FAYETTEVILLE — Offensive coordinator Joe Craddock said he had never before experienced one aspect of Arkansas' poor offensive performance in Saturday's 48-7 loss at Alabama.
What he referenced, specifically, was the fact that only one of his traditional receivers caught one pass in the game. True freshman Treylon Burks had the unit's lone reception against the Crimson Tide - a 15-yard gain on the first snap of the second series.
Trey Knox, second on the team in receptions and receiving yards, was held without a catch for the first time in his career. Mike Woods, a sophomore receiver, did not have a reception for the second consecutive game.
That, in large part, was due to quarterback Nick Starkel's 5-of-19 passing effort that included three interceptions, and Razorbacks coaches electing to run backup quarterback John Stephen Jones in the read option for much of the second half. Both receivers had a drop in the loss.
"It’s something we talked about (Sunday). That was something that was new to us," Craddock said. "We knew going into the game that their defensive backs were pretty good, and a credit to them. They did a good job of stalking us down for the most part on the outside.
"On the inside, I thought we did a good job of getting open. We just got some balls batted down and overthrew Mike (Woods). But I’ve never been a part of a game like that."
Running back Rakeem Boyd and tight end Cheyenne O'Grady each finished with four receptions in the loss. Boyd totaled a team-high 55 yards receiving, and O'Grady tallied his 12th career touchdown. Devwah Whaley added two catches for 24 yards.
"We knew going in we were going to have to work our running back a little more in the passing game," Craddock noted. "That was kind of the plan working their linebackers in coverage because we felt we kind of had a good little mismatch there, which worked a couple of times for us.
"We hit some good 3rd downs. Two 3rd downs we had were on the linebackers, but yeah, I’ve never been a part of a game like that."
Craddock may not have been involved in such a game before, but Razorback fans have watched one more recently than they might think. In Arkansas' 52-7 home loss to No. 14 South Carolina in 2013, Javontee Herndon hauled in the only catch by a Razorbacks receiver for 20 yards.
Woods, who caught a career-high six passes at Ole Miss in Week 2 and finished with a career-best 115 receiving yards against San Jose State, said the ball just didn't bounce Arkansas' way against Alabama. Saturday marked the third time in his two-year career (18 games) he did not record a catch.
"It obviously didn't feel good, but we had a lot of plays that were real close to going (for positive yardage) that didn't go," Woods added. "That's just football sometimes. It's not going to go your way. You have to come back and work."
Woods was officially targeted four times against the Crimson Tide, and the misplay that stands out most in his mind is the deep ball overthrown by Starkel. Lined up alongside him in the backfield, Woods sprinted toward the flat then up the seam, where he caught Alabama defensive back Shyheim Carter flat footed.
Starkel's 30-yard throw to Woods, however, sailed five yards over his head. In a bit of disbelief when the pass fell incomplete, Woods placed both hands on his helmet as he ran into the end zone and off the field.
The Magnolia, Texas, native, though, is moving on to Saturday's game against Mississippi State, a team that has lost four consecutive games in SEC play since a Sept. 21 win over Kentucky. The Bulldogs currently rank 11th in the league in passing defense, allowing an average of 243.1 yards per game through the air.
Opposing quarterbacks have also completed passes at a 61.7-percent clip against them this fall.
The Razorbacks were embarrassed in Starkville, Miss., last season, falling 52-6. Woods finished with three catches for 15 yards in the loss. He said the team was not properly focused entering the game in 2018, but that won't be an issue this time around.
"They lost a lot of guys," Woods added. "They've got a lot of young guys in there. They're going to be physical on the edge, which is just the SEC. They're going to be physical every week. We've just got to go play. They're not going to give it to us. We've got to go take it.
"We've got a little chip on our shoulder going into this week. They didn't have no respect for us (last year), so we've got no respect for them."