EDITOR'S NOTE: The Sentinel-Record will follow up with a head football coach of a local high school after each regular season game this year for the Arkansas Razorbacks. This week's installment features T.J. Burk, head coach of the Jessieville Lions.
A number of factors contributed to Arkansas' loss at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock to Ole Miss, but the game followed an all too familiar script for Razorback fans.
Arkansas (1-6, 0-4 Southeastern Conference) was dominant for much of the three quarters. The Razorbacks traded early field goals early on with the Rebels (5-2, 1-2) as Connor Limpert was a perfect 4-for-4 in the game.
The Hogs' offense followed with two touchdowns in the first quarter for a 17-3 lead. Quarterback Ty Storey finished off a 78-yard drive with a touchdown pass to tight end Cheyenne O'Grady and running back Rakeem Boyd continued to stand out with a 69-yard touchdown drive.
Storey briefly left with a minor knock in the second quarter and Boyd left in the second frame only to return to the field in street clothes after halftime. Devwah Whaley ran for 67 yards on 12 carries until he was also left the game with an injury in the third quarter.
"I thought the game plan early on was pretty good," said Jessieville head coach T.J. Burk. "Offensively, they were moving the ball down the field, but once Ty Storey got hurt and Rakeem Boyd went out, it seemed like the offense struggled."
Backup quarterback Cole Kelley entered briefly in the second quarter to throw a 39-yard touchdown pass to La'Michael Pettway. Another field goal by Limpert gave the Hogs a 27-10 advantage.
"Boyd has the home run hitter threat that the other guys don't really have right now," Burk said. "Also, with Ty Storey and the RPO game, he was a lot more effective than Cole Kelley and he was also more effective with his feet. I thought he did a really good job of moving around in the pocket and extending plays. He made some good decisions except for the one where he got smacked there at the end."
Storey finished with 70 rushing yards on nine carries. He took a big hit early in the fourth quarter when he stayed in bounds instead of running out. Kelley was behind center for the rest of the game instead of true freshman Connor Noland, who had been taking the No. 2 snaps in practices.
Arkansas outgained Ole Miss, 303-284, in the first half despite running seven less plays. The Rebels cut into the lead with a long drive to end the first half.
Two more field goals in the third quarter by Limpert were negated by a 66-yard score from Ole Miss quarterback Jordan Ta'amu to Octavio Cooley. Multiple Razorbacks, including senior safety Santos Ramirez, had the chance to tackle Cooley, but no one wrapped him up and he escaped to cover a majority of the play down the sideline.
"At that point in the game, you've got to shore up the tackles and make them drive the ball all of the way down the field instead of hitting big plays," Burk said.
"Defensively, late in the game, guys were trying to go in and throw a shoulder instead of wrapping up and taking them to the ground," Burk added.
Arkansas still led, 33-24, to start the fourth quarter, but the offense stagnated without its stars.
"I don't know if they were trying to play conservative," Burk said. "Once Ty Storey went out, it seemed like they did play more conservative. I don't know what the answer is in the fourth quarter.
"I think their biggest problem was, defensively, you could see the lack of speed, especially from the safety positions. Ole Miss did a good job of taking advantage of the lack of speed. And poor tackling. I think it was more of a defensive problem than an offensive problem, because the offense was still moving the ball a little bit and kicking field goals."
The lead held until the final five minutes of the game. Ta'amu led Ole miss on a 10-play, 84-yard scoring drive to make the score 33-31.
"Late in the game, they were dropping linebackers into coverage," Burk said. "When you have a mobile quarterback, it is going to open up running lanes for him. There is a fine line between not sending pressure and backing off too much.
"You have to credit Ole Miss for taking advantage of that situation and knowing their quarterback is athletic enough to make plays."
The Razorbacks posted two of the 10 worst defensive performances in program history in the past two weeks. They followed a 65-31 home loss to No. 1 Alabama (7-0, 4-0) in Fayetteville by allowing 611 yards to Ole Miss.
Ta'amu alone was responsible for 528 yards. He was 26-for-35 passing for 387 yards and two touchdowns to go with 141 rushing yards and another score on 17 carries.
Arkansas still had hope of the victory after a 64-yard punt by Reid Bauer pinned Ole Miss at its own 3-yard line with two minutes on the clock. The Rebels needed just 1:20 to go 97 plays on seven yards for the go-ahead score.
Kelley took over on the next drive with 40 seconds remaining on the clock, but his first pass sailed high and was intercepted by Zedrick Woods. He lost the starting job to Storey earlier in the season and has not practiced as the backup in recent weeks. Kelley was behind the center in both of Arkansas' collapses this season, including the 34-27 loss at Colorado State (3-4, 2-1 Mountain West Conference).
"It looks to me like he is slow in his reads," Burk said. "He holds onto the ball a little long. He is not near as mobile as Ty Storey. I think he is just slow on his reads. It seems like he is late on some throws. He definitely has some arm talent and he can sling it down the field. I don't know if it is scheme or what it is, but he seems slow on his reads."
Former Clemson quarterback Kelly Bryant is expected to be in Fayetteville on Saturday when Arkansas hosts Tulsa (1-5, 0-3 American Athletic Conference). The Razorbacks get the Golden Hurricane and Vanderbilt (3-4, 0-3) before a week off to prepare for another home game against No. 5 LSU (6-1, 3-1).
"I think there has been improvement almost every week," Burk said. "A lot of these guys that they are playing are not spread-style offensive guys. Defensively, with the lack of speed, they are trying to put guys in positions to make plays.
"I think they will focus on some of these younger guys. You have to get them playing experience, because they are the guys for the future right now. I think they will focus on trying to put those guys in the best positions to make plays and get them some big-time game experience and prepare for the future."
Sports on 10/16/2018