Arkansas defense getting 'back to basics' against Memphis
There’s no way to spin it — the Razorbacks’ defense against Ole Miss was poor.
For most of the night, Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin dialed up whatever he wanted offensively, and the Hogs had no response. Ole Miss gained 475 yards of offense, averaged 6.8 yards per play and completed 73% of their passes.
That said, the Razorbacks were able to tighten things up in the second half. After the Rebels scored 31 points in the first half, they were only able to produce 10 more in the second half.
“I mean, we’ve got to communicate better,” head coach Sam Pittman said after the loss. “I mean, the two or three of the scores in the first half, we just had guys wide open, couldn’t cover a back. We were checking to check, Lane’s checks, and we cut all that out in the second half because we had to give our guys a chance.”
Getting back to the basics on defense
This week, the Hogs will face a similarly-productive Memphis offense that is averaging 37 points per game through three games. The level of competition is lower than Ole Miss was, but the Arkansas defense is getting back to the basics.
“Just trying to simplify everything, getting the calls out quick, getting lined up, assignment, technique, just going back to our roots,” defensive tackle Cam Ball said Tuesday. “We know this past weekend, it wasn’t us, the game that we put on display, and we’re mainly focused on tackling and running to the ball.
“The running to the ball is the key and the clear emphasis, you know, how we execute and how we swarm the ball, make sure 11 hats [are] on the ball. So, we’re just going back to the basics, man, and preparing for Memphis.”
Arkansas defensive back Larry Worth III echoed the “back to the basics” message multiple times.
Ball said this week, on top of cleaning those defensive miscues up, the focus has been to put last’s weeks problems behind and focus on the future of the season.
“Coming off of last weekend’s game, we were mainly just focusing on us and making this game, ‘get the nasty taste out your mouth’ type of game and get back on track,” Ball said. “So, we were really not looking at it that way. Memphis is a good team. They played a lot of good games in the past, and we’re getting ready for them as if they were any other opponent.”
Hogs face powerful Memphis offense
The Tigers are 3-0 on the early season and are on a seven-game winning streak dating back to last season. Their offense has scored more than 20 points in 41 consecutive games, and averages 36.9 points per game in that stretch.
Essentially, they’re no slouch, and the Razorbacks know that.
“In my personal opinion, they have a nice offense,” Ball said. “They got a running back. He’s about 5-foot-9, 180 but he runs like he’s 220. And their head coach is a former offensive line guy. So they want to run the ball, and the numbers says it as well. So they want to hit that inside zone.
“They want to hit it straight up the pipe. So we got to have a good job of being in our gaps and being aligned right, man. But they have a good running game. They have a good RPO and passing game as well. Memphis has a good offense.”
For what it’s worth, the Arkansas run defense hasn’t been all that bad, which does play into the Hogs favor this weekend. They give up an average of 113.3 rush yards per game, which is 10th in the SEC and 52nd nationally. Not dominant numbers, but only eight teams ranked ahead of them have had more rushing attempts (108) to defend.
The Razorbacks and Tigers will kick off from Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium in Memphis on Saturday. The game kicks off bright and early at 11 a.m. and it will air on ABC.
