Hogs pull back on installation

FAYETTEVILLE — Deep into their second full week of training camp Wednesday, the Arkansas Razorbacks slowed — and in some cases stopped — their installation and started polishing their schemes.

After a morning practice that featured extended sequences of move-the-ball periods, the Razorbacks worked Wednesday night on perfecting what has been put in place.

“I kind of want to pull back,” Coach Bret Bielema said after the morning workout, the Hogs’ 15th of training camp on their fourth

available two-a-day practice. “We’ve been putting install in every day. We’ll pump the brakes. Tonight is going to be what we call a ‘practice perfect,’ where I want everything to be perfect before, during and after the snap.

“If not, we’ll start back at the top of the script and repeat it. It’s supposed to be a 13-period practice, but if they don’t want to be perfect, they’ll be out there for a couple of hours.”

Offensive coordinator Dan Enos wants his younger players to not be slowed by the volume of material that has been provided during installation, but he wants the older players to get a look at the full range of items in his playbook.

“We got a lot of stuff in as we get to this stage of it,” Enos said. “There’s a fine line between overdoing it with the young guys, but obviously we have some veteran players that need to continue.

“We’ve continued to move forward in some areas, and in some areas we’ve slowed down to allow guys to catch up.”

Defensive coordinator Robb Smith, asked about how close he was to completing installation, said: “We’re pretty much there.

“We’ve been through every situation up to this point in time, and now it’s just kind of dialing in what we do … and starting to get it ready for our first couple of opponents.”

Bielema said the defense has gone through implementation of its subpackages and is honing in on who will be involved in player rotations at all the positions, while the offense is “right on par” with where he expected it to be on installing schemes.

“Starting next Tuesday, we’ll probably start to hone in specifically on at least six or seven periods a day on La. Tech,” said Bielema, referencing the Hogs’ season-opening opponent Louisiana Tech on Sept. 3.

Enos came away from Saturday’s scrimmage with a favorable impression.

“I thought our guys competed and played very hard,” Enos said. “I thought we ran the ball very effectively. The backs looked really, really good. It was nice to have healthy backs that were put in a live situation.”

Freshman Devwah Whaley rushed for 96 yards, including an 11-yard touchdown, and sophomore Rawleigh Williams added 67 yards and a 1-yard touchdown. Both had 14 carries. Senior Kody Walker had 27 yards on 4 carries, and Damon Mitchell added 30 yards on 11 runs.

“It was really nice to see

Rawleigh and Devwah and Kody Walker … run really, really hard and physical and showed burst,” Enos said.

Enos also liked the work of junior quarterback Austin Allen, who completed 14 of 19 passes for 151 yards.

“I thought Austin Allen was very efficient, took care of the football, made some really nice throws,” he said. “A couple times he had people in his face and was still able to deliver the ball accurately down the field and maintain his eyes and focus downfield.

“His pocket posture, as far as moving around, was very

good. Had a couple plays we need to clean up, as we do everyday, but thought he was very solid. I was very happy with the scrimmage.”

Smith said the player evaluations from Saturday, particularly the newcomers, were invaluable for the defensive staff.

“I thought when our ones were in there we were solid, we communicated well, we understood what we wanted to do, which was good,” Smith said. “It allowed us to move forward this week in installation, and we feel good where we are there.”