FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas’ Jake Bequette and Tenarius Wright figure to form one of the SEC’s top starting defensive end duos after combining for 13 sacks last season.
“I’m really excited about those two guys,” defensive ends coach Steve Caldwell said. “They know what it takes to win in this league.”
Caldwell said he knows Bequette, a fifth-year senior, and Wright, a red-shirt junior, need help, too.
“We can’t play two defensive ends in a whole SEC football game the way we expect them to play,” Caldwell said. “The thing that you want to try to get across to everybody is, you’ve got to have four starters.”
That’s where junior Colton Miles-Nash and sophomore Chris Smith come in. With the loss of Damario Ambrose, who along with Bequette started all 13 games last season, the Razorbacks are counting on Miles-Nash and Smith.
Miles-Nash played in 13 games last season and had 14 tackles, including a sack. He also blocked a punt against Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl. Smith played in six games and had three tackles.
“Colton and Chris are going to come in and help us on Saturdays a lot more than they did last year,” Wright said. “They’ve been getting a lot good reps this spring.”
During spring practices, Miles-Nash and Smith have gotten first-team reps in addition to second-team work because Bequette, a graduate student, is leaving practice early on some days for class.
“Getting the first-team snaps is great, but it wears you down,” Miles-Nash said. “It helps me think under pressure. It’s like more game experience.
“It’s good to practice when you’re tired so you can get used to it, because when the body’s tired, the mind tries to follow.”
Defensive coordinator Willy Robinson said he likes what he’s seen from the top four defensive ends this spring.
“It’s our deepest position,” Robinson said. “We have really good athletes with great size, and we’re very, very fast.”
Smith, 6-3, 251 pounds, showed his speed with two sacks in Saturday’s scrimmage.
“I’ve won a ton of football games in the SEC with guys just like Chris,” said Caldwell, who coached at Tennessee for 14 seasons. “He’s got unbelievable strength and speed, so he’s got what you need, especially to be a special pass rusher.”
Caldwell said Miles-Nash, 6-6, 261 pounds, is what an SEC defensive should like look.
“He has great length, and he does a really fine job with his pad leverage,” Caldwell said. “Like I tell him, it’s about consistency. He has got to finish everything he does 100 miles an hour.”
In Smith’s limited snaps last season, he may have felt like games were moving that fast, but things aren’t such a blur this spring.
“I’ve got a lot of work to do, but I can see myself progressing,” Smith said. “The game is starting to slow down for me.”
Smith said he follows the example set by Bequette and Wright in practice.
“When you see them work as hard as they do, you think,‘Yeah, I can do that, too,’ ” Smith said.
“Having guys like Jake and Tank to help teach you, and aren’t selfish and want you to get better, that’s important,” Miles-Nash said. “That helps you improve faster.”
Bequette said it’s natural for himself and Wright to help younger players, even if they are competing for playing time at the same spot.
“As veteran guys who have played in the SEC for a few years, it’s our responsibility to pass down what we’ve learned from the heat-of game situations,” Bequette said. “That’s not only being a leader, that’s being a teammate, because we’re going to count on those guys more this year to play in crunch time.”
Wright said he’s doing for Miles-Nash and Smith what Bequette and Ambrose did for him as an inexperienced player.
“It’s all about being confident within yourself and knowing your tips and advice will help someone else,” Wright said. “I just don’t feel the need to hold anything back. It’s all about teamwork, sticking together and having no letdowns.”
Sports, Pages 19 on 04/13/2011