FAYETTEVILLE -- The Arkansas Razorbacks defenders couldn't just say it outright this week, but they no doubt welcome a visit from Tulsa on Saturday as a respite from a tour through three of the nation's top offenses, led by dynamic quarterbacks, the past three weeks.
Texas A&M, Alabama and Ole Miss all ranked in the top 10 nationally in total offense with Kellen Mond, Tua Tagovailoa and Jordan Ta'amu at the controls, respectively, when they were defeating the Razorbacks.
Right now, Alabama is first in the country with 567 yards per game, while Ole Miss is sixth (550.9) and the Aggies are 15th (486.7).
Arkansas held Texas A&M to 377 total yards in a hard-fought 24-17 loss three weeks ago, but Alabama (639) and Ole Miss (611) ravaged the thin Razorbacks. The Tide struck early and often until letting off the gas in the second half, while the Rebels rallied from a 30-17 deficit with three touchdowns in the last 23 minutes in a 37-33 victory last week.
Arkansas defensive coordinator John Chavis didn't hide his feelings when he met with members of the media at his weekly news conference Monday.
"I'm looking forward to the day I can come in here and smile a little bit," Chavis said, before speaking up for his unit.
"I'm not going to come in here and make excuses. It's where we are and we're going to grow. ... They have a great attitude about working and it's important to them.
"That's why you're disappointed. You understand and see the work they've put in, but haven't gotten the results we're looking for."
Tulsa comes to town for the Hogs' 11 a.m. homecoming game with the nation's 88th-ranked offensive attack.
The Hurricane are big on the run-pass option game, but the Razorbacks just saw those schemes at some of the highest levels.
"They like to run the football and RPO," Arkansas safety Kamren Curl said. "We have to have really good RPO [discipline] and no missed assignments."
The Golden Hurricane, slowed by injuries at the skill positions, average 381 yards per game. They'll face an Arkansas defense with a good rotation on its front four but with a back seven that has had minimal substitutions through four SEC games. The Razorbacks will be without cornerback Ryan Pulley for an unspecified amount of time for his actions while being ejected in the closing seconds last week.
Redshirt freshmen Jarques McClellion and Montaric Brown are expected to start at cornerback with veterans Santos Ramirez, Kevin Richardson and Curl in the secondary.
"Obviously Buster will be a player," Arkansas Coach Chad Morris said of Brown. "I thought Jarques played his best ball game last week. He's getting better."
The Golden Hurricane have run the ball effectively behind a veteran offensive line, led by seniors in center Chandler Miller, guard Tyler Bowling and tackle Willie Wright, who have combined for 116 starts.
Tailbacks Shamari Brooks and Corey Taylor have not been healthy together for several weeks in a row, but they are a threat, combined or alone.
Brooks has three 100-yard games this season, including 100 yards and 2 touchdowns in last week's 25-24 loss to No. 23 South Florida. Brooks and Taylor both rushed for 100 yards in the opener against the University of Central Arkansas, and Taylor powered for 152 yards and a score against Houston, while Brooks was out with an ankle injury.
"Their running backs are smaller guys, stocky, probably similar to some of the guys in our conference," Arkansas linebacker De'Jon Harris said. "Pretty good backs, run hard, have decent speed on them."
Redshirt freshman quarterback Seth Boomer, a 6-3, 205-pounder, is likely to make his third start for the injured Luke Skipper (back), who threw for 716 yards, with 6 interceptions and 4 touchdowns, in the first 4 games.
"They've played three different [quarterbacks]," Chavis said. "They've played several guys at tailback. They've got a good receiving corps, but it starts with what they do up front. Their offensive line is very good and well coached. They want to run the football, and if you can get that established it makes everything else a lot easier."
Tulsa has had its struggles when it's had to pass, giving up 22 sacks to tie for 120th in the country.
"[Boomer] is a pretty big kid, has a nice arm," Harris said. "I think we're just going to have to be locked into our assignments, just try to keep him contained and send a lot of pressure to him."
Arkansas is looking to find a way to close out games defensively after allowing big fourth quarters in losses to Colorado State and Ole Miss.
Ta'amu had 154 yards total offense in the fourth quarter, running and throwing the Rebels past the Razorbacks.
"Obviously the quarterback run game, whether it was a designed quarterback draw or just letting everybody drop and pulling the ball down and go and finding a rush lane, and we struggled to stay with their wide receivers across the middle," Morris said to describe how Ole Miss took advantage. "We only created one turnover. We were very poor on third-down efficiency."
Still, Morris said he backed his defense.
"If you asked me right now, with 97 yards to go, what unit you want on the field, I'm going to put our defense on the field," he said.
Saturday’s game
TULSA AT ARKANSAS
WHEN 11 a.m.
WHERE Reynolds Razorback Stadium,
Fayetteville
TV SEC Network
Sports on 10/19/2018