Hogs have better offensive balance than before

Arkansas offensive coordinator Kendal Briles walks onto the field prior to a game against BYU on Saturday, Oct. 15, 2022, in Provo, Utah.

FAYETTEVILLE — From a raw numbers standpoint, the University of Arkansas offense is killing it this fall.

The Razorbacks rank 14th nationally with 488.6 yards per game under third-year coordinator Kendal Briles, and their balance has been remarkable.

The advanced Arkansas attack will be up against the nation’s No. 81 total defense when the Razorbacks (4-3, 1-3 SEC) take on Auburn (3-4, 1-3) at 11 a.m. Central on Saturday in Auburn, Ala.

Last year’s offense became the first at Arkansas since 1971 to average better than 200 yards rushing and passing when it amassed 227.8 rushing yards and 213.9 passing yards per game behind a veteran offensive line and first-year starting quarterback KJ Jefferson.

This year’s unit is doing even better.

With Jefferson representing the first returning starter at quarterback during Briles’ career as an offensive coordinator, the Razorbacks are ninth in the nation with 240 rushing yards per game and 61st with 248.6 passing yards per game.

Only Gus Malzahn’s Central Florida offense can stake the same claim this season of averaging 240-plus both rushing and passing, though Ole Miss and Michigan are close.

Jefferson’s 367 passing yards and a career-high five touchdown passes in a 52-35 win at BYU on Oct. 15 put a spark to the team’s 644-yard effort. The ninth-highest total offense figures in school history included 34 first downs and 12 of 15 third-down conversions.

“I think we opened up the game plan a little more last week on early downs,” Coach Sam Pittman said. “I think that’s who we are. We can throw and catch, especially when we’re unpredictable about what we’re doing on early downs.”

While Auburn appears vulnerable against the run, ranking last in the SEC with 204.4 yards allowed per game, keeping things balanced is the plan for the Razorbacks’ run-pass option system.

“We’ve had a great week of practice so far just being on a balanced attack throwing the ball and doing some RPO games,” Jefferson said. “We know we’re going to try to run the ball on them. We know they’re trying to stop the run.

“So, we’re going to balance it out and do a couple RPOs and stuff like that. So far, we’ve been practicing a balanced attack on the offensive side of the ball.”

Jefferson is not running at the same pace he did last season, when he led the team with 664 rushing yards, but Raheim “Rocket” Sanders and the other backs are more than making up for it.

Sanders leads the SEC with 870 rushing yards, ranks eighth with 124.3 yards per game and is on track to crack the top five single season list at Arkansas currently occupied by another famous No. 5, Darren McFadden, along with Alex Collins, Madre Hill and Rawleigh Williams.

“I mean, dude’s going crazy,” tight end Trey Knox said of Sanders. “I don’t know what else to say. It’s just every time he touches the ball it’s like, ‘Is he going to break this one again?’ or ‘We’ve got to give it to him one more time so he can break it.’ That’s how we feel when we’re blocking for him.”

Auburn Coach Bryan Harsin said the biggest challenge in facing the Arkansas offense is that every position group is talented.

“There’s the tailback, the quarterback, the wide receivers,” Harsin said. “I think their O-line from what I’ve seen, they do a lot of really good things up front and they’re well coached. And the tempo of their offense too. They’ve got creativity.

“I think Briles does a really good job with what they do on the offensive side. The balance of the run game with the QB, the backs, the sweeps, different ways they get guys the ball. And every week it’s a little different. I think the creativity they bring, you’ve got to know your assignments.”

Arkansas offensive tackle Dalton Wagner laughed when asked about the Hogs’ balance, saying the line wants more rushing.

“To know that we can force a team to try to load the box to stop a run and that means someone’s in man down the field, and if we can just hold up for a little bit longer in pass pro[tection] then it opens that up,” Wagner said. “And when we start killing them in the pass game they have to bail out of the box and that opens up the run game again.

“It’s a double-edged sword for those guys. Do you drop guys out to cover our edge threats or do you bring them in the box to try to stop Rocket and the run? It’s unique to have the backs that we have and to have KJ and the receivers. It’s a very explosive offense when we get things rolling.”

Knox is doing his part at tight end with a pair of touchdowns in the opener and a four-catch game for 66 yards and a touchdown at BYU, where Matt Landers erupted with 99 receiving yards and three touchdowns.

“I don’t feel like we have any weak links,” Knox said. “All of our rooms are really good. I feel like we have some of the best skill players in America and I feel like we have the best O-line in America. So when you have that it makes a lot of things easier.

“When KJ can go back there and do what he does, I mean he’s electric. Then Rocket runs the ball hard and you have three other guys behind him that do the same thing. So we have the personnel that we can do either-or and do what we want to on any given day.”

The Razorbacks do have some statistical blips that take away from the big yardage numbers and their 53 of 108 third-down success, a conversion rate of 49.1% that is tied for 17th in the country.

They have scored on only one opening drive all season, in Week 2 against South Carolina. The Hogs are 106th in red-zone scoring at 25 of 33 (75.8%), a stat that includes two fumbles lost inside the opponent’s 3-yard line and failed fourth-and-goal plays at the 1-yard line in back-to-back games at Mississippi State and BYU.

That funnels into another stat: 5 of 12 on fourth-down conversions for 41.7% that is tied for 102nd in the FBS.

Because of the low red-zone turnovers, the goal-line stands against them, and a few missed field goals, the Razorbacks have not turned their huge offensive stats into comparative dominance on the scoreboard. Arkansas is No. 44 in the FBS with 32.7 points per game. That number would be 36.7 per game, good for 24th in the FBS, if the Hogs had: Scored touchdowns from the 1 against Missouri State, Mississippi State and BYU, and scored from the 3 against Texas A&M.

Pittman wants the Hogs’ run game to set the tone against Auburn.

“For the way we are built, I think we have to run the ball to have success, then do some things off of that,” Pittman said. “But I like where we’re at offensively. Obviously, last week we were big on third down. That helped us. As long as we continue that and hold onto the football, I think we’ll like how our offense looks.”