Arkansas
Hogs’ in Trouble Saturday if Quarterback Lacks Confidence
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Two quarterbacks currently on the opposite ends of the spectrum will face off at Razorback Stadium Saturday night with Tennessee’s undefeated season on the line.
Volunteers’ star quarterback Nico Iamaleava has been on a tear for much of the season as a redshirt freshman completing 61-of-88 passes for 892 yards, seven touchdowns and two interceptions. The 6-foot-6, 215 pound passer has benefited from a dominant run game that averages 290 yards per game which leads the SEC and is No. 4 nationally.
Since starting off white hot against FCS Chattanooga when he passed for 314 yards in the first half, Iamaleava hasn’t been nearly as efficient. He hasn’t passed for more than 211 yards in a game while facing a Razorbacks pass defense ranks No. 9 in league play giving up 224 yards per game.
“[Nico Iamaleava] is really good, mature,” Arkansas coach Sam Pittman said Monday. “It’s just like Marcel Reed. Reed did what he needed to do. He didn’t turn the football over. I’m not comparing them, I’m saying Nico is that — he does what he needs to do. He’s got a lot of opportunity to shine in his offense, he doesn’t make mistakes and then he does it at a high, high, high level. He’s scary because he’s not going to make mistakes and he’s going to run the offense to a perfection. For a young guy like that, he’s just really impressive.”
Pittman mentioned that Oklahoma coach Brent Venables implemented an impressive game plan that slowed down the Volunteers humming offensive attack. The Sooners’ defense limited Tennessee to 25 points and two touchdowns in Norman two weeks ago after averaging nearly 64 points per game prior.
“I thought it was a great game plan, but as I say, once Tennessee got ahead there, they went primarily to running the football,” Pittman said. “They were ahead. They thought their defense was playing well. I think Oklahoma was struggling a little bit offensively and a lot of that was because Tennessee is really good on defense. Yes, there’s certainly things that we looked at that Coach Venables and his staff that he did there that are intriguing.”
Much of Oklahoma’s game plan was to keep Iamaleava uncomfortable and out of rhythm in the passing game. In 25 pressured dropbacks this season, he has completed only 4-of-11 passes for 37 yards and interception along with five sacks.
The Razorbacks are a disruptive bunch when able to get into the backfield with 10 sacks and 26 tackles for loss. The plan against the Aggies’ Marcel Reed was to keep pressure on him to moderate success finishing with three sacks, but only one hurry.
Arkansas’ quarterback situation isn’t in too good of a spot with Taylen Green’s lack of confidence. Pittman and offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino need to figure out exactly what Green needs or it could be another long night at home.
“I think we’ve had so many pressures that we’ve got a lot of problems, we’ve got a confidence problem,” Pittman said. “We have a quarterback that’s not confident. There’s times when he can stand in the pocket that there is one there. There’s times when he stays in the pocket and he gets hit. So probably in between. And we tried a lot of quick passing game as well.”
There may be an opportunity for Green to have a little more time in the pocket compared to recent weeks as Tennessee doesn’t get to the quarterback as often. The Volunteers front has only recorded seven sacks on the season (No. 15 SEC), but have been active in tackles for loss with 31 (No. 7 SEC).