Film Room: 5 Observations from Arkansas' 31-10 win over Florida

FAYETTEVILLE — A trip to the film room for five observations from Arkansas' 31-10 win over No. 11 Florida.

— Randy Ramsey makes plays off edge

Sophomore Randy Ramsey spent the first eight games this season as a reserve defensive end, a situational pass rusher who split reps Tevin Beanum and Karl Roessler.

Against Florida, he was utilized on the edge as a strong linebacker in the Hogs' base 4-3 look. Some plays, he was utilized as a blitzer, using his speed against Florida's tackles. Others, he dropped into coverage and was solid. He also played his defensive end role on occasion. He finished with a sack and two quarterback hurries, impacting the game with his quickness in a new role that defensive coordinator Robb Smith and Co. placed him in.

That was the defensive theme Saturday. Bielema, Smith and the rest of the defensive staff clearly spent the bye week in the lab tinkering with new ideas, which led to some creative moves that paid off against the Gators.

Florida isn’t a great offensive team by any stretch, but the Hogs’ performance and plan was an encouraging development that can’t be understated.

— Johnny Gibson provides spark on OL

Arkansas’ much-maligned offensive line started a walk-on Saturday — and it was quickly evident why the decision was made.

Sophomore Johnny Gibson (6-4, 344 pounds) replaced junior Jake Raulerson at right guard, giving the Hogs substantially more beef inside. Raulerson is listed at 301 pounds and often had issues holding up against SEC interior linemen. He’d also been dealing with a nagging ankle injury that affected his play.

Gibson weighs 40-plus pounds more than Raulerson, size he put to use to aid a vintage Arkansas running game that picked up 223 yards with its backs averaging 7.4 yards per carry against a Florida defense that came into the game ranked No. 3 in the SEC in run defense.

Bielema said Gibson approached him during the bye week and expressed a desire to play and that offensive line coach Kurt Anderson also pushed for the move. It didn’t take Gibson long to show he belonged Saturday.

He drove Gator defenders off the ball in impressive fashion on several occasions. He continued to play well after switching to left guard once Hjalte Froholdt went down with an ankle injury, a move that coincided with Raulerson being inserted at right guard. Multiple times, he showed a knack for pulling, displaying nimble feet for his size.

His size helped him hold up in pass pro, a huge issue for Arkansas' guards this season.

The line wasn’t quite as effective pass blocking after Froholdt went down and struggled with penalties, but Florida had no answer for the ground game and Austin Allen was only sacked once, even with some added pressure.

The flags were an issue. The line was penalized seven times for 75 yards, including six for 60 after halftime.

Gibson was hit with what could’ve potentially been a drive-killing penalty for block below the waist late in the first half (the Hogs scored anyway) and had a false start in the third quarter, but was a definite net plus overall. The line took a step forward as a whole, outside of a third-quarter drive that featured 35 penalty yards on Raulerson and left tackle Dan Skipper.

It appears the Hogs may have something in Gibson and that Bielema has potentially found his latest walk-on success story.

— Defensive line tweaks pay off

Texas A&M, Alabama and Auburn averaged 391 rushing yards on 9.2 yards per carry against the Hogs, including Auburn’s 543-yard showing in the Tigers’ 56-3 win that sent the Razorbacks into their bye week looking for answers on defense.

There were several notable shifts Saturday, moves Bret Bielema said were made at his behest. Senior Jeremiah Ledbetter shifted from the three technique back outside to defensive end, the position where he started last season. Freshman McTelvin ‘Sosa’ Agim took his place inside, creating a better playmaking duo for the Razorbacks.

Ledbetter was a disruptive presence back outside and had four tackles, one tackle-for-loss and half a sack. Agim was an anchor in the middle of the defense and finished with three tackles while combo’ing on one tackle behind the line with Ledbetter. The Razorbacks controlled the line of scrimmage and were sound in their gaps, areas that had been massive struggles in the aforementioned losses.

That wasn’t the only change the staff made up front. JaMichael Winston started in place of Deatrich Wise at defensive end. Wise was used as an interior lineman in passing situations, a role he excelled in. The 6-foot-5, 270-pounder recorded two hurries, half a sack and was generally disruptive against the Gators’ interior linemen.

— Dan Enos calls help Austin Allen finish strong

Austin Allen looked rusty in the first half. Bielema said after the game that his junior quarterback still wasn’t 100 percent.

Allen sat out the bye week practices to heal up after taking a beating at Auburn and didn’t look himself early Saturday, missing throws he typically hits and starting 3 of 11 with a pick-six interception on a ball thrown behind tight end Jeremy Sprinkle.

But he improved as the game wore on, completing nine straight passes at one point. Enos did a nice job of helping Allen with smart playcalling, leaning on a run game Florida couldn't stop and dialing up a healthy dose of well-timed screens, something he’s displayed a good sense for this season.

The calls worked on several levels. One, they took advantage of an overaggressive Florida defense that got upfield. Two, they were easy completions for a still-banged-up Allen. This one went to Devwah Whaley, who tight-roped down the sideline for 43 yards on the drive that put the Hogs up 14-0 early.

He called two screens in the span of four plays on the opening drive of the fourth quarter. The first went to Rawleigh Williams for 17 yards. The second was a 26-yarder to Devwah Whaley, which moved the ball into Gator territory and set up an Adam McFain field goal that made it a three-score game, extending the Hogs’ lead to 24-7.

Allen wasn’t at his physical best, but finished 15 of 26 for 243 yards with a touchdown and interception, doing enough to supplement the run-game resurgence and make the Hogs two-dimensional in an impressive performance against a good defense with NFL talent on all three levels.

— Gators no match for Hogs’ physicality

Junior running back Damon ‘Duwop’ Mitchell made waves with his crushing hit on Florida returner Chris Thompson on the opening kickoff of the second half.

Boom. Heck of a hit by Mitchell, a junior nomad on offense who was actually a highly thought of quarterback-safety prospect. Bielema said after the game that he’s pitched a move to defense to Mitchell in the past, but Duwop doesn’t like the idea of having to hit all the time. Maybe it’s time to reconsider that stance.

Mitchell’s hit was the biggest ‘wow’ example of a physically dominant performance by the entire team. The Hogs took it to Florida, winning both lines of scrimmage and beating the Gators up.

Eight Florida players were injured. Three didn’t return to the game after getting hurt.

Speeches by Trey Flowers, Sebastian Tretola and Martrell Spaight had the Hogs amped and ready to earn retribution for the embarrassing Auburn loss. They played with a chip on their shoulder and turned in their most dominant performance of the season.