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One of the main reasons the Arkansas Razorbacks (4-2, 2-1 SEC) are tied for fourth in the Southeastern Conference standings right now is Travis Williams' defense.

The Razorbacks' second-year defensive coordinator, Williams has put on a master class in holding opposing offenses down and not allowing them to get much going. Outside of a few busted plays in the first three weeks of conference play, points have been hard to come by for Arkansas' foes.

In three SEC games, the Arkansas defense has forced 19 punts — three against Auburn, nine against Texas A&M and seven against Tennessee.

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The most impressive performance was the seven-punt game against Tennessee. Even after only scoring 14 points against Arkansas last weekend, the Volunteers are still ranked No. 1 in the SEC in scoring offense (46 points per game) and No. 2 in total offense overall with 519 yards per game.

"I just thought Travis did a wonderful job of calling the defensive game," head coach Sam Pittman said after the win over Tennessee. "And more important, getting the kids to believe in what we were going to try to do to stop this very, very, very high-powered offense."

One thing Arkansas did to curb Tennessee's offense was implement a 3-2-6 defense with three defensive linemen, two linebackers and six defensive backs early on. Pittman said another team did it against the Volunteers earlier this season and had some success with it.

"We watched Oklahoma and they had somewhat success," Pittman said. "They held them to 25 (points). With all of that, and then did it fit our schematics? But that’s where it started with, was the tape on Oklahoma, because they’re the only ones that had really done any good at all. The rest of them were in the 50s, 60s, 70s. We implemented some of that because of that."

One facet of the defense that has come along well since conference play started has been the pressure on opposing quarterbacks. In the last three games, the Arkansas defense has sacked the quarterback nine times — twice against Auburn, three against Texas A&M and four times against Tennessee — and forced five quarterback hurries.

In SEC play alone, those nine sacks are good for third in the SEC, behind Ole Miss and Texas A&M who have 11 a piece.

Defensive end Landon Jackson has been a big part of that resurgence, as he's registered 2.5 sacks and 3.5 tackles for loss in the last two weeks alone. Sixth-year defensive tackle Eric Gregory has also contributed well to the cause, and has logged 1.5 sacks and 2.5 tackles for loss in SEC play.

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There's still work to be done in that department, but it's an improvement from the first three games of the season, and it's come against much tougher competition.

Through the first three weeks, Arkansas had five sacks and 10 quarterback hurries. Four of those sacks and five of those hurries came against FCS opponent Arkansas-Pine Bluff in Week 1.

A week later against Oklahoma State, the Hogs weren't able to sack or hurry Cowboys quarterback Alan Bowman at all, and against Alabama-Birmingham the Arkansas defense only registered one sack.

The front seven has been strong when it comes to stopping the run, as the Hogs only give up an average of 106.5 rush yards per game, which ranks No. 5 in the SEC this season.

It's worth noting Tennessee and Texas A&M are ranked No. 1 and 2 in the SEC, respectively, for rushing offense; The Volunteers average 266.8 yards and the Aggies average 232.3 yards. Arkansas held them to 174 yards and 134 yards, respectively.

Arkansas' pass defense is ranked 11th in the SEC, as the Razorbacks are giving up 215 yards through the air, but that number has gone down in recent weeks. In conference play alone, Arkansas is only giving up 202 passing yards per game, which ranks fifth in the SEC.

The pass defense has been helped by the play of sophomore safety TJ Metcalf, who ranks second in the SEC with three interceptions, two of which came in the Razorbacks' win over the Auburn Tigers in the conference opener.

A native of Birmingham, Alabama, Metcalf also forced a fumble in that game, and became the the first Razorback since Kenoy Kennedy in 1999 to record two interceptions, one forced fumble and two pass breakups in a single game.

Overall, Arkansas ranks second in the league with four interceptions in conference play — all of which came during that 24-14 win over Auburn in Week 4.

The Razorbacks will need their defense to step up again when they host the LSU Tigers on Oct. 19, as LSU is fifth in the SEC in scoring offense (35.2 points per game) and seventh in the SEC in total offense with 468.2 yards per game. Kickoff for that game is slated for 6 p.m. CT and it will air on ESPN live from Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville.

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Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman said after the Razorbacks beat Auburn two weeks ago that true freshman running back Braylen Russell had earned more carries, and the four-star out of Benton made the most of that opportunity in the 19-14 win over the Tennessee Volunteers over the weekend.

Russell was the Hogs' leading rusher on the night, as he ran for 62 yards on eight carries. The most important carries came on Arkansas' final offensive drive, which featured two runs by the Benton High School product.

The first run was a 24-yard scamper that put the Hogs right on the edge of field goal range at the 22-yard line with the clock stopped at the two-minute timeout. One play later, Russell's number was called again and he powered through for another 11 yards on an inside zone play.

One play after that, backup quarterback Malachi Singleton — who was named SEC Freshman of the Week on Monday — pulled the ball from Russell on a read option and ran it in for what ended up being the game-winning touchdown.

Pittman was all smiles after the game, and said even if Tennessee didn't put up much fight to keep the Hogs out of the end zone at the end of that drive, as color commentator Kirk Herbstreit insinuated, he was proud of the effort by his true freshman running back. Russell chose the Razorbacks over the Volunteers in his recruitment out of high school.

"I thought it was great, especially when we were a little bit out of field goal range and he ran the inside zone," Pittman said. "He got moving, now, and he’s hard to stop. I don’t know if they let us score that last score or not. I don’t know ... But they did a good job and I was proud of Braylen."

Russell's first run on that final drive was the longest of his young college career, and gave the Arkansas offense, which had struggled for much of the night, a spark that helped set off a crowd-storming victory.

The 62 yards he rushed for under the lights against Tennessee are nearly three times more than his previous game-high, which was 23 yards in the season opener against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

Pittman said on the radio after the game the offensive line, which has been criticized by the fanbase heavily this season, deserves some credit as well for the way the running backs were able to break free.

"Let’s talk about the offensive line," Pittman said. "We talk about them a lot, so let’s talk positive about them tonight. They did a hell of a job opening holes for Braylen there at the end and they did a really good job all night of pass protection. Tennessee has got some really good players, too. I was really proud of the offensive line."

No one on the coaching staff has seemed surprised by the way Russell is progressing, as Pittman said a few weeks ago he expected the work load to increase for Russell.

"Anytime a guy that you haven't played a lot goes in and has early success, you play him a little bit more," Pittman told reporters Sept. 24. "I imagine his load per game will amp up a little bit more, but we just saw that he was practicing extremely well. We always have believed in him."

The Arkansas Razorbacks are in the midst of their first bye week of the season and will get a chance to rest ahead of a rivalry game with LSU on Oct. 19. Kickoff for that game will be at 6 p.m. CT and it will air on ESPN.