FAYETTEVILLE — Based on last Saturday’s possession clock in Fayetteville against the Georgia Bulldogs, you might assume these Razorbacks taking their time this Saturday in Starkville, Miss., before snapping the ball against the Mississippi State Bulldogs.
Arkansas’ offense stayed on the field but 24:14 of the season-opening game’s 60 minutes. The Razorbacks lost 37-10 to Georgia after leading 10-5 at 8:23 of the third quarter.
Maybe a little more time between Arkansas’ offensive snaps better rests its overworked defense.
It ain’t necessarily so, Arkansas Coach Sam Pittman surmises.
“No, I don’t think we need to slow down,” Pittman said. “This is what we do. I think we need to do what we do more effectively.”
Pittman actually laments too much time between snaps. Time not intentionally tempo slowed but squandered. Any offense requires a rhythm, especially the kind of uptempo offense that Arkansas offensive coordinator Kendal Briles operated to nationally explosive renown at Baylor, Houston and Florida Atlantic.
“I don’t think any of us were happy with the rhythm of the offense,” Pittman said. “There’s too much indecisiveness where to line up. Too many misalignments. Shifting a back from one side to another. Tight end from one side to another. Wide receiver on or off the ball. Tight end lining up on wrong side of the ball, wide. Just too many missed assignments. That slows everything down.”
Not only slows but distracts.
“Now the quarterback [Feleipe Franks] is having to get everybody adjusted,” Pittman said. “We really didn’t have that problem at practice, but we did the other night. The quarterback was getting everybody lined up instead of looking at the defense seeing how we can attack that. We have to calm the quarterback down so he can make plays. The only way we can do that is if everyone else knows what their assignment is.”
Not establishing the run affected everything. Even with a great running back like Rakeem Boyd, a revved Razorbacks running game proved not in the cards against Georgia, the 2019 national leader in rushing defense and scoring defense.
“I knew we were going to struggle up front against Georgia’s defensive line,” Pittman said. “I didn’t think we were going to be able to pound the ball at them. But we’ve got to play better up front. We have to play faster and more physical up front on offense.”
If they do, Boyd should get some running lanes against Mississippi State’s Bulldogs never open against Georgia’s Bulldogs.
Not that Mississippi State’s Bulldogs are defensive slouches. Seven times the Bulldogs, schemed by defensive coordinator Zach Arnett, sacked LSU quarterback Myles Brennan in Mississippi State’s 44-34 stunner last Saturday over the reigning national champion Tigers in Baton Rouge, La.
“Obviously they’ve got some very, very talented defensive linemen,” Pittman said. “We didn’t protect bad against Georgia but certainly it’s a concern because they [Mississippi State] move all over the place. It’s just part of their defensive coordinator’s philosophy. And they do it well.”