In Ironic Twist, Hogs' DC Keeps Pulse in Challenging Times

After the defense held the team back last year, they're now the bright spot on a struggling team.

Author:
Daniel Shi
Updated:
Oct 2, 2023 2:57 PM EDT
Original:
Oct 1, 2023

In this story:

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Perfection? No, but compared to the rest of the team they might as well be. A year after the secondary held Arkansas back from making serious noise in the SEC West, the defense has repeatedly bailed the Hogs out of difficult situations.

A year after former defensive coordinator Barry Odom left for UNLV and turned in a historically poor season in which the Razorbacks finished dead last in the conference in average yards allowed per game. The 2023 team now ranks Top 50 nationally in total yards allowed and leads the SEC in turnovers. For each of the past two weeks, they have held their own in difficult situations and attempted to jumpstart the offense against both LSU and Texas A&M.

The defense certainly has had its trials and tribulations. The secondary ran out of gas in the second half against LSU and allowed Max Johnson and the Aggie offense to get into a rhythm in the first half. Their ability to close halves when the opposing offense is in the two-minute drill has been suspect at best, allowing the opposition to enter the half on a touchdown-scoring drive in both games, but let's give the defense the benefit of the doubt. The offense certainly doesn't deserve it. After all, football is complementary, if the offense performs poorly, it hinders the defense.

Wide receiver Isaiah Sategna's electric speed returning kickoffs and punts should allow Arkansas to crush opponents in the field position battle, but because of Sam Pittman's aggressive play calling, it's been the opposite. Repeatedly opting to go for it on the Arkansas side of midfield has put the Razorback defense in sticky situations.

The average starting position for BYU in Week 3 according to collegefootballdata.com was BYU's 39-yard line, whereas Arkansas' was their own 29-yard line. BYU's offense was essentially gifted a free first down on every drive before the Hog defense even took the field.

The Hogs also lost the field position battle in Week 5 by about three yards, which is only close because the defense forced a fumble deep in Texas A&M territory. The offense would take that gift and go three-and-out and force kicker Cam Little to kick his second 50+ yard field goal to get anything from that drive. On the flip side, the touchdown Texas A&M scored off the back of another fourth-and-short abomination from the offense forced the Aggies to only had to go 40 yards. The defense still was the one taking the responsibility in the postgame interviews, not the offense.

"We've got to be able to stop them," defensive lineman Landon Jackson said. "We can't let them score. I mean, we have to at least be able to hold them to a field goal whenever the ball is in the red zone. There's no reason we should let them in and score."

Next, is just how different both units looked coming out of the break. It took all but one play from the line of scrimmage for defensive back Lorando "Snaxx" Johnson to get a pick-six and suddenly make it a one-score game. The offense came out of halftime after only scoring two field goals and responded by not getting a first down until the final drive of the game. By that point the game was already over. This defense has had three-pick sixes in five games and has made more than enough big plays to put Arkansas in decent positions to win each game.

If there was any of the positive momentum coaches love to talk about, it would be the goal line stand the defense orchestrated as time expired to keep the score respectable.

"I just think we fight until the clock hits 0," safety Hudson Clark said. "I think it's a testament of the defense we can carry into next week."

All of that is down to coaching. Co-defensive coordinator Travis Williams has been described as a high-energy guy and certainly doesn't lack passion. Often, he's the most vocal of the coaches on the practice field whenever the media members are present.

"Coach T-Will (Travis Williams) talked to us after," Jackson said. "He was like, 'Man, it just shows you've got that fight in y'all'. I think we do. So I think that will carry over in the practice next week and give us, I mean, kind of a positive ending. You know, obviously not a positive we lost, but last play of the game was in our favor."

The defense certainly hasn't given up hope against an upcoming high-powered offense in Ole Miss. The only question is will the offense follow their lead?

Arkansas hits the road against Ole Miss Saturday, Oct. 7 at 6:30 p.m. at Vaught-Hemmingway Stadium in Oxford, Miss. The game will be on the SEC Network and fuboTV .