No. 1 defense doesn't add up to invincibility

SCOTT CAIN
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

FAYETTEVILLE -- The best-kept secret in the SEC this week was the leader in total defense.
Even the players didn't realize it until word started to spread by midweek.
It's Arkansas.
"It hasn't got that kind of feel," free safety Ken Hamlin said, trying to reconcile the ranking with the team's recent performances. "I'm surprised. But people don't know what we went through in the off-season and what we expect."
It's not that the defense is a cheap impostor. Not at all.
Arkansas has allowed the fewest yards per game in the SEC, an average of 283.3, which ranks 11th nationally. South Carolina ranks second in the league and 12th nationally at one-third of a yard behind the Hogs. Tennessee and Alabama stand about 14 yards back.
The Razorbacks made clutch plays to snuff comebacks by Boise State and Alabama. Opponents have scored just nine touchdowns and two field goals in 19 trips inside the 20-yard line.
Consider also that the offense has put the defense in some uncomfortable spots.
But if defense wins games and Arkansas has the SEC's No. 1 crew, then why has it lost two of its three conference contests?
It's fuzzy math.
Total defense accounts for yardage yielded but not points. The Razorbacks are giving up an average of 20.5 points, seventh best in the conference.
Plus, impressive statistics are harder to come by inside the league than they are against weaker nonconference opponents, and while most SEC teams have played at least five conference games, Arkansas has played three. Logic suggests that two or three more league games will dilute the defensive statistics.
Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina averaged 343 yards and 28.6 points against Arkansas. Georgia scored a defensive touchdown, so the actual average points allowed by UA's defense is 26.3.
The points and yardage figures probably are good enough to win on most Saturdays as long as the offense is doing its job. But the numbers aren't the stuff of championship defenses.
Most disappointing for players and coaches has been the turnover shortage. Arkansas has collected nine turnovers through six games. It had 22 at the same time last season.
In three SEC games, the Razorbacks have forced two turnovers. Total. The decline has coincided with a shift to less risk-taking, but that strategy also has cut down on big plays.
Both coaches and players said the turnovers are bound to pick up -- sometime.
"When they come, they usually come in droves," co-coordinator Bobby Allen said.
Sometimes circumstances -- like the drop in turnovers -- defy explanation.
"Everybody's numbers are screwed up this year," defensive tackle Sacha Lancaster said, referring to the other league teams.
Lancaster offered Mississippi State as an example. The Bulldogs rushed for more than 300 yards against Florida and then were practically shut out on the ground against LSU.
"It came as a surprise to me that we're first in total defense and we haven't even put together the caliber of defense we're capable of playing," Lancaster said.
Linebacker Quinton Caver said turning in a complete performance is not impossible.
"We're pretty close now," Caver said. "The last couple of weeks we've practiced well. Everybody is starting to fit together."
And that's the good news. If the defense can plug its occasional leaks, then it won't be such a surprise if Arkansas keeps that No. 1 ranking.

This article was published on Friday, October 27, 2000

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