Sideline: Week No. 5

STUCK IN MUD: Hogs Can't Get In Groove

The Arkansas Razorbacks have a lot of problems right now and the rest of the SEC is leaving them in the dust.

For sure, Darren McFadden and Felix Jones running the ball isn’t a problem right now. McFadden gashed out 173 yards running against a Kentucky defense that had no way to stop him, while Felix Jones carved out 133 yards rushing on only 12 carries.
But everywhere else the Razorbacks are deficient. Casey Dick just isn’t a good quarterback. He completed under 50% of his passes against Kentucky and threw two interceptions. In fairness though, his receivers didn’t help him out dropping a multitude of passes especially on 3rd downs.

Also, third string running back Michael Smith coughed up a fumble late in the second quarter which Kentucky turned into 7 points. Arkansas was up 20-7 before the fumble, but the fumble return cut the lead to 20-14 and wiped away any momentum the Razorbacks had accumulated.
McFadden and Jones were still running wild on the ground and on special teams but the Razorbacks weren’t coming together on offense as a unit. How much of that has to do with the turmoil surrounding the program in the offseason is just a guess. But the team has the cloud around them where the whole is less than the sum of its parts, and that’s never how you want to view your team.

And then there is the defense. The Razorbacks pride themselves on aggressive man to man defense but the secondary has been torched by Alabama and Kentucky. The unit just hasn’t been making plays like they did last season. Now the Razorbacks are 0-2 in the SEC and looking very, very beatable.

— Erick Blasco