LITTLE ROCK — Tuneup time is over for the Arkansas defense.
With seven games remaining, including six against SEC opponents, there isn't much time remaining to work out the kinks.
Defensive coordinator Reggie Herring acknowledged that Saturday in the aftermath of the Razorbacks' 34-15 victory against Tennessee-Chattanooga, a member of the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA).
"This is the point of no return," Herring said.
Even against a lower-tier opponent, Arkansas struggled stopping the run, something that's been a problem throughout the first five games. It wasn't the total number of rushing yards put up by Chattanooga (161) that upset the Razorbacks, but the continuation of problems like missed assignments and missed tackles.
Those missed opportunities were illustrated on two touchdown drives by Chattanooga.
Arkansas gave up a long run to Mocs quarterback Antonio Miller to keep a second-quarter drive alive. Miller converted that into a touchdown that put his team within striking distance at 14-9 midway through the second quarter.
Chattanooga backup running back Bryan Fitzgerald ran for 123 yards and a touchdown. He picked up more than half of those on a 65-yard touchdown run with 1:49 remaining in the third quarter, pulling the Mocs within 24-15.
Fitzgerald's run still irritated linebacker Weston Dacus after the game. Dacus said the play was indicative of a night in which the Razorbacks weren't physical enough.
"We played flat all night," said Dacus, who finished withsix tackles. "We had a few good stops, but we gave up too much. We've got some corrections to make going into SEC play."
Arkansas has two SEC games under its belt - both losses - but dives into conference play in earnest beginning Saturday. Auburn travels to Fayetteville on the heels of a 35-7 victory against Vanderbilt in which the Tigers ran for 239 yards.
Working on run defense will be a priority this week, Herring said. Arkansas has faced two nonconference opponents that preferred to throw the ball, so facing the Mocs was a shock to the system, Herring said.
Arkansas has spent little time working out of its base defense.Troy and North Texas forced the Razorbacks to utilize their nickel and dime packages, meaning multiple defensive backs were on the field instead of the usual numbers of defensive linemen and linebackers.
"They gave us all we could handle tonight as far as the run game," Herring said. "That shows how far we have to go with a game coming up against Auburn.
"We haven't played a hardnosed team week in and week out as we're trying to develop this defense. I think this was the start of it. There hasn't been any rhythm this year."
Some Razorbacks had a different theory on why they struggledat times against the Mocs. Cornerback Matterral Richardson said he and teammates overlooked Chattanooga and came out flat.
That poor start - which allowed the Mocs to be within 17-9 at halftime - earned the defense harsh words from Herring and Coach Houston Nutt. Rarely does Nutt address the team in a negative manner, Richardson said.
"We thought we could roll our helmet out there and win," Richardson said. "We underestimated them. Coach Herring got on us real good. Even Coach Nutt got on us. He doesn't usually raise his voice, but you know he's upset when he does that."
Sports, Pages 35 on 10/07/2007