Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Rams skilled offensively
Transfer quarterback Carta-Samuels leads Colorado State attack.
FAYETTEVILLE — If the Arkansas Razorbacks were challenged by the offense presented by Eastern Illinois of the FCS level last Saturday, they better buckle up for Saturday’s assignment.
Colorado State, spurred by skill-position transfers K.J. Carta-Samuels and receiver Preston Williams, has racked up 718 passing yards in its first two games.
The Rams rank 15th in the country with 359 passing yards per game, three spots ahead of Arkansas, which is 18th after compiling 353 passing yards in its season-opening 55-20 victory on Saturday.
The Arkansas defense is tied for second with a plus-5 turnover margin after forcing six fumbles — and recovering five of them — in downing Eastern Illinois. However, the Panthers moved the ball when they weren’t turning it over, amassing 230 passing yards, 357 total yards, and notching 21 first downs to the Hogs’ 18.
Carta-Samuels is 10th in the FBS with 356.5 passing yards per game, and he’s thrown 6 touchdown passes in losses to Hawaii and Colorado while completing 62.7 percent of his throws.
“Carta-Samuels is very talented,” Arkansas Coach Chad Morris said. “He’s a tough player. He’s a really good player. He’s accurate.”
A graduate transfer from Washington, Carta-Samuels torched Hawaii for a school-record 537 passing yards in a 43-34 loss in the opener.
The 6-2, 225-pounder from Saratoga, Calif., has two main targets, Williams, a 6-4 transfer from Tennessee, and 6-0 Olabisi Johnson.
Williams has a team-high 15 catches for 237 yards with 2 touchdowns and averages 15.8 yards per catch. Johnson, with a team-high 3 touchdown catches, has 12 receptions for 239 yards and averages 19.9 yards per catch.
“They’ve got good receivers,” Arkansas defensive coordinator John Chavis said. “Too many to mention, but they’ve got good receivers, … three or four quality receivers who could play anywhere in the country, no question about that.”
Arkansas junior cornerback Ryan Pulley is sure to get his share of coverage against both top receivers.
“Their quarterback is good,” Pulley said. “They move the ball. They’re pretty good on both sides of the ball, but their receivers are where it’s at.”
Arkansas linebacker Bumper Pool, who might draw his first start with Dre Greenlaw recovering from an ankle injury, said the Rams use an array of formations.
“They like to run the ball. They’ve got a good quarterback,” Pool said. “I’m excited with what they have to offer. I think we have a good game plan for them.”
Chavis has matched wits with Colorado State Coach Mike Bobo on many occasions, as Bobo played and coached at Georgia while Chavis was an assistant at Tennessee and LSU.
“They’ve got a tremendous scheme,” Chavis said. “I’ve got tremendous respect for Coach Bobo. … They have gone to a little bit of Spread stuff.
“I guarantee you this, quarterbacks coached under Mike Bobo are going to be ready to play. He puts a lot of trust in those guys and they understand the game plan.”
The Rams have a varied passing attack and will likely showcase some areas the Panthers exploited against Arkansas.
Eastern Illinois converted a couple of third-and-long plays with in-slanting tunnel screens.
“The screen game’s going to continue to show up until we stop it,” Morris said. “That’s something that we’ve been working on, and have been working on all through camp.
“There’s a technique in playing the screen and understanding how to read it and how our D-linemen drop out of it. We know we’re going to get plenty of that this week again, especially in some third-and-long situations.”
Pulley noted the Razorbacks dropped two potential interceptions against Eastern Illinois, but he liked the takeaway mentality.
“Turnovers win games,” he said. “That’s going to help us a lot along the season. We’ve got to keep getting the ball out.”
The Rams are averaging 109.5 rushing yards per game but have not scored a touchdown on the ground.
Top backs Izzy Matthews and Marcus McElroy will be supplemented by Rashaad Boddie and Marvin Kinsey Jr., who are coming off two-game suspensions this week.