FAYETTEVILLE -Arkansas’ 49-24 season-opening victory over lower-division Jacksonville State exposed the 2012 Razorbacks’ defensive flaws, weaknesses that were prevalent throughout a 4-8 season that included a 2-6 SEC mark.
Game 2 of Arkansas’ 2013 season turned out to be a 31-21 victory, but two fourth-quarter touchdowns were required to overtake the lower-division Samford Bulldogs Saturday night at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.
Saturday’s game exposed defensive flaws the Hogs must fix in their final two nonconference games - against Southern Mississippi in Fayetteville and at Rutgers in Piscataway, N.J.
When Arkansas opens the SEC schedule in three weeks, it faces four consecutive teams ranked in the preseason AP top 10 - Texas A&M, Florida, South Carolina and Alabama.
Arkansas being afflicted with defensive problems is nothing new.
The Razorbacks haven’t had a truly salty every-quarter defense since Houston Nutt’s 9-3 1998 team inherited Melvin Bradley, Kenoy Kennedy, David Barrett, to name a few from the Danny Ford days.
Nutt installed a ball-control offense that complemented that defense and for the most part complemented the lesser defenses that followed.
The ball-control offense that new Coach Bret Bielema installed should help this Arkansas defense considerably, though it must stay away from the lost fumble by Jonathan Williams that allowed Samford to seize control and take a 21-17 lead in the third quarter after trailing 14-0 early.
Arkansas’ next opponent, Southern Miss, has been competitive with SEC teams for years, and just two seasons ago the Golden Eagles won 12 games.
But they skidded to 0-12 last season under fired first-year coach Ellis Johnson, now Auburn’s defensive coordinator, and are 0-2 this year after 22-15 and 56-13 losses to Texas State and Nebraska.
Arkansas can’t take Southern Miss for granted, given that Samford’s Bulldogs arrived in Little Rock as a 35-point underdog and had Arkansas reeling, conjuring the ghost of 30-point underdog Louisiana-Monroe upending Arkansas in last September’s Game 2 disaster in Little Rock.
It should be pointed out that Arkansas was minus three defensive starters Saturday - defensive end Trey Flowers, strong safety Rohan Gaines (injured vs. Louisiana-Lafayette) and linebacker Jarrett Lake.
Flowers, the SEC’s Defensive Lineman of the Week for his 21/2-sack performance against Louisiana-Lafayette, did not play because of a slight knee injury and Lake (held out for disciplinary reasons), appear definite to play against Southern Miss.
Offensively, the Hogs mostly have to be overjoyed.
The offensive line has dominated all but one of eight quarters. Quarterback Brandon Allen has played turnover free while running backs Alex Collins, 24 carries for 172 yards, and Williams, 17 carries for 126 yards vs. Samford, became Arkansas’ first tandem to both exceed 100 yards rushing in the season’s first two games.
Samford’s near upset Saturday left Arkansas sobered after the giddiness of Week 1’s fun in Fayetteville, but the team still bears promise.
Sports, Pages 18 on 09/09/2013