FAYETTEVILLE — In his introductory speech to Arkansas players in December, Chad Morris said the Razorbacks will eventually field an offense with more firepower than any in the nation.
It will take time, though, evidenced by Arkansas’ clunky first-quarter start against Eastern Illinois on Saturday. But when the second quarter rolled around and Ty Storey found receivers La’Michael Pettway and Jordan Jones early and often, the offensive staff had to smile.
And in his postgame press conference, Morris said the offense totaled six plays of 15-plus yards - also known as explosive plays - in the second quarter alone. That’s a figure he and offensive coordinator Joe Craddock like to see in just 15 minutes.
Pettway led the charge with three such plays, including a 48-yard score from Storey with 1:20 to go in the first half. Storey’s next pass, a 57-yard touchdown strike to Jones, was the second of two chunk plays to Jones.
Over 67 plays, however, Arkansas had just seven explosive plays – a number that needs to continue to climb, Craddock said Monday. The offense had two in the second half, one apiece from Kansas transfer Chase Harrell and tight end Austin Cantrell, who rumbled into the end zone following a 42-yard pitch and catch from Cole Kelley.
“No, we’re not (pleased),” Craddock said. “We want to have more than just seven. I mean, we’ve had games (in the past) where we’ve had 18 to 20-something, so we have to get that number up.”
Morris ideally wants two more big plays than the opponent, five or more explosive plays in the passing game and four on the ground. The Razorbacks didn’t have one from a running back, although TJ Hammonds came close early in the fourth quarter with a 10-yard gain.
The offense’s inefficiency on first down was also a telltale sign of that number being lower than the staff would like. Arkansas ran for just 44 yards and two first downs on 19 first-down attempts (2.32 yards) against the Panthers.
“That caused us to be in a lot of second-and-longs,” Morris said. “We had 27 first down opportunities and 13 of those we were in second-and-long. So that’s something we’ve got to get better at. You’ve got to be efficient on first down.”
Arkansas possesses more than a handful of threats for big plays, evidenced by Jones – 19.1 yards per catch average in 2017 – and Pettway’s performances, as well as Harrell’s second-half emergence. What hurt the running game on Saturday, Craddock said, was lack of movement and some miscommunication. Right tackle Brian Wallace misheard the play call on Hammonds’ run. If not for that, Hammonds would have been credited for a big play.
“It's a team game and everybody has got to do their job,” Craddock said. “But a lot of time we were playing with 10 guys doing their job and one guy wasn't and that's what was causing the issues. Which is fine, it's the first game and we've got to iron out those issues and we will.
“We'll get all 11 playing on the same page and we'll be a much better offense.”