FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas’ offensive line played winning football Saturday night in the No. 8 Razorbacks’ 49-24 season-opening victory against FCS opponent Jacksonville State.
It just wasn’t what offensive line coach Chris Klenakis considers “championship” level blocking.
“We graded out OK,” Klenakis said. “Not to the standard we hold to ourselves, and not to the standard we need to win the championship.”
The Razorbacks gave up one sack - center Travis Swanson allowed Dimetrio Tyson in for a 6-yarder on Tyler Wilson in the second quarter - and allowed three tackles for lost yardage.
“Compared to my past two years, in our first games, we had much fewer mistakes, like assignment errors and critical errors,” guard Alvin Bailey said. “We weren’t too happy about that sack, but that improved from the year before.”
The Razorbacks gave up three sacks in their 2011 season opener against Missouri State and one sack the year before against Tennessee Tech.
Bailey and Swanson, both veterans, were joined by first time starters in sophomore tackle Brey Cook and former walk-ons Tyler Deacon and David Hurd.
“Overall, it went well,” Cook said. “Obviously there were a couple of mess-ups. That’s bound to happen, butthat’s out of the way. We’ve gotten over that and really addressed those issues.”
Arkansas’ offense is ranked 14th nationally in total offense (564 yards), fourth in passing (400) and 57th in rushing (164) going into the second week of the season.
“They can improve,” offensive coordinator Paul Petrino said of the line. “We want to be great. Tyler only got sacked once. That shouldn’t have happened. That was our best guy ... Swanson that got beat on that one. ... I thought we ran blocked pretty well. It’s something we can keep improving on.”
Jason Peacock, a nine-game starter at tackle last season, served a suspension last week and is back in the mix with Cook on the strong side this week.
“The first group was OK,” Arkansas Coach John L. Smith said. “We have to improve along the board there, and hopefully we can develop some more competition there as well in Peacock.”
Wilson rebounded from the sack, in which he took a shot to his lower leg, and praised the efforts of his blockers.
“I thought they did a really good job,” Wilson said. “When I got us in the right protections, I thought they did their job.”
The offensive starters played for 11 series in three quarters, accounting for 7 touchdowns, 2 turnovers, 1 punt and 1 failed fourth-down play from the Jacksonville State 43.
“There were a few missed blocks,” said running back Knile Davis, who averaged 5.7 yards per carry on 14 first-half attempts and minus-2.5 yards per carry on four runs in the second half.
Against frequent blitzing pressure that sometimes outnumbered blockers, the Razorbacks’ running game was effective in the first half when 20 runs - minus a 6-yard sack of Wilson - averaged 5.4 yards per play.
The first offensive snap of the second half yielded an 11-yard loss for Davis when Tyson barged into the backfield as Davis headed toward left end.
“That was a technical mistake,” Klenakis said. “It wasn’t an assignment error. He knew who to block. He took the wrong steps.”
Petrino didn’t mince words on where the line needs to head.
“Swanson and Bailey need to be dominant,” he said. “The other three need to just keep improving and get to be where they can be real good.
“When that happens, I think we have a chance to be a real good unit.”
Sports, Pages 19 on 09/05/2012