KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Arkansas coach Bret Bielema stood on the Neyland Stadium turf, leading the small contingent of Razorbacks fans in calling the hogs following a 24-20 victory over Tennessee.
A few minutes later, UT coach Butch Jones sat in the media
room, trying to sum up his team's recent fall much the same way Bielema
was doing a week ago after losing in overtime to Texas A&M.After Saturday, the Vols and Razorbacks are going in different directions.
Tennessee mustered just 90 second-half yards (four on the ground) and was outscored 24-6 following a two-touchdown outburst in the game's first seven minutes.
Still, the Vols had the ball down by four points late in the fourth quarter but couldn't sustain a drive. Arkansas took over, ran out the clock and handed Bielema his first road SEC win as the Hogs coach.
"Our players hurt," Jones said. "I feel for them. But again, it's understanding critical plays at critical moments of the game. Everybody wants to win. But it's what are we doing to win? ...
"I'll meet with our seniors, I'll meet with our team tomorrow. We'll talk through it. They've been resilient so far, and, again, you rely on the character in your football program."
The Vols will have to dig deep. Meanwhile, the Razorbacks may have just turned the corner in their season.
Let's take a look at how both teams graded out in the game and peek back at the live blog for the in-game action.
Pass Offense
With three top receivers out, quarterback Brandon Allen still mustered enough through the air to keep Tennessee guessing. The Razorbacks got off to a strong start with Drew Morgan, who wound up catching five balls for 110 yards. Then, in a pivotal play in the game, Allen converted a long third down to tight end Hunter Henry for 51 yards to keep the Hogs on the field. Allen failed to complete 50 percent of his passes, but he still threw for 219 yards and a score.
Run Offense
Throughout a frustrating 1-3 start, Arkansas strayed too far away from what made it so tough to beat at the end of last year: running the ball behind that big, experienced offensive line.
The Hogs got back a little bit of that last weekend against Texas A&M and rode it versus the Vols. Alex Collins and Rawleigh Williams III each had more than 100 rushing yards, and when the Hogs needed a big play, they normally got it by outmuscling the Vols.
"Alex is playing as good of football as I've seen out of him, and it's because he’s preparing well," Bielema said.
Pass Defense
Looking at the numbers, the Razorbacks did allow the Vols to amass 232 yards through the air. But they didn't give up any touchdowns and rarely succumbed to the big play. Tennessee's leading receiver had just 40 receiving yards, and that was running back Alvin Kamara. The Vols yet again couldn't get a receiver on track, even against an Arkansas secondary that has been atrocious all year. This may be the best game those guys have played.
Run Defense
It was a tale of two halves for the Hogs.
After allowing Jalen Hurd to run all over them before the break, they smothered Tennessee in in the second half, giving up just four yards on the ground. Also, Joshua Dobbs went from torching Florida on the ground a week ago to gaining just seven yards on seven carries. The spy game worked perfectly, and the Hogs were able to control the game because they got UT off the field in the second half.
"Well, I think some of it is a byproduct of we had the ball for a total of eight minutes in the second half," Jones said of UT's lack of offensive production. "We only had four possessions. We started at the minus-24, the minus-6, the minus-7, and minus-14. We knew it was going to be a line-of-scrimmage game. It showed that."
Special Teams
This was about as poorly as a special teams can play, and Arkansas should feel fortunate that it didn't cost the Hogs the game. They allowed a 96-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Evan Berry to start the game, and had it not been for a block in the back, they'd have allowed a punt-return score by Kamara as well. Not only that, they had a botched fake field goal and had another one blocked. Yeah, that's forgettable.
Coaching
While it was a bit of a gamble to eschew a late field goal that would have made the score 27-20 and going for the fake instead, Bielema put the game on the shoulders of his defense, and it paid off. He got back to what made him a coveted coach in the second half, calling run after run and chewing up the clock, limiting UT to just four possessions. This was easily the best game Bielema has coached all year, and he was rewarded.
Pass Offense
The Vols proved they aren't scared to throw the ball downfield, and Dobbs wasn't bad. He actually did about what is expected through the air. But UT is really missing Pig Howard, Marquez North and Jason Croom, who are all injured. Freshman Preston Williams had a forgettable game with a pivotal red-zone fumble and a missed pass on a catchable ball that would have gone for a big gain.
UT's leading wide receiver still had just 30 receiving yards. They've got to get more production. Also, Dobbs has got to quit being scared to throw an interception and take more chances.
“I think we had a productive day, we just have to finish out the day," Dobbs said. "It all comes down to execution and finishing the drill. And you know the passing game isn’t really one person. It’s 11 hats on the ball, all understanding the play, all understanding the concept, and at the end of the day, executing and making a play. Obviously we can continue to improve from that aspect."
Run Offense
Early on, it looked like Hurd may take over the football game. For much of the first 25 minutes of the game, he was the best running back on the field. Kamara was doing some good things as well. Then, the offense got into a funk, and the running game couldn't bail it out. A week after Dobbs was a highlight reel running the ball, he simply couldn't get out of the pocket and down the field.
Pass Defense
It's hard to say Tennessee played poorly against the pass, but it just seemed like every time Allen needed to make a play, he did. The Vols had several breakdowns on the back end, turning intermediate gains into big chunks of yardage. The breakdown on the 51-yard Henry catch was bad, as was the tackling on Dominique Reed's 33-yard touchdown catch. The Vols defense just couldn't get off the field in the second half.
Run Defense:
The Hogs made a living beating teams to a pulp in the running game a season ago, and that's exactly what they did to the Vols. Collins waited patiently time and time again for the holes to open up along the offensive front, and they consistently did. Then, he burst through them and past the second level for big gains. Williams was explosive as well. Tennessee's consistent inability to bring down the opposing quarterback is a big deterrent as well.
Special Teams
Place-kicker Aaron Medley continues to struggle, clanking a 26-yard field goal off the upright. Berry's 96-yard kick return was very nice, and punter Trevor Daniel had another quality outing. Tennessee blocked one kick and stopped another fake. But the block in the back on Kamara's punt-return touchdown proved huge.
Coaching
Well, at least most Tennessee fans can't blame Jones and his staff solely for this one. It was a complete lack of execution on UT's players' part. But that doesn't mean all was right in the coaching area.
Offensive coordinator Mike DeBord called an uneven game, and his unit couldn't get things going in the second half. He also picked a puzzling time to call a trick play, with the Vols down four and backed up on their side of the field facing a 2nd-and-long, and it was also odd to throw deep down the sideline on UT's final fourth down. John Jancek's defense struggled tackling, and it was out of position on numerous occasions.
The Vols weren't great last year, but they looked well-coached. They don't so far this season.
Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2575355-arkansas-vs-tennessee-game-grades-analysis-for-razorbacks-and-volunteers
No comments:
Post a Comment