FAYETTEVILLE — The Arkansas Razorbacks will resume spring football practice at 8:25 a.m. Tuesday in frigid air.
Temperatures are expected to be 33 degrees and winds will reach 15 mph at the start of the sixth spring practice, a powerful combination to get the Razorbacks inside Walker Pavilion for the resumption of all 15 spring practices.
The weather was much milder on March 14 when the Hogs held a 72-play scrimmage at Reynolds Razorback Stadium ahead of spring break.
While the defense made most of the big plays in this mini-scrimmage, the offense also had some good opportunities, especially with the top units matched up, including a 61-yard touchdown pass from Taylen Green to Isaiah Sategna and a wide Davion Dozier's leaping out made it 1-1. He took a backhand grab from Malachi Singleton for a 19-yard touchdown.
“It was really super slow,” fifth-year coach Sam Pittman said of Green's deep ball to Sategna. “He ran to the left and lined up the goal.''
The Razorbacks suffered only a few minor injuries through the first five practices, most notably sophomore tight end Luke Hasz, who stepped on the foot of tailback Dominick Johnson in the fifth practice and injured his ankle. It was a sprain.
Pittman said this year's spring session emphasized a more rugged brand of soccer than last year.
“I wanted a physical soccer team,” he said. “I believe you can't be physical without doing something physical. Going back to that, you might say, 'So why haven't you done that before?' I don't know.
“We made it through. But one spring, when I didn't come in, we had veterans on our team. We didn't know what we had, things like that. The same goes for the weight room. I think this year is going to be harder than ever. You can't get stronger unless you do the toughest things.”
New offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino's unit has had solid success in early practices this spring, largely against a zone concept.
The Razorbacks will be implementing a new scheme on both sides of the ball as they enter Week 3 of spring. It began with an NCAA-sanctioned walkthrough on Monday after players reported over the weekend.
“We have a completely different defensive side and we're going to look at that,” Pittman said. “We have to. Let's try.
“When I get back, I'm going to run some slightly 'weird' packages. Not so in terms of personnel. In other words, instead of removing a defensive end, we just find the back linebacker we need.
“We don’t have as many D-linemen as we did last year.”
Pittman said the Razorbacks considered defensive end Landon Jackson at the inside spot in several packages before spring break.
“We did it on third down,” Pittman said. “He's 285 pounds, so he'll be able to do that, especially in this fight.” [pass] rush down. And you could feel him in third-down situations. ”
