Taylen Green of the Arkansas Razorbacks might be able to breathe easy in the backfield against Vols

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Two quarterbacks currently on opposite ends of the spectrum will face off Saturday night at Razorback Stadium with Tennessee's undefeated season on the line.

Volunteers' star quarterback Nico Iamaleava was on top of his game for most of the season, as the redshirt freshman completed 61 of 88 passes for 892 yards, seven touchdowns and two interceptions. The 6-foot-1, 220-pound passer has benefited from a dominant running game, averaging 290 yards per game, which leads the SEC and is No. 4 nationally.

Since starting brightly against FCS Chattanooga, passing for 314 yards in the first half, Iamaleava hasn't been nearly as efficient. He did not pass for more than 211 yards in a game while facing a pass from the Razorbacks. The defense ranks 9th in league play, giving up 224 yards per game.

“(Nico Iamaleava) is really good, mature,” Arkansas coach Sam Pittman said Monday. “It’s just like Marcel Reed. Reed did what he had to do. He didn’t turn the football over. I'm not comparing them, I'm saying Nico is that – he does what he had to do. He has a lot of opportunities to shine in his offense, he doesn't make mistakes and then he does it at a high, high level. He's scary because he won't make mistakes and he'll execute the offense perfectly. Such a young guy, he's just really impressive.

Pittman mentioned that Oklahoma coach Brent Venables implemented an impressive game plan that slowed the Volunteers' buzzing offensive attack. The Sooners' defense limited Tennessee to 25 points and two touchdowns two weeks ago in Norman after previously averaging nearly 64 points per game.

“I thought it was a great game plan, but like I said, when Tennessee was up there, their primary focus was running the football,” Pittman said. “They were ahead. They thought their defense played well. I think Oklahoma struggled a little bit on offense, and a lot of that was because Tennessee is really good on defense. Yes, there are certainly things that we've looked at with Coach Venables and his staff that he's done there are fascinating.

A large part of Oklahoma's game plan was to make Iamaleava uncomfortable and out of rhythm in the passing game. In 25 pressured dropbacks this season, he has completed just 4 of 11 passes for 37 yards and interceptions, as well as five sacks.

The Razorbacks are a disruptive force when they manage to come away with 10 sacks and 26 tackles for a loss. The plan against the Aggies' Marcel Reed was to put pressure on him to moderate the success with three sacks but only one rush.

Arkansas' quarterback situation isn't great due to Taylen Green's lack of confidence. Pittman and offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino need to figure out exactly what Green needs or it could be another long night at home.

“I think we were under so much pressure that we have a lot of problems, we have a confidence problem,” Pittman said. “We have a quarterback who is not confident. There are times when he can stay in the pocket when one is there. There are times when he stays in the pocket and gets hit. So probably in between. And we tried a lot of quick passes.” Game too.”

There may be an opportunity for Green to get a little more time in the pocket compared to recent weeks since Tennessee isn't getting to the quarterback as often. The Volunteers front has recorded just seven sacks this season (No. 15 SEC) but has been active with 31 tackles for loss (No. 7 SEC).

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