Arkansas’ big play tendency could test Tiger secondary

Former Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett picked apart LSU's secondary when the two teams met last season, throwing three touchdowns with two totaling more than 80 yards apiece.

Though the Razorbacks' signal caller has changed — junior Tyler Wilson has replaced Mallett, who departed for the NFL — the big play tendency of the Arkansas offense has not.

Wilson leads the Southeastern Conference with 3,215 passing yards. Three Arkansas receivers rank in the top 10 of the conference in receiving yards, and the Razorbacks have thrown nine touchdowns longer than 20 yards this season.

"I'm just looking forward to the challenge that they're going to be throwing our way," said senior cornerback Ron Brooks. "We know they're one of the top passing offenses in the country. I personally take that as a challenge to go out there and play well against those guys."

Senior safety Brandon Taylor watched last year's game from home while recovering from a season-ending foot injury. He said he noticed the secondary made too many mistakes in 2010 and added the coaches have stressed perfection in coverage and tackling in order to prevent another defeat.

"We just have to win our one-on-one battles and get a great pass rush," Taylor said. "Everything has to be on point this week. You can't make the slightest mistake against them because their receivers have great hands and make all types of difficult catches."

The LSU secondary has made few mistakes this year. The Tigers have allowed the third fewest passing yards in the SEC and have only surrendered five touchdowns through the air.

LSU did struggle against West Virginia quarterback Geno Smith, who threw for 463 yards against the Tigers on Sept. 24, but Taylor said the Arkansas passing attack provides a different challenge.

Whereas the Mountaineers relied on short passes, Taylor said the Razorbacks have a more vertical passing attack.

"We'll probably have to do a lot of man coverage to get our blitzes in," Taylor said. "But if we have to go to zone, that will work too."

Injuries at the safety position could limit how the secondary operates against Arkansas. Sophomore Craig Loston missed last week's game against Ole Miss, and sophomore Eric Reid left in the first quarter with a leg injury.

LSU coach Les Miles expects both players to return against Arkansas but showed faith in the backups.

"We're certainly concerned about big plays in any secondary," Miles said. "We think that our guys will be back. We're not concerned about the lack of experience there in any way."

The number of successful Arkansas wide receivers will force the Tigers to utilize packages with as many as six defensive backs, Brooks said. But when asked if he was concerned with facing four or five capable wide receivers, Brooks gave a simple response.

"Yeah," Brooks said. "But we've got four or five [defensive backs]."

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Contact Hunter Paniagua at hpaniagua@lsureveille.com