HawgBeat - Six quick thoughts from Arkansas' win over Kent State
HawgBeat provides six quick thoughts, analysis and notes from Arkansas' win over Kent State on Saturday.
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FAYETTEVILLE — The Arkansas Razorbacks improved to 2-0 on the season with a 28-6 win over the Kent State Golden Flashes on Saturday at Reynolds Razorback Stadium.
Arkansas got off to an extremely slow start — so slow that the Hogs were out-gained by the Golden Flashes at halftime and they held a measly 14-6 lead over a Kent State team that gave up 56 points and 723 total yards to UCF in Week 1.
The Razorbacks turned things on in the second half to pull away, but it was by no means a pretty game. Arkansas gained just 308 total yards, 172 on the ground and 136 through the air.
Here are six quick thoughts from the game, including observations on the offensive line, defensive line, tight end position, KJ Jefferson and more.
Box Score
One play not enough to fix slow start
The first quarter was controlled by Kent State and its offense. The Golden Flashes held the ball for 11:35 of the first 15 minutes of play.
By the 1:20 mark in the first quarter, Arkansas had punted on its two drives and Kent State had out-gained the Razorbacks by 48 total yards. Jefferson had completed just two passes for seven yards by that point and he also led the team with eight rushing yards.
When all was going wrong, the first snap after Arkansas' second punt was an interception returned for 25 yards by South Florida transfer linebacker Antonio Grier on his first ever play as a Razorback.
The offense was disappointing in the first quarter against a Kent State team that gave up 723 yards to Central Florida in Week 1. Even the defense was giving up way too much yardage to an offense that returns zero starters from last season.
Kent State's next offensive drive resulted in a quick three-and-out, as did the Razorbacks' next drive. Following the Hogs' third punt of the game, the Golden Flashes drove 52 yards in 10 plays and ended up with a field goal to make Arkansas' lead 7-6 with 6:29 left in the second quarter.
Defensive line looked improved
A week after having just two sacks against FCS foe Western Carolina, the Razorbacks' defensive line stepped up and made some big plays in clutch situations. Three of the Hogs' first five sacks in the game came on third downs.
There were also quite a few run plays for Kent State that began with an Arkansas defender in the backfield right away. On a few occasions, the Hogs would miss a tackle and the ball carrier picked up decent yardage, but the instant contact was a good thing.
Kent State averaged just 0.7 yards per carry in the contest, which is a testament to how quickly the Hogs were getting to the ball. It wasn't always someone from the defensive line who got there right away, but it was a big man more often than not.
While Trajan Jeffcoat and Tank Booker gained most of the fall camp hype of the transfer pass rushers, John Morgan III and Keivie Rose have impressed me the most through two games.
Morgan had a pair of tackles and a sack, while Rose totaled three tackles and half a sack. We've heard a lot about Rose's finesse and I've seen it pay off. Morgan just seems like an extremely high-motor guy.
Landon Jackson — a team captain — made the biggest stop of the day with 6:05 left in the fourth quarter. Kent State went for it on 4th-and-1 from the Hogs' 1-yard line and Jackson blew the play up and made a stop four yards behind the line of scrimmage.
Last week it was the defensive line that looked like it needed work, but this week the linebackers really struggled in space. Jaheim Thomas gave up some easy catches all day and it was hard to ignore the amount of times I saw a linebacker chasing a Kent State player down the sideline.
The Hogs still held Kent State to just 200 total yards in the contest, but it really felt like much more than that.
Offensive line still needs work
I told people all week that I wasn't super concerned about Arkansas' offensive line performed against Western Carolina. I'm a little concerned now.
A week removed from rushing for just 105 yards against an FCS team, the Hogs gained 172 yards on the ground against a Kent State team that looked like one of the worst in college football last week. The Razorbacks averaged just 3.9 yards per carry in the contest.
Last week, the Hogs were without starting left guard Brady Latham and there was still an ongoing battle at left tackle between Andrew Chamblee and Devon Manuel. I factored those things in when I decided not to worry.
Latham was back against Kent State and Chamblee once again started at left tackle. The Razorbacks had a good bit of success running the ball to the left with those two blocking, to be honest. Manuel also got in at left tackle for a few possessions and I didn't have an issue with his play.
On the other side, Florida transfer Josh Braun struggled at right guard and right tackle Patrick Kutas is still picking things up after just his second start as a Hog.
Ty'Kieast Crawford also came in at right guard for a few drives and he gave up a sack to KJ Jefferson at one point. I'd like to see E'Marion Harris get the shot that Crawford is getting.
At center, Beaux Limmer isn't a concern as far as blocking goes, but he did have a bad snap in the red zone. You'll read about it below, but Limmer's snap was low for Jefferson, who ended up throwing a touchdown pass anyways. While Sam Pittman told me he isn't worried about Limmer's snaps, he's had some miscues through the first two games of being the full time center.
Let's be honest here, Sam Pittman is supposed to be one of the top offensive line minds in college football. I'm still going to guess they get things figured out, but Kent State and Western Carolina are not two teams who should be beating you up front.
KJ will just do it himself, I guess
When Arkansas desperately needed to punch in a touchdown late in the second quarter, the Hogs recorded their fourth penalty of the game with a delay of game that backed them up from the 1-yard line to the 5-yard line.
After a low snap from center Beaux Limmer, Jefferson stepped in and grabbed the ball with one hand and then rolled right to look for a receiver. The third-year starting quarterback found Andrew Armstrong in the back of the end zone for a 5-yard touchdown pass that gave the Hogs a 14-6 lead after Cam Little's made PAT.
It's worth noting that AJ Green started the drive with two runs for 32 yards and Isaac TeSlaa made a huge 36-yard catch in traffic to set the Hogs up in the red zone. Still, it was Jefferson who had to make a play happen when the team needed it most and he did.
Look, the Hogs being in that situation in the first place was not ideal. It was an ugly two-play sequence, but you can't take those seven points away.
In the second half, Jefferson began to run the ball much more than he should've had to in this game. At the potential cost of getting the star quarterback banged up, the Hogs moved the ball much better when Jefferson was running so much.
Jefferson picked up 48 yards on the ground in the game and he also complete 13 of his 19 passes for 136 yards and two touchdowns.
Where are the tight ends
The tight end position was probably written about as much as any position for Arkansas during the offseason. With two four-star freshmen and a pair of transfers coming in, tight end became a position filled with potential.
Adding Dan Enos as the offensive coordinator was only another reason the tight end position was so hyped up, as he's utilized the position very successfully as an offensive coordinator. Well, freshman Luke Hasz is the only tight end with a catch through two games and he just has five catches for 45 yards.
I don't know if it's just a game plan thing, nobody is getting open or the tight ends weren't as good as we thought, but the tight ends have been disappointing so far. Granted, I haven't watched them block a ton, but if you can't tell from above, blocking has been bad just about everywhere.
Hasz caught a pair of passes in the second half, including a 10-yard reception on 3rd-and-8. I really thought he'd be more involved in the offense, but he is also a true freshman who has just two college football games under his belt now.
By this point, I expected North Texas transfer Var'keyes Gumms to be making an impact. I even thought we might see Nathan Bax or Louisville transfer Francis Sherman with a couple of catches, but neither has been involved in the passing game whatsoever.
