By Robbie Neiswanger
Arkansas News Bureau • rneiswanger@arkansasnews.com
FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas cornerback Ramon Broadway blamed himself Wednesday, saying the defense’s enthusiasm wasn’t where it needed to be at Auburn.
Defensive end Jake Bequette said he was at fault, too, pointing to an “invisible” day on the stat sheet as a sign he didn’t show up and do his job.
Up and down Arkansas’ defense, players shouldered their share of responsibility for the colossal embarrassment that came in the 65-43 loss at Auburn last Saturday. It was the type of performance that led to some soul searching in the hours after the loss.
But as No. 21 Arkansas (4-2, 1-2 in Southeastern Conference) prepares for Ole Miss (3-3, 1-2) on Saturday, the group insists it won’t happen again.
“We took it personally,” Broadway said. “It was a hard loss. But the only way you make people forget about it is you go out and do something about it.”
Arkansas’ defense – which had convinced so many it was a much-improved unit through five games — is back at work determined to show its inability to stop Auburn was nothing more than an anomaly last Saturday.
Sure, the final tally can’t be pinned solely on the defense alone. Special teams and offensive turnovers played a big role in Auburn’s avalanche of points. But defensive coordinator Willy Robinson wasn’t making excuses Wednesday night as the Razorbacks continued to pick up the pieces.
“That’s all on us,” Robinson said. “That’s nothing that happened with the offense or the officials. We didn’t step up to the plate Saturday. That was unlike us this year. That’s not how we played in the past.”
Arkansas simply had no answer for Auburn quarterback Cam Newton. The Tigers scored on seven straight possessions at one point, finding ways to move downfield with ease thanks to Newton’s talents.
That was before the fourth quarter, when Auburn scored touchdowns on three straight possessions — two set up by Arkansas turnovers — to secure the win.
Auburn finished with 330 rushing yards, which is the most Arkansas has allowed this season. The 65 points was the third most the Razorbacks have ever allowed.
“That was an unusual performance for us this year,” Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino said Monday.
“The things we had been doing very good on defense was executing the play called very well, utilizing our technique within it and playing real fast. And we didn’t do that. It was kind of like the week before our offense against A&M. We were hesitant and not doing things the way we have done them all year long.”
Broadway, Bequette and linebacker Jerry Franklin had no explanation for why the performance went sour against Auburn in a game with so much at stake.
But Arkansas spent time talking about everything that happened at every position afterward, including the enormous amount of missed tackles. The Razorbacks looked to team leaders, too, during a Monday meeting that helped them move on from the embarrassment.
“It’s a loss and it hurts the whole team, especially the defense, in that manner that we gave up so many points,” said Franklin, who, along with Broadway and Bequette, is a defensive captain. “We are just trying to get back and ready for the season. We felt it was very uncharacteristic giving up so many points.”
Robinson said Arkansas has responded in practice the past two days, something he’s hopes will carry over.
The Razorbacks will face an offense led by another talented player in Jeremiah Masoli. The former Oregon quarterback is much smaller than Newton, but has made plenty of plays with his feet throughout his career.
Ole Miss — despite its problems this season — is averaging 32.7 points and 393.3 yards a game. That includes a rushing offense averaging 215.5 yards.
It’s no surprise the Rebels, who struggled against Alabama, are confident they can move the ball against the Razorbacks after watching Auburn’s success.
“I just feel like we’re going to go out there and try to do what we’ve always done before the Alabama game, which is score 40 points a game. Just try to execute,” receiver Melvin Harris told the Ole Miss media earlier this week. “I give credit to Auburn’s offense, though, for putting that many points up on the board.”
Broadway said Auburn deserved plenty of credit, too, for roughing up the Razorbacks.
Arkansas, which ranked 13th in the nation in scoring defense (15 points) entering the game, now ranks 56th (23.3). After being 19th in total defense (302.4 yards), the Razorbacks now stand 32nd (330.3).
It was a bad performance. But Arkansas is determined to prove it won’t be the norm the rest of the year.
“The one thing, how you make everybody forget, the critics forget about what happened last week, is you go out and put on a lights out performance,” Broadway said. “You go and ball out. You go show the world that that wasn’t the team that you saw a few weeks ago.”
Saturday’s Ticket
Ole Miss (3-3, 1-2 in SEC) at No. 21 Arkansas (4-2, 1-2 in SEC)
When: 11:21 a.m.
Where: Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville
TV: SEC Network
Radio: Razorback Sports Network
Satellite Radio: Sirius (Ch. 220), XM (Ch. 200)
Series Record: Arkansas leads 29-26-1
Last Meeting: Ole Miss 30, Arkansas 17 in 2009
Coaches: Arkansas — Bobby Petrino (17-14 in third season); Ole Miss — Houston Nutt (21-11 in third season)
