FAYETTEVILLE — It’s safe to say Henre’ Toliver and No. 17 Arkansas won’t be lacking for any motivation come Saturday night when they face No. 10 Texas A&M.
Not after the performance Christian Kirk put on in AT&T Stadium a year ago.
The electric Aggies receiver produced 255 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns in what wound up being the best performance of the season for the eventual SEC Freshman of the Year.
Both touchdowns came against Toliver coverage. The latter of the two was a 20-yard score in overtime that proved to be the game-winner.
A&M has an abundance of athletes at receiver, allowing them to line up Kirk in the slot, where he can often prey on mismatches.
His first touchdown, a 44-yarder, against Arkansas last year, one of his eight catches for 173 yards. Lined up against Toliver in the slot, he runs a drag, but freezes Toliver with a stutter step to get himself open. No one catches him after the short completion as he gets A&M on the board.
The eventual game-winner was also against Toliver and out of the slot. He runs a fade to the back of the end zone and gets a step on Toliver early, one the junior corner wasn’t able to make up.
Toliver likely wouldn’t have seen as much of Kirk this year had it not been for injuries. After starting at boundary corner in the season opener, Kevin Richardson’s season-ending injury against Louisiana Tech meant a move back inside to nickel back for Toliver, one of Arkansas’ more physical corners.
That move created an avenue for the emergence of sophomore Ryan Pulley at boundary, where he’s been sensational the last two weeks and will be critical again against A&M. The move also means Toliver-Kirk Round 2 is happening Saturday night.
But Toliver won’t be the only player tasked with covering one of the best playmakers in the SEC. A&M has a new offensive coordinator in Noel Mazzone, but the Aggies are still using Kirk in many of the same ways. And make no mistake, they use him in a myriad of ways, prodding at defenses to find a way to get their most dangerous weapon in the open field or in a mismatch.
“Extremely athletic, great route runner, excellent speed to go with it and outstanding with the ball in his hands,” Arkansas secondary coach Paul Rhoads said. “That’s a pretty complete package.”
KIRK VS. LINEBACKERS
Linebackers Brooks Ellis and Dre Greenlaw will find themselves matched up on Kirk depending on A&M’s formations. A&M has so many talented receivers, it’s able to scheme up looks that put playmakers in mismatches with linebackers.
Last year, Josh Reynolds took advantage of a freshman Greenlaw, exploiting his inexperience in a bust that resulted in a key 63-yard gain. Greenlaw is a year older, now fully immersed in the scheme and less susceptible to giving up cheap big plays.
He even graded out better than senior four-year starter Ellis in the opener. Ellis responded with one of the better games of his career at TCU, a performance that included a pick six, but he is still often targeted because of the speed disadvantage he faces against most receivers and backs. He was beaten underneath for a big gain against TCU in the first half, then bit on a hitch-and-go to Kavontae Turpin for a big gain as the Horned Frogs rallied in the fourth.
The Aggies will try to get Kirk, among others, matched up with him.
He limits Kirk to a 9-yard gain on this play, but the inherent speed difference makes it an easy gain for A&M. Ellis has improved in pass defense. His savvy and experience gives him a chance to be in the right place, evidenced by his TCU pick six and a number of other plays the first three weeks. But he has to play perfectly against quicker, faster players to have a chance.
“They’re going to come at me,” Ellis said. “That’s just how it is. I have to be ready for it.”
KIRK IN MOTION/IN THE BACKFIELD
A&M moves Kirk around the field, forcing the defense to react to the threat of the speedster whether the play is designed for him or not.
In a season-opening win over UCLA, a faked jet sweep to Kirk froze the Bruin defense and led to a big run off tackle by an Aggie back. But Kirk will still get the ball in motion plenty of times.
The Aggies like to run the touch pass to Kirk when he’s in motion, a play that technically counts as a pass and is incomplete if there are any QB-WR exchange issues. It gets him the ball with a full head of steam.
One new wrinkle Mazzone unveiled at Auburn was a jet sweep with a direct snap to Kirk. It cuts out the middle man of the quarterback and gets him the ball even quicker. The Aggies are constantly cooking up new ways to get him the ball.
The genius of this formation, with Kirk acting as an H-back, is that the defense loses track of where he’s at. For a player as good as him, having him unaccounted for is quite an accomplishment. The Aggies also did this against Auburn last week on a fourth down, with Kirk beating a safety on an option route to get past the sticks.
KIRK ON RETURNS
This might be the most worrisome part of how A&M uses Kirk, given his penchant for big plays and Arkansas’ issues with allowing them, to him and in the return games this year.
He nearly took that to the house in the third quarter a year ago, finding a crease and using his speed to do the rest on a big return that set up the Aggies with great field position.
Return coverage has been an issue for the Hogs this year, both on kickoffs and punts. The Razorbacks rank 12th in the SEC in opponent punt returns, giving up an average return of 14.6 yards. They’re 13th in opponent kickoff returns, allowing 26.6 yards per return on average.
TCU’s Turpin had a 34-yard punt return and a 64-yard kickoff return in the fourth quarter two weeks ago, a big part of the reason the Horned Frogs came back and were in position to win the game.
Turpin is a special player, but Kirk is probably even better.
He returned two punts for scores and averaged a gaudy 24.4 yards per return a year ago. So far this year, he’s only been able to return two punts in three games, but cornerback Nick Harvey returned one 73 yards for a score against outmanned Prairie View A&M. Arkansas may be wise to kick away from either.
His 40-yard kickoff return last year is his longest in an Aggie uniform. He’s only returned one kick so far this year, but given his history and Arkansas’ struggles in that department, it wouldn’t be a surprise if he’s lined up deep Saturday night.
Bottom line, Arkansas is going to have to be prepared to deal with Kirk in a number of different ways.