Jim Harris’ First Take: Razorbacks Sing Red Zone Blues

HOW ARKANSAS LOST
Last week in the season opener against UTEP, the Razorbacks quarterback Brandon Allen passed for a career high four touchdowns in the first half and probably could have finished the game with as many as eight had the Hogs been greedy. A week later against Toledo, Allen threw for a career-high 412 yards in the air but not one of those reached the goal line. Arkansas, ranked 18th nationally, scored just once in five penetrations of the red zone (and that, a field goal) and were stunned by the Mid American Conference Rockets 16-12 at Little Rock’s War Memorial Stadium.  Bret Bielema said he and his coaches were going to have to “re-examine the red zone package.”

Arkansas’s defense gave up 3.4 yards per play on the ground to Toledo, and 5.1 yards per snap total, but especially troublesome were long third-down conversions (third-and-11 on the first series, third-and-15 on the Rockets first TD drive, third-and-18 on a 27-yard pass on the third series, third-and-10 before a blocked FG attempt). Toledo also converted a third-and-3 and a fourth-and-1 on an 10-play, 80-yard touchdown drive in the third quarter to take a 16-7 lead.

ONE-OF-FIVE

Not only did the Razorbacks fail to score on four of five drives in the red zone Saturday, the Hogs dropped their fourth game in five tries in Little Rock, beginning with the disaster that was the Razorbacks’ 34-31 overtime loss to Louisiana-Monroe under replacement coach John L. Smith in 2012. Arkansas’s only win in Little Rock in four years was a come-from-behind effort over Football Championship Subdivision opponent Samford in 2013, Bielema’s first season.

NO CLOSER
Bret Bielema, in his third season, dropped to 0-8 in games decided by 7 points or less as the Razorbacks’ coach. His quarterback, fifth-year senior Brandon Allen, is 0-7 as a Razorback starter in games decided by 7 points or less. Allen was sidelined with a shoulder separation in Arkansas’s 28-24 loss at Rutgers in Bielema’s first season.

Asked what Arkansas could do to win the close games, Allen said, “Don’t go 1 for 5 in the red zone.”

Twice in the final two-plus minutes, Allen had chances to win the game. Arkansas reached the Toledo 4 in an eight-play march from its 28, and a second-down completion to Jared Cornelius moved it to the 4. But Arkansas was flagged for holding on tight end Hunter Henry when Alex Collins bulled his way to the 1, and from the Rockets 14, Allen delayed but got 7 of the yards back on a throw Cornelius, who was uncovered in the short left flat. He missed Cornelius on third down and fired a rocket off the goal post on fourth down trying for Henry down the middle with 1:55 to play.

Arkansas even burned a precious time out before the fourth down incompletion when the play clock nearly hit :00.

But the Hogs, with just two timeouts left, forced a three-and-out before Toledo’s punter ran out of the end zone for a safety with 52 seconds left.

Following the free kick, Arkansas drove from its 32 to the Toledo 16 with urgency, but Allen, who finished 32 of 53 for the game, had just 6 seconds left. Hunter Henry appeared to be open down the left hashmark in the end zone, but again Allen rifled it too high and hard for Henry or anyone. With the clock at 0:01, Allen got yet another chance but missed Keon Hatcher badly in the back of the end zone.

MISSING IN ACTION
Bret Bielema suspended receivers Jared Cornelius and Dominique Reed for the first half because they showed up late for a Friday team meeting. The passing game, not to mention the kicking game, clearly missed Cornelius, who made his presence felt in a big way early in the second half.

Cornelius fielded a Toledo punt at his 41, got two good blocks after the catch and hit the right sideline, taking it back for a touchdown. Unfortunately for Arkansas, Eric Hawkins was called for holding the punter, the last defender, at the Toledo 16, negating the touchdown.

Arkansas still pushed to the Rockets 7 but squandered that chance when Brandon Allen, looking for Keon Hatcher on the back line of the end zone, threw it instead to Toledo safety Dejuan Rogers. Hatcher appeared either to slip or stop his route. Allen appeared to indicate his frustration that Hatcher was hit in the end zone by the defender. The pick ended Allen’s streak of 134 pass attempts without an interception.

COSTLY PENALTIES

Arkansas was penalized nine times for 85 yards — Toledo drew eight flags for 55 yards — but the hidden yardage was even bigger. That’s the yards on significant gains wiped out by the penalties, as well as Jared Cornelius’ punt return to the end zone:

• A second-quarter completion to Drew Morgan of 28 yards to the Toledo 16 was sliced by a holding call on tight end Hunter Henry, moving it back to the 26. Arkansas still scored its only touchdown of the game on a 21-yard misdirection pitch to Alex Collins, catching Toledo’s defense slanting hard to its left with 7:53 left in the half.
• A 14-yard completion to Hunter Henry only was a 4-yard gain after holding was called on Jeremy Sprinkle. Arkansas would later fail on fourth-and-1 at the Toledo 34.
• Collins gained 6 yards to the Toledo 39, but guard Frank Ragnow drew a holding call that pushed the ball back to the Hogs’ 45. Arkansas would go on to run TWENTY-ONE plays in the drive to the Rockets 8 before calling on Cole Hedlund for a 25-yard field goal.
• Henry drew the holding call on Arkansas’s next to last eventually led to a fourth-down failure.

KICKING GAME TROUBLES
Arkansas showed no signs of any problems in the kicking game last week against an undermanned UTEP, which melted down on its own in its punt game against the Hogs. But Saturday, things started going haywire for the Hogs early in the kicking game. Punter Toby Baker could barely get a finger on a way-high long snap from Drew Gorton, who took over for dependable four-year player Alan D’Appolonio this year. Baker recovered the ball near his 30, tried to get the punt off but it was blocked and rolled out of bounds, setting up Toledo for the first score of the game.

Following the Rockets’ TD, Eric Hawkins, who hesitated on his kickoff returns out of the end zone last week but still managed to get good yardage, did the same with a return starting 2 yards deep and barely made the UA 20. Arkansas still managed to drive into scoring territory before bogging down, bringing on the Hogs’ new field goal kicker, Cole Hedlund.

Hedlund only did what a couple of placement kickers managed to do last year when it mattered, missing slightly wide left from 41 yards out late in the first quarter. He did convert with 9:30 left in the game from 25 yards to pull the Hogs within six, 16-10.

TELL-TALE SIGNS
Arkansas’s longest running play was the 21-yard touchdown run by Alex Collins that caught Toledo stunting the wrong way, to the wide side of the field, and Collins had two blockers as a convoy to an easy score with the left side vacated by defenders. Arkansas averaged 3.3 yards per rush on 31 attempts.

Much of the blame seemed to fall on the offensive line, but Bret Bielema said, “I have no doubt we have our five best [linemen] on the field. We’ve got to get our five best players playing better.

I know we have our five best lineman out there. We have to get those five best playing better.” Bielema also lamented having only one or two more “SEC-ready” linemen for depth. That may be pressed immediately, because starting left tackle Denver Kirkland went off with an elbow injury late. Right tackle Dan Skipper shifted to left tackle and redshirt freshman Brian Wallace took over in Skipper’s usual spot.

The 80-20 pass-run yardage total belies the usual Bielema MO of leaning on the run. It didn’t appear Arkansas could run, and quarterback Brandon Allen said the one-dimensional offense was the team’s undoing.
“We were having to take what they were giving us,” Bielema said.

Meanwhile, Toledo was without its top tailback, Kareem Hunt, out with a two-game suspension for violation of team rules, and yet its fourth running back on its depth chart (third on Saturday), Damion Jones-Moore, led the Rockets with 68 yards on 11 carries, a 6.2 yards-per-carry average.
NEXT WEEK
Arkansas returns to home ground in Fayetteville for a nonconference matchup with former fellow Southwest Conference member Texas Tech, now of the Big 12, in a 6 p.m. contest (ESPN2). Arkansas defeated the Red Raiders 49-28 in Lubbock last season.

QUOTABLE
“I know this team and we have our minds right. This isn’t going to impact the rest of the season. We have a lot of games left. Tomorrow we will watch the films and move on. This is one game and with this team there is no quit. We will play each and every game like it’s our last one and we will try to win them all.” — Arkansas quarterback Brandon Allen.

“Obviously a big win for our program. Great win for our university, and a great win for the city of Toledo. I don’t think people expected us to come down here and, No. 1, even compete, 21-point underdogs. I think our kids believed the entire time that we had a chance to come down here and play with these guys and give ourselves a chance to win the football game.” — Toledo Coach Matt Campbell

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