FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas defensive coaches came into post-practice interviews on Tuesday with a game plan.
In a nutshell: Little TCU talk and lots of Texas State conversations.
Next year
Arkansas will open its football season at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock for the first time since 2009 next year, the school announced when the Razorbacks’ 2017 schedule was unveiled Tuesday night on the SEC Network.
The Razorbacks will host Florida A&M of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision at War Memorial on Sept. 2. The Rattlers, who have never played the Razorbacks, haven’t faced an SEC opponent since losing to Florida 63-3 on Sept. 13, 2003.
The Razorbacks defeated Missouri State 48-10 on Sept. 5, 2009, the last time they opened a season in Little Rock. Arkansas is 149-59-4 all-time at War Memorial after losing 16-12 to Toledo there last season. The Razorbacks face FCS Alcorn State in Little Rock on Oct. 1.
Arkansas’ other nonconference games will be held at Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville against TCU on Sept. 9, New Mexico State on Sept. 30 and Coastal Carolina on Nov. 4.
The Razorbacks will take on Texas A&M on Sept. 23 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
2017 schedule
Kickoff times to be announced
Sept. 2 Florida A&M at Little Rock
Sept. 9 TCU
Sept. 23 Texas A&M * at Arlington, Texas
Sept. 30 New Mexico State
Oct. 7 at South Carolina *
Oct. 14 at Alabama *
Oct. 21 Auburn *
Oct. 28 at Ole Miss *
Nov. 4 Coastal Carolina
Nov. 11 at LSU *
Nov. 18 Mississippi State *
Nov. 25 Missouri *
*SEC game
Defensive backs coach Paul Rhoads entered first and was asked what he thought of Arkansas' performance in its 41-38 double-overtime victory at No. 15 TCU.
Rhoads' response was a recitation of Texas State's first-game stats -- including 546 yards and 56 points on 98 offensive snaps -- in its 56-54 triple-overtime victory at Ohio.
Asked how his defensive backs graded against TCU, Rhoads said, "We haven't graded out yet, that Texas State game. But we're preparing to grade out really well. You see where I'm going guys. We're gonna talk about Texas State."
The Razorbacks, who entered both major polls at No. 24 this week after the upset of TCU, are making plans to stay in the rankings for a while and don't want to lose focus for a game against a non-Power 5 Conference opponent.
Linebackers coach Vernon Hargreaves was asked if preparing for the Bobcats was harder since it came between big games against TCU and Texas A&M.
"We've got Texas State, yeah, that's all I know about right now," Hargreaves said. "There's nobody else on the schedule at this point. We're trying to go 1-0 one more time, see what happens."
Faster
Arkansas defensive coordinator Robb Smith said it was easy to get his unit's attention on Texas State by mentioning one single statistic.
"Tempo wise, they're faster than TCU," Smith said. "I believe they're second in the country. They snap the ball with 23.5 seconds left on the play clock on average, which is actually three seconds faster than what TCU had averaged."
Cornerback Jared Collins said the Hogs have to be ready for the quicker tempo. "You know we got a little taste of it last week, so that'll help, but with them going even faster, we have to be prepared."
Agim sack
Freshman McTelvin Agim made his first sack a memorable one. The 6-3, 289-pound freshman hammered Kenny Hill into the grass with a blind-side sack for an 8-yard loss on third and 3 from the Arkansas 48 late in the third quarter to snuff a series.
"It was amazing," Agim said. "I thought he was going to throw it when I was coming and as I was coming free I just kept going.
"It happened because the linebackers held up. I believe it was a hook and Dre didn't bite on it, and Karl and Taiwan and Deatrich held up their lanes. So he was stuck, and I believe he was about to run out the pocket but I showed up in time."
Coverage concern
Coach Bret Bielema said he asked all his assistants for input on how to improve the team's kickoff coverage, which is ranked No. 120. Arkansas has posted only two touchbacks on 10 kickoffs by Adam McFain and Connor Limpert, and opponents are averaging 29.9 yards per return.
Last week, TCU's KaVontae Turpin appeared stopped inside his 30 with several Arkansas players around him before he planted a hand, skirted free and ran 64 yards to the Arkansas 27 in the final minute of a tie game. Dan Skipper blocked a 28-yard field goal try to send the game into overtime.
Two and zero
Arkansas has started 2-0 for the second time in four seasons under Coach Bret Bielema and has started 2-0 in 64 different seasons in 123 years of football since 1894. The Razorbacks had 10 such starts before joining the Southwest Conference in 1915, 43 starts of 2-0 in their 77 years in the Southwest Conference, and 11 starts of 2-0 in their 25 years in the SEC.
Booing Brooks
Arkansas linebacker Brooks Ellis, whose 47-yard interception return for a touchdown gave the Razorbacks a 13-0 lead in the second quarter, did not receive polite applause from the TCU faithful when he got up after falling to the grass with cramps in the fourth quarter with the Horned Frogs on the move at the Arkansas 1.
In fact, Ellis was booed when he stayed on the grass and booed as he walked with head trainer Matt Summers to the locker room to receive double IVs to replace fluids.
"That was the first time," Ellis said of being booed. "It was actually kind of fun walking across the field and having them boo me. It was a cool experience."
Withers on Allen
Texas State Coach Everett Withers said Arkansas offensive coordinator Dan Enos' schemes are a big help for quarterback Austin Allen.
"He can be a little bit more of a game manager when you can run the football effectively like they do," Withers said. "You don't have to make as many reads down the field if you're running the ball real well and you can play-action pass knowing you're going to get one-on-one coverage because you got eight or nine guys at the line of scrimmage trying to stop the run.
"He is very accurate. I thought he did a great job this past Saturday against TCU. He made some first-time starting throws against La Tech that weren't what they wanted, but he got better in game two and that's what you try to do."
8 of 9
Asked about Arkansas' stretch of eight victories in its last nine games, dating back to a 27-14 setback at Alabama last season, Bret Bielema had a swift reply.
"Well, we've won eight of nine and I think we should've won the nine," Bielema said. "We missed a routine defensive end coming across our right end on Mississippi State field goal protection, otherwise we'd be 9 for 9 and probably on a different talk. But we didn't do it. At that point we didn't earn it."
Bielema is referring to the blocked 29-yard field goal by Mississippi State in the final minute of the Razorbacks' 51-50 loss last Nov. 21.
Austin scored?
Offensive coordinator Dan Enos might have been the last person in Amon G. Carter Stadium to know Austin Allen scored the game-winning touchdown on a 5-yard run in the second overtime against TCU.
"I was looking at my call sheet on the last play, thinking he got tackled on the 1, so I was trying to get a fourth-and-1 call ready," Enos said. "I kind of looked up and the whole sideline had run on the field. I didn't know if it was for real yet for a second and then finally I realized he was in."
No quitting
Arkansas punter Toby Baker heard that Bret Bielema said during his post-game remarks on Saturday in Fort Worth, Texas, that he would quit if Baker wasn't named SEC special teams player of the week.
When he passed Bielema while boarding the team flight out of town, Baker said to his coach, "Don't quit."
Baker averaged 50.7 yards on his six punts, but he was not named SEC special teams player of the week. That award went to Auburn kicker Daniel Carlson, who scored 21 points, including a touchdown on a fake field goal, against Arkansas State.
Extra points
• Arkansas' three road victories at ranked teams since the start of 2015 ties with Alabama and Oklahoma for the most in the country in that span.
• The Razorbacks have won the time-of-possession statistic in 12 of their last 16 games.
Sports on 09/14/2016