Arkansas interim coach Barry Lunney completed his first SEC media teleconference Wednesday. Most notably, he addressed what improvements he’d like to make on offense over the last few weeks of the season.

His list wasn’t a short one, as Lunney mentioned blocking, fundamentals, third downs, red zone and mental toughness as areas to improve.

Arkansas is ranked 11th and 12th in yards and scoring per game in the SEC, respectively. The Razorbacks are also 12th in third-down conversion percentage and 12th in red-zone touchdown percentage.

The Razorbacks will end the year with a road trip to LSU and then host Missouri the final weekend of the season. Here’s what else Lunney said on Wednesday:

  • On Rakeem Boyd: He has been steady. He competes every game, battled through some bumps and bruises… his approach to the game has been taken to a new level… he has improved in the mental aspect of the game.
  • On improving on offense: We have to get better on 3rd down, in the red zone, we have to scored TDs and not field goals… at the need of the day, blocking, fundamentals, if you add heart and drive, mental toughness,  and we will have a better football team.
  • On the defense: We talk about it the other day at the presser. Are there scheme driven things we can do better? sure, it starts with me, we are always searching, clawing fighting, and then communication… to put my finger on one or two things, we haven’t’ talked much about it because we are trying to put heart back in our team, that’s a big emphasis.
    have any players left the team? not that I’m aware of.
  • On why Arkansas has become such a challenging job? a lot of it has to do with the conference. If there is a conference that defines the razor-thin margin of winning and losing, it’s our conference and our division… a few years ago, we went 5-3 in the SEC under Bielema… we have been on the short side of the stick in the razor-thin margin, if those games swing the other way, it’s totally different. that’s football, I get that… but I think if we win those, the narrative is different.
  • On the whirlwind of landing the job: I don’t remember the drive in or the drive out… I hate there to be a new interim interim coach, that would be unprecedented.