Arkansas Sports 360 - ArkansasSports360.com

1/3/2012 at 3:00pm

Image by Mark Wagner

Arkansas wide receiver Jarius Wright is looking forward to facing Kansas State, which ranks No. 104 nationally in defending the pass.

ARLINGTON, Texas — Arkansas wide receiver Jarius Wright has seen the numbers. He can see that Kansas State has struggled to defend the pass this season and Wright isn’t shy when the topic arises.

“I’m definitely licking my chops a little bit,” the Razorbacks’ leading receiver told media during interviews for Friday’s Cotton Bowl game. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. and Wright and the rest of the Razorbacks have reason to be optimistic about their chances of moving the ball through the air when considering the numbers.

Kansas State, while ranked No. 8 as a team, enters the game with the 104th ranked pass defense. That places the Wildcats among the 15 worst teams in the FBS at defending the pass, which they saw often in the Big 12. So far KSU has allowed 267.33 yards per game through the air.

Arkansas, on the other hand, ranks No. 12 nationally in passing offense at 321.7 yards per game.

Coach Bobby Petrino is a bit more diplomatic when discussing the matchup. Asked during Cotton Bowl media day if he was “licking his chops” at the prospect of playing a defense that has given up lots of passing yards, Petrino didn’t bite, instead praising the Wildcats’ ability to blitz well in “situations.”

“No, what we have is a tremendous amount of respect for them,” Petrino said. “They know how to win games. They know how to make plays when the game is on the line. … We have to be really on the money in our situation football.”

Arkansas has really only been stopped by two defenses this year. Alabama and LSU, the participants in the BCS national championship, defended the Razorbacks well. Those games saw the Razorbacks limited offensively, but it was rare teams slowed them otherwise.

Depth has been key for Arkansas, which boasts five players with at least 22 catches. Wright is the clear No. 1 option with 63 catches for 1,029 yards, but three other receivers have at least 492 yards. Running backs Dennis Johnson and Ronnie Wingo Jr. are also active in the passing game.

“They have four or five weapons,” KSU defensive coordinator Chris Cosh said. “The other thing, their running backs catch a lot of balls out of the backfield… They can horizontally challenge you, vertically challenge you, and dump the ball down in screens and things like that to hurt you.”

Cosh said his team had watched the Razorbacks against Texas A&M in preparation for the Cotton Bowl. What he and the Wildcats saw was quarterback Tyler Wilson throw for a school-record 510 yards while torching the Aggies’ secondary.

Wilson, the all-SEC quarterback, has thrown for 3,422 yards and 22 touchdowns with six interceptions.

Cornerback Nigel Malone acknowledges the task at hand. He knows the Wildcats are in for a challenge against Arkansas, which has one of the nation’s most explosive offenses.

“It’s a blowout on paper, but at the end of the day, the team that comes ready to play and wants to win is going to come out and prevail,” Malone said. “Paper is just paper, can’t help you win on the football field.”

Tagged: Arkansas Razorbacks, Kansas State Wildcats, Bobby Petrino, Jarius Wright, Chris Cosh, Texas A&M Wildcats, Nigel Malone