Linemen Hold the Key to Arkansas's Success

It's what's up front that counts. A major ad campaign was centered around these words many years ago, but as many a plastic surgeon and a major restaurant chain can attest, those words still ring true today.

In the 2008 football season, the Arkansas Razorbacks ranked fourth in the SEC in total offense even though the rushing attack lagged in the bottom half of the league. Mighty mite Michael Smith was stellar, but the running game when Smith was on the sidelines was nearly non-existent, at least until freshman Dennis Johnson gashed LSU in the season finale.

The Hogs ranked near last in the NCAA in sacks allowed, a statistic that has to stick in the craw of head coach Bobby Petrino more than most anything else in a 5-7 debut season.

The run defense was a distant last in the league, yielding around 170 yards per game on the ground. Partly due to a feeble pass rush, the Razorbacks yielded an SEC high 22 touchdown passes.

Even though the Hogs were within 3-4 plays of going 8-4 in 2008, the flip side is that the team was within 5-6 plays of going 0-12.

With all the problems listed above along with a drastic change of offensive and defensive philosophies, 5-7 was about where the team probably should have finished.

So, you ask, what has been done to address those problems that made even games with Western Illinois and Louisiana-Monroe such struggles?

For one, conditioning coach Jason Veltkamp, a man like his boss Petrino, known to throw praise around like manhole covers, seems quite pleased with the offseason strength and conditioning gains of almost all the players.

Both lines have had several players make significant weight gains, adding strength without losing speed. Defensive tackle Malcolm Sheppard reportedly went from 270 to 292, for instance. Mammoth redshirt freshman Alfred Davis has been added to the defensive line rotation, along with true freshman DeQuinta Jones.

However, the most improved area of this football team, in my opinion, will be the much maligned offensive line. Preseason All-SEC pick Mitch Petrus, No.66, missed the 2008 season due to academic issues and his crunching run blocking was sorely missed. Look for a much deeper stable of backs to cruise down Route 66 in 2009.

Petrus was quoted in one of the local papers as saying that this line has 15 quality players on the offensive line after years of normally having six or seven. As a fifth year senior, Petrus said that this is by far the best group of players in quantity and quality that he has played with.

Having said that, several of those players are untested in SEC play, or in the case of a couple of true freshmen, untested period. The center replacing Rimington Award winner Jonathon Luigs will be either sometime guard Wade Grayson or holdover Seth Oxner, who has been around but never played in a game.

Grayson had the edge after spring ball, but Oxner was promoted by the time two a days began earlier this month. It's the Year of the Ox according to the Chinese calendar, so maybe that's Oxner's advantage.

The position is critical to how well the line performs in 2009 with Luigs having been probably the Hogs' best center ever. On the plus side, nearly all of the guards and tackles return, although a few have changed positions.

With even a solid performance from the "Big Uglies" as Keith Jackson of ABC called the linemen, this Arkansas team has the offensive skill position talent and speed to score on any defense.

Petrino will take his chances with his fourth or fifth wide receiver being better than the other guy's nickel backs or safeties when the Hogs spread the field and TE D.J. Williams will wear out the middle of the field if opposing D's play too deep. The running backs catch the ball well enough that that it's dangerous to try to cover them with a linebacker.

Too many DBs and the man New York Giant coach Tom Coughlin called the best play caller he has ever been around will pound the ball with Michael Smith, Broderick Green, Dennis Johnson and others in the suddenly deep backfield.

One thing is for certain. That is the scoreboard operator will be kept busy when the Hogs have the ball in 2009, and quite possibly when opponents have the ball, also.

The upshot is that this edition of the Razorback defense doesn't have to remind anyone of the 1985 Chicago Bears. With the potency of this offense, if the Hogs defensive squad can just slow down opposing offenses somewhat, the Hogs should win seven or eight games.

The Hog defense was dealt a blow a few days ago when starting corner Isaac Madison was lost for the season with a torn ACL. The good news is there is talent waiting in the wings in the form of Rudell Crim, Darius Winston, and David Gordon. The bad news is one is a JC transfer, the other pair true freshmen.

If necessary the leading interceptor from 2007, Jerell Norton, can be moved back from safety.

If the pass rush doesn't improve, a lot of 41-38 type games could be in store. If Adrian Davis, Damario Ambrose, Jake Bequette and company can provide a better rush from the outside with opponents doubling Sheppard, the defense could surprise.

In any event, the improvement of the offensive and defensive lines is critical to the Hogs returning to postseason play in 2009.