While Arkansas is facing an FCS opponent Saturday in UT-Martin, the Razorback defense will face a wealth of experience with the Skyhawk offense.
As a team, UT-Martin (5-2 overall, 4-1 Ohio Valley Conference) average 38.7 points per game and are fairly balanced with the run and the pass. They average 460.4 yards per game, including 286.0 per game through the air and 174.4 on the ground.
UT-Martin's losses came against Ole Miss to open the season and against FCS No. 1 Jacksonville State. The Ole Miss loss was a 76-3 blowout to open the season, and they lost 48-41 to JSU.
RS-senior quarterback
Redshirt senior quarterback Jarod Neal, 6-1, 210, has completed 146 of 239 pass attempts (61.1 percent) for 1,893 yards, 22 touchdowns and 4 interceptions for an average of 270.4 yards per game and a 154.6 efficiency rating.
"Third-and-medium, third-and-short, they like to get the ball out quickly, so we need to get our hands up, try to bat some balls down and affect his vision," Arkanas end Tevin Beanum said following Wednesday's practice. "I feel like we need to put some pressure on him and make him give the ball to us in certain respects."
RS-senior receivers
Sixty-five percent of the time, UT-Martin will line up in a three-receiver set, with the primary targets being redshirt senior Rod Wright, 6-1, 175 (42 catches for 671 yards and 10 touchdowns), redshirt senior William Tanner, 6-0, 184, (27 catches for 388 yards and 5 touchdowns) and sophomore Caylon Weathers, 6-4, 207, (34 for 368 yards and 5 touchdowns).
"Their quarterback, you can tell he's a real confident guy," UA safety Rohan Gaines said. "They have a couple of receivers that'll go up and get it, a couple of big guys. They have a nice slot receiver, real shifty guy, likes to run double moves in the slot."
"They've got some good speed. They have some athletes who can run vertically. They're going to get open, they're very experienced and like you said they're very experienced and are a good team," Arkansas safety Josh Liddell said.
RS-senior running back
Redshirt senior running back Trent Garland, 5-9, 200, has 87 rushing attempts for 418 yards (4.8 yards per carry) to go with 5 touchdowns and 69.7 yards per game. As stated, UT-Martin averages 174.4 rushing yards per game, so it's apparent several players get in on the action at running back.
"Whatever Auburn ran against us in overtime, that's what they're going to run. They're going to bring that at us. Power, lots of pullers and all that kind of stuff," UA linebacker Brooks Ellis said. "They know where to run the ball, they know if one guy's going one way they're going to cut it back and go the opposite way. We've got to do a great job with our vision."
RS-senior tight end
Redshirt senior tight end Corey Rogers is used more as a blocker but completes a trend where the starting quarterback, starting running back, two of the top three receivers and the tight end are all redshirt seniors.
"Wow, I noticed. That's a bunch of guys," Arkansas linebackers coach Vernon Hargreaves said. "That means they've got a lot of guys tha have played a lot of football, so they're not going to be intimidated coming in here. They're not going to care, they're going to do what they do."
And two RS-senior offensive linemen…
Across the front, the Skyhawks have two more redshirt seniors in left tackle Jackson Roberts, 6-7, 300 and right guard Jordan Murphy, 6-3, 280. The unit as a whole averages 6-4, 285, and a lot of that is brought down due to redshirt junior center Kenneth Crenshaw coming in at 6-1, 250. Every starter across the board on offense has a redshirt year under their belt.
"Actually all five linemen are redshirts, and they have had a lot of time to develop," Beanum said. "Most of them have some experience playing in that system, so we have to bring our A-game as a defensive line and do what we're being told to do and execute."
Three at top of tackle charts
Ellis leads Arkansas with 58 tackles, including 27 solo stops and 5.0 behind the line of scrimmage for minus-8 yards. True freshman Dre Greenlaw has not started as many games but has started most of the season. He is second on the team with 53 stops, including 25 solo and 2.5 TFLs for minus-6 yards. It is rather remarkable what Greenlaw has done in such a short time, especially considering he was a high school safety.
"Shocked because I didn't know him before, but once he got here and once I saw him move around, I knew he was going to be a special player for us," Gaines said. "He's a freak. He can do anything. Right now he's back on kickoff return playing off-returner…playing linebacker. So that should tell you a lot."
Secondary stats
No player has more than a single interception on the season for the Hogs, but five players, all defensive backs, have at least one pick, including cornerback Henre' Toliver, Jared Collins and D.J. Dean and safeties Santos Ramirez and Josh Liddell. Toliver leads the team with 5 pass breakups, mostly coming from his nickel spot, and strong safety Rohan Gaines ranks third on the team with 42 tackles.
"I actually didn't know [that I was third on the team in tackles]. I thought Dre would have it by a long shot because he had a 16-tackle performance last week. I think he had another couple of double-digit game. I didn't know that. I'm going to talk some trash now then," Gaines quipped.
Behind the line
Arkansas has made seven sacks this season, but like with interceptions no player has two. DeMarcus Hodge (5.0) and Beanum (4.0) lead the team in tackles behind the line. Mitchell Loewen and Beanum each have 1.5 sacks.
"I feel like we've definitely affected [quarterbacks], and I feel like each week we've been improving," Beanum said. "I definitely thought so. I was kind of disappointed that we didn't finish the game right there. We just have to play the next down and get back out there."
Up next
Arkansas will practice Thursday before On The Air With Bret Bielema at 7 p.m. - See more at: https://arkansas.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1819126#sthash.fHpvHRps.dpuf
As a team, UT-Martin (5-2 overall, 4-1 Ohio Valley Conference) average 38.7 points per game and are fairly balanced with the run and the pass. They average 460.4 yards per game, including 286.0 per game through the air and 174.4 on the ground.
UT-Martin's losses came against Ole Miss to open the season and against FCS No. 1 Jacksonville State. The Ole Miss loss was a 76-3 blowout to open the season, and they lost 48-41 to JSU.
RS-senior quarterback
Redshirt senior quarterback Jarod Neal, 6-1, 210, has completed 146 of 239 pass attempts (61.1 percent) for 1,893 yards, 22 touchdowns and 4 interceptions for an average of 270.4 yards per game and a 154.6 efficiency rating.
"Third-and-medium, third-and-short, they like to get the ball out quickly, so we need to get our hands up, try to bat some balls down and affect his vision," Arkanas end Tevin Beanum said following Wednesday's practice. "I feel like we need to put some pressure on him and make him give the ball to us in certain respects."
RS-senior receivers
Sixty-five percent of the time, UT-Martin will line up in a three-receiver set, with the primary targets being redshirt senior Rod Wright, 6-1, 175 (42 catches for 671 yards and 10 touchdowns), redshirt senior William Tanner, 6-0, 184, (27 catches for 388 yards and 5 touchdowns) and sophomore Caylon Weathers, 6-4, 207, (34 for 368 yards and 5 touchdowns).
"Their quarterback, you can tell he's a real confident guy," UA safety Rohan Gaines said. "They have a couple of receivers that'll go up and get it, a couple of big guys. They have a nice slot receiver, real shifty guy, likes to run double moves in the slot."
"They've got some good speed. They have some athletes who can run vertically. They're going to get open, they're very experienced and like you said they're very experienced and are a good team," Arkansas safety Josh Liddell said.
RS-senior running back
Redshirt senior running back Trent Garland, 5-9, 200, has 87 rushing attempts for 418 yards (4.8 yards per carry) to go with 5 touchdowns and 69.7 yards per game. As stated, UT-Martin averages 174.4 rushing yards per game, so it's apparent several players get in on the action at running back.
"Whatever Auburn ran against us in overtime, that's what they're going to run. They're going to bring that at us. Power, lots of pullers and all that kind of stuff," UA linebacker Brooks Ellis said. "They know where to run the ball, they know if one guy's going one way they're going to cut it back and go the opposite way. We've got to do a great job with our vision."
RS-senior tight end
Redshirt senior tight end Corey Rogers is used more as a blocker but completes a trend where the starting quarterback, starting running back, two of the top three receivers and the tight end are all redshirt seniors.
"Wow, I noticed. That's a bunch of guys," Arkansas linebackers coach Vernon Hargreaves said. "That means they've got a lot of guys tha have played a lot of football, so they're not going to be intimidated coming in here. They're not going to care, they're going to do what they do."
And two RS-senior offensive linemen…
Across the front, the Skyhawks have two more redshirt seniors in left tackle Jackson Roberts, 6-7, 300 and right guard Jordan Murphy, 6-3, 280. The unit as a whole averages 6-4, 285, and a lot of that is brought down due to redshirt junior center Kenneth Crenshaw coming in at 6-1, 250. Every starter across the board on offense has a redshirt year under their belt.
"Actually all five linemen are redshirts, and they have had a lot of time to develop," Beanum said. "Most of them have some experience playing in that system, so we have to bring our A-game as a defensive line and do what we're being told to do and execute."
Three at top of tackle charts
Ellis leads Arkansas with 58 tackles, including 27 solo stops and 5.0 behind the line of scrimmage for minus-8 yards. True freshman Dre Greenlaw has not started as many games but has started most of the season. He is second on the team with 53 stops, including 25 solo and 2.5 TFLs for minus-6 yards. It is rather remarkable what Greenlaw has done in such a short time, especially considering he was a high school safety.
"Shocked because I didn't know him before, but once he got here and once I saw him move around, I knew he was going to be a special player for us," Gaines said. "He's a freak. He can do anything. Right now he's back on kickoff return playing off-returner…playing linebacker. So that should tell you a lot."
Secondary stats
No player has more than a single interception on the season for the Hogs, but five players, all defensive backs, have at least one pick, including cornerback Henre' Toliver, Jared Collins and D.J. Dean and safeties Santos Ramirez and Josh Liddell. Toliver leads the team with 5 pass breakups, mostly coming from his nickel spot, and strong safety Rohan Gaines ranks third on the team with 42 tackles.
"I actually didn't know [that I was third on the team in tackles]. I thought Dre would have it by a long shot because he had a 16-tackle performance last week. I think he had another couple of double-digit game. I didn't know that. I'm going to talk some trash now then," Gaines quipped.
Behind the line
Arkansas has made seven sacks this season, but like with interceptions no player has two. DeMarcus Hodge (5.0) and Beanum (4.0) lead the team in tackles behind the line. Mitchell Loewen and Beanum each have 1.5 sacks.
"I feel like we've definitely affected [quarterbacks], and I feel like each week we've been improving," Beanum said. "I definitely thought so. I was kind of disappointed that we didn't finish the game right there. We just have to play the next down and get back out there."
Up next
Arkansas will practice Thursday before On The Air With Bret Bielema at 7 p.m. - See more at: https://arkansas.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1819126#sthash.fHpvHRps.dpuf
