FAYETTEVILLE — Bret Bielema will tell you it’s not one particular opponent nor one particular player that compelled him to switch Arkansas’ base defense from a 4-3 to a 3-4.
However, you can assert that the TCU Horned Frogs’ scheduled visit to the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, to play the Hogs and the role Arkansas junior outside linebacker Randy Ramsey is projected to play against the visitors come as closely as any causes for the switch.
Last season at TCU’s Amon Carter Stadium, Arkansas somehow prevailed 41-38 in double overtime. TCU amassed 169 more yards and five more first downs than did Arkansas. Coach Gary Patterson’s hurry-up, no-huddle Horned Frogs netted 572 yards and 25 first downs.
TCU senior quarterback Kenny Hill completed 36 of 56 passes for 377 yards and had 93 yards rushing on 15 carries.
Getting set quickly against the fast-snapping, fleet-footed Frogs is paramount, Arkansas defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads said.
“They are up-tempo,” Rhoads said. “They always have been. You can pick any game that you like [against TCU] and you are going to see a team get caught with their pants down be it out of position or not lined up with their eyes in the right location. It will be one of the keys to victory for us to be aligned properly with great eye discipline and great football stances to match the tempo and speed of Texas Christian.”
So did the 2016 TCU game prompt Bielema to think about going to a 3-4 for 2017?
“I wouldn’t say there’s any one offense that made me start thinking that,” Bielema said Monday. “I think the 3-4 fits what we can do better. One of the advantages I think without a doubt to the 3-4 is being able hopefully to line up more efficiently in a short amount of time and be able to get more athletes on the field on their feet and be able to be diverse when the ball’s snapped.”
The 3-4 enables Ramsey with his 6-4, 228-pound frame — either too big or too light to fit anywhere in the 4-3 but with too much talent not to play somewhere — to find not just one position to call home, but two.
A true hybrid as a former high school safety who, at Arkansas last year played as a too-small yet sometimes surprisingly effective hand-on-the-ground defensive end, can play either the Razor or Hog outside linebacker positions in Bielema’s 3-4. So he’s got a place to play even when a linebacker is scrapped for a nickel back.
“I think he has some special skills and is just starting to scratch the surface how good he can be,” Bielema said noting Ramsey and senior outside for inside backer Dwayne Eugene each logged sacks against FAMU.
“Randy Ramsey and Dwayne Eugene have been kind of role players to this point,” Bielema said. “But I think it showed up [against FAMU] that those are two guys that belong at this level.”