Will the Razorbacks finish strong?

By Jerry MeadowsFAYETTEVILLE -- The Arkansas Razorback offense scored 35 points on the road Saturday night against the Ole Miss Rebels, but it still was not enough to win the game.

What was amazing is that the defense finally forced Ole Miss to punt the ball in the fourth quarter, and the offense had played so well that they were in position to make their final drive of 77 yards to win the game 42-41.Imagine the storylines over the weekend leading into the fourth week of the season.

QB Taylen Green of the Razorbacks leads his team to a game-winning touchdown at Oxford to begin their SEC season 1-0 and 3-0 overall.

A team that was predicted to finish 14th in the SEC finds itself leading the SEC early in the season.

Green was the master conducting the symphony on the gridiron Saturday night.

Green orchestrated 549 yards of total offense for the Razorbacks against 17th-ranked Ole Miss in Oxford.

Green threw for 328 yards and ran for another 111.

439 yards of offense were generated by Arkansas QB.

But then, the lights went out and the music stopped as the ball bounced helplessly on the turf until Wydett Williams Jr.

of Ole Miss recovered the only turnover of the game.No doubt Greens performance would have been a coming-out party to place him in the conversation for the Heisman Trophy for 2025.

His statistics, with 27 more yards of offense to his credit, could have been 893 yards passing, 311 yards rushing, 2 TDs, and 11 TD passes in just three games.Arkansas would have been 3-0 and preparing to play Memphis this Saturday as a ranked team.

The rankings would most likely have had Arkansas in the top 25 in the nation.

The momentum for the season would have been electric.Instead, something needed to be fixed again.

This time, it was not turnovers or excessive penalties.

It was a defense that, on the field, was as effective as a screen door on a submarine.

How does a team give up 1,216 yards of total offense in two games to the same team? How can a defensive backfield give up nine TDs and 919 passing yards from the same team in consecutive years? Especially when the second game, a backup QB torches you for 357 passing yards.

Ole Miss had a 67% conversion rate on 3rd down and never punted the ball in the first half.The last two games against Ole Miss might have been the worst defensive effort from an Arkansas team in the past 50 years.

Yet, the Razorbacks still had a chance to win the game.

How could that be? The offense for the Razorbacks was firing on all cylinders.

They would match Ole Misss offensive production until a late field goal gave the Rebels a three-point lead, 31-28, at halftime.Coach Sam Pittman was asked what needs to be fixed on defense?"They really didnt do anything...

They had one little route that they ran a crossover route, flooded us out there.

But Im talking about coaching to the players.

I mean, we had 12 on the field, we tried to make a substation when there was nobody coming off the field.

Now, we thought because a guy went out of bounds, which is normally the case, you get a little bit more time to sub because he went out of bounds on his sideline.

But that wasnt the case.

Weve got to do a better job over there coaching and we have to do a better job of making sure our kids have time to process.

Those two things we didnt do well, but we did better in the second half, which gives us a little bit of spark going into this week that, Hey, weve got good players, lets line them up and quit trying to win the chess match every time and let our players play."This is how close Arkansas is to being a contender in the SEC.

Imagine what type of team the Razorbacks could be if they just had an average defensive team.

But, Arkansas has the talent on the defensive side.

This is the best team in the Sam Pittman era.

What went wrong on Saturday night can be fixed.

And it starts with the basics.

In football, you play with aggression and passion to want to compete.

Let the players play.

It is better to call the wrong defense and keep your assignment than to call the right defense and play out of position.Last Saturday night in Oxford, Arkansas proved that they were one of the best offenses in the nation.

You could see it with the OL.

They were giving Green time to go through his progressions.

They were opening up holes for the running backs to run through.

And even in a loss, Green continued to put up Heisman numbers for a QB this early in the season.

But to win the Heisman, a player must be on a team that at least makes the playoffs.

So, the Razorbacks still have everything to play for.

They can overcome this loss.The defense must rise to the occasion and take pride in who they are and whom they represent.

It is not too late.

It is time to take the bull by the horns and prove to the world of college football who the Arkansas Razorbacks are.This could be the year of the Hog.

That means it is time to finish strong.On Saturday, Arkansas travels to Memphis to play the Tigers at 11 a.m.

The game will be televised on ABC..

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