In the post-mortem of a crushing 37-33 loss to Ole Miss in Little Rock on Saturday night, it became crystal clear midway through the third quarter, Arkansas had a problem.
When Ty Storey scrambled for 10 yards and a first down on the Hogs’ second play of the fourth quarter, he should have stepped out of bounds after a 9-yard gain when he had the chance.
Storey was decked by Rebels free safety Zedrick Woods and it was pretty clear the Razorbacks suddenly had a full-blown issue on offense.
It became clear Chad Morris’ plan of controlling the game by running the ball was working like a charm on an Ole Miss team with an offense that could light up the scoreboard in a hurry. The best way to stop them was keep them on the bench.
Looking at the big picture, it became crystal clear why the Hogs’ depth chart offensively has the running backs listed where they are.
“That’s what we’re trying to do,” Morris said later. “We had Devwah (Whaley) and Rakeem (Boyd) going. The pace they were going at was very impressive. I hate that they couldn’t finish the game.”
Boyd finished with 109 yards rushing, but left the game for good with what was reported as a back injury after his only carry after the first quarter, a 3-yarder. That was on Arkansas’ second offensive play in the second quarter.
Whaley was welcomed to the party and looked perfectly capable of picking up most of the slack behind Boyd, providing a rushing compliment to Storey and that was good enough for a 33-24 lead with 2:33 left in the third quarter.
That was it, though.
Chase Hayden, who did his best, simply isn’t the threat that Whaley is and he’s not the threat Boyd is.
Yes, the Hogs were down to their third-string running back and a backup quarterback that can’t run more than a couple of yards consistently in a game where keeping the ball on the ground was the plan to keep it out of Ole Miss quarterback Jordan Ta’amu’s hands.
Danged if it didn’t almost work out.
Ta’amu did more damange to the Hogs’ defense than Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa did last week. Ta’amu threw for 387 yards, which the Hogs could have dealt with.
What they couldn’t handle was Ta’amu’s 154 yards on the ground, with runs of 27 and 15 yards in the fourth quarter that that were killers.
“They made some plays on that last drive,” Morris said. “They picked up some key first downs in the second half, which was critical.”
Mobile quarterbacks can beat a defense that covers everything else. No matter how hard defensive coordinators try, a quarterback who can run turns a chicken mess into chicken salad.
“His ability to see the field when the pocket collapses around him, to keep his eyes open
and down the field,” Morris said of Ta’amu. “That’s why he’s one of the top quarterbacks in our league from passing efficiency to running the football.”
Storey was doing that for the Hogs before he was knocked out of the game. He wasn’t as spectacular as Ta’amu, but he did have 73 yards rushing. That tied him with Whaley for the second-leading rusher on the night for Arkansas.
To his credit, Morris wasn’t using the injuries as an excuse.
“I’m not here to make an excuse,” he said. “We would love to have those guys out there. I think that Rakeem (Boyd) was on pace to have another career night. Devwah (Whaley) as well.”
Coaches won’t use injuries as an excuse, but losing those three guys was the reason the offense wasn’t as effective in the fourth quarter.
You wonder what Morris and offensive coordinator Joe Craddock will do this week in those three spots.
Is it time for Connor Noland to get a start if Storey can’t go?
It’s become clear Cole Kelley is good on certain packages. He can get you some hard-earned short yardage into the middle. He can even throw a pass when the defense doesn’t expect it.
But he can’t run this offense very well.
Hayden is in the same spot at running back. Nobody knows what’s up with T.J. Hammonds, who didn’t see the field again Saturday night.
With Tulsa the next opponent, there will be plenty of questions for the coaches to come up with an answer to.
But hopefully they can have some good luck, which coaches despise talking about, but it does play a role.
Because Saturday night bad luck was far worse than no luck at all.
