Book Out on Defense Puts Season, Pittman's Career in Balance

If opponents display patience, Razorbacks will have to rely in winning shootouts

Arkansas Razorbacks coach Sam Pittman yelling at officials after a call against the Tennessee Volunteers at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Ark. / Nilsen Roman-Hogs on SI Images

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas coach Sam Pittman knows the book is out on his defense, and it's going to be the main story going forward for both his Hogs and the ultimate fate of his career.

LSU put out a masterclass in how to attack a Razorbacks secondary that isn't as strong as the first six games of the season suggested. So long as a team's offensive coordinator and quarterback can be infinitely patient, there's no need to sweat the Arkansas defense.

Take the hitch route over and over for five to eight yards a catch and methodically move the ball down the field while negating any pressure that might come from the defensive line by getting the ball out quickly. No matter what adjustment Hogs defensive coordinator Travis Williams dials up, there's always going to be an opening.

"Obviously we tried some different things there," Pittman said. "Tried some man-to-man, tried some zero coverage, total coverage. [Garrett] Nussmier was really good and their wide outs were really good, and we've got to get better because we will see that continue on down through the season, through the end of the season."

It's not a situation where the Razorbacks can really run a different defensive formation out there. Technically, there are a few things they can do in an attempt to create smoke and mirrors, but what was revealed last week is a physical limitation.

Williams had his secondary players backed way off receivers, providing almost a first down's worth of cushion. That's because it was the only way they could avoid getting smoked by LSU's receivers.

Of course, that created the issue of having to give up 5-yard hitch routes with a handful of yards added on after the catch. After suffering from what felt like 1,000 pin pricks, Williams gave in and tried to walk the secondary up in an attempt to jam receivers off the ball.

It almost felt like it was just a message to fans he could feel subconsciously wondering why he was allowing for so much space. Almost immediately, Arkansas got burned off the line of scrimmage and had to intentionally commit a pass interference to avoid a touchdown.

Perhaps there's a medium where the defensive backs aren't quite so far off the ball, but not so close they get left behind on the first two steps. However, unless the Razorbacks magically get quicker on footwork, develop better recovery speed, or suddenly get strong enough to knock receivers on their backsides off the snap, it's going to be a long rest of the year.

There's not a lot of scheming or coaching Williams can do to hide what's been revealed. As for Saturday, the Hogs have to hope for an inaccurate freshman quarterback in Mississippi State's Michael Van Buren, or at least an impatient one who wants to force the ball downfield rather than settle for easy pitch and catches on rinse, lather, repeat.

The good thing for Arkansas is Van Buren only completes roughly 50% of his passes, tends to be good for an interception, and also tries to hit the long ball. He dropped a 46-yarder on Texas, 72-yards against Georgia and a 38-yarder against Texas A&M, indicating he is programmed to go deep rather than patiently chip away like the LSU's veteran quarterback.

If that ends up being the case, the defensive line is going to have opportunities to rack up sacks. That will go a long way toward helping the secondary and cover weaknesses.

The one thing that almost appears certain is this won't be another pillow fight like the one that embarrassed both programs last season while driving each to almost unrecoverable levels. Both offenses are capable of putting up big numbers while putting out enough mistakes to give up easy scores on the opposite side of the ball.

Not that either offense will need any extra help. After last week's loss to LSU, both teams now have enough obvious problems on defense to almost guarantee a high scoring affair.

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