FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas ranks No. 72 in third-down defense, but its conversion rate of 39.7 percent seems like it should be higher after Rutgers converted 5 of 9 third-down chances in the second half of its 35-26 victory last week.
The Scarlet Knights opened the second half with a touchdown drive that featured conversions of 13 yards on third-and-10, 6 yards on third-and-5, and 8 yards on third-and-5, all on pass plays.
“Forcing people to throw the ball, and then not being there to defend it — giving up a big play here, a big play there — has really hurt us,” Coach John L. Smith said.
Defensive coordinator Paul Haynes said Arkansas has done a good job of rushing the quarterback but admits pass coverage has been a problem.
“The style of offense that you see, the quick passing game ... that’s why you start getting up on them and our guys have to do a good job of covering,” Haynes said. “We’ve got to keep mixing it up. We’ve got to keep understanding where our eyes have got to be, where our drops have to be, exactly.”
Texas A&M has converted 50 percent of its third-down plays, tied for No. 21 in the country.
Around sound
The Razorbacks moved practice indoors to the Walker Pavilion and piped in some loud noise to get the team ready for its first road trip this weekend at Texas A&M.
Coach John L. Smith said during his weekly radio show the practice was going excellently until the noise was turned up, when it became more “loose.”
Smith also said tailback Dennis Johnson had a headache Wednesday and missed practice.
Injury report
Coach John L. Smith said tight end Chris Gragg is day-to-day with a deep bone bruise on his leg, “but we have to kind of plan that Chris is going to be limited at best.”
Gragg was knocked out of Saturday’s 35-26 loss to Rutgers in the first quarter after taking a hard shot to his left leg just below the left knee that flipped him to the turf and nearly created an interception.
Defensive coordinator Paul Haynes said safety Eric Bennett is day-to-day with an undisclosed injury. Alan Turner and Jerry Mitchell would get extra reps if Bennett isn’t ready Saturday.
Hard to hem
Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel ran for 60 yards on 17 carries and completed 23 of 30 passes for 174 yards in the Aggies’ 20-17 loss to Florida in their SEC opener.
“Boy, he’s tough to hem up,” Florida Coach Will Muschamp said Wednesday during the SEC teleconference. “You couldn’t hem him up in the phone booth.
“I said after the game, and I meant it, I’m glad we don’t have them on the regular-season schedule for the next three years.”
Arkansas defensive coordinator Paul Haynes said Manziel was a more athletic version of Louisiana-Monroe’s Kolton Browning, who piled up 481 total yards on the Razorbacks.
“He does a good job of scrambling, but the good thing that he does is he keeps his eyes downfield,” Haynes said.
Texas ties
Arkansas has 19 players from Texas, including starters Knile Davis, Cobi Hamilton, Alonzo Highsmith, Will Hines, Tevin Mitchel, Ross Rasner and Travis Swanson. The ties between Razorbacks and Aggies are extensive, and they include seven sets of players who were on the same high school teams in Texas.
Aggie tour
Arkansas Athletic Director Jeff Long said he would tour Texas A&M’s facilities Friday as kind of a scouting mission.
“They’ve done things there we’re interested in seeing,” Long said Wednesday at the Northwest Arkansas Touchdown Club meeting in Fayetteville. “I’m always glad to go and get there and check out our competition. We always like to see what our competitors are doing, and that helps us gauge where we are and how our facilities stack up.”
Sports, Pages 21 on 09/27/2012