Numbers Show Arkansas' Struggling Offense Is One Of The Least Creative In The SEC

FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas head coach Ryan Silverfield was asked Monday about the Razorbacks' struggling offense, which is averaging only 11.3 points per game against Power Four opponents.

The Razorbacks did make some strides in the run game on Saturday against Texas A&M, but KJ Jackson threw his fourth interception and only threw for 111 yards. The unit as a whole continued to struggle, with Chris Marshall being the only true bright spot for the offense through five games.

After a solid performance against Tulsa, Jackson's poor performance against the Aggies was particularly disappointing.

"I don’t think he played to the level he’s capable of. He’ll be the first to admit that. Like we’ve talked about all the time, he’s very smart. He works really, really hard at it. It was not his best performance. There were some accuracy issues from the interception that we talked about postgame, to some of the other reads and decision-making he needs to make with the ball.

"I met with him this morning. Obviously, I talked to him yesterday, and just putting him in the best situations for him to be successful again, continuing to find out what he does well, what he feels comfortable with. Yeah, there were plays where there were guys open, and we weren't able to find them. We weren't able to get through our progression. Certainly not good enough by any stretch of the imagination throughout the game, but continue to find out what works best for KJ and how do we implement the offense around him in order for him to have success."

Silverfield then tried to bring up a statistic about Arkansas' variety of offensive formations from On3's Clark Brooks. Unfortunately, it appeared that Silverfield had the list read to him incorrectly.

"I was told that we have used the second most formations in the SEC already," Silverfield said.

Most unique formations from SEC offenses ahead of WK5 (including mirrored sets)

Alabama: 107 🥉
Arkansas: 69
Auburn: 86
Florida: 118 🥇
Georgia: 79
Kentucky: 113 🥈
LSU: 108
MSU: 60
Mizzou: 89
OK: 87
Ole Miss: 97
SCar: 97
Tennessee: 61
Texas: 92
TAMU: 83
Vanderbilt: 96
— Clark Brooks (@clarkbrooks_On3) October 3, 2026

Brooks' list had Arkansas listed second, though it was in alphabetical order. In actuality, the Razorbacks have used the third fewest offensive formations of any team in the confererence at 69. Only Tennessee (61) and Mississippi State (60) have used fewer formations than the Razorbacks.

As Silverfield explained, using a high or low number of formations doesn't necessarily translate to success. But Arkansas' offense has floundered time after time this year, and creativity doesn't seem to be at its forefront.

"We can't reinvent the wheel," Silverfield said. "I've lined up also in three formations for three games and been able to gash people and run the same plays over and over. Just execute them better.

"You know, you go back and talking about the Vols, Peyton Manning when they were really good with the Colts, they lined up in like three formations and ran like 17 total plays, and that's in the NFL where you got some really good players. But they just said we're just going to out execute people, and we've got to find ways because there are times like, oh, I get too creative. We could do this, this, and this, but we go out there on Tuesday and Wednesday and we're not doing it."

Things won't get any easier for the Razorback offense against Tennessee. The Volunteers lead the country in sacks and have only given up 15.2 points per game this season and 17 in SEC play.

Kickoff between Arkansas and No. 15 Tennessee is scheduled for 3:15 p.m. on Saturday inside Razorback Stadium, with coverage on SEC Network and the Razorback Sports Network.

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