Might be time Razorback fans get reality check regarding Petrino's offense

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — When Arkansas hired Bobby Petrino as offensive coordinator following a disastrous 4-8 season, it was likely a move to buy coach Sam Pittman some time.

Just 18 games later, the Razorbacks are in the same exact position struggling to score points or muster anything on offense, especially when it comes to production in the second half.

There's a portion of the Arkansa's fan base who wants to treat Petrino like an untouchable savior of its struggling football program because he orchestrated prolific offenses a decade ago.

During Saturday’s loss, Arkansas’ lone touchdown wasn’t scored by a skill player either, but redshirt freshman offensive lineman Shaq McRoy.

Arkansas Razorbacks head coach Bobby Petrino against the Texas A&M Aggies at Cowboys Stadium. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

While college football has drastically transformed since his days as head coach at Arkansas and Louisville, its worth questioning if the game has finally passed him by.

His offense's second half woes have consistently worsened over the course of the past two weeks, scoring seven points against Ole Miss, three at Memphis and a fat goose egg against Notre Dame in the friendly confines of Razorback Stadium.

at Ole Miss Rebels	at Memphis Tigers	Home vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
1Q: 7 points, 127 yards	1Q: 7 points, 103 yards	1Q: 3 points, 119 yards
2Q: 21 points, 206 yards	2Q: 21 points, 164 yards	2Q: 10 points, 88 yards
3Q: 0 points, 80 yards	3Q: 3 points, 103 yards	3Q: 0 points, 65 yards
4Q: 7 points, 113 yards	4Q: 0 points, 120 yards	4Q: 0 points, 93 yards

"We (offensively) played terrible and we couldn't get off the field defensively," Pittman said following Saturday's loss. "And it's the same thing. It's the tackling, it's the coverage at times, it's the off-coverage that we're nowhere close to the guy, and then it's the man coverage, where at times we leave him wide open.

"It's the easy scores, it's the power play here at the end, where we had nobody even close to the guy. That's on everybody. It's not just, obviously, on the players, that's on all of us. But that's been a trend now for five weeks."

Following the loss to Ole Miss, Arkansas remained one of the best teams in the country when it comes to producing chunk yardage with 66 plays of 10+ yards.

After two weeks of more frustration, the Razorbacks are logging chunk plays (97) but adding losses in the column.

Amid defensive struggles, Arkansas had been a dynamite first half team in its first 2.5 games to keep itself in games with an opportunity to win in the fourth quarter.

Petrino doesn't seem to have an answer for his offense's lack of production in pivotal moments of the second half, and turnovers have beeen an issue for most of it.

Something must change soon over the bye week of things could get bad on the hallowed grounds of Razorback Stadium.

"What has bailed us out a little bit before was offense, was scoring, and we didn't finish drives today, and for whatever, there were several different reasons behind that," Pittman said. "Defensively, we're still not tackling well. And I thought we had a really good week of practice, and the back-end swarming to the front end, but it didn't show today at all."

Arkansas Razorbacks quarterback Taylen Green dropping back to pass against the Ole Miss Rebels at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford, Miss. | Ted McClenning-allHOGS Images

The Razorbacks still have time to regroup, but the preseason darkhorse Heisman Trophy campaign for quarterback Taylen Green is effectively over.

After completing just 17-of-32 passes for 207 yards and one interception Saturday against Notre Dame's No. 132 pass defense, Green must wear the "C" on his shoulder with pride, rally his troops and attempt to turn the season around after three straight losses.

"Do I still think we have a good football team? It's hard to say after, you know, that embarrassment today, but I still think we have the capabilities of winning a lot of games," Pittman said. "But certainly, we have a lot, we've got a lot to fix."

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