FAYETTEVILLE — Over the past two weeks, Arkansas' offense has made major strides.
The Hogs dominated the third quarter against Tennessee with a pair of touchdown drives and played their most complete game of the season offensively on Saturday against Vanderbilt, putting up 31 points and 438 yards offense. The Razorbacks ran for a season-high 187 yards, while KJ Jackson went 21-31 for 251 yards.
While the offense looked better in the last two games compared to the first five, there's still plenty that needs to be fixed. At the forefront of the remaining issues with the unit is its inability to start fast.
Arkansas only put up 147 yards of offense in the first half, and 75 of those yards came on UA's final drive of the half. That last drive of the first half was the only scoring drive of the half for the Razorbacks, who got on the board thanks to a pick-six from Joker Johnson.
Against Tennessee, Arkansas only had 94 yards of offense in the first half and was shut out, though a missed field goal from Max Gilbert at the buzzer kept Arkansas from getting on the board. Still, such a slow start offensively against an SEC team is not a winning strategy.
Not until garbage time did Arkansas get into the end zone against Georgia, and on the season, the Hogs are yet to have an opening drive touchdown, though they did get three points on their opening drives against Utah and Tulsa.
Arkansas' inability to strike first isn't the sole reason why the Razorbacks are sitting at 3-4 entering their bye week, but it's not a non-factor, either. Utah, Georgia and Texas A&M all jumped on the Razorbacks in the first half and essentially put the game away by halftime, while Tennessee's seven-point lead at halftime ended up being the difference in the game.
Arkansas' defense can only hang on and do its job of keeping games close for so long before the offense has to pick up the slack. Saturday's win over Vanderbilt was a team effort and a definite step in the right direction, but the offense will need to score first quarter points if Arkansas is to beat Missouri, Auburn, South Carolina, Texas or LSU.
Halftime adjustments have clearly been made and worked for Arkansas over the last two weeks, but it's time for the offense to shift into fourth gear before kickoff, not until after halftime.
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