Arkansas vs Tennessee Advanced Stats Review

An SEC road win in the books, after such a rocky start to the season the Hogs put together a solid performance. That opening kickoff return for a touchdown and subsequent punt did not look great but this team is developing a toughness and resiliency after the early season losses.

Five Factors

		Offense		Defense
	Category	Avg.	Rk	Avg.	Rk	Nat'l Avg.
EXPLOSIVENESS	IsoPPP	1.24	73	1.28	82	1.26
EFFICIENCY	Success Rate	53.5%	4	47.0%	117	40.1%
FIELD POSITION	Avg. FP	29.8	68	24.5	7	29.7
FINISHING DRIVES	Pts. Per Trip in 40	4.30	94	4.48	65	4.60
TURNOVER MARGIN	EXPECTED	1.09	53	Turnover Luck (PPG): -0.09
	ACTUAL	1	58

Passing:

The passing game was efficient considering less than ideal conditions on Saturday. Allen missed on a couple of throws but overall had another solid performance. The gameplan included some called QB draws which is a new addition.

Also, Allen scrambled and made solid decisions on several plays that broke down or when Tennessee sent pressure with the best example showing up on the touchdown pass to Dominique Reed.

Not many 20+ yard shots downfield in this game, but paired with the stout run game from Collins and Williams it was more than enough.

Under 25 attempts leads to a win.

Drew Morgan had another 5 catches and 110 yards. The go-to route all season has been the crossing route with a flat check down.

Hunter Henry and Drew Morgan have accounted for 40.9% of the passing targets this season.

Rushing:

Alex Collins turns in another workman-like performance along with making some defenders look ridiculous tackling air.

Enos only called a couple of outside runs, none more important than the toss play to Collins for a first down to kill the clock. (Bielema claimed he called that play after the game)

A very familiar looking run/pass ratio on first down as against Texas Tech and a 50% success rate again as we saw against Texas A&M. That kind of success will give even the best SEC defenses some problems.

Arkansas racked up 15 broken tackles vs Tennessee and 54 yards after contact.

Offensive Identity:

The game plan Enos put together against the Volunteers played out pretty well, even after trailing 14-0. Some playaction on early downs, designed roll outs and QB draws caused the Tennessee defense to sit back some and opened up the running game. The Arkansas offensive line was able to create creases for RW3 and Alex Collins which they capitalized on turning out some long runs.

Defense:

Middle of the Field Key

Down	Distance	Receiver	Gain
3	6	Smith, Josh	14
3	6	Hurd, Jalen	31
2	14	Pearson, Von	8
3	6	Pearson, Von	13
1	10	Pearson, Von	9
1	10	Wolf, Ethan	31
		Total	106 Yds

The defense gave up almost half of the total passing yards on six passing plays over the middle. Overall they did a great job of limiting Jalen Hurd both in rushing and out of the backfield as so many other teams (A&M, Toledo) were able to make key completions to running backs.

Tennessee attempted to spread the field in shotgun and use stacked WRs to open up space over the middle. They had some limited success.

Arkansas Defense held Tennessee to 2/6 Passing on 3rd downs in the 2nd Half.

Tennessee broke 11 tackles but only had 28 yards after those broken tackles. This is evidence that they are doing a better job of getting extra defenders to the ball carrier and able to clean up the few broken tackles.

The Volunteers struggled to move the ball in the second half, and the defense contained the zone read.

Road wins in the SEC are scarce but putting together more of these pieces against Alabama should result in a chance to win. It may not look like it but the defense is really playing well after some challenging opponents for the last four weeks. Being forced to play 5 defensive backs and only 2 linebackers against quick passing teams is not what this group does best, and should shine against more ground oriented offenses.

Time to out Alabama, Alabama. Woo Pig.