Arkansas' defense was not impressive in their loss against Auburn. In the second half it was as if there was no secondary and tackling was abysmal, but the coaches aren't about panic. They know they can improve.
"You work on it in practice and emphasize what you're trying to get done," linebackers coach Randy Shannon said. "The more you emphasize those things and guys understand that missed tackles come from doing things you're not supposed to do."
"We have to be aggressive in going to play the ball," secondary coach Clay Jennings said. "We can't lack any confidence when we pull the trigger, we've got to go get it done."
Coaches will say teams make the most improvement from game one to game two and the players believe that.
"He's saying that game one is in the past and we make our improvements," senior defensive end Trey Flowers said. "I see a lot of guys that are really trying to improve."
"Small things lead to big things and we tell from watching the film from last weekend," senior linebacker Martrell Spaight. "We've really been emphasizing being precise in our details, being precise, being precise and going out and executing."
It was easy to see the players start to hang their heads in the second half and fixing that starts from within.
"I feel like the offense and defense have to feed off each other and the sideline as well," redshirt freshman defensive end Tevin Beanum said. "The backups that are on the field have to maintain that passion and that fire especially when it gets in the tough situation."
More than anything, the Hogs need a win to regain their confidence and no better team to beat than Nicholls State.