Razorback Practice Report: Thursday, August 4

Coaches Don't Spare the Cursing as Players
Sweat it Out in First Practice on Intramural Fields

By Bud Baldwin

I went to the 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. veterans practice.

The venue – I had not been down to the intramural fields since 1978 and was amazed. The area is completely fenced and has a lot of light poles. When you walk in the area, the thing that hits you is that as a coach you have to love this place because it is so vast.

There was one football field that runs parallel to Razorback Road. Then there is an area of about 70 yards of open grass area where the blocking sleds and other equipment for the linemen are kept. Then there is a second field that runs perpendicular to Razorback Road – again a 100-yard field. Both fields have goalposts.

The grass was in excellent shape considering the heat we have had (my own backyard with Bermuda grass is entirely brown and I run the sprinkler system every day for 20 minutes). The first field has two sets of bleachers – maybe about five rows holding about 25 people. There is one set on the second field. They have a yellow rope around the field for the fans to stay behind, and there is at least a 20-yard cushion between the field and the fans.

As a person who has gone to many practices, I have grown used to seeing things up close and personal. At the old practice fields, you can see what is going on everywhere because there was a hill to sit on, but not now because you are at ground level. It makes it harder to see what is going on when the offense and defense go against each other. It is especially hard to see the lineman because they seem packed together. They had the offense on field #1 and the defense on field #2, and they are far apart.

When I arrived, the quarterbacks and wide receivers were running patterns. There were a lot of dropped balls. Each quarterback got equal reps here. Marquel Wade (#1) made some spectacular one-handed grabs. One brought a loud cheer from the fans in attendance (probably about 300).

Next I watched the tight ends. Only three were there – Chris Gragg (#80), Austin Tate (#87), Colton Nash (#6). Even though Nash and Tate are both listed as 6’6”, Nash looks taller. Garrett Uekman (#88) worked with newcomers and wasn’t here.

When the first-team offense started running plays together, the line was Grant Freeman (#79) at strong tackle (he looks like he is 6”10”), Alvin Bailey (#67) at strong guard, Travis Swanson at center, Grant Cook (#72 ) at weak guard, and Jason Peacock (#71) at weak tackle. I was surprised to not see Brey Cook starting here. Peacock doesn’t appear to have really quick feet, and when he was facing Jake Bequette he was beaten on every pass play. Cook played some guard as well but seemed to spend more time with the second team. Mitch Smothers, a true freshman, practiced with the veterans as well.

Tyler Wilson was the quarterback and Knile Davis was the running back. Kiero Small (#36) was the fullback. He is the junior-college transfer from California. He is listed at 5’10”, 255 pounds. He may be 255, but if he is 5’10’ then I am 6’3” (I am 5’9’). He might be 5”8”. The guy is a bowling ball. One of his legs is bigger than my waist. I think it is significant he started from the get go. He hustled and seems to know he is there to knock someone down. He is quick and caught a pass in the scrimmage.

All of the running backs looked fast and big. Davis, Ronnie Wingo, and Dennis Johnson flew through the holes. Johnson and Davis looked especially quick.

Finally the offense moved to field #2 to go against the defense, so for us fans that meant a 5-minute walk.

It was hard to see who was playing on the defensive line because we were at field level 30 yards away.

Bequette was the left end. Robert Thomas, Bryan Jones, and D.D. Lewis all played interior lineman. And Chris Smith played the other end. All moved in and out of the line. Alfred Davis didn’t see much action probably because they weren’t hitting -- the emphasis was on passing. Linebackers were Jerico Nelson, Jerry Franklin, and Alonzo Highsmith (JUCO guy). Highsmith (#45) has huge legs but appears to move very well. Darius Winston and Isaac Madison were the cornerbacks, and Tramain Thomas and Elton Ford were the safeties.

As usual, there was a lot of screening and cussing by the coaches led by Coach Bobby Petrino. In a previous life, he must have been a sailor or a contractor because he can fling the words around. Chris Miller caught it first when Coach P screamed at him, “Get your ass off the field.” He must have been loafing. However, others got it as well, especially the receivers. Both Jarius Wright and Greg Childs dropped very catchable balls and were screamed at by several coaches. John L. Smith later screamed at Chris Miller and said, “You are killing this team!” Miller did not have a pleasant day. There were plenty of “GDs” and “get your ass” mixed in with every play.

As far as the scrimmage went, Wilson probably got 50 percent of the reps followed by Brandon Mitchell and Brian Buehner (#16). Buehner seemed to have to scramble more. Both Wilson and Mitchell threw some good and bad passes. Neither looked like an all star, but both looked good. I believe with Wilson at quarterback, we are going to see the backs catch a lot more passes. He doesn’t seem to force the ball into places that Ryan Mallett would (Mitchell does). I have always thought Wilson sees the field better than Mallett, and he spreads the ball around everywhere. Marquel Wade and Joe Adams looked the best of the receivers. Neither dropped a ball and both made some amazing catches and runs. Of course, nobody is in pads.

They took a break about 55 minutes into the practice, and you could hear the coaches screaming “Hydrate” a lot. They practiced field goals toward the end.

As a side note, one of the graduate assistants approached me to check out what I was writing. That was a first. I showed him my scribbles and he said OK.

As fans, we caught a break because it was overcast and cooler. If the sun would have been out, we would have been staring directly into the sun. That’s it. I plan to return Friday.