Analyzing Feleipe Franks' play vs. Ole Miss

Arkansas quarterback Feleipe Franks (13) looks to pass, Saturday, October 17, 2020 during the second quarter of a football game at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville. Check out nwaonline.com/201018Daily/ for the photo gallery.

Below is an analysis of quarterback Feleipe Franks' fourth start with the Razorbacks after a re-watch of the Ole Miss game:

Feleipe Franks vs. Ole Miss

At/Behind LOS: 8/11, 94 yards

1-5 yards: 6/6, 51 yards

6-10 yards: 3/7, 31 yards, TD, INT

11-15 yards: 3/6, 51 yards

16+ yards: 1/4, 17 yards

Best throw: Completed pass to Tyson Morris 16 yards downfield for a first down on third-and-12. The 17-yard gain helped set up kicker A.J. Reed’s 32-yard field goal to put Arkansas ahead 20-0 with less than two minutes to play in the first half.

Worst throw: Incomplete pass to Rakeem Boyd 16 yards downfield on a wheel route. The ball was thrown into double coverage and should have been intercepted. It was Franks’ first interceptable pass since Week 1 against Georgia, a span of 62 pass attempts.

Interceptions: 1

Other interceptable passes: 1 (incomplete pass to Boyd 16 yards downfield)

Accurate passes: 21

Inaccurate passes: 4 (incomplete pass to De’Vion Warren 25 yards downfield, ball was too tall for a smaller receiver; incomplete pass to Mike Woods 2 yards behind the line of scrimmage, the quick pass to the perimeter bounced to the intended target; incomplete pass to Woods 12 yards downfield, ball was high and wide of the target along the sideline; incomplete pass to Morris 8 yards downfield, ball was well behind the intended target)

Passes broken up: 2 (incomplete pass to Woods 8 yards downfield, Franks stared down his target; incomplete pass to Woods 19 yards downfield, ball was accurate but the Ole Miss defensive back jarred the ball loose)

Passes tipped at LOS: 0

Throwaways: 2

Drops: 3 (Blake Kern in the end zone; Treylon Burks 11 yards downfield; Boyd 5 yards behind the line of scrimmage)

1st down throws on 3rd down: 2 (completed pass to Burks for 5 yards on third-and-3; completed pass to Morris for 17 yards on third-and-12)

Analysis: Following a very precise and efficient performance at Auburn in Week 3, many expected another big day from Feleipe Franks against a poor Ole Miss defense. Things didn't quite work out that way. He completed 21 of 34 passes for 244 yards, one touchdown and his third interception of the season. Franks was up and down in this one, to say the least, but there was one constant for him in the passing game: Treylon Burks.

Franks was solid on his short throws against the Rebels, hitting 14 of 17 within five yards of the line of scrimmage. The three incompletions there included one inaccurate pass, one throwaway and one drop. Where he struggled a bit was on throws 6-10 yards at depth. Franks locked in on Mike Woods on an 8-yard throw to the Ole Miss sideline, leading to a pass breakup, and he also tallied an inaccurate ball to Tyson Morris and the interception when targeting De'Vion Warren on a slant. Yes, Warren should have probably come down with that ball, but it was a touch high for the 5-10 receiver.

From the final series of the first half until the start of the Razorbacks' last scoring drive, Franks struggled. In that span, he was 3 of 10 with four inaccurate passes – three in a row to end the half – and the interception. And something Franks simply has to get better at is understanding when to throw the ball away. Holding the ball too long (a little over five seconds by my count) led to his fumble near the Rebels sideline, as well as some hits Arkansas' staff would like to eliminate.

Still, we saw Franks show some resiliency late. On Arkansas' final three series he completed 6 of 8 passes, and one incompletion was Rakeem Boyd's drop. The ball to Burks in the end zone was put in a place only he could get it. That was very well done. There is plenty to work on during the bye week ahead of Texas A&M, but I expect Kendal Briles to have Franks looking and feeling confident next Saturday.

Receivers yards after catch leaders vs. Ole Miss

WR Treylon Burks — 114 (9, 1, 60, 7, 6, 16, -2, 5, 10, 2)

TE Hudson Henry — 17 (9, 8)

WR Mike Woods — 16 (6, 10)

RB Rakeem Boyd — 10 (5, 5)

WR De’Vion Warren — 4

TE Blake Kern — 4

WR Tyson Morris — 1 (1, 0)

Feleipe Franks – 2020 season totals

A/B LOS: 33/44, 241 yards, TD

1-5 yards: 20/27, 157 yards, 2 TD, INT

6-10 yards: 12/24, 174 yards, TD, 2 INT

11-15 yards: 8/14, 113 yards, TD

16+ yards: 9/19, 285 yards, 3 TD

Other interceptable passes: 2

Inaccurate passes: 19

Passes broken up: 7

Tipped at LOS: 1

Drops: 8 (Burks 2, Boyd 2, Warren, Knox, Hammonds, Kern)

Throwaways: 8

Team yards after catch: 559