3 ‘Musts’ for Arkansas to Win at Oklahoma State

Sam Pittman and the Razorbacks are facing a pivotal swing game in Week 2 in Stillwater. Here are 3 ‘Musts” for Arkansas to win at Oklahoma State on Saturday:

1.) Arkansas MUST have the cleaner quarterback

Arkansas’ Taylen Green and Oklahoma State’s Alan Bowman are two very different quarterbacks. Interestingly, though, the pair share a number of parallels that will be worth monitoring Saturday.

Green’s inconsistencies in the accuracy department have been well documented at this point. His sub-60 career completion percentage coupled with an 11:9 TD/INT ratio a season ago will need to be improved on at Arkansas.

There were some missed throws that he probably wouldn’t get away with against anyone other than UAPB, but Green was mostly solid with some flashes of his electric playmaking potential in his debut.

Bowman enters his seventh season of college football on the heels of a 2023 campaign at Oklahoma State where he completed a career-low (60.7%) of his passes and threw a career-high 14 interceptions.

On the road, Arkansas will need Green to end the day with a cleaner jersey — Bowman, in particular, struggles to feel pressure and deliver under duress — and play a cleaner game when it comes to ball security.

2.) Arkansas MUST tighten up tackling in Stillwater

Arkansas dominated UAPB — as it should have — in every facet of the game in its opener. The one area of emphasis Sam Pittman was critical of in the aftermath, however, was tackling…

The Razorbacks earned a 44.3 tackling grade against the Golden Lions, which ranks 121st out of 133 FBS programs early in the season.

Arkansas missed 11 tackles against UAPB, and before anyone points out backups played a majority of the second half, all but one were credited to starters or key rotation players in the two-deep.

Oklahoma State returns the Doak Walker Award winner at running back in Ollie Gordon, who did not have a monster game against South Dakota State, but managed to find the end zone three times and led the country with 13 missed tackles forced last weekend.

Gordon is the focal point, but Arkansas will have to be particularly solid in the secondary as a big part of OSU’s passing offense revolves around Bowman getting rid of the ball quick on bubbles, screens and quick slants to athletic, slippery receivers like Brennan Presley and Rashod Owens.

3. Arkansas MUST establish itself in the trenches

Sam Pittman is calling for a slobber-knocker in Stillwater, and that type of physical tone needs to be set in the trenches.

Seeing a Razorback O-Line dominate, regardless of competition, was a breath of fresh air in the opener, but Arkansas’ revamped front will receive its first actual test against Oklahoma State.

The Cowboys have some really nice pieces in edge rusher Collin Oliver and former Hog Collin Clay, but they fell short of dominating South Dakota State. OSU graded out well in the pass rush but only managed five TFL’s and allowed 4.4 yards per carry.

On the flip side, Oklahoma State boasts an offensive line filled with sixth-year senior from left to right that kept Alan Bowman off his back from start to finish, but struggled to provide push for Gordon and a rushing attack that only mustered 3.8 yards per carry.

Arkansas will be significantly more talented, athletic and strong in comparison to the feisty Jackrabbits, but there are still questions about the bunch beyond Landon Jackson and Cam Ball.

If the Razorbacks clearly lose on either side of the ball in the trenches on Saturday, it would serve as the first red flag for what could potentially come in SEC play.