Page 3 - Arkansas Football August 2017

Sunday, August 27, 2017 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette 3K
Defense
v Continued from Page 2K
Door Hood Handle Shields Covers
Bed Tool Covers Boxe
Bedliners
Bedrugs
Weathertech Floor Mats
Hitches
Grills Guards Grill
Splash
Hitc Cove
SPORTS EDITOR Wally Hall
DEPUTY SPORTS EDITOR Jeff Krupsaw ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR Jason Yates SECTION DESIGNER Jeremy Muck
COPY EDITORS Jeff Krupsaw, Jason Yates COVER DESIGN Kirk Montgomery
COVER PHOTO Andy Shupe
REPORTERS Bob Holt, Brooks Kubena, Jeremy Muck, Tom Murphy
Guards Covers
Step Bars
Vent
Visors Mirror Covers
Seat
Exhaust Tips
Fende Liners
Bedmat
Auburn Coach Gus Malzahn, whose de- fense enjoyed a revival under coordinator Kevin Steele while employing 3-4 and 4-3 looks last year, talked up the 3-4 at SEC media days.
“The thing about a three-down front, obviously they can do some different things with athletes on the edge,” Malzahn said, pointing out that it puts more pressure on a team’s offensive tackles. “The thing about an odd-front team, you better have some pretty strong offensive tackles, especially in the run game if they have some good anchors. And it puts the center on the is- land a little more than it would a four-down front.”
Malzahn said the SEC used to be pretty evenly split between three-man and four- man fronts, but now he expects the balance to be tipped more toward the base 3-4.
LINING UP
Bielema said the move to the 3-4 has other advantages, such as being able to have eight defenders on their feet.
“You naturally become more athletic with the 3-4 scheme with athletes on the field,” he said.
“There will be a lot of the same schemes, a lot of the same coverages, but coming at it with the ability to bring different pressure. More importantly, I think in today’s world, too, the 3-4 aligns quicker and a little bit more simplistic to multiple offenses in a shorter amount of time, and that should help us.”
Another element that plays in favor of switching to the 3-4 is that Arkansas’ top defenders are totally on board.
“The 3-4, when you’re playing it, the of- fense doesn’t really know where the next rusher is coming from,” said sophomore end McTelvin Agim, the team’s most ex- perienced pass rusher.
Junior Randy Ramsey, who primarily plays the “Razor” outside linebacker spot, is viewed as the prototypical athlete to unleash in a 3-4 scheme. Ramsey, 6-4, 228 pounds, combines a pass-rushing skill set with good hip turn and agility that will al- low him to track running backs in space in the passing game.
“I’m able to play faster than I was last
Index
2K-3K Cover story
4K-5K Arkansas preview
6K SEC composite schedule
7K-8K Arkansas position analysis/Preseason All-SEC 9K, 11K Arkansas forecast
14K Can't miss SEC games
15K Associated Press, coaches' polls
17K College football FAQ
18K Arkansas State preview
19K Central Arkansas preview
20K Arkansas-Pine Bluff preview
21K Bowl schedule
22K Great American Conference preview
23K High school football FAQ
NWA Democrat-Gazette/DAVID GOTTSCHALK
Junior linebacker Randy Ramsey said he's able to play faster in a 3-4 scheme than in the 4-3 scheme Arkansas used in 2016.
year,” Ramsey said. “It’s a great fit. I think the whole defense is able to play way faster.” Arkansas defensive back Kevin Richard- son, a team captain, said success in a 3-4
begins in the trenches.
“It involves guys up front being physical
and being able to dictate things, control gaps and be able to make plays in those holes that are going to be there,” Richard- son said.
Quality play from the nose guard in the 3-4 scheme, manned by 6-1, 339-pound se- nior Bijhon Jackson, 6-4, 300-pound Austin Capps and 6-3, 298-pound redshirt fresh- man Dylan Hays, will be crucial.
“The main thing for us is just keeping the center from climbing up on the line- backers and stretching the zone plays,” Jackson said. “Other than that, we just try and dominate the center. Try to dominate him every play.”
Arkansas offensive coordinator Dan Enos has had to do plenty of scheming against 3-4 defenses, run by some of the top units in the country like Alabama and LSU.
“The thing about the three down is where are they aligned?” Enos said, ref- erencing the various spots the defensive linemen can take or shift into. “I think that creates the most communication and the most issues for offenses. ... Whether it’s protections and/or the running game, it
makes you have to talk more. You can’t just assume.
“The other thing it does is it creates four potential rushers very close to the ball any time, and that becomes a situation where you have to identify who their rushers are. You’ve got to try to get keys, and our de- fense has been doing a good job. They’re bringing [blitzes] from a lot of different places.”
Arkansas center Frank Ragnow said the best way to attack a 3-4 is for the offensive linemen to get into the second level of the opposition’s defense.
“Because they’ve got four guys now that can run around as linebackers and are off the ball and get in space,” he said. “To be able to get our double teams to the second level is probably the most important part.”
Arkansas outside linebackers coach Chad Walker said the specifics of playing the Razor and Hog spots start with estab- lishing the edge against the run and forcing ball carriers to go east and west, rather than straight downfield.
“So we’re the edge setters,” Walker said. “We’ve got to be stout on the outside, play with great leverage and be able to turn the ball back inside. And then when it’s our turn to spill, sometimes we’ve got to be able to spill the football.
“The next thing we’ve got to be able to do is affect the quarterback. Whether that’s getting the quarterback off the spot, getting
batted balls, that type of stuff. When our number’s called in the pass game, we’ve got to go after it, we’ve got to get him off the spot.”
The play of the inside linebackers, led by Dre Greenlaw and De’Jon Harris, also looms large. Ideally, the inside backers stay clear of firing guards, but encroaching line- men are an obstacle.
“With this defense obviously you’ve got to be able to run on the edge and defeat blocks,” inside linebackers coach Vernon Hargreaves said. “Because there are going to be times those guys have a chance to come off blocks and get on you and we’ve got to be able to beat them and then get back downhill and make those tackles in the backfield.
“But the lateral movement is the key, man, because of what people are going to try to do to us. They’re not going to try to pound us down inside. They’re going to try to get on the edges, so we’ve got to get on the edges.”
Bielema said recruiting a higher caliber of athlete over the past few years will help in the transition and implementation of the 3-4, along with the meshing of comple- mentary ideas.
“We’ve had the idea of what we want, what he’s used in the past, what I’ve used in the past,” Bielema said. “That will be a very seamless transition from what we’ve already been doing.”
s
h r
r s
GETYOUR TRUCK READY AT