Arkansas’ defense held an opponent out of the end zone for the first time under third-year defensive coordinator Willy Robinson on Saturday in the Razorbacks’ 44-3 win over Tennessee Tech.
In his first meeting with the media since watching film of the season-opener, Robinson said he was pleased with his unit’s effort.
“It was a great game to build on,” Robinson said. “We felt like we really ran to the ball well and got a lot of hats to the ball. There was a bunch of times where we had 9, 10, 11 guys in the frame at the end of a play. We kind of believe in what we were preaching and it showed up. We can clean some things up and the good thing is they ran to the ball.”
Robinson and the Razorbacks hope for a similar defensive effort this weekend when they face Louisiana-Monroe at Little Rock’s War Memorial Stadium. It was there two years ago in the second game of the season the Warhawks nearly upset Arkansas, falling victim to a 28-27 come-from-behind win.
Saturday will mark the opener for ULM, who is coming off a bye week to begin the season. It will also serve as the first game for ULM coach Todd Berry, who spent the last three seasons as offensive coordinator at UNLV. There Berry coached alongside current Arkansas receivers coach Kris Cinkovich.
Arkansas junior defensive end Jake Bequette said it’s a challenge to face an offense without film.
“You’ve just got to go out and perform,” Bequette said. “We have some tape from UNLV last season and have a feel for what they’re trying to do in that offense. We’ve got to go out and play fast and play physical, and just give it all we’ve got.”
Bequette was a freshman when the Hogs slipped past ULM two years ago. He said Arkansas has come a long way.
“We didn’t play too well in that game but came away with a win in the end, which was nice,” Bequette said. “We’re a different team now than we were then and so are they.
“We’ve made a lot of strides but we have a long way to go still. We came out solid against Tennessee Tech Saturday but we’ve got bigger goals than that.”
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