FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas football coach Sam Pittman likes his team’s offensive line.
Arkansas (3-1, 1-0 SEC) enters its Week 5 game against Texas A&M third in the SEC with 524 total yards per game. Both its passing attack (284 yards per game) and rushing attack (240) rank fourth in the league, showing what the overhauled offensive line can do.
The unit has shown drastic improvement under first-year offensive line coach Eric Mateos, who recruited three starters from the transfer portal. It was a priority fix in the offseason after offensive line play was a vulnerability in 2023.
While improvement is clear, something Pittman emphasized during a portion of his news conference Monday, his praises came after addressing a concern.
Arkansas quarterback Taylen Green had a shaky performance in a 24-14 victory at Auburn with 12-of-17 (44.4%) passing for 151 yards, 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions. Pittman didn’t blame Green’s inaccuracies entirely on him.
“I think Taylen’s got to be better — and he’ll tell you that — but we’ve got to be better around him,” Pittman said. “Our protection game is not very good right now, and it’s not necessarily getting beat 1-on-1. It’s, again, not blocking the five most dangerous in a five-man protection, not holding up at tight end when they’re in protection, and not blocking well at running back when they’re in protection.”
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Pro Football Focus (PFF), a sports analytics company that grades each snap played in games, tends to agree. PFF ranks Arkansas 13th in the SEC with a 63.9 pass-blocking grade.
Green faced 12 pressures and scrambled five times against Auburn, according to PFF. The Tigers recorded three sacks.
“If you’re Taylen Green, you’re back there expecting that these guys are blocked,” Pittman said. “So probably the most concerning part of offensive football from Saturday was the way that we did not protect the quarterback. … At some point you’re going to try to do too much because you’re feeling like, ‘We’ve got to make a big play, because we’re not just consistently driving the ball down the field.’”
Green was sacked on the Razorbacks’ first drive on a third-and-8 from the Auburn 16 that turned a 34-yard field goal attempt into a 41-yarder. Arkansas kicker Kyle Ramsey missed it.
On the team’s fourth drive with Arkansas ahead 7-0, Green was dropped on a fourth-and-1 from the Auburn 44. The sack came as result of a whiffed block by running back Ja’Quinden Jackson and was another missed opportunity to score.
“With all that said, Taylen’s got to make good decisions,” Pittman said. “But at the same time, we’ve got to get a lot better around him, especially in protections, for us to hit on all cylinders. Which let’s say this, I believe that we’re capable and I believe that we will. But we’ve got to get better there, and I think we’ll be a much better offense at that point.”
Green’s timing on multiple passes led to receivers taking unprotected hits, including a vicious tackle that knocked receiver Andrew Armstrong’s helmet off.
“The timing’s got to be better on that,” Pittman said. “I think when the protection gets better, the timing will be better as well…. We’ll get the ball out of our hands faster, too.… We didn’t feel like it was as much route running as just the timing and the pressure in his face to get the ball off.”
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Pittman said the poor pass protection hasn’t been a case of “getting our butts kicked” trying to block.
“We’re not doing what we’re coached, assignment-wise, and the kids are trying their tail off,” Pittman said. “I’m not giving an excuse. It was really loud out there, but some of these things are based off that we should certainly pick up, and we did not.”
Arkansas will face a Texas A&M defense ranked third-to-last in the SEC with a 63.1 pass-rushing grade by PFF.
“We’ve got to get better at pass protection,” Pittman said, “But I could say that every single week as well. I’m really, really proud of what Coach Mateos and the offensive line have done, and we are getting much, much better.”
The Southwest Classic between the Razorbacks and Aggies (3-1, 1-0) is scheduled to kick off Saturday at 2:30 p.m. (ESPN) inside AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
