As we go into week 3, there are still a lot of things to caution about, despite how things turned out in the last game.
Yet another week came to pass, with the Hogs stumbling against one of the worst teams in FBS.
It would not come surprisingly, as the glaring issues saw last week having the opportunity to be around for another.
The Mistakes That Almost Cost The Game.
The mistakes from the first half of the game have shown improvement in the second as the Hogs sustained long scoring drives.
The second halve’s drives saw the Hogs scoring only two of four and bled the clock in the final 6:05
The slow start to the game was contrary to last week’s opening drive, which ended up in a touchdown.
The Hogs went and did the opposite against the Golden Flashes and punted after the first three possessions.
After this, Andrew Armstrong secured a 5-yard strike from KJ Jefferson and extended their lead to 14-6.
We are only in the second week, and slow starts might indicate a Sam Pittman trend instead of the Briles-Enos issue.
The run game continued to be stagnant, with the opponents going as far as provoking the Hogs to pass.
But with a better second half, the Hogs managed to up their yards per rush average up to 3.8 after a poorly performed first quarter.
AJ Green came up with a solid day and rushed for 82 yards on 15 carries. As a team, the Hogs rushed for 172 yards, which was 60 yards short of their average per game in the past two seasons.
Si Sports has reported the coach’s comments as Pittman has said that it was frustrating for the kids and the coaches as they were not running the ball consistently and promised that it is something they will have to work on.
The blocking through the two games was another thing that added to his demise as the Hogs rotated linemen during Saturday’s game when they were trying to settle who the best five would be.
None of them have been dominating positions against weaker opponents, which also contributed to why they were not dominating the line of scrimmage.
They were not moving through and blocking particularly well in their game.
The little to no movement from the Arkansas offense was another concern to QB KJ Jefferson, as his team had only 14 yards of offense before a second-quarter outburst could come through.
Kent State performed well the whole game; they went out and executed their game plan well to a point where even Jefferson told his guys that the defense was doing its job well, and they would have to wake up and do the same.
Optimistic Takes From The Game.
One positive take from the game was when Antonio Grier’s first play as a Hog was a pick-six.
It was a back-to-back week when an Arkansas linebacker scored a touchdown in the first game.
This was also highlighted by the absence of their startling LB, Chris Paul. The whole team’s defense was the most consistent unit for the season.
So, in the second half, the Hogs only yielded 74 yards and -30 yards in rushing. They were also active in the backfield, with 11 TFL, seven sacks, and one pick-six.
Armstrong had a knack for finding the endzone with two receiving touchdowns, and this made the Texas A&M-Commerce transfer lead the team in receptions with 4 for 21 yards.
