FAYETTEVILLE — Before even attempting to explain Arkansas' inability to contain Kentucky's Lynn Bowden on Saturday, Razorbacks coach Chad Morris voiced some frustration with his offense failing to consistently cap drives with touchdowns.
"To come away with (field goals) in the red zone early in the game was disappointing," he said after the 24-20 loss to the Wildcats. "Where we are in our program right now, when we get the ball in the red zone we’ve got to score touchdowns, and we were unable to do that, especially early on when we had the momentum.
"We came away with points, which was good, but as I mentioned before, we’ve got to score touchdowns."
Through six games, Arkansas has had 23 series in which it moved the ball inside its opponents' 20-yard line. The Razorbacks have found the end zone just 10 times in those trips, and their 43.5 percent touchdown rate in the red zone ranks last in the SEC, according to cfbstats.com.
Only Tennessee and Vanderbilt, teams with a combined record of 3-9 in 2019, have scored fewer touchdowns than Arkansas in those situations.
Last-chance, fourth-quarter drives have stalled in each of the Razorbacks' last two games. Backup quarterback Ben Hicks led the Razorbacks deep into Texas A&M and Kentucky territory late, to the 19 and 15, respectively, but came up a few plays short each time. The key, he said Saturday, to red-zone success is continuing to go to what worked to get the offense there in the first place.
"You don’t want to change what you’ve been doing," Hicks added. "I think we press a little bit when we get down there, too. We just need to stay relaxed and find ways to stay within ourselves. ... At the end of the day, we’ve got to find a way to get it done.
"That’s the bottom line. Being that close is cute and all, but we’ve got to find a way to get it done. Same with me."
Quarterback Nick Starkel has thrown three interceptions and Arkansas has turned the ball over on downs four times in the red zone this season. Miscommunication also led to the first-half clock running out on Starkel and the offense inside the 15-yard line in the season opener against Portland State.
In three SEC games, the Razorbacks have scored just four touchdowns in their 10 red-zone opportunities.
Running back Rakeem Boyd, who leads the conference in rushing at 617 yards and 102.8 yards per game, said he feels there is a lack of focus hampering Arkansas at critical moments of the game.
"We’ve just got to execute," added Boyd, who has a sprained AC joint in his right shoulder. "The plays were laid out, and we just didn’t do our job. It’s not on the coaching. I feel like it’s on us. We’ve got to go out there and get the job done.
"Get the plan and execute it. When we get in the red zone we’ve just got to do better. When we get to the red zone (it's as if) we just give up."
Given that Arkansas' last three losses have come by less than seven points, offensive coordinator Joe Craddock was asked Monday if any thought had been given to being more aggressive in his playcalling in the early stages of games. For example, the Razorbacks, armed with two timeouts, opted to essentially hold the ball with 55 seconds left in the first half against the Wildcats rather than push for points or a field goal after Kentucky scored to pull within 13-7 on Bowden's three-yard touchdown.
Morris' thought process was to pick up a quick first down, use timeouts, then try to hit a big play. Instead, Starkel found tight end Cheyenne O'Grady for six yards and Boyd was stopped for a two-yard gain on a trap play. At that point, with momentum on Kentucky's side, Morris was content with getting to halftime.
"We’re trying to be more aggressive and trying to score more touchdowns, obviously," Craddock said. "Trying to score touchdowns and not settle for field goals is obviously one of the things we’ve harped. We’ve got to continue to just keep pushing and keep working those things and put the ball in the end zone and not settle for field goals."
Arkansas' initiative to improve there will be a challenge this week against No. 11 Auburn, which has allowed four touchdowns in its opponents' 10 red-zone chances in SEC play and eight in 19 total opportunities. Points will likely be at a premium for the Razorbacks, too, as the Tigers are one of 10 FBS teams to not give up more than 24 points in a game this season.
Cashing in with touchdowns when given the chance will be vital for Arkansas and Hicks or Starkel.
"We’ve got to have a great plan," Craddock said. "We’ve got have a great protection plan when we throw the football. Not a lot of teams have had a lot of success running the football against (Auburn). ... They’ve got a lot of speed, and we’re going to have some different things. I don’t want to give too much away here, but we’re going to have to use some different things to help us out to try to move the football effectively."