FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Arkansas entered Saturday's contest dead last in the Southeastern Conference in rushing offense, averaging a meager 90.5 yards per game - more than 20 yards fewer than the next-lowest team, Mississippi State.
Apparently, someone forgot to mention that to UF's defense - which entered the game giving up under 90 yards per game - as Razorbacks running back Michael Smith proceeded to plow over, under and through the Gators. Although the defense only allowed one score in the 38-7 UF win, the Razorbacks went for it on fourth down several times deep in the Gators territory instead of kicking a field goal.
Smith ran for 133 of Arkansas' 141 (149)yards on the ground and at times looked like the vaunted NFL running backs Darren McFadden and Felix Jones whom he is attempting to replace.
"Their tailback is a heck of a player," UF coach Urban Meyer said. "He's third or fourth in the SEC in rushing, and you can tell why."
Smith is actually the fifth leading rusher, but you get the point.
It was the second week in a row that UF's defense, which looked solid in its first three games, was repeatedly gashed on the ground.
"We're far from a finished product," Meyer said. "But that's what happens in college football."
The Gators were also a rather unappealing product for long stretches of the contest as they allowed the most deceptive 7 points possible.
Arkansas easily moved the ball down the field throughout the game with a combination of Smith runs and crossing routes that UF didn't seem to figure out until late in the second half, but the Razorbacks were unable to get the ball into the end zone.
They finished with 361 yards of total offense.
"Not a lot of points but a lot of yards," said UF cornerback Joe Haden, who had one interception. "We've got to work on that a lot.
'We don't want that at all, but if they happen to get into the red zone, our defense knows it has to step up."
With LSU heading to Gainesville next week, there isn't a lot of time to work out the kinks. Though Haden feels that the quick running backs the Gators have faced the last few weeks are more of a challenge than the power running attack that Charles Scott, who leads the SEC in rush yards per game, and the Tigers employ.
"Those shifty backs are kind of bad for us right now," Haden said. "The bigger, stronger running backs are little easier to see and a little easier to tackle."
All four of UF's victories have come by at least three touchdowns, but with the spurts of brilliance sprinkled in between the long stretches of mediocrity, it's hard to get a handle on how good the Gators may be.
