Hogs Provide Hope For Rebound; Penalties May Slow It

Now Sam Pittman's game management adding to problems for entire team this year

Author:
Jacob Davis
Publish date:
Sep 24, 2023 12:27 PM EDT

In this story:

BATON ROUGE, La. — Arkansas nearly pulled off an upset of No. 12 LSU in front of a rabid 99,000 LSU fans. Following a home loss the week prior, coach Sam Pittman was able to rally his team and fight to the end in the Battle of the Golden Boot.

Choosing one theme to key on is tough when there are multiple issues rearing their ugly heads each week. The troubles bled over into this week, eventually costing the Razorbacks a surprising victory.

Theme One: A lack of composure at the line of scrimmage

This continues to be a problem each week. Arkansas' special team's converted a fake field goal attempt during the first drive of the second half. On the very next play senior left guard Brady Latham was called for a false start, which put the Hogs behind the sticks again. The offense would have to settle for a field goal instead of a touchdown to silence the Death Valley crowd.

Back-to-back false starts by tight end Nathan Bax nearly stopped a game-tying touchdown drive before it could even start. For an offense that has struggled to move the ball at points during a game, it does them no favors to be backed up further from the sticks. After the game, quarterback KJ Jefferson mentioned his team needing to respond to their self inflicted wounds and grow out of their mistakes.

"Just being able to get back to the drawing board," Pittman said later. "This game showed that we have a lot of potential, the growth and maturity we have on this team. We need to do the little things and not shoot ourselves in the foot."

Penalties have been a critical piece of the Hogs offensive issues in 2023 and throughout Pittman's tenure. In the past three seasons, no SEC team has more games with 10-plus penalties than the Hogs do with nine. These mistakes are severely hindering improvement each week and will continue to be the difference in wins and losses until it is corrected. For a team that's bread and butter should be offensive line play, these penalties are keeping this team away from reaching their potential.

"The atmosphere did have something to do with it and you'd be a fool to think if it didn't," Pittman said. "We couldn't get set. The clock was moving fast tonight."

Theme Two: Hasz a Freshman All-American candidate?

While continuing to dissect this loss at the watercooler how great has Luke Hasz been as a true freshman? The Bixby (Okla.) native caught two touchdown passes including a 59-yard scramble drill down the right sideline. He performed admirably for Jefferson and is beginning to become a top target for the redshirt senior. Hasz caught six passes for 116 yards while being the first Hog freshman to exceed 100-yards receiving since Hunter Henry in 2013 against Texas A&M.

Theme Three: Backup Running Back A Workhorse

Dubinion emerged as a weapon against LSU with 18 touches for 113 yards. He showed some of the intriguing parts to his game that was on display last season. With AJ Green being limited to 3 carries for no gain, Dubinion had to carry the load with multiple runs with yards after contact. Included in his performance was a 26-yard reception off a scramble drill for a first down that led to the touchdown that tied the game at 31.

Theme Four: Timeout Mismanagement

One glaring issue that cannot be ignored was Arkansas' mismanagement of their timeouts. Two of them were used before the four minute mark of the third quarter. While the other timeout was called due to the cadence of Tiger Stadium not even a full minute into the fourth quarter. Those stoppages could have been used later in the game with LSU's offense driving to win the game. The Hogs' defense had no timeouts to catch their breath and wound up giving up a chip-shot field goal with just 0:05 seconds left in the game.

Holding Onto The Rope

The Hogs will have to regroup and fight in another rivalry game against Texas A&M in Arlington, (Tx.). Both the Hogs' and Tigers' defenses were gashed in the second half. Linebacker Jaheim Thomas was complimentary of his defensive teammates remaining positive that good things are coming.

"We fought our heart out and played till the end of the whistle," Thomas said. "Just trying to keep this momentum rolling and prepare for a great opponent, we're ready to work."

Fans may not want to accept moral victories in year four of a coaching tenure. However, a coach and his players will look for the positives and try to build off those each week while correcting mistakes. There is a thin line between wins and losses in football and the Hogs are walking an electric fence and losing out each time. With a forward focus, Pittman and his team look to bring the Southwest Classic trophy back to Arkansas for the second time since 2012. Can they clean up their act and defeat a one-loss Aggie team?