NFL
By: Randall Slifer
Arkansas handled its business last Saturday against Alabama A&M. In my preview last week, I had predicted three things that I felt Arkansas needed to accomplish to start preparing for the more challenging part of the schedule. Arkansas managed to do all three things with a heavy emphasis on Taylen Green working in the pocket. Here are my three stars from last week’s game:
Taylen Green threw for 322 yards and six touchdowns, primarily from the pocket with an adjusted completed percentage of 80.6%. Green threw no interceptions while remaining calm in the pocket and delivering well-placed balls all day, leading to only one drop.
Arkansas needed a wide receiver to stand out, and that wide receiver was O’Mega Blake. Blake caught seven balls for 121 yards and one touchdown. He was expected to be a leader in the pass-catching rooms, and he had a great start.
Mike Washington Jr looked great in his first game in Fayetteville, rushing for 79 yards and would have had a touchdown if he had not slipped in the open field on a breakaway run. The duo of Braylen Russell and Mike Washington has already begun.
Arkansas Razorbacks are home versus Arkansas State in Little Rock this Saturday for an interesting in-state battle that doesn’t have much history behind it. Arkansas State beat Southeast Missouri State last week soundly, 42-24. Jax Leatherwood threw well, and the offense was balanced. For the Razorbacks and their path to 9-3, this game is in the bucket of the 5 “must-win” games if the Razorbacks want to be taken seriously this season. Let’s take a look at what Arkansas needs to improve on from last week to get ready for the first big matchup versus Ole Miss in week 3:
Defense needs to improve as a whole.
The defense only allowed Alabama A&M to score seven points, but I had personally expected more out of the defense. During the first half, Alabama A&M had numerous offensive penalties that stunted their drives. Arkansas did not handle its passing game well, and screen passes were wide open. Arkansas allowed almost 100 yards after the catch, averaging 5.8 per catch! Five Alabama A&M players had an explosive play of 15 yards or more, where a tougher opponent would have capitalized on those plays into points.
Alabama A&M out-pressured Arkansas last weekend, with two more pressures than Arkansas. Despite the score being outlandish, Arkansas only managed to tally three sacks on the day. Quincy Rhodes Jr and Justus Boone each recorded a sack yesterday, but Arkansas only managed 13 total pressures on the day. When the schedule gets tougher, Arkansas will need to pressure better to make it easier on the defensive backs.
Offensive Line takes another step.
The offensive line looked relatively decent yesterday, despite allowing 15 pressures to Alabama A&M. Pass blocking looked weaker than run blocking, but it was just week one of the season. Right Guard Kobe Branham looked great in his first outing, which is a great sign, especially since the right side of the offensive line had the most significant question marks. Fernando Carmona had an okay start, moving from left tackle to left guard this year. I am not worried about Carmona, for the fact is that he needs to adjust to the position at full speed against other opponents. Carmona has his opportunity to cement himself as a top guard in the 2026 draft starting week 3. The offensive line needs to take a step in the right direction against Arkansas State.
Taylen Green uses his legs this time.
The one surprising thing about last weekend’s game was Taylen Green’s inability to break tackles. Taylen Green rushed for 51 yards on eight attempts, but only averaged 1.75 yards after contact. He had a long run of 26 yards, so if you take away that run, he rushed seven times for only 25 yards.
Any time Arkansas fans were looking for that Taylen Green explosive play, he ended up being wrapped up on the first tackle. In the pocket, he could not evade rushers, which led to an 18% pressure-to-sack ratio. These are the things that Taylen Green relied on to survive last year, and Arkansas expects Taylen to evade with his size and speed.
This may have been a result of the overall game plan, and Sam Pittman may have told Taylen Green to operate more in the pocket and avoid scrambling. It would make sense if Taylen were sitting in the pocket a split second longer than he would, which would give him less of a chance to break the tackle.
Arkansas is not looking for a 100-yard rushing game, but rather for Taylen Green to keep a play alive behind the line of scrimmage. Taylen Green’s ability to avoid being taken down by the first tackler, scrambling to his right, and delivering a ball after the coverage is broken, is a significant factor in Arkansas’ quest to a 9-3 record this year. It is imperative to see improvement in this ability before we travel to take on Ole Miss.
Arkansas Razorbacks play Arkansas State on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. EST/3:00 p.m. CST. Vegas has the Arkansas Razorbacks favored by 23.5 points with an over/under of 63.5. They predict a high-scoring game, and I see that as well. If I were a betting man, I would think that the Razorbacks barely cover the spread and the game hits the over.The
