Road noise
Hogs hope to turn fortunes against Vols in rowdy Neyland Stadium.
FAYETTEVILLE — If Arkansas can’t contain Tennessee quarterback Joshua Dobbs tonight at Neyland Stadium, it’s likely to be a long slog in the rain for the Razorbacks.
With Dobbs working the levers of its offense, Tennessee has skewed heavily toward the run game during its 2-2 start. Dobbs’ 243 rushing yards is tops among SEC quarterbacks, with 62 coming on one run last week against Florida.
“He’s the one that makes them go,” Arkansas linebackers coach Vernon Hargreaves said.
“He runs extremely well, and he makes good decisions,” Arkansas defensive coordinator Robb Smith said. “In the passing game, there are some things where if you give him certain counts in the box he’s going to throw out of the screen game. He has great command of their offense.”
The Volunteers have 209 carries through four games, 43 more than the next-heaviest rushing team in the SEC, Auburn.
Dobbs, a 6-3, 207-pound junior, aided by men in motion and assorted other misdirection action, frequently reads a defensive end or
other defender and decides whether to hand off to backs Jalen Hurd or Alvin Kamara or run the ball himself.
“A lot of it’s like option football,” Arkansas defensive line coach Rory Segrest said. “They’ve got [Dobbs] as a runner in the backfield, so you’ve got to account for him that way. If you get your eyes in the backfield, they’re going to give you so much misdirection they’ll put you in the wrong spot.
“We’ve got to be very disciplined with what we do up front and make sure we’re in the right place at the right time and direct the ball where we need it.”
Dobbs led Tennessee in passing, receiving and rushing last week at Florida, including 136 yards on the ground, many of them on designed runs. Dobbs is also dangerous on scrambles.
“He’s very athletic,” Arkansas safety Santos Ramirez said. “He can beat us with his feet. We have to make sure we stay in coverage because sometimes he might throw one behind us. We’ve got to make sure we stay disciplined and read our keys.”
Arkansas has played well against the run, ranking No. 2 in the SEC by allowing an average of 93.8 yards per game. The Volunteers are No. 3 in the SEC with an average of 248 rushing yards per game.
Tennessee Coach Butch Jones compared Dobbs favorably to some of the best dual threat quarterbacks he’s been around, like Pat White at West Virginia, Zach Collaros at Cincinnati and Dan LeFevour at Central Michigan.
“He’s very versatile … and even though he started the last four games last year, he’s still a work in progress and he continues to get better,” Jones said.
Arkansas defensive backs coach Clay Jennings said eye discipline will be the biggest key for the Razorbacks.
“If we see a little we’ll have a chance to see a lot,” Jennings said. “If you try to see everything, you’re not going to see anything at all.”
Gang tackling also will come in handy, Arkansas end Tevin Beanum said.
“He’s a hell of a player, so you might miss a tackle and somebody needs to be there to pick up where he left off,” Beanum said. “We need to have each others’ backs.”
Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema recalled getting an eyeful of Dobbs in last year’s Tax Slayer Bowl. Dobbs rushed for 76 yards and 2 touchdowns and passed for 129 yards and 1 touchdown in Tennessee’s 4528 victory over Bielema’s alma mater Iowa.
“You could see he brought a lot to the table,” Bielema said.