Trenches are where Razorbacks’ fortunes were lost

Those who want Chad Morris fired today — or at the end of the season or even next season — are going to be terribly disappointed.

On Monday at the Little Rock Touchdown Club, University of Arkansas Athletic Director Hunter Yurachek said he believes in Morris and that the head football coach has his total support.

This was not one of those dreaded AD endorsements three weeks before the end of the season and three weeks before the coach is fired.

This was from Yurachek’s heart and head. He can’t say it, but he knows the monumental chore Morris faces in rebuilding a once proud program.

Yurachek was candid with the crowd of close to 400, saying the football team took a step backward Saturday, but that Morris has the program moving in the right direction.

It is understandable why many fans are unhappy after a 31-24 loss to San Jose State, whose last winning record was in 2012. The Spartans were 3-22 in the two previous seasons.

Saturday’s spirit-crushing defeat left a thousand questions and few answers.

Football 101 would reveal the root of the problem: It is a game of tackling and blocking.

Games are won in the trenches, and the Razorbacks are losing those battles.

It’s fine to question the play calling, the morale, the desire or even the pride in wearing the Razorback uniform. Fans pay for that right, but it always starts up front on both sides of the ball.

It is fine to grumble about Nick Starkel’s five interceptions, an ugly statistic no matter how you cut it, but two things contributed to two 0f those picks: Starkel didn’t have enough time to find an open receiver or plant his feet, and he had Spartans in his face almost all night.

It was so bad that the guy who looked so good checking off his receivers began to stare down his primary receiver because he didn’t have time, and the San Jose State safeties picked up on it.

He also threw for 356 yards and three touchdowns, so without him the Hogs never would have had a chance.

The most glaring statistic was the 503 yards allowed by the defense. And 402 of those came through the air by a quarterback who walked on and has struggled so much in his career that he has been benched.

Of the 63 tackles by the Razorbacks, 10 were by defensive linemen. Jamario Bell had three of those and the only sack.

Starkel had as many tackles as some of the defensive starters, and Rakeem Boyd more than some.

The lack of pressure and tackling from the defensive linemen cannot be a scheme issue.

The Razorbacks are ranked No 82 in total defense out of 130 teams.

That’s not acceptable, and there’s absolutely no way the Hogs will ever compete in the SEC if the defense doesn’t improve in a hurry.

Arkansas tied the game with 2:56 to play, and all the momentum was wearing red.

Instead of forcing the Spartans into a three and out, the defense gave up 75 yards in five plays, including 54 yards in the air to set up the winning 19-yard touchdown run.

It was a monster night for a team that traveled 1,798 miles to pick up a $1.5 million check.

As of today, it has been 696 days since the Razorbacks won a conference game, and they take on Texas A&M on Saturday.

No doubt Morris needs to keep working to instill more of a winning attitude — which doesn’t include celebrating a tackle when you are down 24-7 — and get his assistants to working on the biggest problem: winning some battles in the trenches.

Football is a simple game. The team that tackles and blocks the best usually wins.

Morris knows that. He just needs some time to find players who know it.