FAYETTEVILLE — The Arkansas football team reached the open date on its schedule on a positive note, having shucked a 14-game SEC losing streak with a 31-21 road victory over Vanderbilt.
The Razorbacks stand at 3-4 overall, 1-3 in the SEC, under first-year coach Ryan Silverfield. They’ll resume action on Halloween night against Missouri (5-2, 2-2 SEC). The Tigers are also on an open date this weekend before a closing stretch that features games against Texas, Georgia, Kentucky and Oklahoma after facing the Razorbacks.
Arkansas has won games against North Alabama and Tulsa in which it was favored, plus the win as an underdog at Vanderbilt, and it has lost games in which it was the betting underdog against Utah, Georgia, Texas A&M and Tennessee.
The Razorbacks have clearly made progress on both sides of the ball since their disjointed season opener, a 31-14 win over North Alabama.
Here’s a look at how we grade the Razorbacks at this stage of the season.
Offense
Grade: 68 – D
The Razorbacks are averaging 343 total yards per game to rank 15th in the SEC and 105th in the FBS. The run game, which struggled mightily early in the season, finally started chugging with a 133-yard game against Tennessee, then did its best work with a season-high 187 yards and 3 touchdowns in the game at Vandy. The running game started so poorly it’s still averaging just 111.6 yards per game, good for 15th in the SEC and 124th in the FBS
Quarterback KJ Jackson worked through some erratic performances early in the season, such as efficiency rates below 100 in losses at Utah and Texas A&M to find his flow in the win over Vanderbilt. Jackson split series in Weeks 2 and 3, but since then the coaching staff has rolled exclusively with Jackson outside of a mop-up possession in the 34-6 rout of Tulsa.
The running back rotation is still largely unsettled, though each of the principal ball carriers had big moments in the game against the Commodores. That included Cam Settles first two-touchdown game, an 18-yard burst by Sutton Smith with a great juke, and tough, chain-moving work by Braylen Russell late in the game to milk clock. Jackson also contributed a game-high 58 yards on the ground.
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The receiving corps has had too many drops and been too reliant on ace Chris Marshall, who has 43 receptions for 633 yards and 2 touchdowns. But following Marshall’s departure in the second quarter at Vanderbilt, Jackson sprayed the ball around and completed passes to 12 players. Antonio Jordan made the biggest splash with 5 receptions for 74 yards, but there were also big contributions by Monte Harrison (1-37), tight end Ty Lockwood (3-26) and receiver Jamari Hawkins (2-44). The Razorbacks need to find ways to incorporate CJ Brown, Ismael Cisse and Donovan Faupel during the second half of the season.
The offensive front gave up 13 sacks through the first four games and only 3 since then. Run blocking has improved, showing a stronger cohesion is starting to pay dividends. Sophomore Kash Courtney’s insertion at starting center has been a spark, and Adam Hawkes has won the right tackle job to join the 3 Bs — Kavion Broussard, Malachi Breland and Kobe Branham — in the starting unit.
The Razorbacks are No. 71 in passing offense (231.4), No. 116 in scoring (21.0), No. 51 in third-down conversions (42.4%) and No. 34 in time of possession (31:51).
Defense
Grade: 77 – C
The raw numbers are also not spectacular for this unit, which is ranked 72nd in the FBS in total defense (357.7 yards per game), No. 77 against the run (144.7), No. 71 against the pass (213.0) and No. 96 in scoring defense (26.7).
However, they have shown gradual improvements against the run and have snagged 5 takeaways in the last two games (both against SEC competition) after getting just 4 takeaways in the first five games.
The coaching staff has done a good job rotating a lot of players up front, particularly at nose and tackle, where Carlon Jones, David Oke, Hunter Osborne, Antonio Sandel-Bascomb, Trajen Odom and Danny Beale have earned time.
Quincy Rhodes has gotten the bulk of the work at one end spot, while Xadavien Sims, Caleb Bell and Brian Alston have had moments. The ‘Jack” position has seen mostly Steven Soles and Charlie Collins at work, though Bell and Alston have also worked that side in heavier packages.
Middle linebacker Bradley Shaw was slowed for a few games after suffering what appeared to be an ankle injury against Georgia, and in that time Ja’Quavion Smith and Ben Bogle rose up. They currently rank first and second on the team in tackles with 48 and 46, respectively.
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Defensive coordinator Ron Roberts called out his run forcing from the secondary after a 34-7 beatdown at Texas A&M, when the Aggies gashed the Razorbacks on stretch plays that broke open on the edges. Since then, the physicality and run-forcing on the back end has improved.
Khmori House has been a strong addition at the “Star” spot, ranking third on the team with 41 tackles, 5 TFL, 2 sacks and 3 pass breakups.
Safety Miguel Mitchell has interceptions in back-to-back games, plus a sack against the Commodores. Cornerbacks Shelton Lewis and Joker Johnson have interceptions in the last two games, highlighted by Johnson’s 25-yard pick 6 to get Arkansas rolling against Vanderbilt. House, safety Christian Harrison (35 tackles, 1 interception), Johnson (26), Lewis (25) and Mitchell (18) all rank in the top 8 on the team in tackles.
Special teams
Grade: 73 – C
Arkansas’ special teams have been just below average almost across the board, although the coverage units have been fine. Ian Williams forced a fumble on a kickoff return last week on one of the two Max Gilbert kickoffs from the 20-yard line due to personal fouls after Arkansas touchdowns.
Gavin Rush’s punting had been OK through a few games, but it took a downward turn when he had more sub-40 yard efforts than punts of 40-plus. He was pulled last week after an attempted pooch kick from the Vanderbilt 42 traveled 22 yards to the 20.
Jesse Ehrlich now has 3 punts for a 49-yard average. The Razorbacks are No. 86 in net punting (39.06).
Gilbert is just an OK 9 of 13 on field goals (69.2), including 1 of 3 from 50-plus yards. His lone miss from inside the 50 stung, as it was a big pull from 38 yards on the final play of the first half after Rhodes’ 58-yard fumble return against Tennessee.
Gilbert’s 51-yard miss against Vandy could have proved more damaging, but he did come up clutch with his late game 39-yard kick that iced it. Gilbert has had 22 touchbacks on 26 kickoffs, hurt by the pair of kickoffs from the 20 last week.
Hawkins has returned one kickoff all season for 25 yards. Smith has had more opportunity at punt returner, with 7 returns for a 6.1 yard average. He has fair caught a couple of punts that looked pretty returnable.
Coaching
Grade: 78 – C
The staff must be credited for sticking with the plan, staying positive and squeezing better effort and execution from the team the last couple of games. The improvements have been noticeable.
Silverfield’s repeated public messaging of having a strong belief in the team and its attitude can only have helped the situation.
Making personnel changes on the offensive front took almost half the season, but they appear to have had a positive effect. Offensively, the Razorbacks had a couple of substitution mistakes that caused them to burn timeouts in the second half at Vanderbilt. The lack of timeouts could have been costly in a tighter game.
After weeks of being asked who could provide big reception numbers if Marshall was double teamed or sidelined, the Razorbacks provided a few answers against Vanderbilt, so credit to receivers coach Larry Smith having guys set to contribute against his alma mater.
This open date will be key to setting the tone for the Razorbacks’ performance on Halloween night and in subsequent games as it runs through a rugged closing stretch.
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Tom Murphy is a sports reporter for WholeHogSports. A graduate of Louisiana Tech University, he is a member of the Football Writers Association of America and voter for the Heisman Trophy and AP Top 25 football poll. He was voted the 2017 Arkansas Sportswriter of the Year.
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