Arkansas' pass rush is canceling out secondary troubles so far
It is no secret that the Razorback secondary has struggled during the first three weeks of the season. Arkansas has allowed 353 pass yards per game to opponents, which ranks dead last out of all FBS teams.
Injuries have plagued the Hogs in the secondary as starters Jalen Catalon and Myles Slusher have been out since the second half of the Cincinnati game in Week 1. Catalon is done for the season (shoulder), but Slusher is eyeing a return this weekend against Texas A&M, per head coach Sam Pittman.
Despite the injuries and struggles on the back end, the pass rush is thriving. Arkansas leads the nation with 17 team sacks, and the No. 2 team (USC) has 14. Linebacker Drew Sanders has five sacks to his name, good for No. 1 in the SEC and No. 2 in the country.
Pittman said everyone with the team knows the secondary is an issue, but they also know they can make up for it with an elite pass rush.
"We’ve got to fix that problem," Pittman said Monday. "And how we do that is going to be a combination of who’s on the field and the opponent. Whether we feel like we can cover them man to man or not. And if we can’t cover them in zone coverage then we definitely have to put pressure on the quarterback, because that’s something that we’re good at."
Right behind Sanders — who transferred in from Alabama — is Georgia Tech transfer defensive end Jordan Domineck, who is No. 4 in the nation and No. 2 in the SEC with four sacks.
Pittman said both Sanders and Domineck are playing better to this point than even he expected.
"I think both of them are," Pittman said. "Drew came with all of the accolades and all that kind of stuff, but yes. I think they’re both playing better than even I would have imagined. I think they’ll continue to improve. I think they haven’t really hit where they’re going to."
Sanders is one sack away from tying Tre Williams' team-high six sacks last season. The record for most sacks in a single season is a tie between Steven Conley (1995) and Henry Ford (1993) at 14. Sanders is on pace to have 20 sacks this season.
The team record for most sacks in a season was set in 1998, when the Hogs had 40 during Houston Nutt's first year as the head coach. If they Hogs stay at the pace they are on, they will have 68 sacks by the end of the regular season.
At the very least, Arkansas is well on its way to shatter last year's 24 team sacks.
Last week, the Razorbacks got to Missouri State quarterback Jason Shelley eight times. That was the most team sacks in a game since the Auburn game in 2012.
If the Hogs are able to do that against Texas A&M this Saturday, they will surpass last year's mark of 24.
The Razorbacks and Aggies will square off at 6 p.m. CT inside AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, and the game will be broadcast on ESPN.