School is officially in session. The Arkansas Razorbacks took their first test yesterday, going on the road to Jordan-Hare Stadium to face the Auburn Tigers.

The Hogs fell 45-21, but how did each position group perform in last night’s season-opening loss? We hand out grades for every offensive position group.

QUARTERBACKS – B+

On the surface, Brandon Allen’s stats probably won’t impress you: 18-for-31, 175 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. But if you look deeper, Allen’s performance should encourage many Arkansas fans.

In the first half, he was surgical. Off of the running attack, Allen used the play-action pass game to perfection, hooking up for two touchdowns off of it. Even when the running game stalled in the second half, Allen still made some quality passes to his receivers and kept the Hogs in it. And if it weren’t for three dropped passes, his stats would look a lot more impressive. A crushing blow for the Hogs was a deep ball placed beautifully by Allen in the hands of Keon Hatcher midway through the first quarter, but the wide receiver let it slip through his hands, missing out on a easy touchdown.

It was a good first game for Allen. Last season, the passing game was virtually non-existent for the Hogs, but it looks like it’ll have a pulse this season now that Allen is healthy. At the very least, Allen proved he can be a very serviceable SEC quarterback.

RUNNING BACKS – B

This grade would have been much higher for the running backs if they would have been able to keep the momentum going into the second half, but they virtually disappeared in the final 30 minutes and also fumbled the ball twice. They managed to only eek out two rushing yards on eight attempts in the entire second half yesterday. Credit the Auburn defense for making adjustments, but the Hogs’ trio of backs are too talented to be that unproductive.

The first 30 minutes did show, however, just how special this group can be. They amassed 151 yards in the first half on 21 carries and essentially pushed the Auburn defense around. The combination of Alex Collins, Jonathan Williams and Korliss Marshal is very, very dangerous for opponents, but they need to keep it going for an entire game to be considered among the best in the conference.

WIDE RECEIVERS/TIGHT ENDS – C

If it wasn’t for tight ends Hunter Henry, AJ Derby or Cody Hollister, who combined for seven receptions, 74 yards and a touchdown, this group very well could have received a D or F. Wideout Demetrius Wilson seemed to be the only one that showed up yesterday of the receivers, catching four passes for 55 yards, but even he looked bad at times. The wide receivers dropped three passes yesterday, including one that would have been a touchdown off a beautiful deep ball and another that Wilson dropped, which would have extended the drive for the Hogs early in the third quarter. Earlier this week, Bielema praised the wideouts for the talent and depth they had this position, but they failed to make much of an impact on Saturday.

OFFENSIVE LINE – B

Much like the running backs, Arkansas’ offensive line struggled to remain consistent throughout the entire game. In the first half, the “hogmollies” seemed to dominate Auburn’s front seven, creating gaping holes on the line of scrimmage and giving the backs plenty of room to gash the defense.

But in the second half, Arkansas’ offensive line failed to adjust to Auburn’s defensive changes. There was no more room for the running backs to run and Allen seemed to have little to no time to throw the football as he was constantly chased out of the pocket.

The line allowed only one sack and five tackles for loss, but the offense’s success starts with the offensive line. If they can create holes and buy Allen time, that first-half performance was indicative of how crucial that can be for the Hogs. However, if they fail to do that, there isn’t much the Hogs can do offensively.