FAYETTEVILLE — Rawleigh Williams puts a lot of pressure on himself to produce every week.
Arkansas’ standout sophomore running back cracked the 1,000-yard mark Saturday against LSU, but wasn’t thrilled when he watched the game film.
“Lot of mental errors,” Williams said. “I missed a couple cuts Saturday, just did some things that’s not my character. But in terms of that, I worked hard, getting overtime this week and in practice.”
Williams finished with 49 yards on 13 carries, a 3.8 average that dipped to 2.6 without factoring in his 18-yard burst in the third quarter. It was the second time in three weeks the third-leading rusher in the SEC was held to less than 50 yards. The struggles weren’t all on Williams, to be sure. He and freshman Devwah Whaley often had little to no running room to work with.
“When you’re out of sync, you’re out of sync,” senior left tackle Dan Skipper said. “When we were blocking, we weren’t doing the rest of the play. When they were doing it right, we weren’t doing it right.”
In between forgettable run-game performances from Williams and the Arkansas offensive line against Auburn and LSU, he ran for 148 yards and two scores in a 31-10 win over Florida, a performance which led to him becoming the only player to win multiple SEC Offensive Player of the Week honors this season.
Much has been made of junior quarterback Austin Allen’s struggles the last two weeks, but the correlation between the run game and winning is more telling. When Williams runs for 96 or more yards, the Razorbacks are 6-0. When he fails to hit that mark, they’re 0-4.
The disparity in rushing performance in wins and losses has been huge, partly the result of the Hogs playing from behind and partly because they were forced to abandon an ineffective ground game.
In six wins, Arkansas has run for 214.7 yards and averaged 4.3 yards per carry. Williams averages 134.7 yards and 5.9 yards per attempt with five rushing touchdowns in those games. He’s cracked the 120-yard mark in five of them in the midst of his big year.
“A big reason I came here was to play under coach (Bret Bielema) and the history that this school has,” Williams said. “I wanted to add to it and I hope to continue to this season.”
In four losses, the Hogs average just 74.8 yards and 2.3 yards per carry. Williams’ numbers drop to 49 yards per game and 4.0 per attempt, with two touchdowns.
Simply put, establishing the run game unlocks Arkansas’ offense. It allows the Hogs to control the flow of the game, sets up the play-action game and generally makes life easier on Allen, who isn’t forced with passing every down with opposing defenses pinning their ears back and attacking a shaky offensive line.
That offensive line appears set heading into the home stretch after the insertion of sophomore walk-on Johnny Gibson at right guard for the Florida game. The unit wasn’t as good against a talented LSU defense as they were in a dominant Florida performance, but now face a Mississippi State front that is in the middle of the pack in the SEC in run defense.
Still, the Bulldogs slowed down Arkansas’ run game last year, holding the Hogs to 73 yards while quarterback Brandon Allen and the receivers did the heavy lifting. With Allen not playing like his usual self the last few weeks, being able to run the ball takes on even more importance than usual.
“If I do well, our team does well,” Williams said. “We feed off the run.”
The Bulldogs haven’t been as good as Alabama, LSU or Auburn against the run. Establishing the run in Starkville may be the key to snapping a four-game skid against Mississippi State.
“It’s past us,” Skipper said of the LSU game. “We’ve got to get ready to make sure we’re in rhythm for Mississippi State.”