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Arkansas football offensive line play looks different in spring | Whole Hog Sports

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Arkansas football offensive line play looks different in spring | Whole Hog Sports


FAYETTEVILLE — The Arkansas Razorbacks’ struggles on their offensive line last season were a clear component to an underperforming unit which took a major drop off from the offenses coordinated by Kendal Briles that preceded it.

Despite having much the same skill personnel — with quarterback KJ Jefferson and tailbacks Raheim Sanders, AJ Green, Rashod Dubinion and Dominique Johnson — the Hogs flopped under the direction of Dan Enos, who was fired after a lackluster 200-yard performance in a 7-3 home loss to Mississippi State late in the season.

Coach Sam Pittman said upgrading on the offensive line was priority No. 1 for the Razorbacks over the winter, and he hired protege Eric Mateos to coach the position after the departure of Cody Kennedy for the same role at Mississippi State.

The Razorbacks hit the transfer portal in December and, with a little shuffling of existing personnel, appear to have succeeded in bolstering the building block spot on the offense.

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“I like the cohesiveness of the group,” Pittman said after Saturday’s Red-White game. “I think they played well.”

Only right guard Josh Braun, a 6-6, 349-pound redshirt senior, is back at the same position at which he started last year. Junior Patrick Kutas, a nine-game starter at right tackle and center in 2023, is now playing left guard.

Three transfers — right tackle Keyshawn Blackstock, left tackle Fernando “Junior” Carmona and center Addison Nichols — joined Braun and Kutas on the front five for most of spring drills.

“On paper it is a completely different unit,” Braun said. “We’ve got a different man leading us. We’re actually a unit. We’re a brotherhood.”

New offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino talked up the group the week before the spring game.

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“When you look at the makeup of the team, it always is going to start with the offensive line, and I feel like the three guys we got out of the portal and them working with the ones, and the ability they have helps that right away,” Petrino said. “The other two guys are doing a great job, too, with the starting five.

“We’ve got to develop some depth there. I think right now we feel like we maybe have eight guys that we feel good about.”

Kutas said last week he thought there was improved energy on the line.

“We’re making big plays,” Kutas said. “It’s just a higher standard now. We get new transfer guys that came in. New O-line coach.

“He just sets a standard for us and it’s got to be that standard every single day, so we’re just excited to get out there and practice.”

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The Razorbacks seemed to play in an offensive funk much of 2023, averaging 3.53 yards per carry (12th in the SEC), 139 rushing yards per game and scoring a league-low 9 rushing touchdowns.

The pass blocking also suffered as the Razorbacks gave up 47 sacks, the second-highest total in the SEC behind Alabama’s 49.

Finding the bond that appeared to be missing from last year’s team was critical for this front.

“We’re the tightest O-line unit I’ve been a part of, and that’s a breath of fresh air,” Braun said. “Coach Mateos said…we just got it rolling. At the beginning of the semester, we started this journey, and now we’re finally getting it on the track. We’ve got to keep that momentum going through the summer and we’re just excited to get back to work on Monday.”

Quarterback Taylen Green extolled last Saturday the assets he has seen from the revamped line.

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“They have a lot on their plate with the installs and the different run checks,” Green said. “The run game and the pass game and the pass [protection], it’s new to them, too.

“The detail that they come with every single day, they’re prepared, even when we get the script, probably late night, really late night or early morning, but they know their keys and they know their checks and all that.”

Green said he’s “definitely impressed” with the work of the guys in the trenches and said “definitely love this guy right here” as he motioned to Braun at the podium.

“Like he said, the camaraderie. It’s definitely not what I call ‘me ball.’ It’s us. It’s a team sport. I couldn’t make the plays out there without them.”

Pittman called himself Mateos’ graduate assistant on a few occasions in spring and was hands on working with the group for many individual periods throughout the 15 practices. Braun, who committed to Pittman at Georgia out of high school before switching to Florida, is happy to be working with the legendary offensive line guru.

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“Coach Pittman’s one of the best O-line coaches of his generation,” Braun said. “To have him and then have Coach Mateos, who is going to be one of the best offensive line coaches of the next generation, you couldn’t ask for anything better.”



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Arkansas

Arkansas' 4 Republican US House members face challenges from Democratic rivals

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Arkansas' 4 Republican US House members face challenges from Democratic rivals


LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Arkansas’ four Republican U.S. House members face challenges in this year’s election from Democratic rivals who are mounting uphill battles to break the GOP’s hold on the state’s federal delegation.

Republican U.S. Reps. Rick Crawford, French Hill, Steve Womack and Bruce Westerman are seeking reelection in the heavily GOP state. Republicans have held all of the state’s U.S. House and Senate seats since 2013.

Crawford, who has represented the 1st Congressional District since 2011, faces a challenge from Democratic nominee Rodney Govens. The 1st District covers eastern Arkansas and includes the cities of Jonesboro, West Memphis and Helena-West Helena. Libertarian Steve Parsons is also running for the seat.

Crawford is a senior member of the House Agriculture Committee and has said he will seek the top Republican spot on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in the next Congress.

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Govens, a Cabot resident who has worked in the telecommunications industry, has called for improving the Veterans Administration system and foster care across the country. Crawford has said he wants to address the nation’s debt by enacting permanent spending controls.

Hill, who was first elected to the 2nd District in 2014 and is vice chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, is running against Democratic nominee Marcus Jones. The 2nd District seat covers central Arkansas, and it includes Little Rock.

Democrats have tried unsuccessfully in recent years to try to reclaim the district, hoping to rely heavily on turnout in Little Rock despite the state’s further lurch to the right. The majority-GOP Legislature in 2021 redrew the redistrict lines, moving thousands of predominantly Black voters out of the 2nd District.

Hill has focused heavily on immigration in his reelection, calling for more border security, and on measures he says will help tackle inflation. Jones is a retired Army colonel who served as senior Army adviser to the Arkansas Army National Guard at Camp Robinson. Jones has called for expanding the child tax credit and legislation to increase rural health care access.

Womack, a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee, was first elected to the 3rd District in 2010 and is running against Democrat Caitlin Draper, a clinical social worker from Fayetteville.

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The 3rd District covers northwest Arkansas and includes the cities of Fayetteville, Springdale and Fort Smith.

Womack, the former chairman of the House Budget Committee, was the only one of the state’s House members to face a primary challenge in March, defeating state Sen. Clint Penzo. Womack had the backing of the state’s top Republicans in that contest, including GOP Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

Womack has cited border security as a priority and has said he believes he has the experience to find bipartisan solutions in a closely divided Congress.

Draper, like other Democrats running for House seats in Arkansas, has said she supports legislation at the federal level protecting access to abortion following the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision striking down Roe v. Wade. She has also said cited climate change and health care as top issues.

Libertarian Bobby Wilson is also running for the seat.

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Westerman, who chairs the House Natural Resources Committee, was first elected to the 4th District in 2014. He is running against Risie Howard, an attorney from Pine Bluff.

The 4th district covers southern Arkansas and includes Pine Bluff, Hot Springs and Texarkana.

Westerman, a former state legislator and the only forester in the House, has touted his work on forestry legislation and said his priorities in the next Congress also include energy and mining issues. Howard has said she wants to strengthen the Affordable Care Act and protect Social Security.



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Arkansas wins 53rd cross country conference championship | Whole Hog Sports

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Arkansas wins 53rd cross country conference championship | Whole Hog Sports





Arkansas wins 53rd cross country conference championship | Whole Hog Sports







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Why Ole Miss Should Beat the Arkansas Razorbacks on Saturday | Locked On Ole Miss Podcast

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Why Ole Miss Should Beat the Arkansas Razorbacks on Saturday | Locked On Ole Miss Podcast


Today’s Locked On Ole Miss Podcast discusses why Lane Kiffin and the Ole Miss Rebels will beat the Arkansas Razorbacks in Saturday’s matchup. This will be the next opportunity to play clean football, and I think they will put it together against the Hogs and Sam Pittman and cut down on the penalties that have been allowing teams to stay in the game.

This matchup is absolutely massive for the Rebels because of what it means in the season as a whole, and Taylen Green against the Ole Miss defense will draw everyone’s eye. People look at the Arkansas stats and assume this is a typical Bobby Petrino team, and that isn’t quite right. John Nabors of Locked On Razorbacks said that if Ole Miss goes up by 14, it is over because this team is not a play-from-behind team.

In our final segment of the day, we give our final thoughts on Ole Miss vs. Arkansas and talk about expectations for Saturday and why everything points to an Ole Miss win, but Ole Miss fans before a trip to Fayetteville have seen this movie before.

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