In the grand scheme of things, maybe the struggles the Arkansas defense encoutered Saturday in its first scrimmage of the fall were a good thing.
About the only issue coach Sam Pittman had with his team’s defense on the first big day was a familiar one. The secondary, especially, was a bit of an issue. Not because of yardage allowed – which would be more concerning given last year’s dead-last ranking in FBS – but because of penalties.
Arkansas was th 87in FBS out of 131 teams in 2022 when it came to total penalties. Not all of those 83 flags last year were on the defense, of course, but on Saturday, the yellow handkerchiefs were one of the first things Pittman pointed out.
“The problem is we have too many penalities in the secondary. We were just giving them (the offense) first downs. That had to have been maybe four, five different defensive penalties,” Pittman said.
A bit of that is because the number of new players Arkansas has in its secondary. They unit needed a revamp after giving up 295 yards a game last year. More than half the players in the expected two-deep this year didn’t even join the team until spring camp.
Pittman said it’s not all their fault, though. Some of the issues were things he and his staff need to tighten up, too. And with that, one can argue that maybe having such problems so far before the season begins can be seen as a positive.
“We made mistakes as coaches. All those things we’ve got to be better at. That’s why you scrimmage. I mean, you look at that, and the world’s not coming to an end.”
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