ARKANSAS VS. FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL: Rejuvenated run game

Little things on line yield big improvement

— Arkansas didn't use any tricks or tirades to get its running game back in gear against Ole Miss last week.

The Razorbacks, held to 67 yards by Auburn on Oct. 13, rushed for 293 yards in a 44-8 victory against the Rebels, snapping a running slump. Arkansas, the fourth-best running team nationally, had rushed for 150 yards in its previous six SEC quarters before playing Ole Miss.

Arkansas enters Saturday's game against Florida International averaging 293.1 yards a game rushing. But the Razorbacks had a below-average 257 yards against Tennessee-Chattanooga on Oct. 6 before its paltry effort against the Tigers.

Arkansas offensive line coach Mike Markuson scoffed at the idea of any changes having been made. He said the Razorbacksjust had a bad game against a good Auburn team.

"It's amazing to me that if you just look at the games we've played and what these kids have done running the football," Markuson said. "To have a game that was bad - we don't like it, nobody likes it. We played a good defense, and we just didn't have a good day.

"We didn't go back to nothing. We're doing the same stuff."

Markuson said the line watched Auburn film the dayafter the game, corrected the mistakes and moved on. He said there were several plays against Auburn that would have been big-yardage plays with a little better block here or there.

"We expect to be able to do that part of it, though, and do it well every week," Markuson said. "We have good backs, our scheme is good, we get after people. We take a lot of pride in that. That's what we're doingwell, and that's what we're trying to hang our hat on."

The Razorbacks had 54 carries against the Rebels, compared to 25 against the Tigers. Markuson said more carries allowed the Razorbacks' offense, especially the line, to get into a groove.

"When you play a team like Auburn and you get a bunch of three-and-outs, you don't get a lot of continuity," Markuson said. "That's nobody's fault. It's not the play-caller's fault, it's not the head coach's fault, it's just the fact we didn't convert on third down. Such is life."

Razorbacks guard Robert Felton said the team didn't lose faith in the running game because of the struggles. Arkansas knows what it needs to do to win.

"We can't go away from what we do," Felton said. "We're a running team. Everyone in the nation knows that. All of our opponents know that. There's no surprises to what we're going to do. If we execute what we do, we'll be OK."

Arkansas center Jonathan Luigs was named the SEC offensive lineman of the week for his play against Ole Miss. He said the Razorbacks ran more power plays at the Rebels, and that helped the offensive line.

"We were able to get some hats on the right guys and spring the backs to the second level," Luigs said. "It was back to basics, trying to get it downhill.We turned it into a middle drill against Ole Miss, and it was successful."

Felton said the Razorbacks did run more straight-at-them plays at Ole Miss, but that wasn't the difference in the success of the plays. Running the ball comes down to blocking, Felton said.

"You can't blame the playcalling," Felton said. "You have to block regardless of what the play being called is. If you don't block, the play isn't going to go anywhere regardless what you call."

Offensive coordinator David Lee agreed and said play-calling was "overrated." The real difference was the better execution against Ole Miss.

"Our key here at Arkansas is our offensive line," Lee said. "When they block well and they play and when they're staying on those blocks, we are movingthat football.

"If we don't get all five of those guys together at the same time, we're going to struggle because we're so dependent on the rush and the play-action pass."

Lee said the Razorbacks called 30 pass plays against Auburn because the Tigers were stopping Arkansas' run game. The early success against Ole Miss created a steamroller effect.

"Everyone said, 'Yes, here we go,' " Lee said. "The confidence comes over them and they relaxed, and we were good to go. They wanted us to keep snapping it and keep calling it and keep giving it to them."

Sports, Pages 23, 26 on 10/24/2007

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