Whatever wake-up call the University of Arkansas had for Saturday's game with Texas A&M, it wasn't early enough for the 11 a.m. kickoff.
After the first quarter, the Razorbacks had minus 3 yards of total offense, and the Aggies led 14-0 and were driving for a field goal.
The Aggies opened the game with a 100-yard kickoff return when it appeared half the Hogs left their lane to give Jashaun Corbin free sailing down the right side of the field.
Arkansas went three-and-out -- the first of four consecutive times to not pick up a first down -- and A&M drove 79 yards for its second touchdown.
The Aggies had 133 yards of offense and the Hogs were still stuck at minus 3 when it got to 17-0.
That's when the Razorbacks heard the wake-up call. On first down, Ty Storey hit Cheyenne O'Grady for about 10 yards, but the tight end from Fayetteville juked two defenders and rolled right for another 26 yards. They would team up for another 17-yard completion, and Rakeem Boyd had a 16-yard run.
Arkansas ended up with a third and goal from the 1, and Cole Kelley was sent in. It took all of his 6-7 frame to control the high snap and bull into the end zone.
Then it became a game mostly of defense. After trailing 17-0, the Hogs outgained the Aggies 251-244 in total yards.
Obviously, spotting them a 17-0 lead was too much. That would be hard to overcome against anyone.
Interestingly, after the game A&M Coach Jimbo Fisher -- who was caught on camera grabbing one of his player's face mask during the game -- gave the Razorbacks no credit, saying his team played badly.
Well, Jimbo Fisher -- who won a national championship and a lot of game before bailing out of Florida State -- here's a news flash: For most of the game, it was nip and tuck primarily because of the Arkansas defense.
When John Chavis was hired by Chad Morris to be the defensive coordinator, the first thing Chavis asked was whether he could add Steve Caldwell as defensive line coach. Morris said absolutely.
The familiarity the two have is paying dividends for the Hogs.
From 1995-2008, Caldwell coached defensive ends for Chavis, who was the defensive coordinator at Tennessee.
As part of Phil Fulmer's staff they went 130-46 overall and 82-30 in SEC play, winning six Eastern Division titles, two SEC titles and one national championship.
After a 5-7, 3-5 season in 2008, Fulmer and his staff were fired. Chavis went to LSU, and a year later Caldwell landed at Arkansas for three seasons, but like everyone else he was let go after the John L. Smith fiasco. He landed at Arkansas State University for a season before following Bryan Harsin to Boise State.
The chance to work for his old boss and live in Arkansas again was too much for Caldwell to turn down.
Now, the duo are part of the biggest improvement in the Razorbacks this season. Since opening the SEC schedule, their defense has given the Razorback Nation hope.
What the fans need now is to see some improvement in the offense, which is a tall order to fill this Saturday against Alabama.
In 12 possessions last Saturday, the Arkansas offense went three-and-out eight times, forcing punter Reid Bauer to punt eight times, but talk about improvement: Bauer averaged 43.2 yards per punt and not only were his kicks longer but also higher.
The lack of consistency on offense kept the defense on the field for 36:56 of game action, and that's not a winning stat.
If Arkansas' offense can catch up with the defense, this season could play out fairly well. If it doesn't, it will be more of the same.
Sports on 10/02/2018