Arkansas’ offense looks a lot more settled than it did a month ago, and that growth has shown up most clearly in KJ Jackson.
Through seven games in Ryan Silverfield’s first season, the Razorbacks have been figuring out who they are on that side of the ball. Jackson has been doing the same.
The first-year starter spent the opening stretch working through the usual new-quarterback issues: getting the protection right, trusting what he saw, moving in the pocket and helping the run game. Lately, though, the picture has changed.
That was never more obvious than in Arkansas’ 31-21 win at Vanderbilt two weeks ago, which stood as Jackson’s best performance as a collegian. He went 21 of 31 for 251 yards, didn’t throw an interception, wasn’t sacked and added a real punch as a runner while Arkansas piled up a season-high 187 rushing yards.
“It’s a work in progress every day as to trying to get better,” offensive coordinator Tim Cramsey said Tuesday. “The guys executed.
It was the lowest amount of drive kills we had all season: Four penalties and three negative plays. We didn’t take any sacks.
We didn’t turn the ball over.”
That kind of clean offensive football is exactly what Arkansas needs again on Halloween night, when No. 23 Missouri visits Reynolds Razorback Stadium for a 6:45 p.m. kickoff.
The Razorbacks are 3-4 overall and 1-3 in the SEC, while the Tigers come in at 5-2 and 2-2. Missouri’s defense has been one of the sturdier units Arkansas has seen, ranking No. 8 in the SEC in total defense and allowing just 103.9 rushing yards per game, which is third-best in the league.
For Arkansas, Jackson’s role on the ground may be just as important as anything he does throwing it. Against Vanderbilt, he led the team with 58 rushing yards and scored on 11 carries.
“It’s a big deal,” Cramsey said of Jackson’s effort on the ground. “He enjoys doing it, he’s good at doing it.
… In football talk, it adds an extra gap to the defense, which is always a pain when that quarterback can do that. So it’s been helpful to us.”
Cramsey said the staff likes how Jackson settles in once he gets hit early and gets himself involved physically.
“What calms them down a little bit?” Cramsey asked on Monday.
“He’s one of the very few who gets calmed down by getting tackled on that side of the line of scrimmage. So I think that relaxes him a little bit.
That gets him involved in the game.”
Cramsey also noted that while Jackson’s willingness to take off can be useful, the staff does not want him trying the “jump over guys technique,” which has shown up at times and carries injury risk.
Arkansas also leaned on its backfield committee against Vanderbilt. Braylen Russell ran 14 times for 51 yards, Cam Settles had 11 carries for 45 yards and two touchdowns, and Sutton Smith added four carries for 29 yards. Jackson’s legs were part of that mix too, giving the run game another layer.
Another area the staff has worked on is keeping Jackson’s throwing lanes clear. Earlier in the season, he had multiple passes batted down, and Cramsey said Arkansas has focused on helping him adjust his sight lines and movement inside the pocket.
“We've got to be able to slide just a little bit in the pocket,” Cramsey said. “Sometimes we get ourselves too big in the pocket, move out of the pocket, create pressure ourselves.
“We’ve been working a lot, coach Mitch [Stewart], myself, and KJ, with in-pocket movement, in-pocket scrambling … being able to move the ball, change the arm angle a little bit, at times, when we need to. But that's been a big deal for us, and we've been coaching our scout team defensive line to [work] two steps, put your hands in the air and try to get the ball batted down.”
Cramsey said that’s not just an Arkansas issue. He believes more college linemen are making a point of getting their hands up if they don’t win immediately off the snap.
Cramsey said he has detected that trend in college football, where defensive linemen try a move and if they don’t get a quick win they “turn into Dikembe Mutombo mode - flashback - and they’re trying to bat the ball down.”
Vanderbilt also showed another side of Jackson’s growth: his ability to work through his reads when the game changed around him. Arkansas lost top wideout Chris Marshall just before halftime, but the offense kept moving in the second half.
Antonio Jordan stepped into more of the “X” role and finished with career highs of five catches for 74 yards. Monte Harrison, Jamari Hawkins, CJ Brown, Ismael Cisse and Donovan Faupel all got involved too, along with the tight ends and backs. Jackson finished by completing passes to a season-high 12 different players.
“A lot of the plays that you had up that were designed for [Marshall], some go out the windows and some of them we practiced with Antonio,” Cramsey said. “He does a great job in practice.
He makes those plays when they come at him in practice. He’s comfortable when the ball is coming his way.”
Jordan’s biggest moment came when Vanderbilt gave him more one-on-one chances than Arkansas expected.
“They gave [Jordan] a 1 on 1 down the sideline that KJ took advantage of, which was a big deal, and they made that play,” Cramsey said. “That was the first drive of the second half.
… Sometimes the ball just finds you. He won man coverage probably - what did he have 5 catches, 5 or 6 catches? - he won man coverage on 4 of those, so that’s a big deal.”
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