Hog Defense Finally Turns the Corner
By: Adam Alter
Updated: October 7, 2012
"Relentless effort. Relentless effort. Relentless effort," John L. Smith repeated after the Hogs' 24-7 win over Auburn.
The Arkansas defense turned up the juice against the Tigers. The Razorbacks more than doubled their season sack total with eight in the game, led by Trey Flowers' 3.5.
"I guess you could say I had a chip on my shoulder," the Alabama native described. "Coming back here and knowing that Auburn didn't give me a scholarship. I just had a chip on my shoulder and somebody had to pay."
"Our defensive plan was to bring some pressure, bring some heat and didn't vary from that," Smith said.
"It wasn't always blitzing," defensive coordinator Paul Haynes explained. "It was our four man pressure. Our D-line played great today. They put a fire behind their ears and they got after it. It was good to see."
The pressure forced Auburn's offense to press and the Hogs capitalized with five takeaways. It broke a streak of 16 quarters without a turnover.
"It's amazing when you get one turnover how they continue to come," Haynes said. "When they start happening, the guys start seeing that their work are getting deserved. This was probably our best week of practice and it paid off for them."
At 1-4, Arkansas could have folded up the season. But Saturday showed there's still fight left in the Hogs.
"We've just got to continue to get better," Haynes said. "We've still got a long way to go to where we want to be and how we want to play but we want to continue to play that way."
"We just had to get our push and now we've got to put the pedal to the metal," Flowers added.
The Arkansas defense turned up the juice against the Tigers. The Razorbacks more than doubled their season sack total with eight in the game, led by Trey Flowers' 3.5.
"I guess you could say I had a chip on my shoulder," the Alabama native described. "Coming back here and knowing that Auburn didn't give me a scholarship. I just had a chip on my shoulder and somebody had to pay."
"Our defensive plan was to bring some pressure, bring some heat and didn't vary from that," Smith said.
"It wasn't always blitzing," defensive coordinator Paul Haynes explained. "It was our four man pressure. Our D-line played great today. They put a fire behind their ears and they got after it. It was good to see."
The pressure forced Auburn's offense to press and the Hogs capitalized with five takeaways. It broke a streak of 16 quarters without a turnover.
"It's amazing when you get one turnover how they continue to come," Haynes said. "When they start happening, the guys start seeing that their work are getting deserved. This was probably our best week of practice and it paid off for them."
At 1-4, Arkansas could have folded up the season. But Saturday showed there's still fight left in the Hogs.
"We've just got to continue to get better," Haynes said. "We've still got a long way to go to where we want to be and how we want to play but we want to continue to play that way."
"We just had to get our push and now we've got to put the pedal to the metal," Flowers added.
