Petrino focused on fixing Razorbacks' three-headed conundrum

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Over the last three second halves against Ole Miss, Memphis and Notre Dame, the Razorbacks haven't been doing much in the scoring department.

Arkansas has gotten incrementally worse over the past three games prior to the firing of Sam Pittman to the point it questions about Petrino's ability to coach a competent offensive attack emerged.

Not only were the Razorbacks struggling to score points in comparison to the first 2.5 games, the defense couldn't stop anyone and special teams remained stagnant. Petrino admitted as much in Monday's introductory press conference and is focused on becoming more explosive.

"Offensively, we've got to get back where we get the ball across the 50-yard line and we go score touchdowns like we were early in the season," Petrino said Monday. "That hurt us the last three halves that we weren't able to convert touchdowns when we crossed the 50-yard line, so we're going to continue to work hard on that."

For the most part, Arkansas has been able to generate chunk yardage plays at a rate similar to last season, but being productive in total offense is useless if a team can't score. Petrino fully understands that and needs to improve in that area if he plans on coaching the Razorbacks past this seven game stretch against SEC opponents.

Arkansas defensive coordinator Travis Williams pregame against Arkansas State. | Nilsen Roman - Hogs on SI Images

While his offense might improve a tad, the defense has been mostly non-existent throughout the first five games this season. The Razorbacks have surrendered 425 yards (No. 118 FBS), 30 points (No. 113 FBS), 257 passing yards per game (No. 111 FBS) and 29 plays of 20+ yards (No. 130) which ultimately cost defensive coordinator Travis Williams along with co-defensive coordinator Marcus Woodson their jobs.

Before the season, fired Arkansas coach Sam Pittman wanted to see his defense force turnovers and put the ball back in the hands of quarterback Taylen Green, but that hasn't quite happened at all.

"Well, the best case scenario is we come out tomorrow and we work hard and we practice hard and we get well-prepared in how we're going to change the defensive structure and how we're going to go about running to the football and tackling well," Petrino said. "We've got to go back to some individual drills, tackle circuits, pursuit circuits and turnover circuits, and do the little things that make the difference in the game."

Petrino's special teams unit at Arkansas from 2008-11 were a solid, occasionally spectacular, and often complementary to the Razorbacks’ explosive offense. All units featured standout returners such as Joe Adams and Dennis Johnson, reliable kickers like Zach Hocker and key momentum-shifting plays.

Whether it was Adams' back-breaking punt return touchdown on Halloween night against Tennessee. In total, the Little Rock native scored four punt return touchdowns and averaged nearly 17 yards per return which earned him consensus All-American honors.

Johnson's most memorable kickoff return might have come against South Carolina in that same 2011 season. He recorded 2,784 yards, three touchdowns and 23 yards per kick return across 50 games in his college career.

"We've got to come up with a way where we can make difference-making plays in special teams," Petrino said. "Right now, in special teams, we haven't had a big return, blocked punt, forced fumble, that turns into points. So to score a lot of points, you have to score in all three areas."

During the offseason, Arkansas recruited All-American punt returner Kam Shanks from UAB in the transfer portal to be that type of weapon in the return game the Razorbbacks have lacked a for very long time.

Shanks led all FBS players in punt return yards (329), punt return average (20.6) and punt return touchdowns (2). He was named a finalist for the Jet Award, which honors the most outstanding return specialist in college football during the 2024 season.

Because the Arkansas defense has been incapable of stopping opposing offense, it's limited Shanks opportunities to make a difference in the return game. He has just nine returns this fall for just 35 yards.

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