FAYETTEVILLE — It didn’t alter the outcome, but that didn’t make Saturday’s case of deja vu feel any better for Arkansas football fans.
The Razorbacks had several special teams miscues — including one particularly frustrating repeat mistake — in their 35-14 win over Louisiana Tech at Razorback Stadium.
Head coach Sam Pittman was all smiles afterward, basking in Arkansas clinching its fourth bowl bid in five years, but even he brought up the sometimes-forgotten third phase during the opening statement of his postgame press conference.
“Of course we’ve got to address the special teams,” Pittman said. “There was four big, big plays on special teams that we have to get fixed.”
That is putting it lightly, as there were complete failures almost across the board Saturday afternoon that likely would have been extremely costly against a better opponent.
No matter how you slice it, the Razorbacks’ special teams unit earned an ‘F’ on their report card against the Bulldogs.
Same Mistake, Different Player
None of the special teams mistakes were more baffling than Arkansas’ muffed punt midway through the third quarter.
After a shaky start, the Razorbacks were in control of the game and tracking toward their first shutout in more than six years. Yet another stop by the defense looked like it’d give Arkansas good field position.
And then it happened.
Just as Isaiah Sategna was about to catch the punt at the 40-yard line, teammate Dallas Young — a redshirt freshman defensive back — ran into him. Sategna muffed it and Louisiana Tech jumped on the ball for a turnover.
On its own, it could be written off as a simple mistake and even bad luck. However, the same thing happened back in Week 2 at Oklahoma State. That time, it was freshman wide receiver Krosse Johnson who crashed into Sategna and caused the fumble.
Making matters worse, both instances were preceded by near misses earlier in the game. Johnson also bumped into the returner on a previous punt against the Cowboys and on Saturday, linebacker Alex Sanford was pulled aside by an assistant coach after getting too close.
If once is an accident, twice is a coincidence and three times is a trend, four times is simply inexcusable.
Pittman said the problem against Louisiana Tech boiled down to alignment. He believed Sategna was positioned too deep for Patrick Rea’s short punts. The Bulldogs’ punter averaged just 35.6 yards on eight attempts with a long of 41.
“I think we were too deep with Isaiah to be honest with you,” Pittman said. “He’s running up 20 yards and we were acting like the guy was Ray Guy back there, punting into the wind we didn’t move him up which it’s lot easier to protect the guy when he has a five to 6- to 8-yard step up.
“Isaiah was coming up 15 or 20 yards. You have to peek the punter — you have to — as a blocker and there was too many close calls and one of them caused it.”
It’s worth noting that the muffed punt happened on Rea’s eighth punt of the night, so why no adjustment was made on that front — if it was truly the cause — is unclear, as is why such a thing keeps occurring.
Other Special Teams Blunders by Arkansas
The Razorbacks didn’t have to wait long for their first special teams mistake. It came on the opening kickoff, which Rodney Hill returned 100 yards for a touchdown only for a holding penalty on freshman defensive back Ahkhari Johnson to wipe it out.
Instead of getting a 7-0 lead just seconds into the game, Arkansas had to start its first drive at its own 5-yard line. It ended up punting and didn’t score until more than midway through the second quarter.
To round out the four plays referenced by Sam Pittman, the Razorbacks also allowed a successful fake field goal and fake punt.
The former came in the first quarter. The Bulldogs lined up for what would have been a 31-yard field goal, but the snap went directly to kicker Buck Buchanan. He took off to the left, where there were no Arkansas defenders and picked up 7 yards on fourth-and-3.
The latter was early in the fourth quarter after Arkansas seemed to force a three-and-out. On fourth-and-9, Patrick Rea took the snap and immediately ran to the right side instead of punting it away. He easily got the first down and wasn’t stopped until gaining 26 yards. It was twice as long as any other play the Bulldogs had run up to that point.
Luckily for the Razorbacks, though, Louisiana Tech wasn’t able to turn either fake into points.
It eventually had to settle for a 43-yard field goal after the first one and Buchanan missed wide left. The second one was part of a promising drive that ended with a fumble in Arkansas territory.
Pittman Explains Deja Vu Mistake on Blunder-Filled Day for Arkansas Special Teams
FAYETTEVILLE — It didn’t alter the outcome, but that didn’t make Saturday’s case of deja vu feel any better for Arkansas football fans.
The Razorbacks had several special teams miscues — including one particularly frustrating repeat mistake — in their 35-14 win over Louisiana Tech at Razorback Stadium.
Head coach Sam Pittman was all smiles afterward, basking in Arkansas clinching its fourth bowl bid in five years, but even he brought up the sometimes-forgotten third phase during the opening statement of his postgame press conference.
“Of course we’ve got to address the special teams,” Pittman said. “There was four big, big plays on special teams that we have to get fixed.”
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That is putting it lightly, as there were complete failures almost across the board Saturday afternoon that likely would have been extremely costly against a better opponent.
No matter how you slice it, the Razorbacks’ special teams unit earned an ‘F’ on their report card against the Bulldogs.
Same Mistake, Different Player
None of the special teams mistakes were more baffling than Arkansas’ muffed punt midway through the third quarter.
After a shaky start, the Razorbacks were in control of the game and tracking toward their first shutout in more than six years. Yet another stop by the defense looked like it’d give Arkansas good field position.
And then it happened.
Just as Isaiah Sategna was about to catch the punt at the 40-yard line, teammate Dallas Young — a redshirt freshman defensive back — ran into him. Sategna muffed it and Louisiana Tech jumped on the ball for a turnover.
On its own, it could be written off as a simple mistake and even bad luck. However, the same thing happened back in Week 2 at Oklahoma State. That time, it was freshman wide receiver Krosse Johnson who crashed into Sategna and caused the fumble.
Making matters worse, both instances were preceded by near misses earlier in the game. Johnson also bumped into the returner on a previous punt against the Cowboys and on Saturday, linebacker Alex Sanford was pulled aside by an assistant coach after getting too close.
If once is an accident, twice is a coincidence and three times is a trend, four times is simply inexcusable.
Pittman said the problem against Louisiana Tech boiled down to alignment. He believed Sategna was positioned too deep for Patrick Rea’s short punts. The Bulldogs’ punter averaged just 35.6 yards on eight attempts with a long of 41.
“I think we were too deep with Isaiah to be honest with you,” Pittman said. “He’s running up 20 yards and we were acting like the guy was Ray Guy back there, punting into the wind we didn’t move him up which it’s lot easier to protect the guy when he has a five to 6- to 8-yard step up.
“Isaiah was coming up 15 or 20 yards. You have to peek the punter — you have to — as a blocker and there was too many close calls and one of them caused it.”
It’s worth noting that the muffed punt happened on Rea’s eighth punt of the night, so why no adjustment was made on that front — if it was truly the cause — is unclear, as is why such a thing keeps occurring.
Other Special Teams Blunders by Arkansas
The Razorbacks didn’t have to wait long for their first special teams mistake. It came on the opening kickoff, which Rodney Hill returned 100 yards for a touchdown only for a holding penalty on freshman defensive back Ahkhari Johnson to wipe it out.
Instead of getting a 7-0 lead just seconds into the game, Arkansas had to start its first drive at its own 5-yard line. It ended up punting and didn’t score until more than midway through the second quarter.
To round out the four plays referenced by Sam Pittman, the Razorbacks also allowed a successful fake field goal and fake punt.
The former came in the first quarter. The Bulldogs lined up for what would have been a 31-yard field goal, but the snap went directly to kicker Buck Buchanan. He took off to the left, where there were no Arkansas defenders and picked up 7 yards on fourth-and-3.
The latter was early in the fourth quarter after Arkansas seemed to force a three-and-out. On fourth-and-9, Patrick Rea took the snap and immediately ran to the right side instead of punting it away. He easily got the first down and wasn’t stopped until gaining 26 yards. It was twice as long as any other play the Bulldogs had run up to that point.
Luckily for the Razorbacks, though, Louisiana Tech wasn’t able to turn either fake into points.
It eventually had to settle for a 43-yard field goal after the first one and Buchanan missed wide left. The second one was part of a promising drive that ended with a fumble in Arkansas territory.
Pittman apparently didn’t include it in his tally of special teams mistakes, but the Razorbacks allowed a 39-yard kickoff return to start the second half.
While a flag for holding led to that drive starting at the 19, the penalty occurred at the 29, which means the return would have been successful – past the 25, where touchbacks and fair catches begin – regardless of the hold.
There have been other head-scratching plays on special teams the last couple of games, too.
Against Ole Miss, Dylan Hasz fair caught an Ole Miss kickoff that had been backed up 15 yards because of an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty despite already standing at the 20. He likely could have gotten more than 5 yards on a return.
Last week, the Razorbacks had the opposite problem. They returned two kickoffs, trying a reverse on one, and neither of them even made it to the 20, much less the 25.
Bright Spot for Arkansas
It would only be fair to mention the good things for Arkansas’ special teams, few as they may be.
Matthew Shipley made all five of his PATs, but the star of the unit was – and has been – punter Devin Bale.
After a tough showing against the Longhorns, including an 8-yard shank, the redshirt junior had a nice bounce-back performance against Louisiana Tech by averaging 44.6 yards on five punts.
His best punt was a booming 50-yarder that traveled all of that distance in the air and was promptly downed by long snapper Ashton Ngo. That was an impressive play in itself because he had to leap up and knock down the ball after a high bounce to prevent it from going backward.
Bale is now averaging 45.8 yards per punt this season. That would rank fourth on the UA’s single-season list, but he would have to punt 18 times over the final two games to meet the minimum threshold to qualify for the record book.
