By now, the second half struggles of the Arkansas Razorbacks are well-documented.

Last weekend, Arkansas held a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter against the No. 6 ranked Texas A&M Aggies. Unfortunately for the Razorbacks, the Hogs gave up 21 unanswered points and had three three-and-out drives in the fourth quarter alone. Simply put, Arkansas just fell apart.

So far this season, the Razorbacks are 3-2. They have a good win on the road against Texas Tech, but their two lone losses have come when it matters most – in SEC play. And the biggest struggle for Arkansas has been finishing games against their SEC opponents as they have been outscored 45-7 in the second half against Auburn and Texas A&M.

Head coach Bret Bielema appeared on Sports Talk with Bo Thursday afternoon and discussed why he thinks Arkansas has been having trouble closing out games.

“It’s not a shock to me that we have troubles as the game moves along,” Bielema said, “because of the depth issues we have.”

Bielema is right. Defensively, the Razorbacks were looking to replace key players from last year’s team in several positions. Five of the top 12 tacklers from a season ago were gone. The secondary was depleted early on in the season because of an injury to senior defensive back Tevin Mitchel and behind the first-string players, Arkansas defense is largely filled with players with little to no playing experience. As of Sept. 22, Arkansas’ depth chart features 12 players that are either redshirt freshmen or true freshmen.

Despite the lack of depth at several positions, Bielema is excited for the future. Not only does the Arkansas head coach see big things ahead for his Razorbacks, but it’s so exciting to him that it’s “spooky.”

“You can’t be average or good at our style of play,” Bielema said. “You have to be exceptional and that’s what I see coming. It’s spooky to think about where we’ll be a year from now.”