10 Things: Arkansas 39, Texas Tech 26

1. Game Links:

2. A Slight Delay. Sorry for the delay, I woke up a bit late on Saturday morning and my Saturday was full. This 10 Things will be short and sweet. There’s no good reason to go into huge detail I think. You can look forward to a pretty detailed transfer portal piece coming out tomorrow.

3. A Microcosm. After having 24 hours to think about the game, it felt like a microcosm of the entire season. The defense has significant issues, bigger issues than the offense ever thought about having and I do think that a complete overhaul was needed despite the fact that I think that Tim DeRuyter is a good coach and a good person. It just wasn’t working out. It is also a personnel issue, there are players on the field that should not have been, largely because of youth. And the offense just wasn’t great up to snuff on Friday night, but there were encouraging parts about the offense to not feel too bad. We’ll get to the offense in a second, but one last time, the defense was historically bad and always seemed like the bigger problem throughout the year, but there was a certain sect of fans that were hyper-focused on how the offense wasn’t good enough. It was 21-3 before you could blink and am surprised that this even became a game. In retrospect, the offense wasn’t perfect, but it was the 5th best scoring offense and total offense in the country. It was more than fine in the grand scheme of things.

4. Hammond Has Work to Do. I’m not being critical of a true freshman making his first start in a bowl game against a pretty good defense, but watching that game you can see that Hammond isn’t ready yet. The deep throws weren’t quite right and the reads weren’t quick enough at times. And all of that is okay because he’s a true freshman, but I do think that the talk of him being ready to supplant Behren Morton isn’t quite there just yet. Give Hammond time to bake and he’ll be fine, but there’s a reason why the coaching staff grabbed a transfer portal quarterback who has some experience. And I’m of the opinion that Hammond will be better Mitch Griffis, but Hammond has a ways to go and all of that is okay.

5. The Defense Has a Ways to Go. As much as Hammond has a ways to go, I think the defense needs significant improvement as well and that’s not anything that you didn’t know. Arkansas had 559 yards of offense, which is insane and a full 100 yards more than their season average. There is a reason why 9 of the 16 transfer portal players are on the defensive end of the ball and there may be more on the way. The 218 yards rushing on 45 attempts, nearly 5 yards a carry is enough, but add in a passing offense that averaged 31 yards a completion and threw for 341 yards, that’s a problem. And I actually have confidence in Shiel Wood and I think that he’ll get things turned around, as well as an influx of new players.

6. Offensive Standouts. I thought that Caleb Douglas looked really great . . . I want to know why Coy Eakin doesn’t get open more . . . J’Koby Williams is the truth and Cam Dickey is right there too. I love watching them run and that running back room is going to be something next year . . . Sheridan Wilson and Jacob Ponton should make you think that there’s some real room for development on the offensive line . . .

7. Defensive Standouts. Jacob Rodriguez is really good and C.J. Baskerville should get a look in the NFL. Don’t know if he’ll get drafted, but he’s got the right measurables. I’d love to know his 40-yard dash time, but he has everything else . . . I was happy to see Isaac Smith splash with that safety, but he has to be better and a more consistent pass rusher . . . I am also encouraged by Jayden Cofield and Braylon Rigsby. Much like Smith, they both need to be more consistent in their pressure and play . . . the secondary is going to get a make-over, but Brendan Jordan, Jordan Sanford, Mo Horn, and Chapman Lewis are all usable parts, but need to make that jump . . .

8. Idle Thoughts. A big reason for the success of the team is the turnover margin. Texas Tech had a negative margin against Washington State, Baylor, Colorado and Arkansas. All losses and that’s why that’s such an important number . . . Texas Tech was in passing downs only 27% of the time, which is good, which means that the sticks were moving in a positive direction most of the time. In fact on 1st down, Texas Tech averaged 8.9 yards for every 1st down, 4.6 rushing . . . Texas Tech was in a 3rd and long only 1 time and didn’t convert . . . Arkansas averaged 14.5 yards on 3rd down, an absolute back-breaker on a handful of plays and they also converted on all 3 of their 3rd and longs . . . More problematic, Texas Tech averaged 5.3 yards per completion on 3rd downs, while Arkansas averaged 45. That’s a laugh out loud statistic. Hammond had trouble with the rush and trouble with the dropped coverage, all things that are normal for a true freshman . . .

9. Coach Comments.

I could not find any direct quotes, but you can listen and I don’t think that you’re missing a ton. Arkansas just played better.

10. Tortilla Tossin’ Players of the Game.

Caleb Douglas is primed to be “the guy” next year and he has to work on consistency and catching everything thrown his way, but he’s right there.

Baskerville and Rodriguez share these two, 10 tackles for Baskerville in his last game with a pass break-up and Rodriguez with 9 tackles and a tackle for a loss.

J’Koby Williams gets 3 tortillas for me, 123 yards rushing on 15 carries and a 54-yard touchdown, while catching 4 for 36 as well.