FAYETTEVILLE -- CBS color analyst Gary Danielson described quarterback Austin Allen's obvious exasperation with a receiver late in Saturday's 28-7 loss to No. 23 TCU as the cumulative response to a frustrating day.
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville offensive coordinator Dan Enos thought that was a pretty accurate description.
"I don't watch the broadcast, but if Gary Danielson said that, I agree with him," Enos said. "I think it was just some frustration from the whole afternoon coming out. I think Austin was just frustrated with himself, frustrated with where we were at in the game.
"We had plenty of chances to take the lead in that game and win the football game. I think that emotion was more toward the day than anything else. You know what? He's a competitor. He's a human. His emotions got away from him a little bit. He keeps it in check. There's a lot of respect for him amongst our football team and coaches. It's an emotional game and I think we all have outbursts like that."
Allen threw wide for Jordan Jones on the play, but it was not clear if the quarterback's hand gestures and ire were directed at the redshirt freshman or another wideout.
Arkansas' loss of quality receivers from a year ago and senior Jared Cornelius missing most of training camp with a sore back could be reasons for timing issues in the passing game.
"I think some of the things were on Austin this week; some of the things were on the receivers," Enos said. "We had some drops. A guy lost track of where he was in the back of the end zone on a play. I think there's a little of both.
"But these guys have been playing together long enough now that we have enough reps where there should be a really high confidence level."
Allen ranks No. 88 in the country with an efficiency rating of 120.3, and his passing average of 136.5 yards per game ranks No. 105.
Failed strips
Junior safety Santos Ramirez was trying to strip the ball away from TCU running backs Darius Anderson and Sewo Olonilua on TCU's final two touchdowns, runs of 14 and 13 yards on back-to-back offensive snaps with less than three minutes remaining.
"That last touchdown you're down 14 with the time that was left and if you don't strip the football the outcome of the game isn't going to change," Rhoads said. "So as ugly as that play was, the kid's mentality right, wrong or indifferent, was to get the football and that's what they were attempting to do, and it makes for an ugly-looking defensive play in the process."
Rhoads added that Ramirez, who punched a ball free from Shaun Nixon in the second quarter which linebacker De'Jon Harris recovered with one foot out of bounds, is playing at a very high level, though he missed some tackles in the game.
Kicking concerns
Coach Bret Bielema said Wednesday that he has been a big supporter of Cole Hedlund during the kicker's three years on the active roster, but after his 0 for 2 day against TCU that the chances of him kicking against Texas A&M on Sept. 23 are "very slim."
Bielema, asked about using the words "ludicrous" and "juvenile" during his postgame remarks, were not directed at Hedlund.
"Someone asked me about the moment and I made a comment that it was ludicrous," he said. "I didn't call him [ludicrous]. I didn't call him juvenile. ... At one point I said I was done with it, I didn't say I'm done with him. I think the important thing is there's been no bigger supporter of Cole Hedlund than myself for three years."
Bielema said Blake Mazza and Connor Limpert would compete the next two weeks and the most effective performer would kick against Texas A&M.
Third and one
Defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads said "third and 1" five times Wednesday to emphasize how many times the Horned Frogs faced a third-and-1 play in Saturday's game.
TCU converted on all five of those plays, gaining 1, 5, 2, 2 and 5 yards, with the first coming on Sewo Olonilua's touchdown from the Wildcat formation.
"That's the result of poor first- and second-down efficiency as a defensive unit," Rhoads said. "Hard to play great third-down conversion defense when you're faced with third and short. Offense's chance for success obviously are higher and it's a bad situation to be in."
Rhoads said the Hogs also must improve on third-and-medium and third-and-long defense as well.
More Chase
Coach Bret Bielema and offensive coordinator Dan Enos both said freshman tailback Chase Hayden needs to be more involved than he was Saturday, when he carried twice for 1 yard. Hayden rushed for 120 yards and a touchdown in the Hogs' season-opening 49-7 victory over Florida A&M.
Devwah Whaley and David Williams combined for 21 of Arkansas' 23 called run plays among the team's 54 snaps. Austin Allen also had 8 runs on 3 sacks and 5 scrambles.
"We never got in a sync or rhythm and we didn't have a lot of plays," Enos said. "We'd like to have 15 to 18 more plays. We would have been able to call more things and get more guys in the flow of the game.
"I think as the game was going, David got a little hot there and we kept him in. It certainly wasn't by design, but a mistake on our staff we're going to get corrected. [Hayden] will certainly play a lot more in our next game and get more carries. There's no feeling he ... can only run outside or can't [pass] protect. Nothing from our staff. We have three tailbacks and didn't have a lot of plays."
Razorback Relief
The University of Arkansas' Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and Razorbacks Athletics are partnering with KFSM-TV and the Northwest Arkansas Mall to hold a Razorback Relief event Friday. The event will benefit those impacted by Hurricane Irma.
Athletes from multiple sports and members of the Razorback Spirit Squads will be collecting items from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The collection point will be the southeast corner of the mall, which faces College Avenue, near the flag pole in front of Sears.
Truck Centers of Arkansas has donated a truck and J.B. Hunt Transport has provided drivers to deliver the collected items to Florida.
Recommended items to donate include bottled water, canned goods, toiletries, diapers and dog food. Cash donations cannot be accepted.
Sports on 09/14/2017