Arkansas Sports 360 - ArkansasSports360.com

9/5/2010 at 1:02am

Image by Will Flowers

Saturday Arkansas recorded a safety in its 44-3 victory. The Razorabcks held the Golden Eagles to 1.8 yards per rush, while forcing eight punts and holding Tennessee Tech to a 26-percent conversion rate on third down. There was even a goal-line stand.

FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas’ defensive goal going into the game against Tennessee Tech was simple enough. Bobby Petrino wanted the unit to be dominant against the lower-division opponent as the No. 17 Razorbacks opened the 2010 season.

Saturday the Razorbacks recorded a safety in their 44-3 victory. They held the Golden Eagles to 1.8 yards per rush, while forcing eight punts and holding Tennessee Tech to a 26-percent conversion rate on third down. There was even a goal-line stand.

Petrino had few complaints, even if the Razorbacks (1-0) didn’t get a shutout against a FCS opponent. Arkansas was expected to make short work of the Eagles and did, holding their opponent to just 187 yards of total offense.

“I like what our defense did,” said Petrino, who earlier in the week challenged the defense to dominate. Arkansas obliged and for the first time in Petrino’s tenure in Fayetteville held an opponent without a touchdown.

There was plenty for Petrino to like, especially from a group that ranked 89^th in total defense last year. Arkansas’ biggest breakdowns came in trying to stop opponents and defensive improvement was a focal point throughout spring and summer practices.

What Petrino should enjoy even more is the attitude players took after the game. Instead of celebrating all that went right compared to 2009, the Razorbacks seemed disappointed with what went wrong.

Shortly after 69,596 fans witnessed what could easily be described as improvement, Arkansas players talked about how the game left them wanting more. None of the defensive players available to chat post-game seemed willing to label their night as a the “dominant” one they were seeking.

What was so bothersome on a night that the defense contributed to the largest margin of victory in the Petrino era? What could have overshadowed the positives that came from Anthony Leon playing his first game at linebacker after a career spent at free safety and responding with team highs in tackles (8), tackles for loss (4) and sacks (2)?

There were a couple of missed tackles early in the Golden Eagles’ first possession that led to Tennessee Tech going up 3-0. Somewhere along the way there was a 39-yard pass play and later a 31-yarder that felt a lot like the sort of mistakes the Razorbacks made last year when they finished 8-5 and the defense was responsible oftentimes when Arkansas came up short.

“We gave up two deep-ish passes that were really unacceptable, especially against a team like that,” defensive end Jake Bequette said. “We held them to three points, which was really good, but there are a lot of things we can improve on. We gave up too many yards on first down, which is a negative.”

Defensive coordinator Willy Robinson would have liked to see his defense force turnovers. The Razorbacks forced 30 turnovers in 2009, including 17 interceptions, but they didn’t have that success on Saturday.

Tennessee Tech somehow managed to hang onto the ball.

“We were one of the top teams in the country in takeaways,” Robinson said. “We didn’t do that tonight.”

Arkansas did get a safety. It resulted in a score on the ensuing possession and pushed the game squarely in the Razorbacks’ favor with 13:46 left in the quarter.

That came in the second-quarter when linebacker Jerry Franklin and cornerback Ramon Broadway teamed up for a safety. Arkansas’ defensive line got a good push upfront and cleared the way for Franklin and Broadway to get into the backfield and catch Jocques Crawford with nowhere to go.

“We just kind of swarmed to him,” Broadway said “It was a big play and it gave us so much momentum.”

That gave the Razorbacks a 9-3 lead with 13:46 left. There were few significant breakdowns from there.

Plenty of players got time in the game. Tennessee Tech had only 56 yards of offense after halftime.

Pressed on if the defense could take pride in the overall performance, Bequette admitted strides were made.

“Overall, it was a good day,” Bequette said.

Tagged: Arkansas Razorbacks, Bobby Petrino, Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles