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FAYETTEVILLE — The Arkansas Razorbacks hit one of their fall camp milestones Thursday as they put on full pads for the sixth practice of the 25-practice maximum leading to the on-campus season-opener on Aug. 30 against Alabama A&M.
Members of the media watched a large part of the flex warmup and the first four periods of the workout, including fastball starts for the first time since Monday’s fourth practice.
The offensive line was in the spotlight as position coach Eric Mateos put in an entertaining 29-minute stint with reporters that included a Forrest Gump reference, his strong opinions about his unit’s depth freshman signees and what he thinks of knee braces.
“The biggest difference for us from ‘thud’ practice to full-contact practices is we’ve got to get to the football, because now they’re trying to tackle our guy,” Mateos said. “We know in thud practices, hey, we want to finish our blocks. However, the pursuit to get to the ball becomes more critical because you can push the pile.
“A running back gets stood up, you’ve got to push the pile. There’s a tackle attempt and a fumble, we’ve got to recover it. Just the strain to finish the play is the biggest difference in a thud practice to a live-tackle situation. Just a get-to-the-football mindset.”
Because the Razorbacks’ practices are quite physical even without full pads, the offensive linemen said the difference Thursday was negligible.
“I’d say for me it truly feels the same when you’re in the trenches,” senior transfer tackle Corey Robinson II said. “I felt like, from Day 1, our offensive line, defensive line has been just been really banging and competing. When we put the pads on, it really didn’t change anything. I would just say guys were hustling harder to the ball.”
Junior tackle E’Marion Harris of Little Rock agreed.
“It just feels different because you know the defense is trying to tackle our running backs and our wide receivers, so it’s like we’ve got to hustle more,” Harris said. “We’ve got to hustle down the field more, we’ve got to stay on our blocks longer and stuff like that.”
Added redshirt freshman guard Kobe Branham of Fort Smith: “In the trenches, it’s full-go every play, pads or not. But with today, I think there’s always more yards to get if it’s full-go. I mean, you run down the field, push the pile and extend the play. And I think we could do a better job on that, but overall, I think we did a decent job today.”
The offensive line has worked through several combinations on the right side, with Harris at tackle and Branham at guard with the first unit in recent days. Additionally, the Hogs’ depth at center has gotten a closer look with junior Brooks Edmonson of Bryant and freshman Kash Courtney as likely starter Caden Kitler has been temporarily sidelined.
“Brooks and Kash have both been doing (No. 1) center,” Mateos said. “Caden was a little banged up the last couple days, but they’ve both done center reps and they’re both doing a great job.”
Top quarterback Taylen Green targeted three of his top receivers, including a touchdown pass to Raylen Sharpe, while going 4 for 4 to highlight fastball starts.
Green completed a crossing route to O’Mega Blake for a gain of close to 10 yards to open the sequence.
On the next snap, Sharpe released from the right slot and a blown defensive assignment allowed him to run free down a seam. Green delivered the ball about 20 yards downfield and Sharpe had no defender near him to complete a scoring pass of 50-plus yards.
Defensive backs coach Marcus Woodson was none too pleased by the missed assignment, voicing his displeasure loudly.
Green kept the ball on a run-pass option mesh with tailback Mike Washington Jr. and headed toward the left edge on the next snap before pulling up and firing on the left flank to Sharpe, who had a moderate gain. Green completed an intermediate route to CJ Brown of Bentonville near the right sideline on the final play and Brown’s quick jab step allowed him to elude Jaheim Singletary and pick up a few extra yards.
KJ Jackson, who was wearing a GoPro camera on his helmet early in practice for the Hogs’ virtual reality program, went 1 for 2 with the second unit. His pass for tight end Jaden Platt on a short out route was broken up by linebacker Wyatt Simmons of Searcy.
On the final snap, Jackson found Monte Harrison over the left side for a gain of 7 or 8 yards. Cam Settles of Little Rock had a short gain to open the sequence and Jackson ran for limited yardage on an RPO keeper on the left edge.
Trever Jackson went 2 for 2 with the third group, his completions going to tight end Andreas Paaske on the right and Jace Petty on the left. Markeylin Batton popped through a hole and gained about 9 yards with the third play in the sequence. Jackson could not find an open receiver on the final play and scrambled up the middle for a minimal gain.
The Razorbacks will conduct their seventh preseason practice Friday morning, with second-year running backs Coach Kolby Smith and a selection of his players set to conduct media interviews.
