By Robbie Neiswanger
Arkansas News Bureau • rneiswanger@arkansasnews.com
FAYETTEVILLE — Safety Matt Harris said there’s no secret to Arkansas’ defensive objective in Little Rock on Saturday.
It doesn’t matter how much the Razorbacks have struggled to slow passing attacks. Or how many receivers have blown by cornerbacks for big plays. Harris said Arkansas’ mission is accomplishing something it simply couldn’t in last year’s loss to Mississippi State — tackling running back Anthony Dixon.
“Ninety percent of their offense, and what we’ve been practicing, has been that run,” Harris said.
“Anthony Dixon does a great job for them. … We’re going to have to swarm this guy and get him down on the ground.”
Mississippi State’s offense has undergone its share of changes in its first year under coach Dan Mullen, but the central figure of the Bulldogs’ attack is very familiar to the Hogs.
Dixon ran through, around and over Arkansas en route to a career-high, 179 yards and a touchdown in MSU’s 31-28 win in Starkville, Miss., last November. He averaged 7.8 yards a carry, including an impressive 63-yard touchdown.
The bruising back left a mark. One that hasn’t worn off this week as Arkansas prepares to deal with Dixon once again.
“He’s a really good looking back,” defensive coordinator Willy Robinson said. “He’s big, he can catch, he can run. He makes yards after contact. He has a great burning desire to be their bell cow. So he’s obviously somebody that we have to control.”
Mississippi State has leaned on Dixon and the ground game this season. The passing attack has struggled, but the Bulldogs are fourth in the SEC and 15th nationally in rushing yards (208.7).
Dixon has 1,082 yards and six, 100-yard games. That includes a school-record 252 rushing yards at Kentucky on Oct. 31.
Arkansas linebacker Jerico Nelson missed last season’s meeting with a knee injury, but knows Dixon’s strength is his size.
“We watched him drag somebody from one 30 into the end zone,” Nelson said Monday. “He’s a very powerful runner.”
Harris remembers it after trying to tackle him last season.
“I’m a good 6-2, 6-3 and I stood up to hit him and he was looking me in the eyes,” Harris said. “He is big.”
But Arkansas also believes Dixon will run into a defense that is bigger, better and more prepared to stop the run.
There’s no doubt the Razorbacks have been much improved this season. There have been blemishes, like Dexter McCluster’s field day four games ago, but Arkansas is tied with Ole Miss for fifth in the SEC in rushing defense (132.1 yards). The Hogs allowed an SEC-high 170.8 rushing yards a game in 2008.
The Razorbacks have done even better against the run during their three-game win streak this month. Arkansas has surrendered 81.3 rushing yards a game during the stretch.
The improvement is obvious. But Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino said the Razorbacks must be ready for Dixon on Saturday.
“We have to do a better job of tackling him this year,” Petrino said. “Tackling him one-on-one and also getting more bodies to the football and flying around and playing with more aggressiveness and more speed. That’s one of the things I was most happy with last week in our game (against Troy).”
