BlogHawgs Weekly Stat Geek Newsletter
Posted by Adam Butler on November 15, 2011
By BlogHawgs Stat Front Man Brian Rogers
With the Arkansas defense showing steady improvement the past two weeks (we know, we know–the Hogs weren’t playing powerhouse offenses like Oregon, Houston, orAuburn Oklahoma St.), let’s take a step back and focus on that side of the ball.
There is a mass perception out there that this defense has backslid from the improvement made last year. In looking at where this defense stands relative to the country, it seems perception and reality are not the same.
When looking at points per game allowed and rank, keep in mind the number of games missed by key (All-SEC) contributors.
|
NCAA Rank |
Pts/Gm |
|
|
2011 |
30 |
21.5 |
|
2010 |
45 |
22.8 |
|
2009 |
62 |
25.8 |
We don’t know care where Arkansas ranks in terms of yards per game because a wise man once told me: “It’s not a Yardboard! It’s a Scoreboard!”
Individually, last Saturday night could not have gone better for a group of seniors that will live in Razorback lore. While they may not have the rings like Hatfield, Johnson, Marshall, or Phillips, they have led this Arkansas from being program in disarray with the transition of a coaching change into national top 10 relevance the program has not seen in decades, all the while stamping their names all over the UA history books.
With the Mainstream Media co-oping the BlogHawgs Weekly Stat Geek Newslettter last week, everyone now knows about the places in history held by Arkansas wide receivers Jarius Wright and Joe Adams.
So, we would like to use this space this week to shine the light on Arkansas’ senior defensive stalwarts.
On the defensive front, which is now seemingly 100% after dealing with early season injuries, Jake Bequette has regained his dominating form with 4 sacks in the past two weeks. The surge has moved Bequette into 4th all-time on the UA sacks chart.
| Rank | Player | Sacks | Diff. |
| 1. | Wayne Martin | 25.5 | 6 |
| 2. | Henry Ford | 25.0 | 6 |
| 3. | Steven Conley | 21.0 | 2 |
| 4. | Jake Bequette | 19.5 | |
| 5. | Marcus Adair | 19.0 | |
| 6. | Scott Long | 18.0 | |
| 7. | Jamaal Anderson | 17.5 | |
| 8. | Ray Lee Johnson | 16.0 |
Arkansas linebacker Jerry Franklin also continues to climb the UA career tackles and tackles for loss list. Franklin seems destined to finish 2nd all time for tackles and somewhere in the top 10 in tackles for loss.
| Rank | Player | Tackles | Diff. |
| 1. | Tony Bua | 408 | 45 |
| 2. | Ken Hamlin | 381 | 18 |
| 3. | Sam Olajubutu | 372 | 9 |
| 4. | Caleb Miller | 368 | 5 |
| 5. | Cliff Powell | 367 | 4 |
| 6. | Jerry Franklin | 363 | |
| 7. | Ronnie Caveness | 357 | |
| 8. | Rickey Williams | 343 |
| Rank | Player | TFL | Diff. |
| 1. | Billy Ray Smith, Jr. | 63.0 | 31.5 |
| 2. | Henry Ford | 46.0 | 14.5 |
| t3. | Wayne Martin | 37.0 | 5.5 |
| t3. | Jimmy Walker | 37.0 | 5.5 |
| t5. | Malcolm Sheppard | 36.0 | 4.5 |
| t5. | Caleb Miller | 36.0 | 4.5 |
| t5. | Johnnie Meadors | 36.0 | 4.5 |
| 8. | Steven Conley | 35.0 | 3.5 |
| 9. | Jeb Huckeba | 33.0 | 1.5 |
| 10. | Jamaal Anderson | 32.5 | 1 |
| t11. | Marcus Adair | 32.0 | 0.5 |
| t11. | Dan Hampton | 32.0 | 0.5 |
| 13. | Jerry Franklin | 31.5 |
Arkansas safety Tramain Thomas added a tally to his interception total against Tennessee. The pick moved him into a tie at 6th, 3 behind Steve Atwater. (Notice there are not a lot of recent names on this list.)
| Rank | Player | Int | Diff. |
| 1. | Steve Atwater | 14 | 3 |
| 2. | Gary Adams | 13 | 2 |
| t3. | Orlando Watters | 12 | 1 |
| t3. | Louis Campbell | 12 | 1 |
| t3. | Tommy Trantham | 12 | 1 |
| t6. | Tramain Thomas | 11 | |
| t6. | Anthoney Cooney | 11 | |
| t8. | Charles Washington | 10 | |
| t8. | George Walker | 10 | |
| t8. | Jim Rinehart | 10 | |
| t8. | Louis Schaufele | 10 |
Finally, with the last Little Rock game of the year upon us this week with Mississippi State coming to town, we wanted to leave you with an interesting performance trend.
Arkansas wide receiver Cobi Hamilton may as well be known as the “Mayor of Markham Street”. Check out his career splits between games played at War Memorial Stadium and all other (home and away):
| Rec | Yards | TD | Games | |
|
Total |
||||
| Little Rock | 18 | 508 | 6 | 5 |
| Other | 58 | 874 | 5 | 31 |
|
Average |
||||
| Little Rock | 3.6 | 101.6 | 1.2 | |
| Other | 1.9 | 28.2 | 0.2 | |
Dan Mullen if you are reading this (and we would be shocked if there are any SEC coaches NOT reading Bloghawgs), triple team this guy. Number 3 and #4 are overrated, anyway.
6 Responses to “BlogHawgs Weekly Stat Geek Newsletter”
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Mike Terrell said
Excellent work Brain. But, in an attempt to keep things above board around here, I would like to submit a complaint to the BlogHawgs Complaints Front Man. How can someone be classified as a departmental front man for BlogHawgs without participating in Facebook or Twitter? No link “Shares” and no “Retweets.” Come on man.
Maukavelli said
Not so fast there, Braintower. I have to call into question you raising the issue of defensive scoring as a gauge for this defense. A quick check of the numbers across the league suggests that scoring is DOWN by almost 3.5 points for the season. If adding up all the points scored by all the teams in the SEC, last year’s teams averaged 31.0 points per game. This year, the average is 27.6.
Clearly not an apples to apples comparison, but I’m not so sure I agree with the assertion that this defense is better than last year’s just b/c we’re giving up less points. Yes, we missed Jake and Tank. I’d argue, though, that the entire offensive production of the league is down this year.
And yes, it could be argued that the offensive stats are down this year b/c defenses are better overall (or at least top-heavy with LSU, BAMA, and SC), but I tend to think it’s more that the offenses are worse (See: Ole Miss, SC, KT and FL).
Brain said
Point taken, but if I would have asked you if this year’s D was giving up more or less points per game this year given the fact that scoring is down 3.5 points per game, would you have said less?
Adam Butler said
oooh–a Math Off….
Mike Terrell said
Ummm Brain…a little FYI for a buddy (in the style of Jack Ross warning Daniel Kaffee not to go after Col. Jessep): Mauk is a Doctor.
Lt. Kris Weinboyd said
Yes, and Dr. Mauk eats breakfast one million, five hundred and ten thousand yards from four thousand Cubans who are trained to kill him, so don’t think for a second that anyone can win a math battle against such a decorated, determined, and patriotic American like him.