Stuck in the mud: Rainy forecast heightens Hogs' need to run

Mississippi State cornerback Martin Emerson (1) trips Arkansas running back Trelon Smith (22) during the second half of an NCAA college football game in Starkville, Miss., Saturday, Oct. 3, 2020. Arkansas won 21-14. (AP Photo/Thomas Graning)

FAYETTEVILLE — Depending on Hurricane Delta, the resurgent Arkansas Razorbacks could be facing No. 13 Auburn on Saturday in a deluge, in a moderate amount of rain or — less likely — on a dry afternoon.

The University of Arkansas (1-1) plans to be ready for any of those conditions for the 3 p.m. kickoff, armed with a more productive running game than the Razorbacks have shown against Georgia and Mississippi State.

The Razorbacks’ run game has chugged along at less than capacity, averaging 2.15 yards per carry while facing two well-regarded run defenses.

Coach Sam Pittman understands the necessity of being able to better control tempo with the run, particularly if Jordan-Hare Stadium gets pounded by rain Saturday.

“Well, certainly if it’s raining I think the run game is going to amp up in importance,” Pittman said. “Obviously we’re trying to run the ball every week as well as we possibly can. Whether it’s going to rain or whether it’s not, we certainly have to get better in our rushing attack.

“We’ve worked awful hard at it this week and in the weeks prior. Obviously with a wet ball, we might not be able to throw it quite as well as normally.”

Part of the problem offensive coordinator Kendal Briles has faced in unleashing the running attack has been the availability of standout senior Rakeem Boyd.

Arkansas tried to establish Boyd in the opener, but Georgia’s veteran front simply gave no quarter and Boyd was held to 21 yards on 11 carries. The 6-foot, 206-pounder seemed to be on his way to a better outing last week before he came out with what looked like a right ankle injury on his eighth carry down near the Mississippi State goal line early in the second quarter.

Pittman is being coy about Boyd’s availability against Auburn. He said on Wednesday’s SEC teleconference when asked about Boyd, receiver Treylon Burks and cornerback Montaric Brown that he saw “at least two of the three being able to play, and we hope all three will.”

Quarterback Feleipe Franks has passed for 415 yards and three touchdowns in the two games to give Arkansas a spark, but the Razorbacks have just 140 rushing yards and would prefer balance.

“As Coach Pittman says, it’s very important … to get all aspects, all phases going, running and passing and special teams,” senior receiver De’Vion Warren said. “We just have to make sure we come out and play hard. We have to strain to finish. We have to strain on blocks. All our O-linemen and receivers, you have to strain a little bit more.”

Left tackle Myron Cunningham was asked what has been missing in the run game.

“We’re just shooting ourselves in the foot sometimes,” Cunningham said. “We just have to clean up the mental errors, and when we do that, I think everything will start clicking and we’ll be a good run offense.”

Auburn linebacker Owen Pappoe touted the Arkansas offense as much improved.

“I think they look better than they have the past few years,” Pappoe said. “Definitely better than last year. They’ve got a new quarterback in Feleipe Franks. He’s a really talented guy, and I think he’s brought that offense together and has those guys playing hard and playing together. So I think it’s going to be a pretty good game for us.”

Arkansas ran for 77 yards against Georgia, then 63 against Mississippi State. Boyd, who averaged 6.2 ypc last season, had 49 rushing yards on 19 carries, an average of 2.6 ypc, with a long of 5 yards before he was hurt last week.

Trelon Smith leads the team with 86 yards on 20 carries, an average of 4.3 ypc.

Briles gave the run game a good shot at its first touchdown early in the second quarter last week after Warren’s 52-yard catch to the Bulldogs’ 9. Boyd ran twice and reached the 3. At that point, freshman quarterback KJ Jefferson came in with a goal-line package.

Jefferson appeared to have a small crease over the left side on third and goal, but defensive back Londyn Craft came in hard and took him out low. Arkansas rolled the dice on fourth down, and it appeared the option play had a chance to get Smith in the end zone, but Jefferson kept it and was hit and fumbled.

“I told our staff and our kids that if we got down there on fourth and goal, I was going for it,” Pittman said Saturday night. “And because, to be honest with you, I felt like we might need to take some chances.”

Pittman said holding blocks longer will be crucial, and the Razorbacks are emphasizing it this week against an Auburn defense that allowed 202 rushing yards by Georgia last week.

“Well, we have to get better,” Pittman said. “I mean obviously injuries had a little bit to do with productivity on Saturday. But Trelon Smith came in and ran extremely hard.

“We just, our timing is still a little off on offense. We were better Saturday than we we were the week before. So that’s encouraging. But we have to run the football and we’re just not doing it at our standard yet. But I believe that we have the players to do it and we’re going to work extremely hard on that this week.”

Playing in the rain could lead to some interesting action in the trenches.

“It’s always fun to play in the rain, get a little messy,” Cunningham said. “I think it’ll be good for us, especially if it starts raining. In practice we’ve been running a lot of wet ball stuff, but obviously if it’s raining you’d like to run the ball a little more. So, it will give us a chance to prove we can run the ball.”

Warren, a native of Monroe, La., said he’s never played on the backside of a hurricane, but definitely on a sloppy track.

“I’ve played in wet and rainy and muddy conditions,” Warren said. “You’re slipping and sliding everywhere, and everybody’s just all over the place, getting stuck in the mud. You might lose a couple of shoes, socks.

“It’s a whole bunch of just mess, and then you’ve got to take that off. Oooh, that’s just, it ain’t too pretty. But it’s fun though. It’s actually pretty fun.”

The Razorbacks would definitely have fun in the mud if their run game gets on track against the Tigers.