Will Pittman Have Any Clues by Noon How to Fix Hogs' Issues?

Clearly after disappointing Arkansas Razorbacks' win Saturday, several things finally exposed

Arkansas Razorbacks coach Sam Pittman doing TV interview before halftime against the UAB Blazers at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Ark. / Nilsen Roman-Hogs on SI Images

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas defensive lineman Landon Jackson may have had the best summary after a win over UAB on Saturday. It wasn't a particularly bright look ahead.

"Any team in the SEC is going to beat the hell out of us if we play like that," Jackson said after a 37-27 win.

If you think that's being a little overly dramatic, you haven't been paying attention. Beating UAPB is one thing. That's an FCS school.

Running up yardage on Oklahoma State isn't that impressive against a school in an offensive-minded conference where they just simply try to out-score opponents. They did hang 39 on the Hogs in double overtime.

Maybe the most troubling thing is the Razorbacks don't pressure the passer well or forcing anything with opposing quarterbacks. They've had a few plays, but there's no consistency to it through three games.

"I don’t particularly think we did a great job of that," Hogs coach Sam Pittman said. "That was one of the things that we talked about at half, as well. I don’t believe we pressured them well at all."

The problems on the offensive side may be multiple. Either the line isn't blocking well, quarterback Taylen Green is too quick to bail out of the pocket and throw on the run, or the receivers aren't getting open against coverage, especially when it changes. UAB did that with former NFL quarterback Trent Dilfer as the coach.

"We felt like we could change the pictures after the snap," Dilfer said later. "We felt like we had some pressures that could get home. We were rolling the dice that they weren’t going to be stubborn with the run."

The Razorbacks ran the ball a lot. Green led the way with 17 carries.

Maybe just as concerning should be Andrew Armstrong's 13 catches. No, there's not a problem with him catching that many.

The fact he was targeted 13 times, which was half of the total number is concerning though. Only three of Green's 11 completions were to someone who wasn't Armstrong (for just 24 yards).

SEC teams saw all that, too. The biggest problem is they have linebackers and defensive backs bigger, faster and stronger than what UAB had.

And there are more of them in these final nine games, too. The hope from fans and the media is Arkansas will be able to run the ball like they did against UAB (38 times for 266 yards).

Remember that line about the secondary? Defensive fronts in the SEC are generally better, too, and Mississippi State may be the only team not able to stop this running attack.

Maybe even more worrison than any of that, though, is having a long memory. Through three games, it's remarkably similar to last year's first trio.

Arkansas was 2-1 then, too, and collapsed the rest of the way, only winning against Florida, which may be looking for a coach as early as this week. Things can turn fast.

Last year, they had LSU on the road. Now they have to go to Auburn.

As Georgia coach Kirby Smart said on the broadcast of a 13-12 struggle win over Kentucky (of all people), "don't judge a team off one game." He didn't elaborate, but what he was talking about had nothing to do with the outcome.

But, there are still questions about the Razorbacks without good answers. Pittman says just about everything is correctable (and he just flat doesn't talk about the ones that can't be fixed fast).

There are still some of the same little things you could anticipate from spring and fall camp practices. The offensive line appears to be adequate blocking straight ahead.

The defensive line may be, but from what we've seen in the first three games, a lot of that is going to fall on the linebackers and secondary. Especially in the running game.

When Oklahoma State finally wore down a defensive front short on depth, Ollie Gordon II was running for yardage in big chunks. The secondary was scorched a lot against UAB and wasn't very good at tackling.

Pittman puts a lot of that off on injuries. There was also dysfunction, they said, in preparations last week with co-defensive coordinator Travis Williams getting a new baby.

It's understandable he would be a little distracted. It's not an answer for Pittman and the players getting distracted by it unless there was some sort of issue nobody has a clue about.

Nobody is questioning Williams not being available as much for practices leading up to the game, even from this corner. Jackson understood all of that, but said that shouldn't have affected their play.

"That's on the players," Jackson said. "We can't allow a coach not being there to affect the way that we go about our day. That doesn't need to affect the way we practice. We still gotta go out there and play the way that we know we’re supposed to play."

While Pittman naturally wants the blame put on the coaches, Jackson apparently wasn't letting that happen. He put it squarely on the players.

These coaches who had everybody's confidence a week ago didn't suddenly forget what they are doing. There are times players have to admit they screwed up and work to fix it.

But it's probably a good bet Pittman's tone to the team is a little different. He's not going to throw them under the bus publicly.

The practices for Auburn will probably feature a much different tone. They will likely be more physical and more intense.

How it works out will determine if everybody still has high hopes next week or folks start asking when basketball practices start.

HOGS FEED:

• Ramsey’s Razorbacks rebound draws high praise

• WATCH: Complete Razorbacks' postgame on win over UAB

• Razorbacks should look ahead, not in the rear-view mirror

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