Ryan Pulley's play backs up his talk

NWA Democrat-Gazette/Jason Ivester NO-FLY ZONE: Arkansas defensive back Ryan Pulley (11) celebrates after breaking up a pass intended for Mississippi State receiver Fred Ross (8) on Nov. 19 at Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville, Miss. The Razorbacks face Missouri in their regular season finale in Columbia on Friday.

In the early stages of Arkansas’ second scrimmage of spring practice, Austin Allen stepped into a deep ball, heaving it some 40 yards downfield to receiver Deon Stewart.

The pass never reached its intended target, thanks to an athletic, leaping breakup by junior cornerback Ryan Pulley. Pulley was pumped about the play, scrambling to his feet and telling anyone who would listen it was a mistake to throw his way.

Allen, apparently, didn’t take heed.

On the very next snap, Allen targeted Pulley’s man again, this time on a short out route on the sideline. Pulley broke on the pass, arriving at the same time as the ball and separating it from the receiver with a physical blow that took both players out of bounds in a heap.

Pulley was back on the field in an instant, darting back between the lines while barking across the field at Allen about again getting the upper hand in the mini-showdown between two of the best players on the team.

That wasn’t the first time that scene or one like it has played out.

“That’s every time,” Pulley said. “… Austin, he just fans me off and go on back to the huddle. He don’t let me get in his head at all.”

Allen’s grown used to it by now.

“He’s got a lot of confidence,” Allen said. “He backs up all his talk. I let him know when I get something on him, too. He lets everyone know. He lets the coaching staff know.”

It’s hard for anyone wearing Razorback red to take exception with Pulley’s brashness. It’s one of the defining attributes that help make him the top cover corner on the team and one of the best in the SEC.

That billing isn’t a reach. Pulley is coming off an exceptional sophomore season during which he ranked second in the SEC with 13 pass breakups and tied for the team lead with a pair of interceptions.

That production led to coach Bret Bielema choosing Pulley, along with Rawleigh Williams and Dre Greenlaw, to go through measurements and testing for NFL personnel during Arkansas’ pro day in February.

“I’ve gotten questions about them,” Bielema said at the time.

Those questions will only grow louder and more common if Pulley has a similar or better junior year. At 5-foot-11 with his competitive nature, physical playing style, long arms and the burst to make up ground quickly as he breaks on the ball, Pulley checks many of the boxes for a shutdown corner.

“That’s my goal,” Pulley said. “I’m definitely trying to be that guy, honestly. I think I can be that guy.”

Pulley isn’t the only one who has that expectation.

“Ryan Pulley looks great,” Bielema said. “He is challenging himself to take over that, ‘I’m that guy that can shut down their guy.’ He has that Florida swagger that we recruited him for.”

Arkansas’ starting corners as a whole were impressive in the spring. It isn’t a stretch to assert Pulley, Henre’ Toliver and Kevin Richardson make up the strongest position group on the defense.

Toliver was solid opposite Pulley in a role he prefers rather than playing nickel back, where he wound up last year as a result of Kevin Richardson going down with a season-ending injury in the season opener. Richardson, fully recovered, looked like his old self in the spring and made an impact while being voted a captain by his teammates in the final week of spring ball.

There’s good reason to think their production will carry over into the fall. The trio has a combined 43 starts, 33 breakups and nine interceptions between them. They’re no strangers to the SEC.

“We’re striving for greatness,” Pulley said of the defense.

Pulley, Toliver and Richardson were coached by Paul Rhoads last year, of course, but now Rhoads has added defensive coordinator responsibilities to his duties as secondary coach. He is overseeing the transition to the 3-4, a schematic switch that entails a lot of changes in the front seven. On the back end, the corners are counting on having the freedom to be more aggressive in the new system.

“We’re going to press more,” Pulley said. “I love pressing. That’s me all the way.”

In some respects, Rhoads is the perfect coach for Pulley. Rhoads is nearly 30 years Pulley’s senior, but coaches with the same passion Pulley displays on the field.

Rhoads routinely displayed his emotions on the sidelines while serving as the head coach at Iowa State. He was in the press box on game days last year, but players saw the fire and intensity he coaches with on a daily basis.

Perhaps that is why he was able to connect with and reach Pulley, helping improve the corner’s habits as he made a sizable leap between his freshman and sophomore seasons.

"He's really matured since the day I arrived," Rhoads said. "I would state openly to him and to you that he was an immature football player when I arrived and it's been a lot of fun to watch that growth take place. He was ready for Saturday's start."

Rhoads made that statement in September, a few days after Pulley made his first start of the season in the win at TCU as a result of Richardson’s injury in the opener. He’d been tasked with covering Horned Frogs receiver Taj Williams, an athletic 6-foot-4 matchup problem coming off an 11-catch, 158-yard performance.

Pulley broke up three passes and held Williams to a single catch for 13 yards. The reception was a touchdown, but Pulley bested TCU’s top receiver for most of the night as the Razorbacks went on to win in double overtime.

That was one of the high points of Pulley’s sophomore year. The next week, he produced his first career pick-six, returning an interception 25 yards for a score against Texas State. He had a pair of breakups against Ole Miss and had two breakups and an interception he returned for 50 yards in the Belk Bowl against Virginia Tech.

That could set the table for a bigger junior year, even if he doesn’t match the raw numbers he posted as a sophomore. After all, quarterbacks may be a bit more hesitant before throwing his way.

“I try to stay away from his side in practice,” Allen said. “I can’t wait to see what he does in the fall, because the way he’s playing right now, he’s a special corner.”