Fayetteville Arkansas. Under the lights, the number 11th ranked Razorbacks of Arkansas University took on the Pirates of the 20th ranked East Carolina. The first top 25 match up of the season, and honestly? It was underwhelming to say the least.
The Pirates came in with a high flying offense that many expect will drag their defense along for most of the season. The Razorbacks on the other hand come in with a Very talented defense and a pretty decent offense. Particularly their run game. Diego Good is well...good. He had a lot of hype and excitement. However Good and company Saturday night looked awful. With a combined 29 carries the runningbacks only ran for 38 yards. Don't worry we did the math for you. That's 1.3 yards per carry. The passing game looked better though it isn't much to write home about. Ramirez threw for 237 yards and two touchdowns. Jack Danish was the leading receiver with 9 targets, 8 receptions and 50 yards. He helped ensure the Razorback victory with two touchdown catches as well.
The defense looked better as they held one of the best offenses, preseason ranked number 7, to only 14 points. A good thing to because if that offense cant figure it out we are gonna need that defense to show up like this every week to give the offense a chance to get lucky. Despite their point allowed success and the one turn over forced, the defensive line provided zero help rushing the passer. For an offense that only had 15 rushing attempts in 58 offensive snaps, they had plenty of opportunities to get after the quarterback and came away with zero. I suppose you can get away with this when you have a great secondary, but for a game of attrition, this isn't going to be good over the course of the season. The defense staff need to figure out how to create pressure and ruin momentum. When they start playing the Alabamas and the Texas A&ms, zero sacks isnt going to cut it.
Due to their Week 0 game, the Razorbacks get to have a week off for Week 1, but then they are on the road to Virginia. Hopefully they can get some things figured out and look like the number 11th Team in the nation.
Billy Bob
Billy Bob's Blog