LITTLE ROCK — ATU’s defense struggles
Arkansas Tech’s defensive overhaul — one that included changing its coordinator and its base formation — was done in part to help prevent the type of big pass plays that hurt the team during a 2-8 finish last year.
Through three games this season, the Wonder Boys haven’t seen any benefits from the change.
The Wonder Boys are 10th in the 11-team Great American Conference in total defense (409.3 yards per game), pass defense (272) and pass efficiency defense (163.1 rating) heading into Saturday’s game at Ouachita Baptist.
Arkansas Tech (1-2, 0-1 GAC) gave up 391 yards passing and six touchdowns in last week’s loss to Henderson State, although the Reddies might be the best passing team in the GAC. The week before the Wonder Boys let Missouri S&T’s Josh Firm complete 31 of 38 passes for 308 yards and 2 touchdowns in a loss.
Those two games showed Coach Steve Mullins the Wonder Boys still have a long way to go, and he doesn’t think all the blame can be placed on the new 3-4 defense used by new defensive coordinator Jo Nixon that requires more zone coverage in the secondary.
“I think that’s part of it, but that’s not the reason,” said Mullins, whose team ran a 3-3-5 defense last season. “We’ve got to be able to teach our players what to do no matter what defense we’re running.”
Mullins said there will likely be some personnel adjustments this week, most likely at safety. Shedrick Austin, a senior transfer from Arkansas State, and Will Farley, a senior who played in 20 games but had no starts before this season, started at safety and had a combined 10 tackles against Henderson State.
Mullins said the responsibility for improvement isn’t just on the secondary, but the entire defense.
“We’ve got to get more help from our outside linebackers in our coverage,” Mullins said. “It’s not just the two safeties and corners, there are some underneath people not executing.”
ARKANSAS-MONTICELLO
Still searching
Arkansas-Monticello’s first three games have gone about any way a game could.
The Boll Weevils blew out an online bible college to start the season, then lost a close game they could have won on the road to an NCAA Football Championship Subdivision member before being blown out at home in their Great American Conference opener last week.
Their scores have been 78-0 against College of Faith, 31-24 at Northwestern State and 52-7 against Harding.
So what kind of team is UAM?
Coach Hud Jackson isn’t sure just yet.
“To be honest with you, it’s kind of scratching your head and figuring out what kind of team we are,” said Jackson, who is in his second season as the Boll Weevils coach. “We haven’t had a game where we’ve been able to put all three aspects together. If we get that game, maybe we can gauge our team, but until that happens there will be frustrating moments.”
Those were plentiful in last week’s loss to Harding, a game that was 28-0 at the end of the first quarter and featured a rushing yardage discrepancy of 368-86.
That’s an area Jackson said needs to be better if UAM is ever going to gain a measure of consistency. Jacob Lennox leads the team with an average of 55.5 rushing yards per game, but he broke his leg and is out for the season.
“That’s something we’ve got to get established,” Jackson said.
HARDING
Suitable replacements
Harding lost its leading rusher, Kale Gelles, to eligibility last year. Then the Bisons moved Gelles’ heir apparent to wide receiver during the latter stages of fall camp. No problem.
The Bisons just replaced Donatella Luckett with two “B-backs” and are averaging 325 yards rushing a game.
“We felt great about it,” Coach Ronnie Huckeba said of Luckett’s move from perhaps Harding’s most important position in its triple option offense.
D’Nico Jackson-Best and Romo Westbrook have gained 217 yards combined in two games, and Westbrook has scored three touchdowns while splitting carries. Westbrook has 25 carries and Jackson-Best has 19 for an offense that is more balanced in its distribution of carries than a year ago, when Gelles gained 1,005 yards in 10 games.
“If you look at what those guys are doing combined, it’s close to what Kale did last year,” Huckeba said. “I do think that we’re more balanced than we were last year.”
OUACHITA BAPTIST
Emerging complement
Ouachita Baptist Coach Todd Knight believes he has one of the Great American Conference’s best running backs in Chris Rycraw, but there’s nothing wrong with having a reliable complement.
That’s what the NCAA Division II No. 13 Tigers (2-0) think they have in Steven Kehner, a redshirt freshman from Glen Rose who rushed for more than 6,000 yards in his high school career.
Kehner has rushed for 117 yards in Ouachita Baptist’s first two games. That’s not an eye-catching total, but he had a team-high 76 yards in a season-opening victory over Northwestern Oklahoma State and scored a thirdquarter touchdown. A week later, his 41 yards came on just five carries in a victory over Stillman.
It’s enough for Knight to project Kehner’s carries might start coming earlier in the game, even with Rycraw.
“We’ve really got a 1-2 punch right there,” Knight said. “Those guys are both basically starters. We love to see that, both guys out there complementing each other and keeping each other fresh.”
Sports, Pages 23 on 09/21/2012