FAYETTEVILLE -- TCU's passing plan against the Arkansas Razorbacks last Sept. 10 was obvious and logical: pick on the young guy making his second college start.
Quarterback Kenny Hill went after sophomore cornerback Ryan Pulley time and again, targeting 6-4 receiver Taj Williams, who had 11 catches for 158 yards in the Horned Frogs' season-opener against South Dakota State.
The 5-11 Pulley was up to the challenge. Starting in place of Kevin Richardson, who tore his pectoral muscle the week before and was out for the season, Pulley broke up four passes and held Williams without a catch.
That was one of the many standout performances last season for the 198-pound Pulley, who started the final 12 games and led the team with 13 pass breakups and finished fifth with 47 tackles. Though the Fort Myers, Fla., product racked up two interceptions and was tied for No. 29 in the NCAA with 1.2 passes defended per game, he was not to be found on All-SEC squads at year's end.
Not that Pulley cared.
"I don't really look toward the accolades and all that stuff," Pulley said. "I just play football. That's my thing. I just go out there and grind. Whatever comes with my grind is whatever comes with it."
Pulley said a freshman year of seasoning in 2015 behind veterans like Jared Collins, D.J. Dean and Henre Toliver helped prepare him for jumping into a starting role last year.
"K-Rich got injured, so I had to grow up and step in at the beginning of the season," he said. "So I just progressed as the season went on and did what I had to do on the field."
Arkansas defensive backs coach Paul Rhoads, now in his first season as defensive coordinator, said he would agree with the assessment that Pulley had a good 2016.
"But Ryan is a guy that the phrase, 'Good is the enemy of great' applies to," Rhoads said. "I can't allow him to be satisfied in any way with any success that he's had. I think there's a lot of upside there in the young man. He needs to stay hungry and realize there's a lot to learn and lot yet to achieve."
Pulley's play epitomized an underrated solid season for the Arkansas secondary, which did not have great depth.
After ranking No. 116 in the country with 275.2 passing yards allowed per game in 2015, the Razorbacks improved by 58 spots to No. 58 last season, allowing 221.2 yards per game in Rhoads' first season with the secondary.
The Razorbacks hope to make more strides this season, with Pulley and other veterans back in the cornerback corps. The senior Richardson is back to compete for a starting cornerback job, along with Toliver, a senior and a 24-game starter who was sixth on the team with 45 tackles in 2016, and sophomore Britto Tutt, who is coming off knee surgery from last August.
Richardson is working at first-team nickel back and Toliver is back in his more comfortable left cornerback slot, with Pulley on the right.
"He likes that quite a bit better," Rhoads said. "That wasn't home for [Hen]re, being inside.
"I've talked about the fact that losing Kevin really, really hurt us. It hurt us in our level of play and production without him on the field, but it also really hurt us on the practice field. We were very limited with the bodies that we had, and our guys got a little exhausted because of the number of snaps they took on the practice field."
Pulley and the rest of the Arkansas corners are coming off a solid first spring scrimmage last week. Pulley had one of the day's top hits, blasting La'Michael Pettway to break up a slant pass on the play after Deon Stewart caught a 9-yard slant in front of him.
Quarterback Austin Allen has a healthy respect for Pulley's work.
"Yeah, I try to stay away from his side in practice," Allen said. "He's a guy who's got a lot of confidence and he backs up all his talk. I can't wait to see what he does in the fall because the way he's playing right now, I mean he's a special corner out there.
"He's a physical guy. He'll get his hands on you. But he'll let you know when he locks someone up."
Pulley laughed upon hearing Allen's comment.
"I make sure everybody knows about it when I make a play," he said. "I just keep grinding and grinding. I'm trying to be the best I can honestly. I'm just trying to be the best."
Sports on 04/14/2017