
Clearly, he doesn't regret hiring Anderson from his position as an assistant offensive line coach for the Buffalo Bills.
“My only regret is that four years ago we didn't make the decision to recruit two more (in the O-line) in each class,” Bielema said.
On the offensive line issues at another point Monday, Bielema said, “It's frustrating. Guys we recruited three to four years ago have not developed.”
Bielema said it's clear there are not enough offensive linemen now “who are SEC caliber and have size and athleticism against the kind of defensive linemen we face. The ability to strain and maintain (blocks) is the issue.”
That's quite simply the main issue the Hogs are facing as they battle the two best defenses in the league over the next two weeks. Alabama and Auburn are much better than the South Carolina defense that physically assaulted the Arkansas front last week in Columbia, S.C. Things in the offensive line must improve rapidly if they have any hopes of moving the ball or protecting a quarterback.
Whether it's senior Austin Allen, or his late-game replacement against Carolina, Cole Kelley, the Hogs must block better.
Arkansas committed four turnovers that led to half of Carolina's points. There were three defensive touchdowns and a field goal, all directly related to turnovers.
Some of the issue was pressure on Allen, but there was also no running game. The Hogs had a season-low 106 yards on 32 rushing attempts.
The running game was decent against Texas A&M with 226 yards, but the Hogs made just 129 against TCU before slumping against the Gamecocks last week.
It's the running game – featuring a big offensive line – that has been the Bielema calling card. It's not been there the last two years with a struggling offensive line.
Offensive coordinator Dan Enos was asked to assess the running game Monday.
In regards to the Carolina tape review, Enos said, “There were a couple of runs we missed. At the end of the day, we didn't hold up physically the way we thought we would. There was not a lot of room (to run).
“Overall, they were more physical team.”
Could Enos be more creative?
“He's always been creative,” Bielema said of his playcaller. “Ultimately, if the (defensive linemen) needs to be blocked, he needs to be blocked.”
The creativity will be needed against Alabama, traditionally the best defense in the country. It's good again this season with a physical front and a strong back end that re-routes wide receivers and is opportunistic.
“They are extremely talented,” Enos said. “No one is running on them. It's a huge challenge. You will have to be creative and pull out all of the stops.”
The Hogs are 2-3, but Enos said there is a belief that the Hogs can win from within the program.
“If we didn't believe we could win, I don't want to coach them,” he said. “If you are competitive, you look forward to this challenge.”
Paul Rhoads knows it can happen. He's got an example of an extreme upset last week, with Iowa State winning at No. 3 Oklahoma. He was head coach at Iowa State as recently as two years ago and knows the history of that series that Oklahoma leads 74-6-2.
“It's been ugly,” Rhoads said.
That's kind of where the Hogs are at right now - not a pretty place. But Rhoads thinks they will be up for the trip to Tuscaloosa.
“You always talk about the opportunity,” he said, noting that it won't take coaches telling players for them to know about the potential for an upset like what Iowa State scored last weekend when it was a 30-point underdog.
“You don't have to get specific,” he said. “They know it.
“There is a phrase we use in coaching: if you don't get excited about this, you don't have a pulse.
“We are going to play No. 1 in a great environment. Yes, it's a hostile environment, but it's great and it's exciting.”
The recipe for an upset is simple: to do the opposite of what the Hogs did against the Gamecocks. Turnovers must be eliminated.
“You can't overcome the kind of turnovers we had,” Bielema said. “We can't let our quarterback get hit from behind. You can't overcome what we did in the third quarter (with turnovers).
“We lost by 26 and you can find 24 that we gave up because of turnovers.
“I definitely don't want to find sympathy or look for excuses, but there are some things that can't happen.”
Bielema said the mental mistake on a touchdown bomb to the South Carolina tight end “can't happen. And, you can't give up the drive to end the first half. We have to pressure the quarterback more there. I know you can't spend the whole game running pressures, but you have to do more.”
There will be an effort to get more players ready in the offensive line, although the push to get Brian Wallace ready at tackle could not be pushed more. Wallace was the starter at right tackle for the last 10 games last year, but has rarely played this year. Paul Ramirez made his first start there against South Carolina.
“We have spent more time coaching Brian than anyone in our program,” Bielema said.
Ramirez held off Wallace in a tight duel in practice last week. They'll battle again this week. There is a hint that both might play against Alabama.
Bielema seems to think Johnny Gibson, the first-teamer now at right guard, will be ready against Alabama after suffering a knee injury against South Carolina.
“I think he's fine,” Bielema said. “We didn't practice yesterday. We just lifted weights. If he doesn't practice Tuesday, I believe he will on Wednesday. I think he is good to go.”
There have been few injuries in the offensive line. The Hogs are in better shape there than some other teams in the league. South Carolina held up well against the Hogs with three injured starters out in the offensive line.
Bielema maintained a positive outlook despite the troubles that seem so obvious.
“The good news, we have good kids,” Bielema said. “They haven't shown any bad signs. We haven't lost discipline. They seem to persevere.”
That might be under question after the meltdown in the third quarter against South Carolina.
They are facing an Alabama team that beat Texas A&M 27-19 last week. That's an A&M team that Arkansas lost to in overtime.
“That's the positive we should see,” Bielema said. “That should give us a good indication.”
The indication is that the Hogs can't block well enough. Whether or not it's players or coaches is the question for the ages, that old chicken or egg deal. But part of coaching is picking the right players and dividing up the roster numbers in the right manner.
Here's the bottom line: either the egg is cracking, or the chicken got smashed on the way across the football field.
Bielema didn't want to think about any of that, although it wasn't put to him exactly that way. He didn't want to think about negative possibilities.
“We want to turn the page and prepare to play the No. 1 team,” he said. “It's a chance to go on the road and play a great team.”
He's still hopeful to get things going in the right direction.
“I don't worry about the (win) total until the end of the year,” Bielema said.
A positive win total will be tough to achieve unless the blocking improves.