FAYETTEVILLE — University of Arkansas wideout Andrew Armstrong on Tuesday expressed the thoughts that many Razorback fans had after last Saturday’s head-scratching 39-31 double-overtime loss at No. 13 Oklahoma State.
Arkansas outgained the Cowboys by 263 total yards but lost the turnover battle and committed mistakes in special teams and with penalties.
“We beat ourselves,” Armstrong said. “I feel like … it’s the smaller details, because you can look at the stats, everybody can look at the stats that didn’t even watch the game and be like ‘How did they lose?’
“It’s those three turnovers that they’re not looking at. It’s the small things like that that just can turn a whole game around. I feel like if we get those out of the way and we play more sound, play more disciplined, we can come out on top.”
Arkansas tailback Ja’Quinden Jackson nodded his head in agreement as Armstrong spoke on a video conference.
“Oh yeah, I definitely agree with him,” Jackson said. “It was really just the turnovers. The turnovers were big. The turnovers are what shot us in the foot.
“That’s what really beat us. We beat ourselves at the end of the day. … We’re going to fix it and continue to build on that.”
No more cramps
Jackson was in and out of the lineup in the second half against Oklahoma State dealing with cramps, which Coach Sam Pittman described as the full-body variety.
“I mean, cramping, it happens,” said Jackson, who rushed for 149 yards and 3 touchdowns and compiled 170 all-purpose yards on 26 touches.
“First full game. We played six quarters. So it’s just like, it happens. My body wasn’t really used to it, but I promise you, it won’t happen again.”
‘Dominate’
Count Arkansas defensive end Nico Davillier and safety TJ Metcalf as confident heading into Saturday’s encounter with UAB.
“I think they’re a pretty good team,” Davillier said. “I think if we go out there and play the brand of football we know how to play I think we can just dominate those guys and just play our brand of football, honestly.”
The Blazers are No. 73 in total offense in the country with 388 yards per game, No. 39 in rushing with 197 yards per game, and No. 96 in scoring (23.5). They are coming off a 32-6 loss at Louisiana-Monroe, which notched 5 sacks, 5 other quarterback hurries and 9 tackles for loss.
“They’ve got a couple good, quick guys,” Metcalf said. “I don’t think they’re going to beat us on the perimeter. I know especially in the run game they’re not going to beat us.
“We’re going to shut all that down on the edge with Nico and Landon [Jackson], Anton [Juncaj], all them guys, and especially on the interior. We’ve got Cam [Ball] and EG [Eric Gregory]. I think we’re going to shut them out.”
No regrets
Pittman said he does not regret the failed fourth-and-5 call from the Oklahoma State 24 with the game tied at 21-21 in the fourth quarter during last Saturday’s 39-31 double-overtime loss.
Quarterback Taylen Green was stopped a half-yard short of the first down on a keeper, which included a blown blocking assignment up front that allowed a defender a free path to Green. The quarterback broke that tackle but was held up by two other defenders inside the OSU 21. Playing into Pittman’s decision was the fact Kyle Ramsey missed a 41-yard field goal just to the right on the same side of the field on the Hogs’ previous possession.
“I don’t know that we’d had many plays at that point in time that didn’t go for 5 yards,” Pittman said. “We were tied. Obviously, in my mind, we had just missed a field goal from the same distance. … It wasn’t a slow decision.”
Pittman said he erred in not telling offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino he had two downs to work with on the play that preceded the fourth down, a 9-yard scramble by Green on a third-and-14 call from the 33.
“But right when we went to fourth-and-5, I said, ‘Let’s go for it,’” Pittman said. “I just felt at that point, if we score, we’ll put a hell of a lot of pressure on them. If we don’t, they still have a long way to go and our defense has been playing pretty good.
“I’ll be honest with you, I’ve been here a long time and I’ve second guessed — not as much as everybody has — but I’ve second guessed myself a lot as the head coach here. I think every coach does. I’ll be honest with you, that one I do not. That one, I felt like it was the right thing to do. I thought we could really get some momentum there. Honestly, I thought our chances of making the fourth-and-5 were every bit as good as making the field goal, and if we did, I thought we could get to seven and really put pressure on Oklahoma State.”
Action Jackson
Jackson is one of only four FBS players with five or more rushing touchdowns through the first two games.
Boise State’s Ashton Jeantay leads the way with nine rushing touchdowns and also with 229.5 rushing yards per game.
UCF’s RJ Harvey has six rushing touchdowns, while Jackson and Tennessee’s Dylan Sampson lead the SEC with five apiece.
Jackson’s 125 rushing yards per game are good for 11th in the nation and second in the SEC behind Sampson’s 128 per game.
Mortensen at UAB
Former Arkansas quarterback Alex Mortensen is in his second season as UAB’s offensive coordinator and play-caller.
Mortensen came to UAB after spending nine seasons at Alabama, first as a graduate assistant (2014-15), then as an offensive analyst (2017-22). He was part of three national championship teams with the Crimson Tide under Coach Nick Saban.
Mortensen lettered at Arkansas in 2005 and 2008. He was a freshman in 2004, transferred to Samford for the 2006 and 2007 seasons, then returned to Fayetteville and earned a communications degree in 2009. He got a master’s degree at Alabama in Sports Management in 2016.
Mortensen said it meant a lot to be back in Northwest Arkansas, where his parents set up a residence during his playing days.
“I had an opportunity to go back a handful of times and it was always really meaningful,” Mortensen said on the Hawgs Sports Network podcast on Tuesday. “I love Fayetteville, I love Northwest Arkansas and I love Arkansas, the state. My parents made Northwest Arkansas their home, so it’s always been fun to go back. I still have a lot of friends there.
“The first couple of times I went back, being on the other sideline was a little bit weird. But once you get into the flow of the game it becomes a game.”
Scorigamis
The Razorbacks’ first two games of the season have resulted in scorigamis, which are final scores that have occurred for the first time in program history.
Arkansas’ losing score of 39-31 against Oklahoma State was the first such score, according to the X account Razorigami. The account cited it as the 681st unique score in school history.
The 680th unique score came in the previous week’s 70-0 win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
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Publish date : 2024-09-10 20:00:00
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