Week 11: Arkansas at Tennessee

Tennessee’s visit to Fayetteville last November was the low point of the Vols’ season. The Razorbacks controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, rushing for 259 yards and allowing only 92 yards on the ground in a surprisingly easy 31–14 win.

And while Houston’s Nutt’s team has had some problems this season, it still does one thing extremely well — run the football. Last week, it was Razorback football at its finest as Arkansas bullied its way to an astonishing 542 yards rushing in a 48–36 win over South Carolina.

UT coach Phillip Fulmer was obviously impressed.

“Arkansas just mauled them,” Fulmer said. “That many rushing yards in a game is not an easy feat by any stretch of the imagination. It goes back to big plays. When you give up big chunks of yards and big plays, it’s a problem.”

Tennessee has had its share of problems stopping the run this season, giving up 230 to Cal, 255 to Florida, 178 to Arkansas State, 171 to South Carolina and 234 to Louisiana-Lafayette. Slowing down Darren McFadden and Felix Jones is obviously the primary concern, but the return of receiver Marcus Monk makes the Hogs a little bit more difficult to defend. Monk has only caught four passes in the two games since his return from injury, but he does have a touchdown reception in each game. When healthy, Monk is one of the best pass-catchers in the SEC.

“That’s the one thing (Marcus) gives you, is that threat of being able to score for you,” Nutt said. “And when they pile up and go one-on-one against him, he’s going to win a majority of the time. We’ve missed that a little bit. He’s such a sure-handed guy. I just like him out there because (the other team) is watching him. They played a little bit more cover-2 at times and I really feel like it’s because of Marcus Monk.”

Tennessee, too, presents some challenges for an opposing defense. With the efficient Erik Ainge running the show, the Vols rank second in the SEC in passing (254.5 ypg) and have shown the ability — when they commit to it — to be effective running the football. Even with LaMarcus Coker no longer around, UT still has plenty of weapons at tailback. Junior Arian Foster has three 100-yard games and has rushed for 89 yards or more in three other games.

This game will come down to the running game. Tennessee must somehow slow down McFadden and Jones enough to force quarterback Casey Dick to make some plays in the passing game. It can be done; Auburn held the Hogs to 67 yards rushing and forced Dick to put the ball in the air 26 times. Tennessee’s defense isn’t as stout as Auburn’s, but the Vols don’t need to hold Arkansas to under 100 yards rushing to win this game.

On the other side of the ball, the Vols must commit to the running game. Foster needs to get the ball 15 to 20 times, and Montario Hardesty must also be involved in the gameplan. This team is too talented in the backfield to be so inconsistent running the ball.

Tennessee by 3