Arkansas Football 2017: 3 Takeaways from Missouri loss in Week 13

3. Bret Bielema has given up on his game plan

Bret Bielema came to Arkansas from Wisconsin with a game plan. His teams were going to run the ball and win in the trenches. John Clay, Montee Ball, James White and Melvin Gordon were all a part of a long line of successful Badger running backs. When Bielema took over at Arkansas he had Alex Collins and Jonathan Williams in the backfield and things looked like they were going to continue to go according to plan.

Collins and Williams notched 1,926 rushing yards in 2013. Both averaged more than five yards per carry and the Razorbacks ran the ball a whopping 59 percent of the time. That number has trended in the wrong direction over the past several years. Arkansas ran the ball 59, 56 and 53 percent of the time in 2014, 2015 and 2016 respectively. This year they run the ball on 55 percent of their plays.

The ground and pound offense has deteriorated into nearly an even share. A balanced offense isn’t a bad thing, but it doesn’t take more than a cursory look at this year’s Arkansas team to tell that their identity has taken a 180 degree turn.

Next: Latest 2018 NFL Mock Draft entering Week 13

The Razorbacks drove down to the goal line on their drive against Missouri. Facing third down, rather than run the ball between the tackles and punch it into the endzone, Bielema called a bootleg. When he had a chance to prove his bread and butter, Bielema got cute. The play worked and Arkansas scored a touchdown, but this team is not what Bielema promised to bring to Arkansas and that might cost him his job.