AUBURN, Ala. — Let’s say it together: Arkansas is un-special on special teams.
There is no need to be delicate. There is no need to dance around. It’s the obvious conclusion after Auburn relied on all phases of the kicking game – and a great front seven on defense – on the way to a 34-3 victory Saturday night at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
Arkansas players knew they improved, but they also pointed to the weak special teams.
“We made some big steps from previous years (against Auburn), but there are things to fix, especially special teams,” said De’Jon Harris, the Hogs’ middle linebacker.
Defensive end Randy Ramsey said, “We shot ourselves in the foot with special teams. We can’t do that.”
One high profile ex-Razorback invoked the name of Ken Turner when shaking his head about the constant troubles with the special teams.
“Can Ken Turner come out of retirement,” said David Bazzel, puzzled by all the areas that committed blunders in the kicking game.
“When I played (1981-85) we just stayed on the field afterwards until we got the protections and coverage teams perfect in special teams,” Bazzel said. “I know NCAA rules don’t allow extending practice but we made sure we worked and worked until it was going to be right.”
Turner coached tight ends and handled almost all areas of the special teams during his time on UA staffs from 1972-88. He produced a long list of All-America punters and kickers.
While the Razorbacks went down almost exactly the way the Las Vegas oddsmakers figured it, there was improvement in many areas, including at quarterback where Ty Storey left the field with his white jersey almost entirely green from grass stains.
Yes, the No. 9 Tigers covered the 30-point betting line on a field goal with 3:15 left, but they didn’t find the gaping holes in the Arkansas defense that were so painful to watch in recent years. This time the Razorbacks fought back for every yard, battling despite horrible field position for the second straight week.
Auburn punished the Razorbacks for 543 rushing yards the last time they played in Jordan-Hare Stadium. They couldn’t find any chunk plays this time in almost any area, finishing with just 225 total yards against the defense coached by John Chavis.
The Tigers out-rushed their first three foes – two of them, Washington and LSU, ranked – 706-270 yards. The Hogs turned that around with a 149-91 advantage.
That makes this game worth an asterisk in the Gus Malzahn era at Auburn. It was the first time his team was held under 300 yards in total offense and won. The Tigers were 0-9 while posting less than 300.
And, if they had played two more quarters, Auburn might not have gotten to 300 yards. Sadly, they didn’t need any offense because of the huge gaffes by the Hogs on special teams.
Every time there was a kicking situation, it was time to hold your breath if you were pulling for the Hogs. They had two punts partially blocked and finished the night with a net average of 23.2 on nine tries. There was a third punt that seemed to go between the arms of a rusher. How that one wasn’t blocked is anyone’s guess.
Auburn could have won the game without taking the field on offense. The Tigers answered the only Arkansas points of the night with a 96-yard kickoff return. They scored on their opening possession, covering just 27 yards after a 46-yard punt return.
The Tigers did manage one impressive drive. They marched 72 yards on eight plays, but they were ordinary on offense the rest of the game. Still, they only totaled 27 yards for the rest of their points.
The Arkansas offensive line had a new look for the fourth straight look. Hjalte Froholdt moved from center to left guard, his position the last two years. Ty Clary moved from guard to center, although he did miss some blitzes. Colton Jackson started and went the distance at left tackle, his position the last two seasons.
Jackson played sparingly the week before after rehabbing from July back surgery and missing the first two games. True freshman Noah Gatlin had been the starter at left tackle the first two games, but wasn’t seen much or at all against Auburn.
The Hogs did not manage to hold a pocket together for the passing game, especially at right tackle where Brian Wallace has still not seemed quick enough in his pass sets. That must improve.
There were a few bright spots with the O-line, but it still was hit or miss and way too much miss both in the run game and in pass protection. But, the group it was trying to block on the other side is exceptional. No one has blocked the Tigers much the last two seasons and probably won’t the rest of the way.
Arkansas coach Chad Morris didn’t want to claim any “moral victories” in areas that improved and he stated the obvious that special teams remain a serious issue.
“When we are in position to make tackles, we didn’t,” he said. “We try to play as many starters as possible (on special teams). We will look at the film and see exactly where the breakdowns happened and try to fix them.”
Earlier Morris mentioned that “little things” are stressed over and over and that they do matter, then special teams were mentioned. None of them seem little now.
“When you get a chance to score, you have to kick the field goal,” he said. “That does become important early in a game.”
There were positive signs outside of defense. The offensive line was overmatched by a great Auburn front seven, but did win some battles. Storey beat some blitzes with dashes on both called runs and gritty scrambles.
Sophomore running back Rakeem Boyd made plays both on slashing runs and acceleration after short passes. Morris said Boyd provided a “spark” to the offense and thinks he’ll only improve as he continues to work into game shape. Boyd did not arrive on campus until August.
Boyd had only eight touches, but they were almost all productive. He had a 45-yard run and a 33-yard reception. The long run came on the first Arkansas snap of the second half and set up Connor Limpert’s 29-yard field goal, the only points for the visitors.
The Hogs managed 149 net yards rushing, led by Boyd’s 66. Storey netted 44 and was sacked only twice despite constant pressure by the Tigers.
“Ty was a warrior,” Morris said. “He was gritty. He played with a chip on his shoulder. The moment was not too big for him.”
Storey started. He gave way to Cole Kelley for a handful of third-and-short situations. The plan was to let the 6-7, 255-pound Kelley hammer inside on keepers. It worked once, but the Hogs turned it over on downs on another try.
Morris said Storey “did some really good things,” then confirmed that Storey, a junior from Charleston, would keep the starting job. Morris added, “I see confidence, a guy who was ready and was doing what he wanted to do. He responded and I saw that when I told him (he was the starter) on Sunday. He said, ‘Let’s go, Coach.’”
Storey wasn’t celebrating that news. Maybe he competing gamely, but he wasn’t pleased with the big picture.
“We gotta put up points,” Storey said. “Our defense played their butts off. You are not going to win games with three points.”
Told Morris called him the starter, Storey said again, “We gotta score more points.”
When someone mentioned that his jersey was tattered and stained green afterward, Storey said, “That’s what you sign up for and we gotta score more points. It starts with me.”
Storey’s passing numbers were not pretty, just 13 of 31 for 141 yards. He was scrambling much of the night.
“That’s what they gave us,” Storey said. “They were playing a lot of man. If you know football, you know that when the defense plays man and they run with the receivers, there is a lot of open space. I took it.”
Morris was proud of the defense for becoming what he called “first responders,” and said the team overall “didn’t back down.” All of that was true.
“We faced adversity and we kept coming,” Morris said. “Let me say this: our guys fought.”
There was credit given to Auburn and his good friend Malzahn. There was a visit for several minutes between the two head coaches before the game and a brief congratulations afterward.
“That’s a good football team,” Morris said. “They are well coached and that’s a great front seven. But we were in a battle with them.”
Malzahn said it wasn’t one of his team’s better offensive performances, an obvious understatement.
“But special teams, it was one of our better performances we’ve had in awhile,” Malzahn said. “I think we blocked one or two punts and got our hands on another one.”
Morris pointed to the many signs of improvement and promised that the Hogs “would continue to get better. But right now we hurt as coaches and players.”
As for the defense, Morris credited Chavis and the rest of the staff on that side of the ball.
“Our players keep building,” he said. “We have defensive things we can clean up.”
Harris said it was a simplified defensive game plan, especially in the back end. Obviously, the return of linebacker Dre Greenlaw to the starting lineup was a huge key. Greenlaw had been out since spraining an ankle in the closing seconds of the first quarter in the season opener.
Greenlaw admitted he’s still not full speed, but said he can add a vocal presence and knowledge of the scheme.
“We had a really good week of practice,” he said. “They got tendencies that they like to do and I think that we went out and fought hard. Every individual did their assignment and did a good job of watching film during the week and recognizing their opponent. We came out pumped and ready.”
Safety Kamren Curl led the Hogs with nine tackles, Greenlaw added eight and Ramsey added six, playing a full game for the first time this season. Ramsey missed the first two games and played only a few series against North Texas.
There was one more defensive change. Derrick Munson started at nickel back. The former high school linebacker added six tackles.
Ramsey said there was much talk of the way Auburn had manhandled the defense the last two seasons.
“Two years ago they broke a record against us,” Ramsey said. “Today we held them under 100 yards. I do think playing against a similar offense every day helped us.
“We were going to stop them today. We knew they were the No. 9 team in the country running the ball. So it started with stopping the run. You can see what we are doing.
“I think getting Dre back was good. We were much better.
“In my mind, we beat them the whole game. But we can’t shoot ourselves in the foot like that. We just have to get better every day. That’s our focus, to be 1 percent better each day. That’s what Coach Chavis stresses.
“I know we talk a lot about being first responders and we did that at times tonight. We have to solve the problems.”
There are still lots of problems to solve. There are lots on special teams.