Hog Calls

Hogs not satisfied with 'good' defense

Arkansas defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads, front, motions toward the field during a game against TCU on Saturday, Sept. 9, 2017, in Fayetteville.

FAYETTEVILLE -- Quoting the wisdom of author and lecturer James C. Collins, defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads gently damned his Razorbacks unit with faint praise.

Thanks to its defense, which secured two turnovers, the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville hung with the TCU Horned Frogs 14-7 until the victors tallied touchdowns with 2:18 and 2:04 left in the game for a 28-7 victory last Saturday before a sold-out Reynolds Razorback Stadium.

"Good, not great," Rhoads said of his defense. "And as literature would tell us, 'good's the enemy of great.' We want to be a great defense.

"I thought we played good, even possibly good enough to keep us in the ballgame and give us an opportunity to win the ballgame, but we want to play great."

If good is the enemy of great, then it seems not so good on third down must be the enemy of both.

Ten of 14 times, the Arkansas defense failed to stop TCU from converting third down to first down.

"Third and one, third and one, third and one, third and one, third and one ... five times we were faced with third-and-one situations," Rhoads said. "That's the result of poor first- and second-down efficiency as a defensive unit. Hard to play great third-down conversion defense when you're faced with third and short. Offenses chance for success obviously are higher."

The defense also failed to prevail too many times when faced with more favorable third-down odds, Rhoads said.

"Third and medium and third and long, we didn't execute to our expectations as well," Rhoads said. "We had our opportunities on those distances and had some individual breakdowns that cost us the chance for success."

The defense would have had significantly increased chances for success had Arkansas' supposedly ball-control offense stayed on the field longer than 26:08, and if it scored on its first- and third-quarter red zone forays instead of going 0 for 2. Arkansas failed twice on fourth-down chip shot field goal attempts.

Rhoads never mentioned that.

Offensive coordinator Dan Enos never mentioned it the other way around in 2016 when the offense boasted the SEC's passing leader and regular-season rushing champion, but the defense leaked like Washington politics.

Not every coordinator, particularly the ultra-ambitious ones, would be so quick and steadfast to stay introspective and not point fingers.

Easier to market yourself and your side of the ball by citing the faults on your team's other side of the ball.

As former head coaches themselves now serving Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema, Rhoads and Enos are ever conscious that intrasquad offense vs. defense jealously can destroy a team quicker than the opponent's wide receiver with 4.2 speed and hands of glue.

So James. C. Collins to the contrary, doing good can be great.

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Sports on 09/16/2017