The Arkansas Razorbacks (4-3, 2-2 SEC) went into their matchup with the No. 8 LSU Tigers (6-1, 3-0 SEC) with the fourth-best rushing attack in the Southeastern Conference, but they found no success on the ground in a 34-10 loss on Saturday night.
The LSU defense was able to hold Arkansas to just 38 rushing yards on 18 carries on Saturday, which is good for an average of just 2.1 yards per carry. Arkansas running back Ja'Quinden Jackson — who averages 94.3 yards per game— was Arkansas' leading rusher with 26 yards on five carries.
One of the reasons Arkansas abandoned the run game is because it found itself in a 10-0 hole early on in the game. The Razorback defense struggled to get off the field on multiple LSU drives, and the Tigers were able to chew up time of possession.
Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman said postgame they were forced to throw the ball more because of that.
"The score dictates some things, I think how you feel like your matchup is on the protections and the throwing and catching I think that has something to do with it," Pittman said postgame. "But you never want to abandon the run unless the score dictates that you don’t have a chance. So we’ll go back to work and try to get all that corrected."
One thing that played into that slow start was a costly fumble by junior running back Rashod Dubinion. With the Hogs down 7-0 toward the end of the first quarter, the Ellenwood, Georgia, native had gained 13 yards to move the chains, but fumbled the ball and LSU recovered it at the Arkansas 38-yard line.
That 13-yard rush was the longest by a Razorback in the entire game, and the fumble was one of three turnovers the Razorbacks had on the night.
"It hurt big-time because I think (Dubinion) got 13 yards on that particular run as a first-down play," Pittman said. "I think we had the ball four times in the first half. Really moved it pretty well, then something would go wrong."
Pittman also said one of the reasons the offense went to the pass game more is because they wanted to try to exploit the LSU secondary — which ranked No. 15 in the SEC in pass defense — with chunk plays.
"I felt like that's what we were trying to do a little bit more than normal," Pittman said. "You can see that we’re having a hard time getting off the field, so you might think a little bit more of trying to quick-strike and get more explosive plays. We felt going into the game that we could do that throwing the football."
All parts of the offense have to come together for any of them to work, Arkansas quarterback Taylen Green said after the game, and they didn't on Saturday night.
"It’s situational ball, just knowing how the game is going," Green said. "We have to limit our second-and-longs and third-and-longs. It’s a full unit. I have to get everybody on the same page a little bit quicker. Goes back to the run game and executing that. It’s all 11. It’s me, the running backs, (offensive) line, receivers and the pass game. It’s marrying both of them together."
LSU head coach Brian Kelly said after the game his defense's ability to control the line of scrimmage forced the Razorbacks to become one-dimensional throwing the ball, and they were able to force Green into some tough situations.
"(We're) beginning to execute at a much higher level consistently and it starts with controlling the line of scrimmage," Kelly said. "They could not run the ball, they became one-dimensional and when that happens, we can get after it and we can get after the quarterback and we made life difficult for him."
The Razorbacks will need to flush this loss and prepare for a road game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs (1-6, 0-3 SEC) next weekend. Kickoff is set for 11:45 a.m. CT and the game will air on ESPN.
