How does Saturday's performance project to what Hogs can expect against ASU?

Arkansas Razorbacks' offense had plenty of fireworks, defense had pop despite sluggish start in first game against Alabama A&M

Arkansas Razorbacks quarterback Taylen Green at the mesh point with a running back against the Alabama A&M Bulldogs at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Ark. | Ted McClenning-allHOGS Images

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — There was only so much that could be said during presason that could have prepared fans and media for what would be seen Saturday against Alabama A&M.

Things were hardly pretty throughout Arkansas' 52-7 victory, but when a team's biggest improvement comes between its first and second game it make you wonder just how good this Razorbacks team will be against a formidable Sun Belt program.

What We Know

The offense is going to go as far as Taylen Green will be able to take them and that's not going to necessarily be a bad thing either as he played well throughout the season opener against Alabama A&M.

While also taking into account Arkansas played an inferior opponent with a fresh coaching staff from the Division II level, Green completed 77% of his passes for 322 yards, six touchdowns and didn't commit a turnover.

Green was flushed from the pocket a handful of times, but was only sacked twice on a day when the Razorbacks had three new starters along the offensive line.

"We were turnover-free," Pittman said. "[Green ]was smart throwing and running. Once he got out, understood where first downs were, whether he needed to throw or he could run to get it. I thought he had good command over the huddle and over the offense all day.

Arkansas Razorbacks wide receiver O'Mega Blake runs after making one of his 7 catches against the Alabama A&M Bulldogs at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Ark. | Nilsen Roman-allHOGS Images

"[Green] distributed the ball to several different people. I was really pleased with his game and we've just got to protect him. We've got to continue to work. We knew they were going to blitz the heck out of us, and they did. But we've got to get better protection."

Most of the day, Arkansas' wide receivers were running against air as Alabama A&M had no answer for the speed and physicality of its rebuilt position group.

The Razorbacks saw 10 players grab a pass while extending plays after the catch which wasn't always the case last season.

"[O'Mega] Blake was really good, CJ Brown did a good job breaking a tackle on his first touchdown," Pittman said. "Monte Harrison did a really good job. From what you’re talking about what Bobby said, that was one of the things we did really well was yards after catch."

Lastly, Pittman's overall record at Arkansas improves to 31-31 overall ahead of the Natural State Showdown against Arkansas in Little Rock at War Memorial Stadium next Saturday.

Arkansas Razorbacks wide receiver CJ Brown breaking a tackle against the Alabama A&M Bulldogs at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Ark. | Nilsen Roman-allHOGS Images

The Red Wolves were in control of the game for the most part with a 35-7 lead over Southeast Missouri State going into the fourth quarter before pulling out a 42-24 victory.

What We Don't Know

One glaring issue for Arkansas through Week 1 was how it struggled to establish a steady ground game behind transfer tailback Mike Washington. The 6-foot-2, 228 pound rusher logged just nine carries for 79 yards and caught another 26 yards receiving and one touchdown.

While Washington averaged nearly nine yards per carry, his teammates gained just less than four yards and none were able to find the endzone

"We've got three good backs," Pittman said. "We think Mike's No. 1 in that rotation. We didn't get him in early in the second half, played Rodney and played Braylen. Of course, we're scoring. We got him in there that last drive when we put KJ [Jackson] in there.

Arkansas Razorbacks running back Mike Washington is brought down a pair of Alabama A&M defenders in a game at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Ark. | Ted McClenning-allHOGS Images

"If there was a ton of difference between one, two and three, we would probably want him to have more carries, but we just want him to be fresh and have success when he's in there. We probably would play normally more in the third quarter than what we did today."

Perhaps it was first game jitters, but the Arkansas defense appeared shellshocked in the first quarter as Alabama A&M marched down the field to score its lone touchdown to begin the game.

During his postgame press conference, Pittman didn't sugarcoat how bad the Bulldogs offense caught the Razorbacks defense by surprise.

"[We] started off slow, defensively," Pittman said. "Certainly had some mental errors there that, they had a good game plan coming in, but we had some mental errors. Some gap problems in the run and then turned the tight end loose a couple of times. He got open one more time on us and we got it fixed, and then played pretty good defense the rest of the day."

Arkansas Razorbacks linebacker Stephen Dix before a play during game with the Alabama A&M Bulldogs at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Ark. | Nilsen Roman-allHOGS Images

Alabama A&M went 75 yards in seven plays to score on its opening drive, but Arkansas
defensive coordinator Travis Williams was able to help his unit regain composure and limited Alabama A&M's offense scoreless with only 134 total yards in the final three quarters.