Tennessee has been respectable when it comes to defending the run this football season.
Except when it comes to facing Southeastern Conference opposition.
The Volunteers are allowing 115.2 rushing yards per game through their 4-1 start, but they’re giving up 200.5 yards on the ground in league play after their 44-41 overtime loss to Georgia and their 41-34 overtime triumph at Mississippi State. Tennessee’s win in Starkville was the first of five consecutive SEC games that the Vols are navigating, which will continue Saturday afternoon when Arkansas (2-3, 0-1 SEC) visits Neyland Stadium.
“As a group, we just have to get together and just shore up our fits a little bit better,” Vols first-year outside linebackers coach Levorn Harbin said this week in a news conference. “The guys have to get off blocks, and that’s on all levels. We have to get off blocks, body the guy up and get them on the ground.
“It starts up front, and it ends in the back where we all have to come together and do a better job overall. We have to do a better job as coaches of coaching those guys up.”
The No. 12 Vols and the Razorbacks are scheduled to vie at 4:15 on the SEC Network.
Georgia rushed 55 times for 198 yards in Knoxville on Sept. 13, with Nate Frazier leading the way with 14 carries for 73 yards (5.2 yards per carry). The Bulldogs opened their overtime possession with Frazier’s 21-yard carry to the Tennessee 4-yard line and scored two plays later to prevail.
At Mississippi State, the Vols surrendered 203 yards on 57 carries, with Fluff Bothwell rushing 23 times for 134 yards and with Davon Booth carrying 17 times for 58 yards.
“I would just say there have been eye violations,” Vols sophomore safety Kaleb Beasley said. “We need to get our eyes in the right place. Every quarterback, running back and receiver is different, so you’ve got to tackle people in different ways. We’ve done a good job these last few days, so I don’t think it should be an issue.”
Said fellow Tennessee sophomore safety Edrees Farooq: “We just need to be able to get guys down. We need to be smart while going in for the tackle. We just need to execute. That’s really it.”
Arkansas is averaging 213.8 rushing yards a game behind fifth-year senior quarterback Taylen Green, the 6-foot-6, 235-pounder who has rushed 54 times for 441 yards (8.2 yards per carry) and two touchdowns this season. Green is complemented by fifth-year senior running back Mike Washington Jr., a 6-2, 228-pounder who has 61 carries for 393 yards (6.4) and four scores.
Green is in his second season with the Razorbacks after transferring from Boise State, while Washington is in his first year after transferring from New Mexico State.
“You have to play gap sound, and you have to get off of blocks, because their quarterback is dynamic,” Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel said. “He’s got great, long speed, and you have to be able to tackle him. In the different structures we’re playing, our gap integrity is going to be important. When they’re dropping back and throwing, you can’t just let him sit back there and pat the ball, either.
“You have to apply pressure, but you have to have great landing integrity as you’re doing that. Those will all be points that will be really important for us defensively.”
Fast, fast, fast
Tennessee will enter Saturday leading the nation with 51.0 points per game, 2.82 plays per minute and 1.88 points per minute.
The Vols are outscoring opponents 93-14 in the first quarter this season, and their average of 11.16 first-quarter points since Heupel’s arrival in 2021 leads the nation. Ole Miss is second with a 9.37 average, with SMU third at 9.34.
Keeping it tight
Arkansas is only 15-20 since November 2022, but the Razorbacks haven’t lost any true road games by more than one possession during this time. That includes last month’s 41-35 loss at Ole Miss, which is currently ranked No. 4.
Razorbacks interim coach Bobby Petrino, who returned to Fayetteville last year as Sam Pittman’s offensive coordinator, was asked about that unique stat during Wednesday’s SEC teleconference.
“I wouldn’t know, because I haven’t been here that entire time,” Petrino said. “What we’ve been trying to do these last two weeks is tear off the rearview mirror and look forward and try to have a positive attitude and get prepared for a game.”
The last Arkansas road loss by multiple scores was a 41-27 setback at Auburn on Oct. 29, 2022.
Hobbs available
Tennessee junior defensive lineman Daevin Hobbs, who sustained a foot injury during preseason camp and has yet to play this season, is available for Saturday’s game. For the first time this season, the 6-foot-4, 290-pounder was not listed on the SEC’s student-athlete availability report.
Cornerbacks Rickey Gibson III and Jermod McCoy remain listed as out.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.