Arkansas Sports 360 - ArkansasSports360.com

11/3/2010 at 8:45am

Image by Mark Wagner

Arkansas Coach Bobby Petrino visits with a game official during the Razorbacks' victory against Texas A&M. Petrino's team was flagged 13 times in that game and 13 in its most recent against Vanderbilt, putting the Razorbacks on track to be the most penalized Arkansas team of the last 10 years.

Every once in a while Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett will catch himself glancing up at the scoreboard while a game is in progress. He did Saturday in the fourth quarter as the Razorbacks were putting the finishing touches on a blowout victory.

And he was shocked by what he saw. It wasn’t the 505 yards of total offense or 49 points that most surprised him.

It was: 13-130.

Those are the numbers that caused Mallett to do a double take. Arkansas posted a season-high 130 yards in penalties and tied a season-high by being penalized 13 times.

"I looked at the scoreboard in the fourth quarter and didn't realize we had that many penalties," Mallett said. “That’s the little things that we always talk about we can’t do because it’s going to hurt us.”

It sure feels like something Arkansas needs to clean up. Penalties are a tangible way to measure mistakes made during a game. No group of Razorbacks the last decade has been more penalized than the current version. Arkansas is averaging 74.9 penalty yards per game and on track to be flagged 115 times, the most of any UA team since 2002 (see chart below).

Since Bobby Petrino arrived in 2008 we’ve all marveled at how efficient and disciplined his teams seem to be. Seeing the Razorbacks draw flag after flag feels so un-Petrino-like. Petrino prides himself on teams that operate with precision and play smart and is clearly bothered by the mistakes.

You probably didn’t notice, but Jerico Nelson played on the kickoff team in the fourth quarter of last week’s 49-14 victory against Vanderbilt. Nelson doesn’t usually play on special teams, but Petrino made him go out there as retribution for a penalty. Nelson drew a flag for diving into the end zone to punctuate his interception return for a touchdown late in the game. Petrino was not amused.

This is the point in the column where I’m supposed to give examples of all the stupid penalties that have cost the Razorbacks wins. And show how penalties are a sign of a lack of discipline and proof that a team won’t win.

And I was prepared to find numbers to back that up. Only I didn’t. Initially.

Guess what two games the Razorbacks were called for penalties the fewest times this year? Their two losses.

Seriously.

Arkansas was flagged six times for 45 yards against Alabama. And the Razorbacks went six for 70 against Auburn. Those feel like numbers a team can live with.

Look at the BCS standings and you’ll find three of the top five teams are among the most penalized teams in the country. No. 1 Oregon, in fact, ranks No. 92 on the list of least flagged programs. No. 4 Boise State (No. 89) is also among the most penalized teams in college football as is No. 2 Auburn (No. 66).

It seems penalties can at times be a byproduct of hyper-aggressive teams playing a game where aggression rules. That doesn’t mean Arkansas can continue drawing penalties, particularly at the line of scrimmage.

Look a little closer and you can find examples of just how devastating those sorts of mistakes can be. Essentially, penalties don’t matter. Until they do.

Arkansas punted only three times against Auburn. Only one of those failed possessions included a penalty, but it cost the team dearly.

Auburn led 17-14 before forcing a punt, blocking it and using the gift to extend its lead to 24-14 in the second quarter. A chop block penalty early in the Razorbacks’ drive put them behind the chains and set the table for the punt.

A similar problem and blown scoring opportunity arose against Alabama.

Arkansas actually led 7-0 and could have built a lead if not for punting the ball away to the Crimson Tide. Guess what kept the Razorbacks from advancing the ball and wound up providing Alabama with an opportunity to tie the game? Consecutive false start penalties.

Players seem to realize they’re flirting with disaster.

“We feel like they can make or break a game,” receiver Jarius Wright said. “We’re really working hard on shoring up the penalties. We feel like if we didn’t have so many penalties, we would be that much better on offense.”

Arkansas has been good enough to overcome a lack of discipline in most cases this year. But unless Razorbacks like Mallett want to look up at the scoreboard and see their team on the losing end, they need to continue playing aggressive, while playing smarter.

Tagged: Arkansas Razorbacks, South Carolina, Bobby Petrino, Jarius Wright, Ryan Mallett