FAYETTEVILLE — Ken Hatfield knows Gary Patterson well. As head coach and play-caller at Rice, Hatfield matched wits with Patterson’s calls in an innovative 4-2-5 defensive alignment in a series of games against TCU.
Hatfield will be in the stands Saturday night – high in the high upper deck – to watch the chess match between Arkansas offensive coordinator Dan Enos and Patterson, now head coach but still the architect of the TCU defense.
There is a suggestion from Hatfield, the former Arkansas coach and All-American defensive back. Call the isolation counter to offset the TCU speed on defense. It was his best play against the Frogs for many seasons.
“We had success with that play more than any other,” Hatfield said as he prepared to leave town for Fort Worth, Texas. “It offsets their speed. We ran it a lot.”
Not much else worked, Hatfield said. He’s got tons of respect for Patterson, especially the way he recruited to suit his defensive needs. It was always contingent on speed, to the extent that bulk was sacrificed.
“Gary recruited length and speed,” Hatfield said. “He didn’t have to leave Texas, either. I think they did it with long, lean guys who could run. That’s what he wanted.
“They were running that 4-2-5 with three safeties when we played them at Rice. And they were never very big, but always quick and fast. He wanted to attack you with speed. It was kind of the way his personality was and his teams took on that.”
That isolation counter is a great neutralizer for speed. You let the defense take themselves out of the play with stunts and blitzes. Sometimes the wholes can open wide enough for a truck. A fake one way takes linebackers and safeties a step or two the wrong way. The quicker they are, the more they are out of position to provide angles for blockers.
Yes, Hatfield’s Rice teams were in the wishbone, or flex bone. They weren’t running pro style stuff.
“But we’ve got that play and I’m sure they will use it,” Hatfield said. “That’s a big play against speedy, quick defenses like what Gary runs. Arkansas can do the same things because of that style of defense.”
Hatfield studied Patterson’s success at TCU. He sounded like Arkansas head coach Bret Bielema did earlier this week when he detailed the climb the Frogs have made up the national polls in the last decade.
“They’ve done a great job at TCU,” Hatfield said. “I do see they have speed on this TCU defense. I watched their game against South Dakota State. They reminded me of the Toledo defense of last year. They are undersized with a lot of movement.
“Gary has every kind of blitz known. They really move. It’s speed and they try to get you in a one-on-one matchup to use their best speed guys. They’ll find a weak blocker.
“But I saw some problems for them last week. They missed a lot of tackles. It looks like they are playing a lot of young guys on defense. They do have a lot of speed.”
It’s typical Patterson. There is a solid anchor at defensive tackle in Joseph Broadnax (6-0, 300 pounds). Aaron Curry, the other tackle, is 275. The ends are both 250. But the weight drops everywhere else. Linebackers Montrel Wilson and Travin Howard are both 210, as is strong safety Denzell Johnson. The other two safeties are 180 and 187.
Yes, that’s three safeties. Enos knows that 4-2-5 well. He played against it as an assistant at Cincinnati when Patterson was perfecting it at TCU. He knows there will be some eight-man fronts with safeties crashing.
“Everyone has a way to evolve to an eight-man front,” Enos said. “TCU has two linebackers and three safeties. They will bring that blitzer down and play quarters over the field. They have the ability to get to eight and nine in the box.”
It should be a great environment and a wonderful chess match. Hatfield knows where the Hogs have an advantage.
“I think the way we play is right on the money,” he said. “We have to run the ball against that speed. We have to hold the ball and keep their quarterback, Kenny Hill, on the sideline. That’s what we have to do. And we can play that way.”
Hatfield looks forward to the trip. He loves what TCU has done to Amon Carter Stadium. It seats well under 50,000, but all are good seats. It’s very much a vertical stadium.
“I was back there two years ago for the Armed Forces Bowl, Air Force against Rice,” he said. “I will say that those upper decks are straight up like you are looking down from Heaven. That’s where I’ll be sitting for this game. You feel like you need seat belts.”
Hatfield recalls many TCU games as player and coach, but recalls the first one in vivid fashion.
“It was 1962 and it was my first start,” Hatfield said. “I remember a lot of the others, too. I think we had a pretty good streak against them to open conference play.”
Yes, the Hogs won 22 straight from 1959 through 1980. That streak started with a pair of shutouts, by 3-0 and 7-0 scores.
“It was kind of like the Florida-Kentucky series has gone of late,” Hatfield said. “Those were some was good TCU teams at the start of that streak.”
TCU is good now, too. It will take getting a lot of things right for the Hogs to spring an upset. TCU is favored by more than one touchdown.
I’ll start there with the Top 10 keys to victory for Saturday night’s trip to TCU.
1. Time of Possession
Arkansas limited Louisiana Tech to 54 plays on offense last week. TCU ran 99 against South Dakota State in rolling up 59 points. The Hogs have to dominate the clock. If they can eliminate big plays and hold the ball, it will be the kind of game Bielema wants. It will allow the UA defense to stay fresh. It’s perhaps the No. 1 key in the game. To do that, the Hogs have to be effective on third down on both sides of the ball.
2. Tackling
Both teams tackled poorly in the opener. Arkansas missed tackles on defense and in the kicking game. Those areas were stressed this week in practice as Robb Smith redoubled efforts in his tackling circuit to eliminate tackling busts. It will be tougher this week because TCU offers more speed in the skill positions, along with more length in the receivers. Tackling will be at a premium.
3. Slot Coverage
Can the Hogs do a better job against the slot? TCU has a terrific slot receiver in tiny KaVontae Turpin, just 5-9 and 153. It will change during the game, but it’s probably a sure bet that Arkansas will assign Henre’ Toliver with the coverage as the nickel back. Toliver compared Turpin to former Texas Tech slot receiver Jakeem Grant. The Hogs didn’t cover Grant hardly at all last year in Fayetteville. This will be a matchup to watch throughout the game. If the Hogs can reduce the number of catches for Turpin, they’ll have a huge chance to win.
4. Kickoff Coverage
Hopefully, the Hogs score enough to make kickoff coverage an issue. It was less than desired last week against Tech despite much work in the offseason. Tackling was poor. Depth on kickoffs with Adam McFain was lacking. Bielema said McFain has performed well in practice, but seems to be shaky in games. McFain may get another chance, but freshman Connor Limpert may be waiting in the wings if McFain falters again.
5. Austin Allen
Sure, you could say Kenny Hill, the TCU quarterback, is important, too, but how Allen does in his first road start is a huge key. Allen had an up-and-down game in his first start against Tech. He completed 20 of 29 (with four drops), but he also threw into coverage twice. Enos wants him to play within himself. If he does this against the Frogs, there may be some success in the passing game. South Dakota State threw the ball around against the Frogs while scoring 41 points.
6. Power
Yes, there might be some holes in the TCU secondary, but it’s probably a sure thing that the Hogs want to use their power against a smaller defense. Can the rebuilt line dominate the Frogs at the point of attack? Can Rawleigh Williams break some tackle to get that big play in the running game that was missing last week? TCU did not tackle well last week. Williams might have a breakout day. It’s also a good bet that freshman Devwah Whaley gets more than two carries. He’s returning to his home state, as is Williams. He’s got some power, too. He broke tackles in a scrimmage in fall camp.
7. Play-Action
This might be a big weapon against the speedy Frogs. It was effective at times against Tech last week, but it will be more potent as the running game becomes effective. So look for Arkansas to establish the run, then bust loose some play-action calls. It’s the best way to get some easy throws for Allen in his first road game.
8a. Arkansas Protection I
Arkansas gave up four sacks against Louisiana Tech. Some of that was missed protection keys by the running backs. That was what Alex Collins did best last season, especially down the stretch. Can Williams pick up blitzers? What about fullbacks Hayden Johnson and Kendrick Jackson? TCU’s blitzers possess great speed. It will probably get tougher rather than easier. It’s a big key as a young O-line develops. They need help from the backs.
8b. TCU Protection
The flip side is what the Arkansas defensive front can do against TCU. The Frogs like deeper routes. That takes more time and will give Deatrich Wise, Jeremiah Ledbetter, McTelvin Agim and Randy Ramsey a little more time. I expect Ramsey to get a few more snaps, perhaps at strong linebacker in blitz packages. If you want to count a key stat, keep track of team sacks. Arkansas lost that battle 4-3 last week. If they flip that number around, it might be the key to victory.
9. Physicality vs. Speed
TCU is built on speed. Arkansas has it, perhaps more than when Bielema took over. But it’s a good bet that Arkansas is still plenty big enough to impose it’s will on a small, speedy team. Can it with TCU? Can they keep up with TCU’s speed? It’s as much a part of this game’s overall intrigue as anything. Arkansas wants to turn it into a hitting match. TCU wants a track meet. Which prevails?
10. Conditions
The weather forecast calls for plenty of rain between Friday and Saturday as the dregs of a tropical storm rolls through Texas. Does a wet field and sloppy conditions help the Hogs? Probably, if they can maintain ball security. There was only one fumble in the first week, Drew Morgan’s bobble that bounced out of bounds. This will be something that becomes a bigger key is storms linger in the Fort Worth area. The late reports call for clearing conditions, but it’s a sure thing the field will still be soft and damp. It’s supposed to be a firm, hard, fast field in perfect conditions, built for a fast team. If it’s not, that might bring some help for the underdog Hogs.