After going 2-10, 0-8 in SEC play, the Arkansas Razorbacks have a laundry list of things to get better at this spring and upcoming fall. While not everything can be improved in 13 practices, and the Hogs have had a rash of injuries to key contributors (Rakeem Boyd, Mike Woods, Hayden Henry, Scoota Harris, CJ O'Grady, Colton Jackson to name a few), they should still be able to show some signs of improvement.
The spring game kicks off at 3 p.m. in Fayetteville and you can watch it on ESPNU. it will be two scripted halves, one with a running clock. Here's what I want to see from the Hogs today:
Check out a rough two-deep depth chart for the game today here.
Quarterback Play
The Hogs flipped their quarterback room in one off-season but they don't, and won't, have all the pieces in place that they'll have for the 2019 season available for this spring game. SMU grad transfer quarterback Ben Hicks will be the starter for the scripted game. Behind him are John Stephen Jones, who was fourth string in 2018, Daulton Hyatt, who was scout team, and Jack Lindsey, a walk-on. Connor Noland will miss the spring game due to baseball at Auburn and of course A&M grad transfer Nick Starkel and freshman 4-star KJ Jefferson aren't here yet.
All eyes will be on Hicks. He's run this offense before very effectively at SMU, he's a fifth year guy so he has more experience than anyone, and we've heard a lot of praise from the coaches about how he's helping to bring this team along. I think fans want to see the consistency he can bring to the table next season. If he doesn't show that, against his own defense, there's a good chance fans lose faith in him before he even hits the field next season.
He needs to be efficient, find his receivers, show accuracy and leadership, and take care of the football. Turnovers will give the defense the automatic win.
Defensive Line Pressure
The Razorbacks returned Sosa Agim, TJ Smith, Dorian Gerald, Gabe Richardson/Jamario Bell as the front four and from what we've seen in practices and scrimmages this spring, they've been very hard for the patchwork offensive line to control.
I want to see them applying consistent pressure, stopping runs at the first level and I want to see the true freshmen, Eric Gregory, Mataio Soli and Zach Williams, get a lot of reps behind them. Agim was saying Thursday afternoon that he might coach more than he plays in this game, so we'll also see how the back-up defensive tackles are doing as well. The defensive line is one of the most solid position groups on the team this season, they need to show their dominance today.
Secondary Speed
A very big quality of the defense John Chavis was aiming to fix through recruiting was speed in the secondary, and now, with nearly all underclassmen filling the two deep (save for Kam Curl and D'Vone McClure), we should be able to see if they were successful.
Behind McClure in nickel will be Louisiana 4-star signee Greg Brooks Jr. Myles Mason and Joe Foucha have been competing at safety to be featured next to Curl, while former Ouachita Baptist safety Brenden Young has also made moves into the two-deep. I expect them to give up a few big plays, they're young, but they shouldn't get burned.
We have heard a lot of good things about both starting sophomore corners Jarques McClellion and Montaric Brown but haven't been able to witness many of their impressive plays this spring with the limited access we've had to practice. Behind them are true freshman Devin Bush and Ladarrius Bishop who redshirted his freshman season after just one snap at corner.
Third and Short
Chad Morris and Joe Craddock have been working on getting more yardage in on first and second down, playing almost like the CFL with just three downs to get the first. A large part of making that happen is the offensive line being aggressive and creating the gaps for the running backs (the available ones), so they can pick up more than 2 yards on first down.
Third and long situations really hurt the Hogs in 2018, so we'll see if they've made any progress there, despite focusing more on fundamentals than scheme this spring.
Explosive Plays
A huge part of Morris's offense is getting 10 or more explosive plays per game, meaning plays that go for more than 15 yards. I'd like to see them try at least that many while using the new talent like Shamar Nash and Trey Knox. I think that'd get the fan base excited about what they might see next season. I don't expect much from the running game today but Chase Hayden has been able to break off a few big runs this spring.
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