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Quincy Rhodes has to dominate for Arkansas at Vanderbilt
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- Quincy Rhodes has to dominate for Arkansas at Vanderbilt
(Brett Rojo, Imagn Images)
What we said about the Arkansas-Tennessee game a week ago is essentially what we are going to say about the Hogs-Vanderbilt game: UA needs to make this a low-scoring and ugly game, keeping it close and relieving the offense of the need to do a lot of work. The defense has to carry the workload for the most part. Otis Kirk of Pig Trail Nation and the NWA Home Page gathered quotes from Ryan Silverfield on the need for Quincy Rhodes to be a big dog for the Hogs:
"Yeah, and that was one of those things," Silverfield said. "We talked to Quincy. Obviously, we know the success he's had here in the past, but we talked. There are certain parts of your game that you've got to continue to improve upon, and I challenge him to be better in the run game and do different things, but you got to see him. Hey, let's get that motor playing at a consistently high level. In fact, he broke his all-time speed record. He's 200, I think, 278 pounds on game day. He ran 21.2 miles per hour. That's pretty good. It's the fastest he's ever run, on that fumble recovery. I said, why don't you run 23? You would have scored, and it would have been maybe a different outcome.
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"But you know, Quincy is playing at a high level. He's starting. You hear him starting to talk like the coaches. Hey, this is what we need to get done. This is how, ad he's growing up. He's still a young senior. He's 21-years old, and you get to see the improvement in his play every week. Going to continue to challenge him, to make sure we're gap sound and doing those things, but been pleased and he's fully bought in."
The Arkansas defense was good against Tennessee, forcing three turnovers and generally locking up the Vol offense over the course of 60 minutes. We said "good" because Arkansas was not great. Two Tennessee plays totaling 127 yards in the fourth quarter enabled the Vols to score 14 points and escape Fayetteville with a 24-17 win. Against Vanderbilt, UA needs to hold the Commodores under 20 points, maybe even 17. Quincy Rhodes has to lead the way, and the 11-man defensive unit has to deny the big play. Let's see if that's enough to give Arkansas the win it desperately needs.
