State of the Hogs: Morris keeps it simple after North Texas loss

Arkansas coach Chad Morris watches from the sideline against North Texas Saturday, Sept. 15, 2018, during the second quarter at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville. Visit nwadg.com/photos to see more photographs from the game.

— The message was clear. Arkansas coach Chad Morris knows he's in a storm.

It's time to “reduce, simplify and clarify.” Morris said his staff will find something “we can do in the storm we are in.”

For those who ache to see more bells and whistles, that's not what you do in a storm.

Every good coach has done what Morris is doing now when an offense is sputtering. They reduce the number of plays, simplify the blocking and clarify the routes.

What was obvious in the 44-17 loss to North Texas was that the Arkansas offense was unable to handle the amount of offense that's in the playbook at this point in the Morris era. The miscommunication between quarterback and wide receivers was apparent.

Instead of adding more motion, more formations and a different plays, Morris said Monday that there will be an attempt to focus on proper technique.

That sounds boring, but it's the way of football. It's the ultimate team game with 22 players on the field. When it's not going smoothly, then it needs to be simplified.

It's what happens when pro style becomes spread on the offensive end. It's also a common problem when three quarterbacks play in games, as was the case for the Razorbacks against North Texas.

Interestingly, Morris will turn things over to the one who didn't play in the game. Morris named Ty Storey the starting quarterback after Cole Kelley, Connor Noland and John Stephen Jones combined to throw six interceptions.

Morris said there was an attempt to give the entire game to Kelley last week to see if things would settle after they split time in the first two games. Instead, just the opposite happened with quarterback mistakes setting up points for the Mean Green.

Arkansas had horrible field position despite holding North Texas to 3 of 16 conversions on third down. The turnovers were the story. The Mean Green had 11 of their 20 possessions starting at the 50 or inside Arkansas territory. It's a wonder the visitors didn't score 75 points.

“Our offense averaged starting at its 20 in the first half, the 16 in the second half,” Morris said. “We were poor on third downs and we lacked explosive plays and we were trying to push it deep.”

Part of the problem came when Kelley focused on freshman wide receiver Michael Woods. They did mesh for four completions, but sometimes Kelley's passes were not close.

“You saw miscommunication in a lot of areas,” Morris said. “The timing was off between quarterback and wide receiver. Everyone wants to put it on the quarterback, but we had some with a freshman wide receiver.”

Morris said Woods did win some battles on 50-50 balls, one of the reasons coaches put him on the field. Woods left the game with an ankle injury, but practiced Sunday night and is expected to play this week at Auburn.

It's clear that the quarterback will be Storey. Morris said he told Storey on Sunday night that he'll practice as the starter all week and will start.

“Ty will get the reps with the No. 1 team this week,” Morris said. “We plan to give him the entire game.”

However, there is no promise that the juggling at quarterback is done.

“We've been talking about who the quarterback is since April,” Morris said. “We want to settle on a quarterback. Believe me when I say that. It's been inconsistent.

“Not all of the problems are with the quarterbacks or the wide receivers.”

Then, he emphasized what most have believed about Morris. He's always been regarded as an offensive guru.

“I do know offensive football,” he said. “I know what it takes.”

It may take simplification.

“Maybe we only run 10 percent of our offense,” he said. “I want us to be effective with 10 percent.

“As coordinators, we try to provide answers for our players. We are working tirelessly to do that.

“We are disappointed. We all feel it. We are going to get it. But it's back to basics.”

There was a serious nature to the Morris message on Monday. Obviously, he knows the team is in a transition period with new systems on both sides of the ball. And, he emphasized that players should expect to win every week.

“We go into every ball game expecting to win,” he said. “If you don't, then don't get on the plane – or don't even come out to practice.”

Offensive coordinator Joe Craddock said the plan against North Texas was designed to take advantage of man-to-man coverage on the perimeter.

“We thought our receivers could run by them (at corner),” he said. “They played their safeties really low.”

Not all of the deep passes were placed in the right area.

“We had some read plays and the quarterback and receivers have to be on the same page,” Craddock said. “Mike Woods, as a freshman, has to be on the same page. They were not. Obviously, we have some work to do in practice because we were not consistent enough.

“But we know what we've got in Mike. He's got a great future.”

As far as the North Texas game plan, Craddock said, “We knew about their defensive scheme and had respect for it. We carried some things into the game that thought gave us some answers. We had a couple of double team blocks at the point of attack. But we didn't knock them off the ball.

“So what we'll do is simplify and try to put our players in the best possible chance for success.”

Morris said an attempt will be made to reduce the number of wide receivers who get snaps with the ones in practice and in games.

There has been heavy rotation on the offensive line. That might settle out as more game footage proves who can play and who is still behind in the nuances of the offense. Morris said Colton Jackson, playing his first game after back surgery, had rusty spots and developed soreness after the game. He'll continue to work his way back in at left tackle.

“We will definitely try to narrow it down at receiver,” Morris said.

That's part of the process of reduction, simplification and clarification.

The storm is not over. In fact, Morris said that's part of the message to recruits.

“We are in a storm,” he said. “It will eventually pass. You don't jump ship when you are going through a storm.”

Morris said he's been through storms before and can navigate the roughest winds.

“I've gone through trying times,” he said. “You learn it takes a little bit of time. You just have to stay consistent with the message.”

Making it simple is probably not the message most want to hear, but it's the right tone.

I heard some of the things from Morris and his coordinators that were constants from the likes of Frank Broyles, Lou Holtz, Ken Hatfield and the rest of the good ones. Just simplify and improve.

“We just have to get better play by play, day by day,” Morris said. “It's get better, get better, get better.”

Broyles said it differently in his Georgia drawl. Spelled it 'bettah.' But it's the same thing. Eliminate the things that seem to go wrong in games, or get "bettah" at running them.

There was nothing wrong with the Monday message. The simplicity of it was on target.