Tye & Tommy on the scrimmage, Clay on standout Hogs, weird food combos plus Tom Murphy!
Photos by Razorbacks’ practice Labor Day ahead of new work week
Arkansas coach Sam Pittman said Friday this was going to be another work week and it got started on the practice fields and here are some of the faces in fall camp.
Photos by Arkansas Communications
SIGHTS & SOUNDS: Razorbacks spend Labor Day on practice field in Fayetteville
Here’s a look at what it looked and sounded like at Arkansas’ practice Monday afternoon as fall camp workouts resume.
Having better team – but not record – could actually be true this year
Decades ago, it was fairly easy for a youngster to pick up a phrase some coaches would use in the preseason that was usually laying the groundwork for bad news.
Back in the hot summer of 2008 while on the summer media circuit around the SEC in Starkville, Mississippi, I was trying to get Sylvester Croom to admit the Bulldogs had pulled a couple of fortunate wins the year before in an 8-5 season.
Narrow wins over Auburn, Alabama and Ole Miss left anyone who saw those games scratching their heads. A couple even looked to the heavens after the games ended.
Crom wasn’t buying into the luck angle (although he did struggle to come up with an answer for the miracle comeback against the Rebels). Croom used all the typical clichés we hear from coaches, so I took a little different route, asking him how good the 2008 team could be.
“We might have a better team, but the record might not be as good,” he told me.
That ended up being 4-8 and a housecleaning to make way for Dan Mullen.
Fast-forward 12 years and Arkansas coach Sam Pittman could say the same thing but in a year unlike anything ever seen in college football with everything going on it could be a valid argument.
Not that he’ll make it. I doubt it’s really a fair question since he wasn’t responsible for a 4-20 record the past couple of years.
Pittman won’t get the advantage of playing some tune-up games like have always been on the schedule. The best thing the SEC could do, in my opinion, is make 10 league games mandatory going forward with only a couple of Power 5 opponents there but they probably won’t do that.
Nobody has a clue what’s going to happen this year. Teams are basically one frat party away every week from having to start mostly players that were playing high school ball last year.
Making a season projection on this unusual year is virtually impossible. It will be a week-to-week thing.
For years it’s been pretty clear to play for a championship you’ve got to have about 40 really good players. If you still think it’s about putting 11 guys out there on each side and hanging on, well, that doesn’t happen anymore.
That’s the biggest problem for the Razorbacks now … assuming, of course, they get a coaching staff that actually has a clue how to deal with adults that aren’t in high school.
You get the idea Pittman knows it, which is why the second and third teams have seen so much action in the two scrimmages.
The flip side to all this is a 2-8 record THIS year will be massive progress, regardless how you want to look at it.
That’s more SEC wins than the last three seasons COMBINED, which tells you exactly how deep the ditch Hogs football has sailed into since the day after Thanksgiving in 2016.
Pittman and the fans know all this.
Which is why a two-win season this year would be a big step forward.
And could show a better team.
Peters makes ‘unselfish’ decision to make switch to left tackle for Eagles
Former Arkansas player Jason Peters’ team-first attitude is nothing new to Hog fans but everybody covering the NFL seemed a little surprised at his decision over the holiday weekend.
“Jason Peters came into my office this morning and he has decided to slide over to left tackle,” Philadelphia coach Doug Pederson said Monday. “This is the unselfishness [of Peters]. This is who he is. He sacrifices not only his body but for the football team. … I’m thrilled to death.”
He was expected to play right guard, but has put together a career over 16 seasons that should land the former Razorback in the Hall of Fame … if he ever quits playing.
A league source told ESPN that Peters’ contract has not been reworked as of yet and added Peters made the move because he cares about the team.
He signed a one-year, $3 million deal this offseason to play guard after Brandon Brooks was lost to an Achilles injury. The contract is worth up to $6 million in incentives but does not include language related to moving to tackle.
Quarterback Carson Wentz was glad to see the guy moving there that’s protected his blindside nearly his entire time with the Eagles.
“We call him The Bodyguard for a reason,” Wentz told ESPN. “He’s been the guy out there and done a great job.”
Philadelphia lost 2019 first-round pick Andre Dillard for the season with a torn biceps in late August. But Peters remained at right guard in practice and wanted a pay raise before making the move, according to sources.
Defense reminds us they can make plays … at least against Hogs’ offense
You can chalk it up to an interesting combination of changing rules in college football and an apparent lack of interest, but Arkansas’ defense hasn’t exactly garnered headlines in awhile.
They did in Friday’s second scrimmage of fall camp that capped off an apparent strong week in what Sam Pittman has called “a work week.”
“Our defense played much better this week, much harder,” he said later. “It seemed like they were in better shape than they were a week ago.”
Of course we have no way of knowing if the defense made strides to be ready for a 10-game SEC schedule or not because it was against the Hogs’ offense that has been sputtering along like a car running on half the cylinders.
But it’s really the first time in this camp we’ve heard the defense had the upper hand.
“You’d probably be more concerned if one side won a scrimmage every single time,” Pittman said. “It’s like in life, people pat you on the back and you get complacent. I’m not saying we did that on offense but certainly we weren’t the same offense we were a week ago … nor was the defense the same it was a week ago.”
He probably didn’t know the exact details until after watching the video.
“Any time you improve you have to feel good about one side but is there concern about us holding onto the ball?” Pittman said. “Absolutely.”
We were warned before the press conference started the scrimmage was one-sided and defensive coordinator Barry Odom got some revenge.
That was confirmed by Pittman when we got the numbers. Granted, they were quick-whistling the offense, but still it is something positive for a defense that hasn’t had a lot of bright spots for a few years.
Senior end Dorian Gerald and redshirt freshman end Eric Gregory had what were called “touch sacks.”
Junior cornerback Jarques McClellion, sophomore walk-no Simeon Blair and true freshman Nick Turner each had interceptions.
Junior safety Joseph Foucha forced a fumble, and sophomore Jalen Catalon recovered it. Catalon also had a tackle for loss, and so did senior linebacker Don Edwards.
“All I know is Joe came and hit it and the ball is on the ground and I rolled over and got it,” Catalon said. “I can’t really remember who was running it or what happened or anything like that, but I just know that Joe made a big hit and the ball is on the ground, and I just recovered it.”
That as the closest we got details on, but it was a positive for a side of the ball fans complain about a lot but is often over-shadowed by scoring points.
“It was a really good play for the defense, and Joe brought the boom, and I recovered the ball,” Catalon said.
On offense, Rakeem Boyd was “extremely” limited and Feleipe Franks obviously wasn’t going to be getting racked up by defenders.
Still, the offense knew it wasn’t a great day for them.
“We just knew that we didn’t play to the max of our potential,” wide receiver Trey Knox said. “We didn’t have a good day as a unit. The defense got after us, as I said earlier, and we just knew we had to make strides.”
It wasn’t hard to tell Pittman wasn’t happy with the offense. Despite liking what he saw with the improvement in the defense.
Which, of course, is the way things go in fall camp.
Scrimmage Sights & Sounds: Arkansas’ defense dominates the offense on Friday
In what is likely the final scrimmage of fall camp, the Hogs’ defense stepped up and dominated the day and this is what it looked and sounded like.
Pittman on defense stepping up with big day in final scrimmage of fall camp
Hogs coach Sam Pittman wasn’t real pleased with the offense’s performance in Friday scrimmage, but liked what he saw from defense.
Knox compares himself with fellow receiver Burks on similarities, differences
Razorbacks wide receiver Trey Knox talked about what he has in common with Treylon Burks and where they are different.
Catalon on defense’s performance in Friday’s weather-shortened scrimmage
Arkansas defensive back Jalen Catalon talked with the media Friday evening after a scrimmage that was dominated by the defense.
