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.
