Hogs’ left tackle Myron Cunningham with the media after practice Monday on putting on some weight, settling in at his position.
O’Gara on strange first football poll including teams not playing this year
Saturday Down South’s Connor O’Gara found some of the teams in the first college football polls strange since they’ve already cancelled their seasons, he told Phil Elson, Matt Jenkins and Matt Travis (Halftime) on ESPN Arkansas on Monday afternoon.
Bud Light Seltzer Morning Rush Podcast – Pay cuts on the hill, Morris/Pitt and catfising
Tye & Tommy on pay cuts within the U of A athletic dept, Pittman>Morris and catfishing!
Briles doesn’t want offense to go fast, but to be at complete warp speed
It’s easy to get the idea from some coaches much more familiar with Kendal Briles’ offensive goals than any of us in Arkansas that we were wrong.
We were under the impression his offense is to go fast. I mean, that’s what we took from his comments about wanting tempo.
The term used by coaches that have faced it is warp speed. In other words they want to go much faster than anything Razorback fans have seen or even heard previous coaches wish they could have.
When it works it will be faster than anything the SEC has ever seen. It makes Gus Malzahn’s fastest tempo almost look like they were forming a huddle between plays.
It makes Briles’ offenses difficult to defend because, well, he believes a tired offense has an advantage over a tired defense and when it’s rolling he’s not substituting.
“He might have a wide receiver in the game that is ready to pass out but he is staying in the ballgame so the defense can’t substitute,” former Houston running backs coach Kenny Pope said in an interview last year.
The key, like any other tempo offense, is getting first downs but it’s also about a mind-set. Some other coaches who used to run a lot of tempo have slowed down considerably. They out-think themselves.
Following the traditional thinking of keeping players fresh means the defense also gets a chance to move guys around and substitute to keep their guys fresh, too.
Briles will move guys around and if he catches a defensive back on the wrong side of the field he’s going to keep things going to that side as fast as possible as long as possible.
It comes down to execution, which is why if you think there’s a real competition at the quarterback spot for the Hogs you are probably completely off base.
To have any hope of doing anything he wants with the offense early, Briles is going to need a quarterback that can make really fast decisions and have the confidence he knows enough to make it work even if that’s not the best decision.
Feleipe Franks is the only one on the roster that’s shown he can make those decisions sucessfully on the fly.
The previous coaching staff may have WANTED to go fast but couldn’t figure out how to get off the starting blocks. Part of that was bashing any confidence at the quarterback spot, going with eight different people over two season.
Earlier in the year at our first meeting with the assistant coaches, it was pointed out to Briles the previous staff had only managed to get about 30% of their offense installed.
He came about as close to a smirk as one can get without a positive identification of such facial expression.
“We’ll have the offense installed,” he said with a hint of a smile. He didn’t know then about all the virtual teaching that would follow due to the coronavirus.
If the Hogs’ new offense has any type of success we may discover the virtual teaching the coaches were forced to endure had a hand in it. The players we have spoken to feel more confident in their knowledge of what’s wanted.
Now they just have to make it happen on the field and in the SEC where Briles has never coached before.
And if they do, fans better buckle up because you’ve never seen an offense go at a pace like Briles wants to go.
Photos from Razorbacks third day of fall camp practice Friday
Here are photos from the Hogs’ Day 3 of fall camp Friday before getting set to take the weekend off before resuming practices next week.
Photos by Arkansas Communications
PRACTICE DAY 3: Sights, sounds from Razorbacks’ fall camp on Friday
Look at the sights and sounds from the third day of fall camp Friday as Arkansas football continues to get ready to open the season Sept. 26 at home against Georgia.
Holt on Hogs’ athletes being safer together than getting around students
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette writer Bob Holt tells Phil Elson, Matt Jenkins and Matt Travis on Halftime that the players feel safer around the football program than out and about.
Halftime Pod Presented By Jeff’s Clubhouse — August 21, 2020
Phil and Smackdown wrap up the week with a great edition of Halftime, including where Felipe Franks lands in the national QB rankings, where Phil needs to hike this weekend, and much more. Also, we really missed our pal Matty T today.
ESPN’s Cubelic joins groups looking for big things from Hogs’ Burks this year
For a guy that didn’t make it into the end zone as a freshman, Arkansas’ Treylon Burks is a guy expected to be there on a regular basis as a sophomore.
Former Auburn offensive lineman ESPN’s Cole Cubelic, who also co-hosts a daily show at WJOX in Birmingham, Alabama, is in that group, too.
“He’s got legit juice,” Cubelic said Friday morning with Tye Richardson and Tommy Craft (The Morning Rush) on ESPN Arkansas. “He’s a guy that can get over the top, hurt you in the open field, really good hands, good route-runner.”
Over the summer, Cubelic listed Burks as his breakout player in the league, that has some pretty good players in it already.
“There’s a bunch of good receivers in this league,” Cubelic said. “But (Burks) is one that because of the team he plays on probably doesn’t get enough attention. For me, when you talk about guys that know how to separate, be different and offer something extra you’ve got to have explosiveness and that’s what I see with him.”
So do his teammates. Cornerback Montaric Brown sees him up close in practice every day.
“He can do anything,” Brown said after practice Wednesday. “He has speed, power, and he can just run by you. Even though he’s like 230, he can run by you. He’s got all the weapons. He’s built like an NFL receiver, to me. He can do anything.”
Cubelic sees it in his work with ESPN where he’s comparing players from all across the college football landscape.
“He’s a guy who has elite explosive ability,” Cubelic said. “I think they’re going to find ways to utilize that and he’s going to have a big year.”
That’s the plan for Sam Pittman and we got the idea from him last week Burks is going to be on just about every special team where he’s “dynamic.”
“He’s talented enough to be the No. 1 receiver on several teams,” Pittman said. “We’ve got to find ways to get the ball to him, whether it’s throwing it to him, running him out of the backfield, throwing quick swings to him.
“He’s a big, fast receiver that we need to get touches to him.”
Last year five different quarterbacks never could quit figure out how to get to the ball to Burks consistently. Even the multi-talented receiver from Warren took a snap at quarterback in the Wild Hog formation.
Feleipe Franks has the experience and arm to get the ball to him, even though new offensive coordinator Kendal Briles is bringing in a new system but he’s betting they make it work.
“No. 1 things can be simplified,” Cubelic said. “There’s a lot of, ‘hey, we get a one-on-on we’re throwing the deep ball,’ it’s just that easy. You’re going into the season with a guy that knows the speed of the game, knows what it’s about.
“When you’re talking about stretching the field — obviously we’ve seen that pass he threw at the end against Tennessee rolling to his right and throwing it 74 yards — the guy’s got the arm to stretch ANY defense anywhere. Those shots are going to be taken.”
But Cubelic remembers what Franks’ former coach Dan Mullen told him a couple of years ago.
“They were completely excited about the way he could run and what kind of runner he could be,” Cubelic said. “It’s an added experience you can utilize and maybe something you can use but his experience is going to be big.”
It comes down to the pieces falling into place.
“(Franks) has every bit of the talent to be a big time quarterback in this league,” Cubelic said. “He’s just got to have that moment like Jason Campbell at Auburn did (in 2004 taking the Tigers to a perfect season) and when that happens he’s got a chance to really take off.”
New offensive coordinator Kendal Briles is part of that. Having guys catching the ball is another.
All of which is why Cubelic thinks Burks could really break out this year.
Just like Hog fans are hoping.
Bud Light Seltzer Morning Rush Podcast – Sold a bill of goods, betting on AR, Cole Cubelic
Tye & Tommy on buying the wrong Razorback stock, Cole Cubelic joins and more!
