Tye & Tommy on Sam Pittman’s comments, Field of Dreams Game, #NationalFiletMignonDay and more!
Hogs bigger, but appear to be adding backfield speed as well
For several years, coaches have wanted Arkansas to be bigger and faster. That last part hasn’t caught much attention.
One former coach wanted big guys. Another was looking for speed.
For whatever reason, nobody could get everything on the same page at the same time and the results showed a dramatic decline with no SEC wins before getting three last year.
The line has gotten bigger with reports of an average of over 30 pounds of muscle weight increase per player.
Josh Oglesby and AJ Green alone make the backfield faster.
Originally coming to Arkansas as a track athlete, Oglesby started with football last year, was injured and never really got things squared away.
“He’s showing flashes of a real running back now,” wide receiver Tyson Morris said Thursday afternoon about Oglesby. “:ast year he was just kind of getting his feet wet being in the backfield and being out here with bigger guys.
“Guys are way bigger out there on that field than they are on the track, so I feel like he’s showing real good flashes. He’s hitting the hole way faster. More confident now.”
Pittman has noticed Oglesby’s improvement, too.
“He’s a willing blocker in pass protection,” Pittman said. “He’s 10.3, and the thing with him is we wanted to see 10.3 on the football field. I think we’re starting to see that a little bit more as he’s getting more comfortable.”
Oglesby’s speed has gotten everybody’s attention.
“He’s fast. Fast as hell, really,” defensive back Greg Brooks said Thursday about Oglesby. “He gets on that corner, ain’t nobody going to catch him. He’s definitely come a long way since last year. You can see the progression towards being a real running back in the SEC.”
Then there’s Green, who’s almost as fast (10.38 to Oglesby’s 10.3 for 100 meters), but was a late enrollee and is dealing with the learning curve early in his time.
“He’s started to become a more willing blocker in pass protection,” Pittman said. “I don’t know how much he did of that in high school. If I was a high school coach, I’d turn around and hand it to him and I’m sure that’s what they did.”
To see that speed, though, he’s got to get some more reps in practices.
“You know how it is when you first come in,” Pittman said. “He also ran 10.3 something, 10.4. But you’re playing about 10.8 or 10.9 because you’re thinking all the time and that’s what it was.
“In that comparison he’s probably running about a 10.7 right now. He’s getting towards that 100-meter mark he set, but not quite there yet.”
Once he picks it up some quality depth could emerge behind Trelon Smith at running back. It’s maybe the biggest question mark for coaches on the offense.
And the depth may have speed and it could be blazing speed.
The Morning Rush is LIVE! after ‘best practice of year’
The weekend is finally here, looking back first full week of practices and what’s ahead for Razorback football.
Pittman said first day in pads’ ‘best practice’ … but it’s early
Sam Pittman doesn’t seem to pay a whole lot of attention to negative stuff … at least publicly and certainly not at a press conference.
“I’m probably the most positive guy in the world, so I’m looking to see positive things,” he said later after he called Thursday’s first day in pads.
It was hot. Air temperatures were in the 90’s and it was a whole lot warmer whenever you stepped on the artificial turf. Nobody was using that field except some of the kickers and punters.
Nobody really seemed to notice.
“I don’t even want to say they fought through the heat because you didn’t even notice they were struggling through it,” Pittman said. “We got a lot done.”
Most of what got done was situational work. With the searing heat, the coaching staff may have wanted to see what the players could do staying focused on situations in the heat.
About the only thing that seemed clear was this team looked to be in shape through at least the first 20 minutes or so of Arkansas’ sixth practice of fall camp.
Maybe the most important thing we saw in our brief time watching practice was the players coaching and encouraging their teammates. That’s been seen much more in fall camp and it picked up a little the first day in pads.
Pittman noticed, too.
“We took care of each other,” he said later. “The guys policing their own team about running to the ball and staying and thudding and not going on the ground with thud. Not a lot of mistakes.”
Part of that is the experience on this team, including several “super seniors,” who have been around long enough to nearly qualify for university tenure status. The older guys are teaching and we’ll find out how much the younger guys get from it.
“The thing about these guys, they work now,” Pittman said. “They’re not afraid of work.
“Any time you have big people and fast people and smart guys, guys who love the university and they go out and work, you’re going to get better. That’s kind of what we’ve seen. Guys are not afraid of work, and we’ve been very pleased with that.”
It wasn’t a perfect practice, though. Pittman saw some things he talked about immediately after the practice ended.
“We’ve got to get better at protection,” Pittman said. “I’m not just saying we can’t protect. We’re violating our eyes a little bit, and between the backs and O-line we have to get better there because we can’t cut somebody loose on our quarterback.
“We have to get better at that.”
He’ll find a few more things watching the film. As running backs coach Jimmy Smith said in passing earlier this week, the coaches do things in drills to review with the players on the practice film. Everything is on tape these days.
Pittman thinks this team is getting a little tougher, which is something that has disappeared over the last few years.
“We had some guys that got knocked down and got back up and we haven’t always done that,” he said. “A lot of times (before) we went to the sideline. We’re getting a tougher team. I guess I’m most excited about that.”
Don’t expect all of the fall practices to be like that. It is a positive start.
And Pittman is looking for positives in a program he inherited with too many negatives.
Ciancia high on Hogs headed into second year with coach, coordinators
Why Brett Ciancia likes Arkansas in Pick Six preview with Sam Pittman hanging on to Kendal Briles and Barry Odom.
Pittman on status of Hogs after first day in pads on Thursday
Arkansas coach Sam Pittman talked about his team’s work in the heat Thursday afternoon in pads for first time.
Morris, Brooks recapping early drills plus Oglesby ‘fast as hell’
Hogs wide receiver Tyson Morris and defensive back Greg Brooks have discovered Josh Oglesby’s track speed in camp.
Holt on Hogs needing to find second team running back
Democrat-Gazette writer Bob Holt talked on Halftime ahead of Thursday’s first practice in pads about figuring out the running game.
Halftime Pod Presented by Eastside Liquor: Holt
Sam Pittman in Year 2; Field of Dreams Game; Halftime Homework and much more!
Guest- Bob Holt
Hogs land six on Senior Bowl watch list, including grad transfer
Six Razorbacks are on the watch list for the 2022 Reese’s Senior Bowl.
Arkansas defensive back Montaric Brown, offensive lineman Myron Cunningham, linebacker Grant Morgan, linebacker Bumper Pool, defensive lineman John Ridgeway and running back Trelon Smith each earned spots on the watch list, which was released Thursday morning.
The Reese’s Senior Bowl, the nation’s most prestigious college all-star game, annually serves as the first step of the NFL Draft process. This year’s game will be held Feb. 5 in Mobile, Ala., and broadcast on the NFL Network. Practices will be live on ESPN, and the NFL Network will host a daily recap show each evening in prime time.
Brown, a redshirt senior, played and started in eight games at cornerback in 2020, logging 31 tackles (20 solo) with 2.0 tackles for loss, one interception and a forced fumble. The Ashdown native led the Razorbacks with six pass breakups on the year.
Cunningham, a preseason All-SEC honoree, anchored Arkansas’ offensive line at left tackle last year, starting all 10 games while playing 705 snaps — the most of any Razorback.
The redshirt senior from Warren, Ohio, produced four games with an 80-plus passing grade, allowed only two sacks and was flagged just four times during the 2020 campaign.
Morgan is no stranger to the limelight this preseason.
The redshirt senior is a candidate for the Bednarik Award, Butkus Award and Bronko Nagurski Trophy as well as a preseason All-SEC selection headed into the 2021 campaign after emerging as one of the best players in all of college football last year by producing one of the greatest seasons in Arkansas history.
Morgan was named a Walter Camp and AFCA Second Team All-American following the 2020 campaign, posted an SEC-leading 111 total tackles, including 7.5 for loss, with 2.0 sacks.
The linebacker finished tied for the nation’s lead in tackles per game (12.3) while intercepting one pass, breaking up five and registering one quarterback hurry. Originally a walk-on, Morgan joined Martrell Spaight (2014) as the only two Razorback defenders to garner both AP and Coaches All-SEC recognition in the last 10 seasons.
Pool, who was also tabbed to this year’s preseason watch list for the Butkus Award, grabbed second-team All-SEC recognition last season and was a Lott IMPACT Trophy semifinalist.
The senior from Lucas, Texas, played in nine games a year ago and finished second on the team in tackles (101), including 6.5 tackles for loss. Averaging 11.2 tackles per game, Pool ranked second in the SEC and ninth nationally.
Ridgeway joined the Razorbacks this past spring as a graduate transfer from Illinois State (FCS), where he spent the first four years of his collegiate career.
A first-team All-Missouri Valley Football Conference selection last season, the Bloomington, Ill., native led the Redbirds in tackles with 22 (14 solo), including 3.0 tackles for loss, while logging one pass breakup and an interception.
Smith, a redshirt junior, produced a team-best 710 rushing yards with five touchdowns on 134 carries (5.3 avg.) out of the backfield in 2020.
The Houston, Texas, native played in all 10 games with four starts, finishing with the squad’s third-most catches (22) for 159 yards and one score while tallying the second-most all-purpose yards (869) on the Razorbacks.
The tailback, who was also named to the watch list for the Doak Walker Award and Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award this preseason, registered his first career 100-yard rushing game at Florida last season, gashing the Gators for 118 yards on eight carries as well as his first career rushing score.
His career-long 83-yard touchdown run against Florida stands as Arkansas’ longest touchdown run against an SEC opponent since Joe Adams’ 92-yard run in 2011 against Auburn.
