Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Take your places
Razorbacks say lining up in right spot key for offense.
FAYETTEVILLE — The first step in improving offensive efficiency for the University of Arkansas needs to take place before the snap of the ball.
Coach Sam Pittman said quarterback Feleipe Franks had to spend too much time making sure backs, receivers and tight ends were properly aligned in Saturday’s 37-10 loss to Georgia.
In coordinator Kendal Briles’ offense, which wants to operate at a fast clip, that’s time Franks could spend analyzing the defense and making adjustments to the play call.
“I know that’s part of the quarterback’s job, but it’s hard to look downfield, see what’s going on, see presnap reads as a quarterback when you’re looking at your own team trying to get them lined up,” Pittman said Wednesday. “And so that has been a big emphasis, paying attention to the signals, getting lined up fast.”
Receiver Treylon Burks, who posted his first 100yard game with 7 catches for 102 yards and a touchdown against Georgia, said the presnap efficiency will improve.
“It just comes from us getting comfortable with each other and just communicating,” Burks said. “Just say for instance Tyson Morris gets the play and I don’t get it. Him communicating to me and me communicating it all the way across. It’s just something to work on.”
The Razorbacks did not put up big numbers against
Georgia, who many analysts believe will sport one of the nation’s best defenses this season.
Better blocking and running lanes, improved separation by receivers, enhanced pre-snap efficiency, better precision between Franks and the receivers and more tackle breaking are areas the Razorbacks must get better at quickly heading into Saturday’s road opener at No. 16 Mississippi State.
“It’s our first time running this offense with Coach Briles,” Franks said. “We’ll make those corrections and just continue to play ball, continue to get better.”
Franks completed 19 of 36 passes for 200 yards with 2 interceptions and 1 touchdown. He said his interceptions — a hot read over the head of tight end Hudson Henry over the middle, and a throw over the right side for Mike Woods that resulted in a pick-six for Georgia safety Richard LeCounte — were miscommunications that the Razorbacks would clean up.
“It’s not about holding your head down and what you did wrong,” Franks said. “It’s about fixing the problem and moving forward. So I think that’s what we’re going to do. I know that’s what we’re going to do. We’ll
get that done and get those corrections made this week.”
The suffocating, physical and fast Georgia defenders made life difficult for the fledgling Arkansas offense.
The Razorbacks had 280 total yards on 67 snaps for an average of 4.18 yards per play. They had just four plays of 20plus yards, and only one play longer than 29 yards, all in the passing game.
Arkansas was 3 of 14 on third-down conversions and had just one drive penetrate the red zone outside of Burks’ 49-yard catch-and-run touchdown. Georgia got one of its two sacks on that possession, on a third-and-goal pass play from the Bulldogs’ 3, and Arkansas had to settle for A.J. Reed’s 25-yard field goal for a 10-5 lead early in the third quarter.
Tailback Rakeem Boyd’s longest gain on 15 touches came on a 6-yard reception. His longest run was 5 yards as he totaled 11 carries for 21 yards.
Pittman said Boyd would bounce back.
“He’s been fine. I mean, he blocked really well at the game,” Pittman said. “Obviously we knew against Georgia it was going to be tough running the ball, and it was. But there’s other things where he can help our football team. He understands that. He was a very good blocker in pass protection, and he led the entire game on the sidelines.
“Certainly he wants to do better for the football team and himself than 20 yards, but it was what it was, and you have to move on and keep working. The O-line’s got to get better. A lot of things go into that. Certainly if he’ll stay the same as he has been, he’ll end up having a good year.”
Mississippi State doesn’t present the same interior giants as Georgia, nor the intimidating presence, but the Bulldogs shift their front continually. They run all kinds of stunts and twists to confuse blocking schemes and try to create free rushers into the backfield. They posted seven sacks in their 44-34 win over LSU while holding the Tigers to 80 rushing yards, big challenges for Arkansas offensive line coach Brad Davis and his charges.
“Their D-line had a great game,” Arkansas guard Brady Latham said. “We’ve been scouting them, and Coach Davis
has a great plan for us in pass pro and in the run game.
“We’ve been working it all week, and I think all of the guys are locked in so we’ll be ready for that on Saturday. And I think the whole unit is locked in and we’re ready for the challenge.”
Where Mississippi State had three wideouts — Osirus Mitchell, Austin Williams and JaVonta Payton — and running back Kylin Hill with six or more catches last week, Arkansas had just Burks with more than four catches.
Shaking coverage that Pittman described as “grabby” at the line of scrimmage is paramount for the Hogs.
“At wideout, we have to get separation,” Pittman said. “We have to get open. They did a nice job of press covering on us. Feleipe was getting rid of the ball. We’ve got to get open. We’ve got to get separation.”
Pittman said he doesn’t have a problem with the Razorbacks’ pace of play after posting eight three-and-out series in 16 possessions.
“I don’t think we need to slow down,” he said. “This is what we do. I think we need to do what we do more effectively.”
Against the “Air Raid” passing attack of Mississippi State, controlling the ball and putting points at the end of drives looms as a crucial piece of a winning game plan.