It may not have been pretty, but Arkansas football found a way to win against New Mexico State 42-24 after surrendering more than 300 yards passing.
Arkansas may have beaten New Mexico State 42-24 but in no way impressed anyone. The Razorbacks struggled mightily on both sides of the ball and did anything but put fans at ease.
To be completely fair, Arkansas didn’t just beat themselves. New Mexico State is not only a solid team, they are a ton of fun to watch. If not for mistakes in the red zone, they easily could have given the Razorbacks a close game.
I won’t be including it in my primary list but as a bonus takeaway, the targeting call against the Aggies was completely bogus. It was just another example of officials either not knowing what targeting actually is or not caring enough to take an honest look at it. The hit was a clear shot at the chest and was clean.
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At some point, the NCAA will have to fix this issue. The core problem the targeting rule is meant to address is a step in the right direction. While we need to work to minimize head injuries and incentives to cause them, this rule seriously needs a rework.
Ok, now that I’m done with my rant on officiating, I’ll get down to business. Stepping back from this game as a fan and looking at it as a neutral observer, I see some real issues for Arkansas. I’ll start off these takeaways with a glaring problem and one that showed in today’s game.