Page 5 - Arkansas Football August 2017

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“That’s the piece we’re building for in the future. Right now it’s about training the guys that we have on the current roster to do what we’re asking them to do the best they can do it.
The coaching staff believes the new scheme will allow defenders to line up fast- er, make quicker pre-snap and in-game ad- justments and contend better with up-tem- po Spread offenses that have attacked Ar- kansas’ edges.
Defensive backs Santos Ramirez, Kevin Richardson, Josh Liddell and Ryan Pul- ley, and end McTelvin “Sosa” Agim have become the emotional leaders for a unit that knows it didn’t defend the run well last season.
“It’s not just two or three guys talking,” Agim said. “You’ve got everybody trying to lead and show the guys the way. That’s why I feel like this year is going to be a great year.”
Junior linebacker Dre Greenlaw said he thinks the Razorbacks will adapt quickly to the new scheme.
“I feel like the 3-4 will be to my advan- tage,” Greenlaw said. “I’ll be able to play side to side, because a lot of teams like to attack the edges when they run. I think with my athleticism, I’ll be a good fit for that.”
The offense features an experienced quarterback, fifth-year senior Austin Al- len, but an almost exclusively new group of receivers. To make matters more uncertain, senior Jared Cornelius (back) and sopho- more T.J. Hammonds (knee), the two most experienced receivers, had to come off the 105-man roster during camp due to injuries.
Allen is back for a second year as the starter after leading the SEC with 3,430 passing yards and ranking second with 25 touchdown passes. He possesses the sav- vy to turn potentially bad plays into good ones, and maintain a calm presence in the face of adversity.
Allen worked extensively in the summer with a group of receivers that has virtually no past performance.
Cornelius (32-515 receiving, 4 TDs) hasn’t participated in camp because of a back issue, leaving sophomores Deon Stew- art (2-34 receiving) and La’Michael Pettway (1-10 receiving) as the only receivers with catches on their resume.
Newcomers like Jordan Jones, and trans- fers Brandon Martin and Jonathan Nance have flashed talent in practice.
“It’s getting a lot better,” offensive co- ordinator Dan Enos said midway through camp. “It’s been really good the last five practices or so. They’re getting on the same page.
“Obviously we’ve had a lot of chances to practice and walk through and rep things, so I think everybody’s getting very com- fortable where they’re supposed to be and what they’re doing. I would have to say I’m very pleased with where we’re at right now, especially compared to the spring.”
Rawleigh Williams, ranked 11th in the SEC with 164.2 yards per game and averaged 4.1 yards per carry.
The Razorbacks believe they can im- prove their run production between the tackles despite losing Williams to a ca- reer-ending neck injury in the spring.
Arkansas wants to be able to run when it wants to run, and Devwah Whaley, Da- vid Williams and Chase Hayden are the primary ball carriers, with fullbacks Ken- drick Jackson and Hayden Johnson doing the blocking.
“We want to be a run-the-football team,” Enos said. “That’s our goal. We want to ... establish the run and be a physical, tough football team that can create explosive plays through the play-action game and then go from there.”
Whaley is the leading returning rusher with 602 yards, and he’s been pushed in camp by the graduate transfer Williams and by Hayden, whose speed, cutting and tackle-breaking ability have been evident throughout camp.
Austin Cantrell is the returning play- er with the most experience at tight end. Cantrell is seen as a plus blocker, while Cheyenne O’Grady has made the most ath- letic catches at the position. Holdovers Jack Kraus, Grayson Gunter and Will Gragg will compete with highly regarded junior-col- lege transfer Jeremy Patton to hit the field in the Hogs’ multiple tight end sets.
Cole Hedlund and Blake Mazza are competing for the top place-kicker job, while Blake Johnson appears to be the heir apparent to Toby Baker at punter.
Two of the Razorbacks’ top potential re- turn specialists, Cornelius and Hammonds, were slowed in camp, so the return game, which has not been super productive under Bielema, will get an injection from younger players like Stewart, Jarrod Barnes, Chevin Calloway and possibly Jordan Jones.
Bielema said he likes the way the sched- ule sets up, but there are some quirks in it. The Razorbacks have their open date in Week 3, before their SEC opener against Texas A&M after opening against Florida A&M and TCU. The Hogs play only one conference home game, against Auburn on Oct. 21, before hosting Mississippi State and Missouri to end the regular season.
“Having a guy like Frank come back and rub off on all those other guys is a really good thing for us. And it’s great for those young guys being able to learn from a guy like Frank.” Arkansas' Austin Allen
on Frank Ragnow
NWA Democrat-Gazette/ANDY SHUPE
Arkansas offensive coordinator Dan Enos (above) said he wants the Razorbacks to be a run-first football team. "That's our goal. We want to ... establish the run and be a physical, tough football team that can create explosive plays through the play-action game and then go from there."
The Razorbacks bring back four start- ers from their offensive line: senior center Frank Ragnow, juniors Hjalte Froholdt and Johnny Gibson at guard and junior Brian Wallace at right tackle. Sophomore Colton Jackson has moved back to left tackle after backing up Wallace most of 2016.
Allen said he has seen vast improvement from a unit that is following Ragnow’s lead. “They were in here doing extra film work, getting extra field work,” Allen said of the summer routine for the linemen. “Having a guy like Frank come back and rub off on all those other guys is a really good thing for us. And it’s great for those young guys being able to learn from a guy
like Frank.”
Ragnow returned for his senior season
to make a final run with his friends. He has emphasized that the 35 sacks allowed by the Razorbacks last season, 34 against Allen, cannot be repeated.
“It’s honestly embarrassing and unac- ceptable what happened last year, and I don’t want it to happen again,” Ragnow said. “That’s one thing ... I’ve really tried to emphasize during the offseason is that it’s not acceptable for him to get hit. It’s not acceptable for him to have pressure in his face. We should hold ourselves to the standard where he’s never getting touched and if he is touched it’s on very, very rare occurrences.”
The Arkansas running game, which pro- duced a 1,360-yard rusher in sophomore