College students, get a year of HawgBeat coverage for just $11.95! Request details via email from your school account (.edu) to andrewhutchinson413@gmail.com.
FAYETTEVILLE — Just a third of the way into the season, Barry Odom appeared to be a frontrunner for the Broyles Award because of how quickly he had turned around Arkansas’ defense.
Two weeks later, though, the Razorbacks are searching for answers on that side of the ball. In back-to-back losses at Georgia and Ole Miss, they have allowed 89 points on 956 total yards - including 597 on the ground.
The Bulldogs and Rebels gashed Arkansas’ three-man front to the tune of 5.7 yards per carry and eight rushing touchdowns. That has resulted in the Razorbacks plummeting from 11th to 66th nationally in scoring defense.
They’ve also fallen from 12th to 39th in total defense (337.5 yards/game) and from ninth to 40th in yards allowed per play (5.10).
“There will be some corrections and changes and different things of that nature and what our schematics could be, who's playing,” head coach Sam Pittman said Monday. “Certainly, there were a lot of problems we have to get fixed.”
Among those problems the last time out against Ole Miss was that Arkansas struggled to set the edge. When they adjusted to fix that issue, the Razorbacks had multiple busted coverages.
While previous quarterbacks like Texas’ Hudson Card, Georgia Southern’s Justin Tomlin and Texas A&M’s Zach Calzada missed open receivers downfield, Heisman Trophy candidate Matt Corral did not. In fact, Pittman said he picked apart the defense like it was 7-on-7 or routes on air.
