Arkansas, Texas A&M must shed Achilles heel to compete for SEC West

Arkansas and Texas A&M are different in a number of ways, mainly due to their head coaches’ philosophies and personalities. However, they do share a few similarities.

They’ve both named their starting quarterbacks already and both have high expectations, one because he’s succeeding his older brother who was drafted less than a month ago and the other because, well, he had a good game against Alabama.

They both have what should be a productive crop of receivers and defensive lines that should be able to get to the quarterback.

The two schools from bordering states are also coming off 8-5 seasons.

The Razorbacks have improved each year under Bret Bielema, going 3-9 in 2013 and 7-6 in 2014 before enjoying their best season since 2011. The Aggies have regressed under Kevin Sumlin, going 8-5 each of the last two seasons after going 11-2 in 2012 and 9-4 in 2013.

Still, there’s promise for both programs entering 2016, but neither will take the next step without fixing its Achilles heel.

TEXAS A&M’S RUN DEFENSE

The 12th Man has gotten accustomed to seeing opposing teams pull into College Station and train right on through the Texas A&M defense on the ground.

A look at how the team has fared against the run can make you cringe: 14th in the SEC in 2013, 14th in 2014 and 13th in 2013. If that isn’t enough to tell the story, here’s a deeper look at the numbers when comparing them to SEC West champions since the turn of the century. After all, that’s the goal, right?

Rushing defense

The Aggies have allowed 22 100-yard rushers in the 39 games over that three-year span. The only SEC school to allow more is South Carolina with 24.

What became a problem for Texas A&M in Dennis Franchione’s regime continued until Mike Sherman’s last two seasons in College Station, coincidentally the program’s final two before joining the SEC. The Aggies led the Big 12 at stopping the run in 2010 (130.2) and was second in 2011 although doing even better statistically (101.9).

That effort in 2011 — the last before joining the SEC — was Texas A&M’s best since 1995, smack in the middle of R.C. Slocum’s 14-year tenure.

The Aggies have slipped considerably in recent years, so can they fix this?

Entering Year 2 as defensive coordinator, John Chavis has guaranteed that the team will be better in that department than it was in his first season guiding the defense.

Here’s what he had to say May 16 on TexAgs radio when asked what the team’s biggest improvement on that side of the ball will be.

“There’s no question it’s going to be our run defense,” he said. “We worked hard on that during spring practice. Some of it has to do with personnel, which we feel really good about. There’s one of those guarantees that I’m going to make; I’m going to guarantee that we’re going to play a lot better run defense than we did last year.”

In 2015, Texas A&M allowed 213.7 yards on the ground per game, but that average skyrockets to a scary 270 in the Aggies’ five losses.

The defensive line should be stout with DEs Myles Garrett and Daeshon Hall along with Zaycoven Henderson and Daylon Mack on the interior.

However, there are some question marks in the linebacking corps. The team’s depth chart for the spring game had sophomore Otaro Alaka in the middle. Senior Shaan Washington and sophomore Dwaine Thomas were on the outside.

Alaka had a solid freshman season but only played in three games as a sophomore. He was healthy all spring after suffering a season-ending shoulder injury last season, which is great news. Washington should be solid and the leader of the group. Thomas saw limited action as a freshman.

Richard Moore is listed right behind Thomas on the right side, and the team is expecting a lot from him after he showed potential towards the end of 2015 as a freshman.

We’ll see if the team turns the corner against the run in 2016.

ARKANSAS’ PASS DEFENSE

Arkansas’ problems are in pass defense as the team has simply not been able to keep the cap on the bottle in the back end.

The Razorbacks have ranked 10th or worse among SEC teams in pass defense in six of the last eight seasons dating back to 2008. The only two years the Hogs weren’t among the conference’s worst at defending the air was 2010 and 2014.

Arkansas has given up more passing yards per game over that stretch than any SEC team at 228.2, according to sports-reference.com.

The Hogs took what they feel to be a major step to solve the issue by hiring Paul Rhoads to coach defensive backs. He had spent the previous seven seasons as Iowa State’s head coach.

Having a coach with his credentials as a position coach was an impressive get for Arkansas.

Rhoads has mentored six defensive backs that have been taken in the NFL Draft, highlighted by seven-time Pro Bowl selection and 2009 AFC Defensive Player of the Year Darrelle Revis.

Revis was selected No. 14 overall by the New York Jets in 2007 after playing under Rhoads when he was Pittsburgh’s defensive coordinator.

Here’s what Bielema said on ESPN Radio back on March 31 as he’s clearly excited about how Rhoads can help.

“I think we have taken a good step forward … We return nine of 11 (starters). I tell you another great benefit for me is I was able to hire (defensive backs coach) Paul Rhoads … He’s brought that secondary playing in a way that, I believe yesterday during practice we had our hands on seven different balls during a short practice, which is kind of an amazing number … I know our guys have a lot of defensive pride, and I’m really looking for that group to hopefully be a strength of our team.”

That’s a tall task for the entire defense, which allowed 53 completions of 20-plus yards and 24 of the 30-yard variety, both SEC-highs.

Fans in Fayetteville have plenty to be excited about with their defensive line, which features senior DE Deatrich Wise and another pair of seniors at tackle with Jeremiah Ledbetter and Taiwan Johnson. Meanwhile, five-star DE McTelvin Agim has progressed nicely in the spring.

However, the defensive backs are still a concern. As Bielema mentioned, the team returns nine of 11 starters with safety Rohan Gaines the only major contributor being lost.

Still, senior CBs Jared Collins and DJ Dean as well as junior safety Josh Liddell and the rest of the group have lots to prove.