Bulking up : Purple Dog defense undersized in race of league heavyweights
Posted on Tuesday, September 30, 2008
ANDY SHUPE Northwest Arkansas Times Fayetteville associate head coach and defensive line coach Tony Travis, left, and assistant coach Jeff Carter work with the Dogs ’ defensive line during practice Monday at Harmon Field.
The Fayetteville defense will have to run on heart and guts if the Purple Dogs want to remain in the hunt for a 7 A-West title. Add a recent rash of injuries to a shallow roster of contributors and the Purple Dogs’ task on defense exists as an arduous one in what bodes to be a snug conference race.
Fayetteville defensive coordinator Wendell Harris said Fayetteville’s defensive line has taken the biggest hit. The unit, which Harris said was already undersized, lost the services of its heaviest fulltime starter in last Friday’s disheartening, 31-3 loss at Ben- Fayetteville vs. tonville. Defensive Springdale High tackle Daniel Pelton When: 7: 30 p. m.,
Friday (6-2, 235 ) broke his Where: Jarrell Willeft arm against the liams Bulldog Field, Tigers, leaving an Springdale
Multimedia: Audio already light area on Cox Channel 14 with even less heft. “ That just puts us in an even bigger bind, ” Harris said. “ Lack of depth and size are two critical areas for us on the line and it just got worse. He was our heavy guy on the line and when he was out we had to borrow from the offense to get size. Our injuries don’t just affect the defense, they affect both sides. ”
Dustin Hubble (6-5, 265 ), who moved in at the beginning of the year from Illinois, will take Pelton’s full-time position. But the Purple Dogs still have to rent offensive linemen Colby Berna and Tyler McKey from the offense to help aid their run defense. Fayetteville is surrendering an average of 223. 3 yards rushing per game and 6. 1 yards per carry.
“ Honestly, it comes down to size, ” Harris said. “ When you watch the tape, it just looks like big guys against little guys. ”
When asked what Fayetteville’s defensive line needed to do to boost its production, Harris offered a oneword solution.
“ Grow, ” Harris said. “ Russellville averaged 260 across the offensive front and Bentonville was at least that and we’re maybe 210 on the defensive line soaking wet. I won’t criticize our kids on their effort whatsoever because I thought we gave good effort last Friday. It’s just a matter of when push comes to shove, 260 is going to — more times than not — beat 200. ”
Fayetteville head coach Daryl Patton concurred.
“ Bentonville was bigger, stronger and better than we were up front, ” Patton said. “ They looked like a small college on the line. I really wish we had some guys walking around that looked like that. We are what we are. But we’ve still got to step up and make plays regardless of the situation. ”
While the lack of size has certainly been an issue, Patton said it’s not the only culprit responsible for Fayetteville’s defensive woes. Patton said missed tackles and tardy alignments have combined with the size conundrum to put the Purple Dogs (2-2, 0-1 7 A-West ) in a position to fail.
“ We’re going to break it down even further and rep the heck out of everything we do on defense, ” Patton said. “ They have to understand they have to get lined up immediately and there can’t be any confusion. We’re playing another good offensive team in Springdale and the defense has to do its part. ”
While Fayetteville’s defense allowed 333 yards of total offense against Bentonville (252 yards on the ground ) the Purple Dogs offense wasn’t much help against Bentonville. On the Tigers’ four offensive scoring drives, their average starting field position was the Fayetteville 34.
“ I actually thought we played pretty well except for the last series, ” Harris said. “ Bentonville’s starting field position was pretty good all night. Without a doubt, it would be easier if the offense took the ball down and scored every time. But it doesn’t happen that way and this is a team game. Our job is to stop them wherever they get the ball and it’s unfortunate that we haven’t been able to do that. I know the score doesn’t indicate it, but when I looked at the tape, I thought our kids played very hard against a very good football team. ”
Even the secondary, the Purple Dogs’ strongest area entering the season, failed to escape the injury bug. Senior Alex Miller, a twoyear starter at corner, suffered a dislocated shoulder at Jefferson City, Mo. Miller’s presence was sorely missed in Fayetteville’s 35-21 loss at Russellville in Week 2. Harris said Miller’s shoulder issues will likely end his season.
“ It was a situation where he was going to give it one more shot, ” Harris said. “ We had the conversation with the doctors and he was in a brace but it popped out again. Unfortunately, he’s probably done for the year and that hurts. ”
Russellville picked on Fayetteville’s secondary in Miller’s absence. The Cyclones completed 16 of 23 passes for 221 yards and 2 scoring tosses. And the Bentonville game could have been worse for the pass defense. Bentonville had two wide-open receivers drop would-be touchdown passes on drives in which the Tigers didn’t score.
Patton said J. T. McCormick and receivers Coy Holmes and Kellen Summers will split time at corner to fill the void. But that just taxes an offense that’s already experiencing its own execution problems.
“ Losing a two-year guy at corner is a big loss and that’s going to be tough to overcome, ” Patton said. “ But by no means are we throwing in the towel or giving up on our kids or the defense. I met with our defensive coaches about personnel and schemes and I feel good about the plan. We just want to learn from the last two games and be 100 percent focused on Springdale. ”
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