Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Lessons learned?
Last year’s loss to Rams sent Hogs into a tailspin
FAYETTEVILLE — Revenge, redemption or desperation?
It doesn’t really matter which state of mind best captures the University of Arkansas today.
The Razorbacks know they’re entering a critical stage in their development under Coach Chad Morris when the Razorbacks (1-1) kick off today against Colorado State (1-1) at 3 p.m. in what some Arkansas players view as a must-win game.
“Make no mistake about it, this is a must win for us. That’s what we’re going into it like,” sophomore wide receiver Mike Woods said.
“We think this is going to be a game that’s going to decide the season,” senior tight end Cheyenne O’Grady said. “If we don’t capitalize on this next opportunity, then it might be a rough season again. So that’s everybody’s mindset.”
Arkansas is 6-19, with one victory over a Power 5 opponent, in its past 25 games dating to Sept. 1, 2017.
After falling in their SEC opener at Ole Miss last week and not looking smooth offensively through two games, the Razorbacks have turned to junior transfer Nick Starkel at quarterback for his first start since he passed for 499 yards and four touchdowns for Texas A&M in the 2017 Belk Bowl.
The Razorbacks scored 37 points in their first two games and averaged 18.5 points per game to tie for 107th in the country. They’re hoping the switch at quarterback can ignite production in both points and yardage, where the Hogs rank 86th nationally with 378 yards per game.
Colorado State broke a six-game losing streak in last week’s 38-13 victory over Western Illinois. The Rams are seen as a vastly improved team since the last time these teams met.
“I know we’re going to get their absolute best,” Morris said.
Arkansas was ahead 27-9 late in the third quarter at Colorado State and aiming to improve to 2-0 on Sept. 8, 2018, when the Rams rallied for 25 unanswered points and a 34-27 victory.
After the Razorbacks had a wouldbe 28-yard touchdown pass from Cole Kelley to Jordan Jones wiped off the board due to a replay review midway through the third quarter, Colorado State took command.
The Rams racked up 285 yards and 12 first downs while holding Arkansas to 35 yards and 3 first downs in the last 20:27, outscoring the Razorbacks 25-0.
“Yeah, we’re using it as revenge, but like I said, this is the perfect time,” Arkansas linebacker De’Jon Harris said. “Just losing at Ole Miss and losing to these guys last year, and coming in this week to play them and using that as motivation. I think it’s just the perfect time right now.”
Arkansas freshman receiver Trey Knox hopes to pass along his positive attitude to a restless fan base.
“Rome wasn’t built in a day,” Knox said when asked about anxious fans. “You stay the course. Everything will work out and find itself. We’re trying to get better; we’re going to get better. If you just stay the course, you’ll be rewarded.”
Starkel — who has a 72.4% completion rate (21 of 29) for 249 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 interception — said his goal is to operate quickly and let the Razorbacks’ skill players do their thing. He wasn’t with the Razorbacks last season, but he’s gotten an earful from teammates about how the loss at Colorado State affected their season.
“I know that was one they really shouldn’t have let slip away,” he said. “In the eyes of all the players, that’s just what I’ve been hearing. This is important for us to settle things this game.”
Morris said he understands the importance of the game, but not as a win-or-collapse scenario.
“We’ve got a lot of football left after this week, a whole lot of football left,” he said. “This is a very important football game, as they all are. I think this sets the tone moving forward. I really do.”
The loss at Colorado State last year rolled into a sixgame losing streak for the Razorbacks, including a 44-17 loss at home to North Texas the next week.
“When we lost that game, everybody got down on themselves and was like, ‘Here we go, it’s going to be a season like this,’” said O’Grady, who
did not play in the loss to the Rams last year because he was on a two-game suspension.
Arkansas defensive end Gabe Richardson steered away from the revenge theme.
“We owe it to ourselves … from what we went through,” Richardson said. “People don’t understand exactly what we went through this fall, this winter and stuff like that. They don’t understand what we went through. We owe it to ourselves to go out here and be at our best.”
Since last Saturday, the Razorbacks have hammered home how last week’s loss can’t spill into the ensuing weeks as the stunner to the Rams did, including offensive coordinator Joe Craddock in a Sunday night meeting.
“Coach Craddock had a meeting with us … about how we can’t let Ole Miss beat us twice,” O’Grady said. “And last year, we let Colorado State beat us twice, and we’re not going to let that happen this year.”
Morris said the Razorbacks’ response to last week’s struggle is paramount.
“To watch our guys respond and play our best ball, that’s our No. 1 objective,” he said. “I think we learned a lot last year after this Colorado State game. I think that the lingering effects carried forward for a few weeks before we could shake it loose.
“That’s something that we talked about. But it will all be about the responding. It’s a new team that’s an entirely different attitude of a team, so I would not expect anything but a great response.”
Colorado State Coach Mike Bobo expects a feisty mentality from the Hogs and their fans.
“Any time you play somebody that’s got their backs against the wall, they’re going to come out fighting,” Bobo said. “Their team, you look at the tape, they’re playing hard for 60 minutes. It’s hard to win on the road, especially in the SEC.”
Bobo said Ole Miss’ 31-17 victory over the Hogs last week didn’t reflect how the game played out.
“It was actually a little closer than that,” he said. “They had a touchdown called back because of an ineligible man downfield. They had a couple of turnovers that
cost them. They had a couple dropped passes.
“The final makes it look like Ole Miss had it in the bag the whole game, but I think but for a couple plays here or there, Arkansas is in that game on the road.”
Morris and other Razorbacks describe Colorado State as vastly improved from last season.
“I think the guys know that we’ve got a ceiling that we’re not close to reaching, and I think they know we can get a lot better as a football team,” Bobo said.
Quarterback Collin Hill, a 6-4 junior, might not have the mobility the Razorbacks saw from Ole Miss’ Matt Corral last week, but he’s an accurate passer with nearly 71% completions (58 of 79) who ranks 25th in the FBS in passing efficiency and is sixth with 370.5 passing yards per game.
“Hopefully our pass rush will continue to grow, because some of it you have to defend with the pass rush,” Arkansas defensive coordinator John Chavis said of matching up against the Rams. “You can’t always do it with coverage.
“We’ve got to get the quarterback
off the spot. Coach Bobo does a tremendous job of coaching quarterbacks, and he always has. If they’re well coached and you don’t make them get off the spot, you don’t make them uncomfortable, and they are good enough to make the throws. This quarterback is good enough to make the throws, so you’ve got to get them off the spot. The more we do that, the more success we’ll have.”
The Razorbacks had trouble tackling in space and struggled to overcome a series of their own offensive mistakes at Ole Miss. They’re hoping cleaner execution and the elimination of mistakes can turn things in their direction today.
“We just didn’t execute, bottom line,” Woods said. “We didn’t execute. Like I said, we just had a bunch of mental lapses. The illegal formations killed us, penalties killed us, stuff like that. We’ve just got to respond.”
Said Morris: “We’re going to have to come in and match their physicality. Again … it’s about us and that’s our focus on how we’re going to respond this week.”