TeSlaa's Big Game Could Have Been Monster, Offers Hope for Hogs Going Forward

Missed opportunities with receiver could have been difference against Aggies, presents glimmer against No. 4 Vols

Arkansas Razorbacks wide receiver Isaac TeSlaa lines up before a play against the Texas A&M Aggies at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. / Michael Morrison-Hogs on SI Images

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — One of the biggest takeaways from the Razorbacks' game against Texas A&M is the coming out party of Isaac TeSlaa.

The sure-handed transfer finally built his body to a point where he now has the ability to get separation against SEC defenses. He led all receivers with 120 yards on five catches, including a 75-yard touchdown early in the game that turned fans' and coaches' perspective alike on what was an otherwise terribly executed drive to go up 7-0 barely a minute in.

Despite averaging 24 yards per catch and nearly doubling his career high for a single game at the Division I level, he actually got short-changed from having a monster game that would have gone down in Arkansas history and possibly been the difference in the Hogs getting a win.

It presents an opportunity for the Hogs to spend this week cleaning up a few things so he can best be utilized against Tennessee this Saturday night in Fayetteville. Him coming on as not only a third option for quarterback Taylen Green in addition to Andrew Armstrong and Isaiah Sategna as well as being an incentive for Green to look beyond his first option at receiver will be key to pulling off an upset.

Time and again, TeSlaa came open against A&M on what should have been easy completions for solid to large gains. It would have been a fireable offense for Petrino and his staff to have not picked up on what was happening, so the idea someone wasn't in Green's ear trying to get him to glance TeSlaa's way when his initial target didn't get open is unthinkable.

He beat his defender early in routes so often that the prudent move would have been to make TeSlaa the primary target until someone proved he could be stopped. Meanwhile, this would have taken pressure off Green's favorite target, Armstrong, and made the defensive game plan worked on during the off week in Knoxville by Tennessee need immediate adjustment.

It would appear the only reason this didn't happen is because Petrino doesn't trust TeSlaa with blocking. In what turned out to be the most telegraphed move of the game, any time he was on the field, the Hogs called a pass play until injuries and necessity forced their hand in the final quarter for a couple of plays.

It's a wonder he had a chance to catch any passes. The defense knew exactly where the weakness on the offensive line would be with minimal film work, so bringing pressure on a skiddish quarterback should have been easy every time TeSlaa came in without having to give up much on the back end to make it happen.

Let's start two offensive plays after that explosive touchdown. Arkansas had the ball in good field position at their own 38 early in a drive for one of the few times Saturday.

As has become his habit, Green stared Armstrong down almost before getting the snap. It's something that has made him easy as a quarterback to defend.

However, in this case, Armstrong slipped. The natural reaction would have been to carry his eyes to the next level route, which is where his eyes were headed anyway because Armstrong's route was designed to carry them there for a quick read if his primary receiver was covered.

Had that happened, he would have seen TeSlaa not only coming wide open, but with a referee on his left hip to use as a pick to add even more space to the separation he'd already gained on a clean cut that left his defender behind. It would have been a first down with at least another five yards available with the possibility of another big play if he makes the right cut on a backpedaling Aggie in the secondary.

The only way Green could avoid TeSlaa in his line of sight was to immediately drop his eyes when Armstrong slipped and turn them to his right looking for a running lane. The pocket was clean, but he got happy feet and left the pocket with his back to TeSlaa and ran right into pressure, throwing the ball away while barely avoiding intentional grounding.

To be fair, the defensive end to his left jab stepped as if he would bring outside pressure, then drifted behind his defensive linemen and found a gap up the middle. When Green lowered his eyes, it looked as if he caught a glimpse of this defender and panicked rather than take a split second to check his second option.

However, the ball should have been gone before that defensive end got into the hole. It's a clear indication Green trusts Armstrong and then his legs, but not much else in the passing game.

On the next play, TeSlaa and Sategna ran a route where Sategna split the two defenders covering them while TeSlaa cut toward the boundary off Sategna's backside. Green is looked right at this route as both defenders went with Sategna, which should have immediately triggered a quick throw to TeSlaa.

To make the play even for favorable, the inside defender fell over as Sategna went by, leaving the other defender covering two receivers with TeSlaa having already gained separation. It's an easy throw for what should have been a first down.

The help defender is 10 yards back and would have been one-on-one as the only thing between TeSlaa and and a touchdown. Instead, Arkansas had to punt and, three plays later, Texas A&M went 70 yards to tie the game 7-7.

With just over nine minutes left in the third, TeSlaa broke open on the left side of the field, which is where Green initially looked. However, instead of stepping up in a well-formed pocket and making the throw, he drifted to his right out of habit, taking him out of the open throw for a first down inside field goal range, thus setting up the infamous fake field goal by throwing incomplete into tight coverage on the much better covered backside of the play.

With 8:50 left in the second quarter, Green had the option to throw a long pass to the numbers on what was essentially a seven yards and stop route for Tyrone Broden or go to TeSlaa in the slot on a five-yard route that he squared in with the defender on his outside hip during his break inside. Logic says this is the type of route Broden will have to catch with his hands, which he can't do if it's delivered properly.

He is a catch with his body guy. At this point, TeSlaa has shown he can't be covered in the slot, he has sure hands even if there is traffic, and, because of the position of the defender on the break, if the shorter, easier pass is delivered quick and crisp, he has the angle and nothing but green grass ahead of him.

Instead, not only is the longer throw made to the less sure-handed Broden, it's delivered high and puts him in the position where his back is six feet off the ground pointed straight at the ground with both feet in a high jump position three feet off the ground. The defender is under him and he is in a helpless, dangerous position.

Near the end of the third quarter, with Arkansas needing to extend its lead to 24-14 to put immense pressure on a freshman quarterback and relax the Hogs' defense, Green has a chance to hit TeSlaa over the middle on what looks like should have been his primary read. It may not have been in a Petrino offense, but the first read across his eyes is the quick slant, where TeSlaa is wide open coming across the middle with no help coming from defenders from up top.

If covered, that would have carried his eyes to the outside receiver on the deep route where he would have peeked right at the snap to see the break off the ball. It could be that Petrino has him looking at the deep route first and waiting for it to develop without checking the crossing route.

If so, that would explain why an easy throw to TeSlaa for a big play didn't happen initially. However, once the outside receiver was clearly covered, the eyes should have drifted to him before bailing out and looking for anything on the back side.

There is a defender who crashed through the line and wasn't properly picked up by running back Ja'Quinden Jackson, but that should have triggered the throw underneath to an open TeSlaa. Instead, he immediately looped around, sprinted to his right and completes a difficult pass low to the sideline to his crutch, Armstrong for seven yards that had Armstrong getting up gingerly.

On a final note, which may not have been noticed by Arkansas fans, on the play where Arkansas fumbled to essentially end the game, TeSlaa had his man beat so bad over the middle that when he cut back, the defender reached out and grabbed him, pulling TeSlaa to the ground. Unfortunately for the Razorbacks, it was so far away from where the focus of the play moved, that no referee saw it to make the call.

It's a lot to digest, but considering all the negatives that seemingly can't be fixed, having a receiver begin to blossom against an SEC defense is a good thing. There are ways to take advantage of what was missed to expand the overall production of the offense and make the Hogs a much more difficult team to beat.

It at least gives a good reason to watch a game against No. 4 Tennessee that doesn't present as a good viewing option if the necessary reason is hope for a win. However, if TeSlaa can continue to contribute and gain Green's confidence, it very well could be a turning point worth taking in.

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