FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino said both Taylen Green and Malachi Singleton threw two interceptions during last week’s closed scrimmage and that he was not pleased with the last major live-tackling day of training camp.
The UA communications team said quarterbacks threw eight interceptions in the scrimmage though there were sporadic big plays and the offensive units did well in red-zone and two-minute work late in the practice.
Green found Jordan Anthony for a long touchdown pass early in the proceedings, though safety TJ Metcalf also intercepted Green in the early going.
“I walked off the field not very happy, feeling like we didn’t do as well as we needed to, and we didn’t,” Petrino said. “But we did start out quickly with the first group, we did move the ball, we came back, had a 70-yard touchdown pass, went and moved it again, got down there to score again, kicked a field goal.”
Petrino said the first unit on defense, which logged a number of sacks and tackles for loss, was very stingy in the scrimmage work.
“The week before in the scrimmage, our two offense did a really nice job against the one defense,” Petrino said. “Didn’t happen that way this time, got dominated a little bit.
“Our threes didn’t play as well as they need to, and the way they have been playing, but the ones continue to do a good job. We got in the situation part of it, I thought we were really sharp actually.”
Petrino said the quarterbacks have worked on understanding what throws to make and which ones to not pull the trigger on.
“We do know that tipped balls get intercepted and we’ve got to do a better job with that,” he said. “But, yeah, Taylen had two interceptions. One was a tipped ball. Could’ve been caught, nice play by the defensive back that broke the play up, and then another guy made the catch.
“And then Malachi got a couple of picks against the one defense, which was unfortunate for him. He usually takes care of the ball pretty well.”
O-line movement
Offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino revealed Tuesday night what he felt was the biggest surprise for his side of the ball at the start of training camp.
“I think when we first started out the thing that shocked me the most was that we were a little bit behind the defensive line as far as how we ended spring on running the ball and protecting the quarterback,” Petrino said. “I felt like it took us four or five days. We started getting better. We came at it and another couple of days we’re better.
“And now I feel like our offensive line is working together and we’re starting to see what we saw at the end of spring ball and we’re starting to actually go past where I feel like we were at the end of spring ball. We’re executing and we’re both being able to run it and throw it and you know we’ve got to be able to do both.”
Kutas update
Patrick Kutas, a projected starter at left guard who had been out since the second day of training camp with a back issue, is starting to get back in the swing, offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino said.
“He’s back doing some work … and that’s really encouraging to us and I feel good about it,” Petrino said after Tuesday’s closed practice.
Petrino said Coach Sam Pittman knows more about the status of Kutas, a junior who made nine starts last season, eight at right tackle and one at center.
Redshirt sophomore E’Marion Harris has been working with the starters the past week in Kutas’ absence.
Cal concerns
New Arkansas men’s basketball coach John Calipari attended Tuesday’s practice on the fields outside the Walker Pavilion.
The Razorbacks’ social media account posted several pictures of Calipari, wearing sunglasses, walking around with a football in his arms and playing catch with it.
On the side
Bobby Petrino said Tuesday he has chosen to call plays from the sidelines during games rather than the press box, where he worked last season in the same role at Texas A&M and the new helmet communications system, which he had in the NFL with the Jacksonville Jaguars and Atlanta Falcons, played a role in that.
“You’ve got the clicker now where you can talk to the quarterback in the ear piece and can’t do that from upstairs,” Petrino said. “I thought about it. I kind of liked it last year upstairs and calling the game and being away from all the elements down there, but I didn’t like not being able to see the quarterback’s eyes and how they were reacting and what was going on on the sideline. So I think it’s the right decision to be down.”
Mack, Money
The linebacker references of “Mike” and “Will” for the middle and weak-side linebacker positions has gone by the boards at most schools.
“We call them the Mack and the Money,” Arkansas defensive coordinator Travis Williams, a former Auburn linebacker, said last week. “Now the game has changed where you don’t just have a Mack. So that’s the old school Mike and Will.”
The personnel on the second tier, and sometimes even the front tier for Arkansas in some of its alignments using the “Buck” position, has to be versatile enough to play downhill in the running game as well as cover backs, tight ends and even slot receivers against the pass.
“Just being able to do some different things because everything is so spread out now, you’ve got to have guys who can run,” Williams said. “So you can take a Brad Spence who can play the Will or the Mack. You can take (Xavian Sorey) and vice versa, or whoever you want to put out there. We try to teach them both, so they’re able to do both. So we dual train, but really both guys are in the box and have got to take on blocks and different things like that.”
Williams expanded on the body types necessary to play modern linebacker.
“You want guys with length,” he said. “That’s the first thing everybody in the country is going to look for. Length, size and guys who can run. But then you get an Anthony Switzer, who’s right at 6-foot, but he’s a heck of a football player.
“You’re always like, ‘Man, I want a football player.’ What does that mean? Is he always around the ball? Does he love football? So, you have different body types, so you’ve just got to make sure whatever you get they love football. Obviously, you’re going to profile them and say, ‘I want them 6-2’ or whatever. Just make sure the guys you get can play.”
‘Big time’
A reporter was asking a question to defensive coordinator Travis Williams about linebacker transfer Xavian Sorey and finished the question by stating Sorey came from a “big-time program” at Georgia.
“We’re a big-time program here, too, by the way,” Williams said before answering the question.
Center exchange
Addison Nichols appears headed for a starting center role for the Hogs, but he was far from the only player to take reps at the spot during training camp.
Amaury Wiggins spent time with the top group and multiple other players, such as TJ Dawn, Josh Street and Brooks Edmonson have played the spot and even practiced snapping with each quarterback.
Offensive line coach Eric Mateos was asked about the lengthy absence of guard Patrick Kutas during camp with a back problem and whether it in turned caused issues at center.
“I wouldn’t say it’s caused issues,” Mateos said. “It’s given other guys opportunities to rep and it’s never a problem to have too many centers to play.
“What you’re doing is, you want to give different centers reps working with the one quarterback, because the worst situation is when the starting center might go down in a game, and you’re looking and what does the TV camera always pan to, right? The backup center getting snaps with the first-team quarterback. We’re trying to make that a non-issue if it ever did happen.
“So it’s been really fun watching those guys with different styles, different leadership styles. We all have to get better at being more loud with our communication and understand that we’re going to be in some hostile environments. So, that’s got to improve but I’ve been really happy with all the guys repping at center. … You can never have too many guys ready to play that position.”