FAYETTEVILLE -- The Arkansas Razorbacks scored touchdowns on 5 of 6 trips inside the 20-yard line against Texas A&M, prompting questions to offensive coordinator Dan Enos and Coach Bret Bielema about whether the team has overcome a mental barrier of converting in the red zone.
The Razorbacks were 0 of 2 on red zone scoring opportunities against TCU after ranking No. 100 in the nation last season when they scored on 46 of 68 (79.3 percent) red-zone trips, including 35 touchdowns.
Arkansas was 6 of 6 in red-zone scores in the opener against Florida A&M, an FCS team the Razorbacks defeated 49-7.
"I guess nobody counts that or whatever, but I do," Enos said with a laugh. "It's a football game. You're playing against a defense that has coaches and scholarship players. I look at things not as, 'Oh, we can't do that.' I look at that particular play and go 'Why didn't it work and let's make it better.' So structure-wise, I think we've had plays there.
Enos said the offense did a better job of executing in the red zone versus Texas A&M.
"It's going to be tough every week," Enos said. "In our league, they have a lot of big, good athletes playing down there and they sell out."
Arkansas is currently tied for No. 92 in red-zone scoring, going 11 of 14 (.786), with 7 rushing touchdowns and 4 passing touchdowns. The Hogs only other non-conversion in the red zone came in overtime against Texas A&M last week.
Bielema said he hoped the red zone mental hurdle has been crossed.
"First, there was some different looks you saw obviously that took place," Bielema said. "With Cole [Kelley] being able to run the ball and throw the ball, as you saw with A&M, when he started coming in, they started bringing five defensive linemen because they thought it was the run game."
Kelley threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to David Williams on a second-and-goal play. The Razorbacks also scored on second and goal from the 6 on Austin Allen's pass to Jared Cornelius, on first and goal on Chase Hayden's 6-yard run, and on first and goal on runs by Williams of 1 and 4 yards.
Enos said NFL teams sometimes have problems scoring in the red zone.
"You have to get creative with what you're doing down there and we'll continue to try to come up with packages and a way to get it in," he said.
K-Rich's return
Nickel back Kevin Richardson expects to be back to full speed Saturday after playing only a couple of snaps in the loss to Texas A&M.
Richardson, who was dealing with a high ankle sprain, went in briefly after Josh Liddell landed hard after tracking down quarterback Kellen Mond on a 79-yard run.
"They had confidence in Josh and I wasn't exactly ready to play," Richardson said. "I'll be ready this week.
"It's frustrating to me not being able to be out there to make plays. It's disappointing to not be able to go out and contribute like I want to."
Liddell said Richardson's absence made the Hogs thin at safety.
"But having him back will be huge for us to give us more depth back there," Liddell said. "With him having his knowledge and experience playing the position I think he'll be really solid for us this week."
Brown's time?
Safeties Santos Ramirez and Josh Liddell said freshman safety Montaric Brown, who reported to campus the first week of school while waiting for his eligibility to be confirmed, has started working on some special teams.
"I believe they're working him slowly but surely as I see that they've got him on special teams this week," Ramirez said. "That's a good start for him and we're going to see where it goes from there."
Brown, of Ashdown, was the Razorbacks' top in-state signee and one of the blue-chip prospects on defense.
Harris at his best
Sophomore De'Jon Harris tied teammate and fellow inside linebacker Dre Greenlaw with a game-high 14 tackles against Texas A&M.
Greenlaw leads the Razorbacks with 33 stops, followed by Harris with 27.
"I really thought he had a progressive two weeks of preparation for that game," Arkansas defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads said of Harris. "What I mean by that is I think he improved himself fundamentally ... and took his early knowledge of the game plan and really started to apply it, and by the time he got to the 14th day, he arrived and played his best game in the three games he's played this year. That's exciting and encouraging for our defense."
Linebackers coach Vernon Hargreaves said Harris has grown comfortable with his role in the defense.
"We talked about that role, being the leader of the defense, and you can see the confidence, which is way different than it was a year ago," Hargreaves said. "He had never really played in that position and right now his confidence is at an all-time high and we've got to continue to go in that direction."
Special spatial
In each of the last two games, Arkansas has had would-be scoring plays negated by a tight end's right foot being in contact with the end line. Austin Cantrell grabbed a play-action pass in the back of the end zone on the first play of the fourth quarter against TCU, while Jeremy Patton caught a pass on a first-down play from the Texas A&M 14 in overtime.
Offensive coordinator Dan Enos said quarterback Austin Allen had to look for a post play first before delivering the pass to Patton.
"Obviously we've got a guy open for a touchdown, and we'd like to have him throw it 3 feet to the left rather than right there," Enos said. "But that's football."
Tight ends coach Barry Lunney Jr. said the Razorbacks spend a significant amount of time practicing scoring plays like those situations.
"Even though they look the same, the scenarios of how they unfolded were different," Lunney said. "We certainly work [on] that. Every Wednesday we spend a significant amount of time in a compressed field zone for spatial awareness and understanding where we are on the field. We preach it, we coach it."
Self control
Bret Bielema praised New Mexico State quarterback Tyler Rogers, running back Larry Rose III and the Aggies' defense, but his take on Saturday's game is because it's at home the Hogs need to take care of their own business.
"Our thing is we're playing here in our stadium so we want to make it an SEC-type game, SEC-type environment and play the way we're capable of playing," Bielema said. "We can't control our opponent, but we can control our own reactions, and that's our goal."
Chase's place
Running backs coach Reggie Mitchell put it on himself for freshman Chase Hayden having only two carries in Arkansas' 28-7 loss to TCU.
Hayden rushed for 120 yards and a touchdown in the season opener, but had two carries for 1 yard against the Horned Frogs as the Razorbacks took just 54 snaps and had 31 running plays.
"He was a little disappointed and really I was disappointed in myself because he didn't get enough carries in the TCU game," Mitchell said. "We made a concerted effort to be able to get him carries this past weekend with the Wildcat, so we wanted to make sure we had specific things for him to get the ball more. ... I told him, 'Chase, that is totally my fault. We should have gotten you in more.'"
Hayden had a team-high 13 carries for 77 yards and a touchdown in Saturday's game against Texas A&M.
Big guarantee
New Mexico State will receive a game guarantee of $1.35 million for Saturday's game against the Razorbacks. The guarantee, believed to be the most for an Arkansas opponent, was first reported last summer by the Las Cruces Sun-News. The Razorbacks will shell out $1.5 million to Coastal Carolina for their game on Nov. 4.
Chug-a-lug
Austin Allen said Cole Kelley's "Steamboat" nickname is a good fit for the 6-7, 268-pound backup quarterback from Lafayette, La., who emerged as a running threat against Texas A&M.
"It's the Louisiana Steamboat right there," Allen said. "He's just chug-a-lugging along. That's a big boy."
Allen was asked how he'd describe Kelley's running style.
"Don't get in his way," Allen said with a laugh. "That's 275 right there coming downhill at you."
Toliver and TDs
Arkansas cornerback Henre Toliver's most recent takeaways have led to touchdowns. Toliver had an 18-yard fumble return for a touchdown in the season opener against Florida A&M, and his interception against Texas A&M on Saturday led to Chase Hayden's 6-yard touchdown run two plays later. Last season, Toliver had a 70-yard interception return for a touchdown against Alcorn State.
Toliver's interception against Kellen Mond in the second quarter last week was the team-high sixth career pick for the native of Marrero, La.
Sports on 09/28/2017