Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

During the third quarter of Saturday night’s game against Jacksonville State, Arkansas announced Tyler Wilson’s 367 passing yards had broken the Razorback record for passing yards in a season opener, a mark previously held by Casey Dick’s 318 yards against Western Illinois in 2008.

That’s not really noteworthy because of the actual record. It won’t be anywhere near the most remembered stat of Wilson’s Razorback career. The interesting part is invoking that particular game because there is some similarity between the Jacksonville State game and that Western Illinois performance.

This Razorback team is much, much better than that 2008 squad, particularly on offense. But by allowing 24 points, the same number Western Illinois scored in 2008, the defense will get plenty of attention and criticism, especially considering Arkansas only gave up 20 points combined in the three previous season openers, all against Football Championship Subdivision opponents.

Some of the issues can be written off as simple opening game jitters, but that only stretches so far. Just one of Jacksonville State’s touchdowns was set up by great field position off a Razorback turnover. The other two were on extended drives that included five third down conversions. The first, when Arkansas was only up a single touchdown, was an 83-yard, 13-play drive that chewed up 7:03. The other was a 75-yard, 10-play drive that took only 1:53. Along that drive, Arkansas gave up a 16-yard pass on third and 15, and the Gamecocks scored on a third-and-goal pass from the 10-yard line. That’s exactly the type of scenario the Razorbacks have worked to prevent.

So, yes, there is some legitimate concern for the defense right now. Just like 2008 (and, really, every year since Bobby Petrino set foot in Fayetteville) that will be the focus heading into the beginning of conference play. It should be pointed out, though, the defense only gave up a field goal in the second half, and it was a 49-yard kick, not some chip-shot close to the end zone. Perhaps the defense already began improving but many were already too frustrated to see it.

But defense isn’t the only thing people will worry about this week. Early in the game, it appeared Arkansas was set up to get the first touchdown when it had first and goal from the 1. Knile Davis lined up behind Wilson and it looked like he was about to get the first touchdown of the season, but he was stuffed on first and second down. The Hogs did get the six points on third down but needed to bring in short-yardage specialist Kody Walker to do it. The troubling thing is that it seems like an offensive line for a top-10 team should be able to get enough push against the goal-line defense of a FCS team to not have to need third down to score.

On the flip side, there was plenty for Razorback fans to be excited about. Wilson’s “record-setting” night came when Cobi Hamilton was injured after just two short catches. And not only did the passing game do fine without Hamilton, the Hogs were also able to establish legitimate deep threats. Chris Gragg, Brandon Mitchell, and Javontee Herndon all made big plays down the middle. And Knile Davis returned, was hit quite a bit, and didn’t fumble nor get injured.

After spending eight months analyzing every last detail of the team, it’s easy for fans to expect certain players to fill certain roles like clockwork. As if this is a video game team that plays the exact same way game in and game out. The truth is that this is a good team that played a flawed game. Many of the other top-ranked teams did as well.

We’ve learned from previous seasons that Arkansas can and likely will get better. The Razorbacks also underwhelmed against Louisiana-Monroe in 2010 and Troy in 2011. Those are the two teams responsible for the 21-5 record compiled over the last two seasons. The question is how much better can they get and how soon can they get there? The concern is normal, and justified, but it doesn’t mean the sky is falling quite yet.

Let’s just hope the Razorbacks don’t need a fourth-down, trick-pass late in the fourth quarter to beat Louisiana-Monroe this year, as they did in 2008.

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Doc Harper is the editor of ArkansasExpats.com and is a regular contributor to ArkansasSports360.com. You can email him at heydocharper@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @doc_harper.