LITTLE ROCK — As the dust settles on the Arkansas Razorbacks' loss to Alabama, and after watching a replay of it on the Internet, it appears the Hogs' defense is somewhere in between being as bad as some fans think and being good enough to win an SEC game.
The Crimson Tide averaged 6.5 yards per play on 65 plays Saturday, but that changes drastically if you take away the 216 yards that came on four big plays: a 52-yard touchdown run by Trent Richardson, an 80-yard touchdown pass from Greg McElroy to Marquis Maze, a 50-yard touchdown pass to Julio Jones and a 32-yard reception by Darius Hanks.
Without those plays, which accounted for more than half the total yardage, Alabama averaged 3.4 yards per play and would have won 14-7.
However, it was those four plays that has caused concern for many Razorbacks fans.
On Richardson's touchdown run, at least three Razorbacks missed tackles by not wrapping up on him.
On the post pattern to Maze, immediately after theHogs scored their lone touchdown, he had beaten the coverage easily and McElroy had all the time he needed to find him and make the throw.
Jones couldn't have been more alone on his 50-yard touchdown if he were in a phone booth as the Hogs bit on the fake reverse and lateral back to McElroy. Hanks was also open down the sidelines.
All three pass plays came on first down. The run came on second-and-5.
Last, but not least, it should be pointed out that Nick Saban called off the dogs with 13:12 to play and the Tide leading 35-7.
Of their final 14 plays, covering three possessions, they ran 13 times and all of the carries were by third-team running back Terry Grant.
While on the subject of fourth quarters, the Razorbacks have yet to score a touchdown in the final period in the two games against SEC opponents.
Three of their five total touchdowns in the past two games came in the third quarter, and then it was like they hit a wall.
Notice that Missouri State is not being considered in this evaluation. It would have been more interesting to watch the Razorbacks play Arkansas State than Missouri State, who is in the playoff division.
It would have been more of a test, too.
Anyway, more than likelyBobby Petrino's biggest concerns on offense are getting Ryan Mallett some time and converting on third downs, which the Razorbacks have done only five times in 28 tries in the past two games.
Four were out of the passing game, but on third down Mallett is only 7 of 20. That isn't that bad considering defenses are looking for the pass on third down. But against Alabama, it was really thirdand-long.
On third down, the Hogs averaged needing 12.7 yards for a first down.
Some of that was caused by penalties, but most of it was Alabama's defense, which is one of the best in the country.
Defensively, the lack of tackling and pass coverage have been much discussed by Hogs fans for two weeks now.
Saban admitted after the game the plan had been to attack the corners, and that maybe they should have done it more.
One thing that would help the pass coverage is getting more pressure on the quarterback.
Joe Cox and Greg McElroy have looked like All-SEC candidates after playing the Razorbacks, and a lot of that can be attributed to how much time they had in the pocket.
The Razorbacks need to be tweaked in some areas, and they need it now.
Sports, Pages 19 on 09/30/2009