UA FOOTBALL DEFENSIVE LINE

Drawing strength from line

Front 4 seen as defense’s anchor

Defensive end Chris Smith (left) is one of five Arkansas defensive linemen who started at least three games last season. Arkansas is trying to improve after ranking No. 9 in the SEC in defense in 2011.
Defensive end Chris Smith (left) is one of five Arkansas defensive linemen who started at least three games last season. Arkansas is trying to improve after ranking No. 9 in the SEC in defense in 2011.

— The second in a series previewing Arkansas’ football team by positions

Steve Caldwell hasn’t been coaching defensive ends at Arkansas as long as he did at Tennessee, but going into his third season with the Razorbacks, he can see continuity developing in practice.

“It’s fun for me that when I call out a drill, they line up and we go run it the way it’s supposed to be run,” said Caldwell, who coached at Tennessee for 14 years. “That’s what I was used to after being at the same place for so long.”

Arkansas’ coaches are counting on talent, experience and depth among the defensive ends and tackles to help the Razorbacks improve after ranking ninth in the SEC in total defense (362.8 yards per game) last season.

“Being better up front, I think we may have to gamble less, and if you gamble less, hopefully we’ll have less big plays against us,” Arkansas Coach John L. Smith said. “The fact that we don’t have to move every play, we don’t have to gamble every play, we don’t have to blitz every play.

“We can sit back and we can play a little vanilla defense and make them have to earn it.”

Arkansas returns five players who started at least three games each last season in senior tackles Robert Thomas and D.D. Jones, junior tackle Byran Jones, junior end Chris Smith and sophomore end Trey Flowers. Tenarius Wright, who started at end last season, moved to linebacker in the spring, but also may be used as a lineman in pass-rush situations.

Other returning linemen with starting experience are senior tackles Alfred Davis and Lavunce Askew and senior end Colton Miles-Nash. Junior end Austin Flynn joined the team for spring practice after transferring from Los Angeles Harbor Junior College.

“We’ll be able to rotate those guys and keep each other fresh,” Smith said. “It’s going to help us a ton.”

Defensive coordinator Paul Haynes came to Arkansas from Ohio State in early December and directed the defense in the Razorbacks’ 29-16 victory over Kansas State in the Cotton Bowl, so he has game experience with the returning linemen.

“We call them the rock of our defense, and we’ll have to build around them,” Haynes said.

Chris Smith and Flowers were forced into starting roles last season because of injuries to Jake Bequette - now a rookie with the New England Patriots - and Wright.

“It was kind of a shock when Jake went down in the New Mexico game,” Chris Smith said. “I remember asking Coach Caldwell, ‘Where’s Jake? What happened to him?’ But all that experience I got helped me get ready for this year.

“I always tell people, ‘I can’t hide behind Jake anymore.’ I have to be ready to lead the defensive ends now, and I will. I won’t let my teammates down.”

Caldwell said he’s confident he has at least four ends who can play SEC quality defense with Smith, Flowers, Miles-Nash and Flynn, and the coaches also have been impressed with true freshmen Deatrich Wise, JaMichael Winston and Brandon Lewis in the first week of practice.

“That’s motivating for us,that they have high expectations for what we can do in the future,” Wise said. “I just hope to live up to it.”

Caldwell said Wise, 6-6, 240 pounds, has stood out when the coaches review practice video.

“There’s one play we were looking at where Deatrich came in with his hands up, and he has a 7-2 wingspan, and he made everybody just look like midgets out there when he got close to the quarterback,” Caldwell said. “With that kind of length, it’s very exciting for a defensive ends coach.”

Chris Smith said he’s impressed by the freshman ends, too.

“They look like they’ve already been in the program two or three years,” he said. “They’re huge and they’re playing fast.”

Peoples, who became defensive tackles coach before the Cotton Bowl after two seasons as the Razorbacks’ director of high school relations, said he feels fortunate to take over a position loaded with experienced players.

“We’re going to have to be an unselfish group, because it’s going to be by committee,” Peoples said. “I really feel like we’ve got four starters in Byran, Robert, D.D. and Alfred.

“Obviously, we can’t put all four of them out there together. They’ll get their playing time based on a down-and-distance situations, and we’ll be able to play those guys to their strengths.”

Senior Jared Green and redshirt freshmen Horace Arkadie and DeMarcus Hodge also can provide depth at tackle, and redshirt freshman Darrell Kelly-Thomas can help at end.

“We know it all starts up front with us on the D-line,” Chris Smith said. “We’ve got a great group, and we’re well coached, so it’s time for us to make teams one-dimensional by stopping the run.”

Sports, Pages 17 on 08/07/2012

Upcoming Events