Pittman wants to see consistency in Saturday's scrimmage
Head coach Sam Pittman and the Arkansas Razorbacks will be hosting their first open practice to the public Saturday morning at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium, and the Head Hog said he wants to see an improvement in consistency above all else.
Saturday's scrimmage will mark the eighth practice held by Arkansas during the spring session and it will give players and coaches the opportunity to work in front of a crowd. That experience is invaluable, and there should be plenty of chances to go around for players up and down the roster.
"I think each guy who’s playing with the ones and twos will get about 50 snaps," Pittman said Thursday. "They’ll be some situations, third down. We’re going to get the ball back two-minute. The threes will probably get around that 30-mark. I think it’ll be about 130, 140-play scrimmage. And it will conclude with the get the ball back, two-minute drill."
Two of the biggest issues that plagued the Razorbacks last season were the inability to put playmakers on the ground and the lack of a multi-level passing attack. Unsurprisingly, those are the key areas that Pittman wants to see some improvement in during the scrimmage.
"I just want to see how much we improve," Pittman said. "We’ve actually tackled to the ground two times already. I feel like our tackling has been decent. I’d like to see us improve in that. I’d like to see us break some tackles. I’d like to see us throw and catch consistently. I like what we’re doing secondary-wise. But the intermediate pass game, I would for us to be a little bit better on the crossing underneath routes."
Everything starts up front with the offensive line, and the Hogs won't be able to improve offensively without getting off to fast starts on every play in offensive coordinator Bobby's Petrino's scheme. With a new center likely taking the starting position this fall, snap consistency is of the utmost importance.
"I just want it to function well," Pittman said. "I want good snaps. We had a few today that weren’t good. And they weren’t terrible. We’re not snapping it on the ground, over the head, all that kind of stuff. But I want that consistent inside the frame snap and we’re rolling on offense and defense, and just improve off the last two times we’ve done.
"I can’t really say that we’ve done anything terrible, where I’m going, ‘Oh man, oh man, oh man.’ I would just like to be a little bit more consistent and a little bit better this scrimmage than we were last scrimmage."
Saturday will also be the first time that Arkansas fans get to see new wide receiver coach Ronnie Fouch and running back coach Kolby Smith in action. Previously Missouri State's co-offensive coordinator, Fouch said he wants to see an uptick in flow and some touchdowns.
"Hoping to see consistency," Fouch said on Thursday. "Like Coach Pittman said, in the pass game, we want a cleaner day and go make some plays. Get the ball in the end zone for sure. Just get our confidence going on offense and get the flow. Get in and out of the huddle. We’re still trying to get used to different periods of tempo, fastballs, huddling. Just operation things is what I want to see go well."
A former player under Petrino, it shouldn't be a shock that Smith said he wants his players to be explosive in the rushing attack in front of the fans.
“I’m looking for big plays, explosive runs," Smith said. "I want explosive plays from the backs like 15-yard runs, 20-yard receiving plays. Setting up in the pocket and protecting when we get blitzed. Just being sound in those situations. At the end of the day, I want them to have fun.”
The Arkansas football team will practice again Saturday with gates opening to the fans at 8:30 a.m. CT. For coverage of every Arkansas spring practice, follow along at HawgBeat and our premium message board — The Trough — for videos, stories and more.
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