Reading what others think they see about the 1-3 start to the Chad Morris era, there are some good ideas on what is going on with this Arkansas football team.
Some think it’s failed coaching. Me, not so much.
Yes, there are mistakes here or there. But I see Nick Saban’s team make some of the same mistakes. I saw his team get penalized for too many on the field last year against Arkansas. It happens. I’ve seen Saban’s teams criticized for special teams, especially when there are missed field goals.
Teams fire kickers and punters in the NFL all the time, but you get to sign no one on the spot. So that’s an area that is never easy to fix.
That doesn’t excuse not covering punts or kickoffs or poor protections. That should not continue. But I’ve seen it before. I saw it in the first year of the SEC when a Joe Kines-coached team let Memphis block punt after punt in a 22-6 loss.
Blocked punts are the play in football that are almost impossible to overcome. One blocked punt can turn a game. More than one means you have no chance to win. That’s what happened last week in a 34-3 loss at Auburn. The net punt average for the Razorbacks was 22 yards. Put that with a kickoff return for one touchdown, that game should have been 70-3.
Enough on that, let’s get to the root of the problem for Morris ever since he became coach. It’s quarterback.
That’s the most important position on the team. When you are not sure who you should play at quarterback, there is trouble at the heart of the team. And, I don’t think anyone knew or understood exactly what should have been done at the top position on the team. And that is just now starting to work out.
Was it Cole Kelley or Ty Storey? Most thought it was Kelley from reading and listening to the critiques both on Internet sites and talk radio the last 10 months. I thought it would be Storey, but I wasn’t sure. Clearly, it’s going to be Storey now, until something happens to make that wrong, injury or poor play.
Unfortunately, there are other issues within this team that are going to prevent Storey from playing at a high level. The offensive line is still undermanned and in poor shape because of depth. That’s just plain poor recruiting and it’s almost impossible for any team to overcome.
I’d say it’s poor recruiting at quarterback, too. You might say that running back is a case of poor recruiting, too, although I’ve just taken that approach lately. It’s easy to see after four games that Rakeem Boyd is the best of the running backs and it was one of the big gets late in Morris’ first recruiting class.
There cannot be an offensive line anywhere in the country that had to practice this August camp with only eight players on scholarship, as Arkansas did. Line coach Dustin Fry should get a medal for trying to mix and match just to get through a practice, much less a game.
What do you do if you don’t have 10 offensive linemen for a practice? Do you ask some to practice with both the ones and the twos? Do you just sit down and rest them for a bit? That’s only a stretch by a little bit.
That’s fewer players in the offensive line than most high schools in the state of Arkansas can put on the field for a practice, and they can’t even recruit. It’s almost impossible to practice with just eight offensive linemen.
So anyone — anyone that knows one thing about Power 5 football — can say this team has enough talent and I’ll just laugh in their face. You can’t have a football team without talent at quarterback and offensive line. You can’t.
Morris and his recruiters know they need more scholarships given to offensive line talent. That’s the mission now. Morris said this summer that he wants at least 15 to be on scholarship in the offensive line. I might up that one or two.
But he said you can oversign in the defensive line and convert some of those players to the offensive side of the ball. Many good defensive linemen play both ways in high school so it’s not a stretch to do that. Morris has a healthy number of defensive linemen in his next class and some might convert to the O-line, just as Hjalte Froholdt and Austin Capps have done.
Defensively, there is more ability there than in several years, mostly because there were a few more hits in evaluation. Dre Greenlaw, Scoota Harris, Randy Ramsey, McTelvin Agim, Derrick Munson, Kamren Curl, Santos Ramirez, Ryan Pulley, Armon Watts, Dorian Gerald, Michael Taylor and a few others have true ability. Is it at the top level of the SEC? Probably not, but there is more here than on offense.
Then, where is the crux of the talent void? The bottom of the roster is not good enough to field a proper group of special teams without playing a lot of walk-ons. Starters on defense (and the best are coming off injuries) must help there when they should not have to because of conditioning. Greenlaw and Ramsey could or would play on special teams, but can’t right now.
There is lack of talent with the kickers. Connor Limpert is the best, but it’s really not close. None of the other punters/kickers are even remotely close in ability. Limpert does not have the ability to kick it deep into the end zone. The punters are horrible.
Yes, protection was bad against Auburn, but had it been good, the punting net average would still have been in the low to mid 30s. It was a great night to punt with a cross wind, something that carries the ball. But the Arkansas punters were just lucky to get a punt in the air against the rush. They need better protection with more top-line athletes to help I maintain that’s lack of team athletic ability.
Great ability at placekicker and punter would correct some of these faults and must be addressed. Find great kickers. It has been done for 50 years at Arkansas. If you don’t know how to find them, go talk to Ken Turner, the best of the UA special teams coaches now in retirement near Bryant.
I understand the decision of Jonathan Nance to redshirt and transfer. The passing game isn’t good enough to consistently target any wide receivers. It wasn’t that they did not want to throw to him. You have to protect and also have consistency at quarterback. That hadn’t happened yet, but it did seem to be better against Auburn because of Storey’s willingness to compete.
It doesn’t surprise me when a junior college player bails. He hasn’t been here long enough to know what he should do or have a loyalty to anyone. I will say that he wasn’t the most heralded JUCO receiver in that recruiting class. I think there should be some appreciation that Arkansas did want him. If I remember, his first college stop was Southern Miss and the coaches there thought he was a cornerback.
There is good news in all of this. Morris and his coaches are working to get top effort on the field each week. That’s the top item in coaching.
Most think it’s about drawing fancy plays. No, it’s about effort. I saw good effort at Auburn and that’s a good sign for the future. It’s also clear that he’s working hard and getting some positive results in recruiting. Recruiting better talent — along with coaching effort — should get Arkansas on the right track.
That’s an overview. Now let’s dive into the nitty gritty of the top 10 keys for this week’s game against Texas A&M, set for 11 a.m. Saturday in Arlington, Texas.
Stop the Run
It’s clearly the No. 1 priority for a John Chavis-coached defense. The Hogs have shown an ability to get that right in the first four games, especially of late when they’ve held the opposition under 100 yards for the last three.
I understand some of that. The Hogs practice against the same type of spread offense that Auburn and others run. That helps, according to defensive end Randy Ramsey. He said the reads are similar and the speed of play is what they see in practice. It’s made it easier for this defense to take a step forward.
But some of it is the Chavis scheme. It looks like a 3-2-6 at the start, but two players usually come hard into “the box” at the snap, making it a seven or eight man front in a hurry. Chavis spoke on that Monday.
“It’s about numbers in the box,” Chavis said. “It’s about showing them a five-man box and ending up playing a six-or-seven-man box. Teams that are spread teams — they don’t want to run in a seven-man box. That’s kind of hard territory.”
Spread teams block with five and use the option to get an advantage over a five-man box. If you can avoid that, it makes for an even game. Ideally, you want to have the extra man to send after the quarterback. Arkansas managed four sacks against Auburn. That’s a major victory.
Quarterback Runs
Arkansas burned Auburn’s man defense with quarterback runs, both called and improvised last week. Storey was a willing runner. His white game jersey was green by game’s end. It was like a badge of courage earned against a tough Auburn defense.
“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.”
That’s something to watch this week because the Hogs like to play man-to-man in the secondary to bring pressure up front. Texas A&M quarterback Kellen Mond is a willing runner, too. The Aggies call quarterback runs and that’s a concern for Chavis.
Emotion
This is a part of football that comes and goes. How much you put into a game determines how much you may have left for the next week.
Who put more into last week’s game? Was it Texas A&M against Alabama, or Arkansas against Auburn?
Morris was pleased with the fight the Hogs brought to the Tigers. He said it was clear both in the way the team played and the way they reacted after the loss. When you play hard, it hurts to lose. The Hogs hurt after the game.
“There were tears shed, a lot of emotion,” Morris said. “There were players hugging players, players hugging coaches. What I can tell you is that they care about their performance on the field.
“The way they are approaching it is at the right level. Winning will take care of itself as long as they continue to work the process.”
All teams give No. 1 Alabama their best shot. It happens week after a week. It’s a given that Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher, a former Saban assistant, wanted to beat the Crimson Tide. So some emotion and energy was expended there.
Morris has downplayed what this week means to him, other than to say every game is a big week. Texas A&M is his alma mater. Chavis coached the A&M defense the last three seasons.
About the only mention of that came from offensive coordinator Joe Craddock on Monday. Craddock said Chavis was able to give some insight into the Aggies’ personnel.
Special Teams
Can the Hogs cover punts and kickoffs?
The Hogs paid extra attention to special teams this week, evaluating personnel after their were breakdowns in protection on the punt team and breakdowns on at least one kickoff.
The obvious answer is to play more defensive regulars on special teams, but some of those key players are battling back from injuries like Greenlaw and Ramsey. It’s probably not the best idea to add snaps to either one of those for at least a few more games.
“What we have to do is make sure that the players on special teams play with fundamentals and they hold up under pressure,” Morris said. “We subbed in on some of those units and the fundamentals didn’t hold up. We have to make sure they hold up.”
Finish
This has been the top issue in the Texas A&M game for Arkansas. There have been times in the current six-game losing streak against the Aggies that the Hogs played well for much of the game, but lost an edge in the fourth quarter or overtime.
That was the issue in the loss to Colorado State, too. The Hogs did seem to play hard until the end against Auburn. Can they against the Aggies?
With an eye toward using more defensive regulars in special teams, that would be the concern that it adds up to too many snaps.
It’s especially important in the secondary. It’s clear that Chavis has not wanted to substitute in the back end the way he has in the front four where the rotation has been constant.
“You make a mistake up front, there is another level to make up for it,” Chavis said. “You make a mistake in the back end, someone’s band is going to be playing and it’s not yours.”
Physicality
The Aggies have played both the nation’s top two teams, Alabama and Clemson. The Clemson loss was the more competitive of the two.
The point is that the Aggies should be battle tested and understand how to play physical. That was a concern for Arkansas until last week. The Razorbacks stepped up against Auburn with more physical play.
The question remains: Can the Hogs do that every week? Morris knows that’s the nature of the SEC.
“The game will be won in the trenches,” he said. “What we got last week (as far as effort) is what we want. You know that the physical part of the game will happen every week in this league.”
Pass Protection
Can the Hogs give Storey enough time to execute the passing game without running for his life? The Aggies are good with third down defense, among the best in the nation.
“They do a lot of things on third down,” Storey said. “But I’m comfortable that we’ve got a good plan.”
The Hogs have been poor on third downs. They converted just 3 of 17 against Auburn.
“We’ve had penalties and we’ve had missed assignments,” Morris said. “We have to become more efficient on third down.”
That comes down to pass protection from a rebuilt offensive line with Ty Clary at center, Hjalte Froholdt at left guard and Colton Jackson at left tackle. The constants from the first four games have been Brian Wallace at right tackle and Johnny Gibson at right guard.
The Start
Morris has a math degree from Texas A&M. He cited the number of plays Auburn ran in the first quarter inside Arkansas territory.
“Auburn had 58 snaps in the game, 34 were snapped on our side of the 50,” Morris said. “We took a huge punch in the first quarter. They snapped 13 of 17 in our territory. We have to get off to a better start.”
It was a similar problem against North Texas the week before when the Mean Green scored 17 points in their first 16 plays.
The Hogs have to improve in the first quarter if they want to stay with the Aggies.
Defensive Growth
The Hogs appear to be improved on defense, especially with the return of Ramsey and Greenlaw. Chavis said it’s not just the physical presence of good players. It’s continuity with leadership on the field and ability, too.
It’s an understanding of how to communicate both on and off the field. That’s giving coaches feed back on what is happening on the field and allowing for quick adjustments.
“Dre and Randy brought us senior leadership,” Chavis said. “Those two have played a lot of football. They made a difference with communication.”
That’s on the field and off.
“They can get us lined up right, but they can also communicate on the sideline what’s happening on the field,” Chavis said. “We played Dre too many plays. He was playing well, but we left him out there too long.
“What Dre was able to do was keep guys up on the sideline. There is not a price you can put on that.”
The Boyd Factor
It might be an emotional week for running back Rakeem Boyd, perhaps the starter with Devwah Whaley doubtful to play because of a concussion sustained against Auburn.
Boyd was at Texas A&M one year, redshirting there two years ago. He went to junior college last year because of academic issues.
Coaches have been asked this week if they’ve sensed its a big game for Boyd. They admit it no doubt is, but they can’t see much change in the low-key Boyd.
“You would expect him to be excited this week, to play against his old team,” Craddock said.
Expect Boyd to play more this week. He had 66 yards on eight rushes and 39 yards on two receptions against Auburn. He could be a difference-maker against his old team.