[Tuck4Bama]

On the surface, giving up 148. 8 yards of rushing a game doesn't sound that bad. It's certainly not great, but at first glance, it doesn't seem crippling, either.

But going into the Arkansas Razorbacks' fifth game of the season, it has to concern head coach Houston Nutt and defensive coordinator Reggie Herring.

The Razorbacks are ranked eighth in the SEC in rushing defense and 10 th in total and scoring defense. By contrast, LSU is tops in the league at stopping the run - allowing opponents a paltry 39. 0 yards per game - and is No. 1 in defense overall.

Again, the amount of yardage isn't necessarily the big deal. Stats are for losers, but what should be of prime concern is that when the Razorbacks' two SEC opponents wanted and needed to rush the football, the Hogs weren't able to effectively stop them. Alabama only rushed for 123 yards on the Hogs, but tailback Terry Grant was effective enough on first and second down to keep the Crimson Tide out of tough third-down situations and most importantly to sell the play-action that quarterback John Parker Wilson used so effectively to pick Arkansas' secondary apart in a 41-38 Tide victory.

The following week, Kentucky struggled running the football in the first half, but in the second half the Wildcats found their way to muscle the Hogs for a total of 170 rushing yards for the game.

KNOCK ON WOOD : Improving rushing defense key to improving Razorbacks’ record