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FAYETTEVILLE — When Arkansas takes the field for its first scrimmage of fall camp Saturday, Sam Pittman has a plan in place to maximize his team’s reps.
The second-year coach told reporters that he anticipates the first and second units getting 50 plays apiece with the third team getting about half of that. That works out to about a 125-play scrimmage, not counting special teams.
With it being one of only two scrimmages scheduled before the Sept. 4 opener against Rice, there’s a laundry list of things Pittman will be keeping an eye on when evaluating his team.
“Obviously we haven’t tackled, so I want to see how well we tackle,” Pittman said. “We’re finding out a little bit more about our pass rush abilities. You guys have been out there for some of those. So we’re finding out a little bit more about that. I want to see if we can protect the quarterback and I want to see if we can run the ball. And I want to see if we can stop the ball carrier.
“I think this will be a big deal for us Saturday on how we have it, (the) depth chart, and special teams and how it comes out. I think it will really be a tell-tale sign of where guys are.”
Though not included in the final tally of plays, Pittman didn’t forget about the most underrated phase of the game. Prior to last season, Scott Fountain was introduced as the first fully dedicated special teams coach in program history.
Despite that addition, the Razorbacks took a slight step back in the department, ranking in the bottom half of the SEC in every major special teams statistical category. Ahead of 2021, an emphasis will be placed on the third phase as a foundational piece in the team’s practice.
“We will do all phases of the kicking game,” Pittman said. “We will not cover every one of them. The ones are going to do three punts and we’ll cover one of them. Probably have an all-out block, trying to block it as well. Then we’ll cover down about 15 yards on one. On kickoff, kickoff return we’ll do a full rep.”
It’s not just Pittman who understands the opportunity ahead of this Arkansas team Saturday either. Veterans and leaders of the team Greg Brooks Jr. and Tyson Morris gave insight into the players’ mindset ahead of the scrimmage.
“I feel like it's really important,” Brooks said. “It's getting back to playing real football, first time tackling. But I feel like it's going to help our offense, it's going to help our defense, and it's going to get us better in each and every way.”
Morris echoed that sentiment, as well as reinforcing the attitude around the facilities.
“Coach Pittman wants us to treat it just like a real Saturday game, and that's our mindset going into it,” Morris said. “Each rep we're going to be getting after it, and keeping the pace uptempo. Keeping a high tempo. I feel like we're going to be able to build off this scrimmage.”
The scrimmage is not open to the public or the media, but Pittman and a couple of players will speak to reporters afterward around 12:45 p.m. CT. HawgBeat will have complete coverage from those press conferences.
