The Arkansas Razorbacks have just eight days until they kick off against Western Carolina at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock, and head coach Sam Pittman talked Thursday about where his team is at right now.
Arkansas will go through a closed mock game Friday, which provides the staff and players the opportunity to run through everything like it's an actual game. That includes the pre-game meal, Hog Walk, running through the "A," practicing substitution and more.
"We used to put on shells and run kind of a game," Pittman said. "Then we went to spiders. Now we use that for announcing our captains, and we use it for team photo and then we use it for just substitution. It's almost like a subscript. A little more physical than a subscript would be on a Friday afternoon.
"In other words, nobody will get taped and things like that tomorrow. It'll be more mental than it will physical and showing them from the beginning to the end to everything of what a game day is all about."
The mock game lacking physicality is likely preferred after a grueling fall camp. With 18 practices in the books since Aug. 4, the Hogs have gone at each other with all they've got for three straight weeks and it's resulted in some players being banged up.
"I do not think today though, to be perfectly honest with you, that we’ll have anybody, I don’t think that we’ll have anybody miss a game except for obviously (Sam) Mbake," Pittman said. "We’re trying to be smart with them. Some of the guys today, we did scout team work with them but did not do good-on-good work with them. We had three different segments of good-on-good.
"We didn’t put them in live action. We do have some guys with some ankle injuries. Some things of that nature that we’ve got to get healed up between now and when we play next Saturday. It’s been a physical camp. It was a physical practice today. It was just a Tuesday practice for us, but you know, there’s three segments of good-on-good. A lot of physicality."
It's a good sign that nobody aside from Mbake (knee, out for season) would miss a game, as there have been some projected significant contributors such as left guard Brady Latham (undisclosed), linebacker Antonio Grier (quad) and cornerback Kee'yon Stewart (undisclosed) not participating in practice.
Pittman said he expects Grier, a transfer from South Florida, to be able to participate in practice next week after he missed time with a quad pull.
"He’s had a lengthy injury there," Pittman said. "Even when he was practicing he wasn’t full speed, so we expect that our plan is to either get him in some indy on Saturday and then obviously Sunday we’re off. Monday will be a Tuesday practice for us, but at the latest we’d like to try to get him back on the field Monday, and we think we can."
Getting Grier back and ready to go by next Saturday would really help the Hogs, and Pittman said it's a possibility to have most of the non-participants back early next week.
"Really proud of where we’ve been," Pittman said. "I wish we weren’t as banged up as we are right now, but I believe that by Monday, at least half, maybe more of the guys that we’re holding from the good-on-good section will be back."
Another player who needs to get back is Latham, who was a preseason Second Team All-SEC selection. In his absence, JUCO transfer Amaury Wiggins has moved up to first team guard, though Wiggins has been dealing with an ankle issue all camp.
"I think we feel really good about at least eight, I do, with Amaury being one of those guys," Pittman said. "He’s beat up a little bit with an ankle. We’ve got to get him healthy as well."
Arkansas has also seen movement at the left tackle position as projected starter Devon Manuel missed some time, opening up an opportunity for redshirt freshman Andrew Chamblee.
"I think there will be an ongoing battle there, and then I think at some point you’ll go, ‘OK, are both of these guys in our top five?’" Pittman said. "If they are then you’ve got to have another conversation on what’s our best five. Where can we put our best five?
"Lately, in the last few days, Ty’Kieast Crawford is entered into that conversation as well. But I couldn’t be any more proud than I am with Andrew Chamblee. He took an opportunity and proved he’s ready to play. We’re going to play him."
Arkansas will have its 19th preseason practice Friday and its 20th Saturday ahead of a day off on Sunday. Game week begins Monday ahead of the season opener against Western Carolina on Saturday, Sept. 2 at 3 p.m. CT on the SEC Network+.
