FanPost

Will Arkansas try Wisconsin's "Indy" D vs the Ags?

We all got tired of hearing about how Saban and Smart had months to prepare for the Ags high-flying offense, and we saw how that worked out. But the fact that first Stoops and then Saban, were unable to slow down the Ags despite extra prep time doesn't mean that we've seen all the possible adaptations to counter the Sumlin version of the Air Raid. Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema was something of a mad scientist on the defensive side of the ball at Wisconsin, first as the DC under Alvarez, and later on his own. Look no further than last year's B1G championship game, where the 70-31 final score does not reflect how one-sided the game was. The inability of the Nebraska D to stop the Wisconsin running game is not what is notable about this game. The relevant point for tomorrow is the Indy defense that Bielema used to thwart Taylor Martinez and the Huskers offense.

"I like the sound of the offensive linemen when they are trying to make their protection calls," Borland said. "You can tell they are confused.

Borland was referring to UW's "Indy" package, which generally has been used in obvious passing situations and against mobile quarterbacks.

The package includes four ends - David Gilbert, Pat Muldoon, Tyler Dippel and Brendan Kelly - linebackers Mike Taylor and Borland and five defensive backs.

Two ends, generally Gilbert and Muldoon, split wide in three-point stances.

Meanwhile, Dippel, Kelly, Borland and Taylor are upright and jockeying for position a few yards off the line of scrimmage.

In other words, it looks like a 2-4-5, but 2 of the 4 players in upright stances are DEs. There are no DTs.

In the Rose Bowl, Stanford handled this easily, thanks to both preparation and the unsuitability of the Indy for the Cardinal power running game. I'm sure KDS and Coach McKinney have studied the film from Wisconsin as well as from the few games the Razorbacks have played so far. It will be interesting to see if Bielema uses the Indy vs JFF et al., and how we counter it if he does.

FanPosts are user-submitted, and are not always representative of GBH editorial/staff or any of our opinions. Please don't post spam or self-promotion, because that's not very good bull. Thanks!