Under pressure
Lack of pass rush vs. Ole Miss a concern for Arkansas.
FAYETTEVILLE — Tennessee-Martin quarterback Jarod Neal said he took about five hits from defenders in last week’s game at Arkansas, and one of them came at the end of his 21-yard scramble on a second-quarter touchdown drive.
The Razorbacks did not sack Neal, who is a seasoned senior but also works behind an FCS-level offensive line.
The lack of a consistent pass rush from Arkansas’ deep defensive front has hampered the Razorbacks, who are last in the SEC with seven sacks and are allowing 273 passing yards per game.
Those numbers don’t bode well considering what’s coming Saturday.
Ole Miss, with junior Chad Kelly at quarterback and a stellar receiving corps led by Laquon Treadwell, ranks No. 11 in the country with an average of 346.7 passing yards per game and with 519.6 total yards per game.
However, there is a silver lining for Arkansas, defensive line coach Rory Segrest said. Ole Miss doesn’t generally get rid of the football as quickly as Tennessee-Martin
did, which gives Arkansas’ defensive lineman a better chance of getting to the quarterback and disrupting the passing game.
“They will throw the ball down the field a little bit more,” Segrest said of the Rebels. “I mean, last week probably two-thirds of [Tennessee-Martin’s] passes were within 7 yards of the line of scrimmage. These guys will try to take some shots and hold on to the ball a little bit more.”
Defensive end Tevin Beanum said the Razorbacks were frustrated by last Saturday’s performance until Segrest pointed out how many passes Neal got off quickly.
“They threw 30-plus passes within six yards of the line of scrimmage,” Beanum said. “I think one thing we need to focus on is definitely getting our hands up and just disrupting the quarterback, getting in his vision and eliminating throwing lanes. Also putting pressure on him and trying to get sacks.”
Neal topped his season average by 110 yards last week, continuing a trend against the Hogs. After Arkansas opened the season by holding Texas-El Paso, Toledo and Texas Tech to passing totals that are less than their season averages, its past five opponents have improved on
their average passing yards against the Razorbacks.
Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema dismissed the importance of the team ranking No. 114 nationally in passing yards allowed per game.
“Obv iously it’s not something you want to give up, but I don’t get overly concerned with yards,” Bielema said. “I get concerned with points.
“One of the things we constantly preach about defensively is not giving up big plays, try to minimize the big strikes, big hits, try to make people earn every inch.”
Ole Miss Coach Hugh Freeze echoed that in his comments about Arkansas’ defense.
“Their defense makes you go the length of the field
without making a mistake in order to score points,” Freeze said. “They have given up very few explosive plays. That’s the way they’re built. They’ve given up some yards, but they tend to not give away many points.”
The Razorbacks rank No. 11 in the SEC and No. 63 overall in scoring defense, allowing an average of 26.6 points per game.
Bielema said the absence of starting cornerback D.J. Dean, who sat out because of a turf toe injury, and reserve safety Santos Ramirez also played into Tennessee-Martin’s big passing numbers.
“To have a couple of guys … not out there and to
have [Ryan] Pulley and Dre [Greenlaw] right next to each other, they attacked that area as they should have,” Bielema said.
Tennessee-Martin racked up 519 yards against the Razorbacks, and Arkansas defensive coordinator Robb Smith said his unit must do a better job of disrupting Ole Miss’ offense.
“We’re going to have to put pressure on the quarterback,” Smith said. “We’re going to have to disrupt the receivers. That’s going to be paramount for our success this week.”
The Razorbacks’ hits on the quarterback were up in recent games against Tennessee, Alabama and Auburn, but Bielema said after Neal had a long scramble against a four-man blitz he told Smith to stick with more coverage and fewer blitzes.
Only four teams average fewer than the .88 sacks per game registered by the Hogs.
Segrest said the Razorbacks have caught some tough breaks with the teams they’ve played, noting that Tennessee-Martin has allowed only four sacks and Toledo has allowed only two.
“You just face different styles of offense and it’s just timing, and three-step and all that sort of thing,” he said. “I guess the biggest frustration for me was they were throwing them quick and we weren’t knocking them down.”