Film Study: Better beat Arkansas while you can

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Well, it finally happened.

The University of Arkansas finally got its much-needed victory in Southeastern Conference play with an uber-convincing 17-0 victory over one of the most physical teams in existence, Louisiana State University.

The Razorbacks have broken their 17-game streak of futility while providing second-year coach Bret Bielema with his first significant win in his brief tenure.

The win comes on the heels of a slew of close calls with other powerhouse programs: 38-25 loss to Texas A&M; 14-13 loss to mighty Alabama; 17-10 loss to then No. 1-ranked Mississippi State.

So the general feeling was that someone left on the schedule would finally fall victim to what most will realize in the coming seasons: Arkansas has the scheme, coaching and personnel to compete with any program in the country.

Furthermore, with the style of football it plays, sustainability is in the forecast as the staff will continually attract recruits with the prerequisite skill set to be serious difference makers.

And while Arkansas’ final two opponents have a combined four losses to its credit — starting with the No. 8-ranked Ole Miss Rebels and finishing with the now 8-2 Missouri Tigers — we could very well see the Razorbacks finish strong, which would further hammer home that notion.

But regardless, Arkansas will make some serious noise in the next couple of seasons and will remain on contentions for years to come. Before the season began, I opined that Bielema was the man to restore the Razorbacks to their rightful place in college football.

The developments of this season have only further cemented my thinking.

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Is Brandon Allen Truly The Problem?

Make no mistake about it; a few teams have minimized the Razorback’s rushing attack. In those particular contests, when quarterback Brandon Allen has had to take over the game, the offense sputtered and bogged down.

Allen is widely viewed as an albatross that, at times, single-handedly ruins games for the Hogs — despite the fact that he’s thrown for 15 TDs opposed to just five interceptions. Critics point to his 58 percent completion rate as a major indicator of his inaccuracies.

And they may have a point.

When the majority of your throws go to a couple of tight ends with the catch radius of Dikembe Mutombo, you’d have to be pretty inaccurate not to at least hit an acceptable 60 percent rate.

But to play devil’s advocate, it’s not like Allen has the talent out wide to help him maximize his potential. Can you imagine what Arkansas’ offense would look like if it had a receiver like State’s De’Runnya Wilson (6’5?, 215 lbs)?

His ability to exploit man coverage would work well with Arkansas’ short-to-intermediate passing attack. While I don’t think Allen is elite by any stretch of the imagination, he’s plenty good enough to win a championship with in this type of offense.

He has really good athleticism and has a strong enough arm to complete all the throws in the route tree. Expect him to take it to the next level in his senior season.

Robb Smith’s Defense is Legit

First-year defensive coordinator Robb Smith has brought an extremely physical style of defense to a team with an equally physical offense. His time under former Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Greg Schiano, as linebackers coach for the 2013-14 season, showed him how to get the most out of a one-gap penetrating unit.

It doesn’t hurt that he walked into a situation with a talented, yet misguided, unit. And as I mentioned before, it starts upfront with stopping the run. Arkansas is 22nd in the nation giving up only 3.76 yards per attempt.

Sophomore 3-technique Darius Philon is one of the most dominant interior linemen in the entire country. He can shoot or hold up gaps, and he’s a major threat against the run; any line with him on it has a chance to be dominant.

Case in point: Philon, at a 1-technique, smothered this gap despite being doubled and held. While this unit will lose its most notable edge-rusher, Trey Flowers, it has plenty of returning talent that will ensure this top-25 defense only improves. Defensive tackle Taiwan Johnson may eventually be Philon’s equal; he’s a pure one-gap penetrator who can line up at a plethora of techniques.

Other returning standouts include sophomore end JaMichael Winston and fellow sophomore Deatrich Wise Jr., the latter of which contributed 1.5 sacks and a couple of tackles against LSU.

While this unit loses its leading tackler in weak-side linebacker Martrell Spaight, the depth of the linebackers may minimize the loss. Sophomores Brooks Ellis and Josh Williams will form a very formidable duo; both are sideline-to-sideline tacklers who can disengage from blocks.

In the secondary, freshman Henre’ Toliver looks to be a budding superstar. At 6’1?, 192 pounds, he matches up well with the taller receivers in the conference. He and sophomore Jared Collins are perfect for a physical scheme like Smith runs; both will make up for the loss of the talented Tevin Mitchell.

Arkansas will lose senior free safety Alan Turner but does return fellow starter Rohan Gaines.

All in all, the Razorbacks have the scheme, coaching and personnel to ascend near the top of the SEC’s western division. If Hatcher and Allen can take it to the next level, we may very well see Arkansas take the leap that its next opponent, the Ole Miss Rebels, made this season.

The Hogs certainly have all the tools in the tool belt to make that happen. You better beat Arkansas while you can, SEC.

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