Arkansas cornerback Ryan Pulley has picked up exactly where he left off following a stellar sophomore season in 2016, but it’s anyone’s guess who the second best player at his position is through two games this season.

Pulley, a redshirt junior, missed most of last season after suffering a pectoral injury in the opener against Florida A&M. Since that time, Pulley has trained and rehabbed, putting everything he has into making a comeback. Many apparently forgot just how good the Florida native is, leaving him off most preseason lists.

In both the Eastern Illinois and Colorado State games, Pulley proved he’s a top-notch defensive back and by far the most talent on Arkansas’ defense. Against EIU, the receiver Pulley covered was targeted only four times and the corner made the play every single time. Last week against CSU, Pulley only allowed a few catches, recording his first interception of the season against K.J. Carta-Samuels.

Outside of Pulley, however, the performance has taken a major dip. Head coach Chad Morris knows what he has in Pulley but will continue to search for his second and third-best cornerbacks.

“We have to continue to develop our depth at the corner position. You know, we’re rotating guys in there. Obviously we know the level of what Ryan Pulley’s playing at right now. Came up with a big interception last week, but we have to continue to develop depth there,” Morris said. “That’s an area, you know, if you’re going to bring pressure, you’re putting a lot of man coverage in there and you’re putting a lot of stress on those guys. So, we have to get that depth right. We have to keep bringing those guys along and we will. It’s some technique issues and we’ll continue to correct the techniques.”

Sophomore Chevin Calloway took over the starting spot opposite Pulley and has shown random flashes but has gotten burnt due to missed assignments far too often. Calloway forced two fumbles against Eastern Illinois but was also beaten badly for two touchdowns. Against CSU, it was more of the same as missed assignments and poor technique allowed receivers to get open against Calloway.

It’s not just Calloway though, as defensive backs Jarques McClellion, Britto Tutt and Nate Dalton have all received snaps and made their fair share of mistakes.

“They all have different skills, and certainly - when we get into SEC play we’re going to see those kinds of receivers every week - but they have pretty special receivers and he made some plays for them. But I’m excited about the way our guys compete and they way they play. Certainly it gets right back down to technique that as coaches we’ve got to do a better job of teaching the fundamentals of technique,” defensive coordinator John Chavis said.

The defense, including the secondary, looked dominant for much of the last game, but the final drive of third quarter until the end of the contest was abysmal execution. The Razorbacks surrendered three touchdown drives and 25 unanswered points, including a 96-yarder that started the comeback.

“I thought we played exceptional defense for the first two and half to almost three quarters. And late third quarter, the drive that started it, we had a couple of busts. We had a ball over our head, which is something you never do,” Morris said. “The fourth quarter drive, the 96-yard drive, we’ve got them third and 3 and the quarterback does a good job, rolls to his right and throws back across his body and finds a receiver that just slips behind. We were in man coverage and just slips behind us for a 4- or 5-yard gain and kept the drive moving. Also on the same drive, we had a penalty. The penalty kept the drive going. Second and long, hands to the face off an incomplete pass. Just gave them some more momentum.”

The aforementioned Calloway was responsible for both the poor eye discipline on the third-down conversion and the hands to the face penalty that kept the CSU drive going.

So far, teams are picking on Calloway and the rest of the Arkansas backup corners, wisely choosing to throw away from Pulley. Through two games, the opponents’ No. 1 receivers -EIU’s Alexander Hollins and CSU’s Preston Williams - have lit up the Hogs for 137 yards and three touchdowns (two on Calloway) and 154 yards and two touchdowns, respectively.

While both of these players are talented, especially Williams who has SEC experience at Tennessee, the Razorbacks will face just as much talent if not more every single week in conference.

If Arkansas wants to compete in the SEC at all, they’re going to have to tighten up the passing defense, learn how to get off the field and figure out what it means to finish games. As for Morris, he’s not here to make excuses for his players.

“I think they played entirely too many snaps in the fourth quarter. There’s no doubt about that. They played too many. As far as being tired, I’m not go make any excuses. That’s an excuse. We didn’t make plays,” Morris said. “Those are things that are on us as coaches, to get these guys fixed and get them corrected. Coach Chavis would tell you the same thing. And that’s the great thing about this. Look, we just lost a football game. That’s what we’ve lost. We’ve got an opportunity to improve this football program. This is a learning opportunity. This isn’t a panic opportunity.”