FAYETTEVILLE - Arkansas’ return to respectability must include easier ways for producing the most basic ingredient for winning football: Scoring points.
The Razorbacks rank No. 107 out of 123 FBS teams, and last in the SEC, with an average of 20 points per game heading into Saturday’s game against Ole Miss in Oxford, Miss.
After a couple of rough offensive outings against South Carolina and Alabama produced just seven total points, Arkansas had its chances in Saturday’s 35-17 loss to Auburn, but two first-half drives inside the Auburn 20 resulted in an interception and a goal-line stand for the Tigers with two stops at their 1.
The missing element, running backs coach Joel Thomas said, is all 11 offensive players doing their jobs.
“That’s how you close drives out,” Thomas said. “I think once you develop that confidence and that swagger by doing it, it’s kind of like breathing. You just do it and you don’t think about it.
“I think right now, because of some of our hiccups, we might be pressing a little bit and almost trying a little harder but not staying disciplined to the technique or the read and that could be the cause. I wouldn’t say it’s so much of a defensive scheme that’s gotten us.We’ve shot ourselves in the foot plenty of times. We’ve got to grow up and not do that.”
Ole Miss Coach Hugh Freeze has similar feelings about the potential for Arkansas’ offense.
“They … just for whatever reasons have not finished drives the amount of times they’ve had chances to,” Freeze said. “If they ever did that, it would be a very, very scary game, and we sense that in this building.”
The Razorbacks have been tripped up by the full gamut of offensive foibles: Dropped passes, missed blocks, improper reads by quarterback Brandon Allen or the running backs, penalties and turnovers.
“We can’t step on our own feet,” fullback Kiero Small said. “Of course, the defense does their part by stopping us, but when we get down there we’ve got to find a way to punch it in.”
On its first drive against Auburn, a 61-yard march that reached the 14, Javontee Herndon could not haul in a potential 41-yard touchdown pass. Offensive coordinator Jim Chaney said there were two other plays on the series in which one unexecuted block prevented a ball carrier from scoring prior to the interception thrown by AJ Derby.
In conference games, Arkansas is scoring just an average of just 13.4 points per game. Allen’s 13-yard touchdown pass to Keon Hatcher in the third quarter last week broke a span of 155 minutes and 51 seconds in which the Razorbacks had not scored a touchdown, a stretch spanning more than 10 quarters.
“Really it’s all about finishing on every single play, not just when you get in the red zone,” Allen said. “It’s not just whenever you’re about to score. It’s every play.”
The Razorbacks average 321.6 total yards in SEC games, well beyond last-place Kentucky (242.2) and ahead of Florida (308.2) and Tennessee (321.0), but all of those teams outpace Arkansas in scoring.
Arkansas had three first half drives against Auburn that took 13, 12 and 17 plays and amassed 61, 58 and 73 yards and more than 19 minutes of game clock, but they netted just 3 points on those series.
“It doesn’t really matter how you get it down there, how good you move it,” center Travis Swanson said. “The thing is, if you don’t capitalize on it, it means nothing. That’s the scenario this last game we had. We moved it great, but on those times we needed to capitalize we couldn’t for some reason.”
Part of Arkansas’ problem is the offense has almost fully shouldered the burden of crossing the end zone. Cornerback Tevin Mitchel’s 26-yard interception return for a touchdown at Rutgers on Sept. 21 stands as the Hogs’ only defensive or special teams score since Joe Adams brought back a Kansas State punt 51 yards in the 2012 Cotton Bowl, a span of 21 games.
Field position also has been an issue. Arkansas’ average drive start during its six-game losing streak has been, in order, per game, at its own 26, 21, 22, 27, 22 and 26. Its opponents’ average starting field position has been its own 25, 31, 30, 34, 32 and 36. Texas A&M, Alabama and Auburn all averaged 10 yards better starting field position than the Razorbacks.
While Arkansas has started three drives on the other side of the 50 in the past six games, its opponents have started 13 such drives in Arkansas territory.
“We’ve got to finish out our drives,” receiver Javontee Herndon said. “We’ve talked a lot about touchdowns, not field goals. A big thing for us is just helping out our defense. We’re not helping them if we’re not putting points on the board.”
Up next ARKANSAS AT OLE MISS
WHEN 11:21 a.m. Central Saturday WHERE Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, Oxford, Miss.
RECORDS Arkansas 3-6, 0-5 SEC; Ole Miss 5-3, 2-3 TV SEC regional telecast on KATV, Channel 7, Little Rock; KHOG/KHBS Channel 40-29, Fayetteville; KAIT, Channel 8, Jonesboro.
RADIO Razorback Sports Network
Sports, Pages 19 on 11/06/2013