Razorback Report

Arkansas regroups after loss

Arkansas running back Kody Walker carries the ball Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2015, during practice at the university's practice field in Fayetteville.

FAYETTEVILLE -- The Arkansas Razorbacks have been determined to move on at running back the past couple of days since losing senior Jonathan Williams for the regular season because of foot surgery.

"Definitely a major blow to us, but the show doesn't stop," junior running back Kody Walker said. "We have to keep moving forward.

"We're playing for J-Will. He's still going to be with us and still help us out. The things that he sees that we don't, he'll help us out."

Williams underwent surgery Monday and has stayed upbeat around teammates early this week after a rough Sunday.

"Everyone loves J-Will," tight end Hunter Henry said. "He came back for this year. He came back for a chance to go one more time with all of us. Then that happened. His morale, after he kind of got it all together, he's been so positive."

Senior defensive tackle DaMarcus Hodge said the extent of Williams' injury came as a surprise to the team.

"I hate it for him," Hodge said. "He's a senior. He came back and he wanted to finish this season good for us, but all we can do is just give him our prayers and just go harder for him. Play the season for him."

Senior center Mitch Smothers said the Razorbacks couldn't dwell on losing one of their top players.

"You hate to see something like that happen to a guy like Jonathan, a guy who just does everything right," he said. "But I mean, that's just football. ... We've got a lot of depth at running back, and we're going to do our best up front to give them the best opportunity to be successful."

Low pass pro

Arkansas' offensive linemen heard from position coach Sam Pittman about the pressure in quarterback Brandon Allen's face in last Saturday's scrimmage that contributed to his 10-of-23 passing performance for 110 yards.

"He wasn't pleased with our pass protection," center Mitch Smothers said. "There were times when we were kind of all over the place and the defense was getting a good rush on us.

"We didn't protect the quarterback like we should have, so this week we're putting a great emphasis on protecting the QB and giving him confidence back there."

Defensive tackle DeMarcus Hodge touted position coach Rory Segrest's advice to his unit.

"Coach Segrest always says is if we can't get to the quarterback, we've got to affect him," Hodge said. "I think whether it's getting loose and getting off a block to make a sack or getting in his face to distract him just enough to get off focus to make a bad throw, I think we did a good job of that all Saturday."

Harris up

Redshirt freshman linebacker Josh Harris' consistency has helped move him to No. 1 at middle linebacker after last Saturday's scrimmage, ahead of Khalia Hackett.

"He's a natural play-maker and has great instincts," junior linebacker Josh Williams said of Harris.

The 5-10, 220-pound walk-on from Watson Chapel uses his height to his advantage.

"The offense really doesn't see him," Williams said. "He's just popping up out of nowhere. ... Those running backs don't see him at all."

Pick up

Arkansas' top running backs had a big scrimmage Saturday, not just with their large amount of yardage but with their assignments, Kody Walker said.

"On our blitz protection we were 100 percent, so that's a positive right there," Walker said. "We've still got to work on certain things."

Picking Allen

Cornerback Jared Collins said nice eye work contributed to his interception on Brandon Allen's third pass of Saturday's scrimmage.

Collins broke well on a pass on the right boundary, wrangled a pass away from Damon "Duwop" Mitchell and toe-tapped before falling out of bounds.

"Duwop ran a comeback. I just had great eye discipline," Collins said. "I came back and made a play on the ball. Luckily I got it out."

Collins said freshman cornerback Ryan Pulley intercepted Allen in 7-on-7 work Tuesday, going low to intercept an overthrow.

Switching

Arkansas' coaching staff made a couple of personnel moves after Saturday's scrimmage, moving Anthony Brown from defensive end to fullback and bringing De'Andre Coley down from safety to outside linebacker.

Brown changed his jersey number from 53 to 47 in order to be eligible to catch passes as a fullback. His move was likely precipitated by running back Kody Walker now having to focus more on tailback because of Jonathan Williams' injury.

New numbers

Quarterback Rafe Peavey switched his jersey from No. 9 to No. 2. Additional number changes include middle linebacker Josh Harris (from 41 to 45), defensive tackle Armon Watts (from 49 to 86), defensive back Byron Keaton (from 38 to 39) and defensive back Reid Miller (from 22 to 38).

"That surprised me," senior defensive tackle DeMarcus Hodge said. "I didn't know who half the people were. ... I'm looking at the guys like, 'Did we bring somebody new in?'"

New Razorbacks on the 105-man roster include fullback Damani Carter, who is wearing No. 37, and defensive back Ryder Lucas (24). They are still in the two-day, non-pads part of joining camp.

Injury update

Receiver Keon Hatcher, who did not participate in Saturday's scrimmage, was back in his red No. 4 jersey. Coach Bret Bielema said Hatcher dinged the front of his shoulder in practice last week and could have been available Saturday had it been a game.

More mattress

Punter Blake Johnson and long snapper George Madden carried a heavy sponge mattress around the practice field after the team stretching period. The unusual disciplinary action is the same one carried out by running back Alex Collins, cornerback Cornelius Floyd and receiver Jojo Robinson last week for being 30 seconds late for a team event.

Eugene stands out

Dwayne Eugene, who moved from weakside to strongside linebacker last week, had seven tackles in Saturday's scrimmage.

"I thought Dwayne Eugene was a guy who stood out on film more than I had thought," Bret Bielema said Monday. "Which was a pleasant surprise, because he had only been playing [strongside] a couple days."

Eugene is backing up Josh Williams at strongside linebacker.

"SEC Nation" coming

The SEC Network pregame show SEC Nation will be in Fayetteville for Arkansas' season opener against Texas El-Paso on Sept. 5. The show will broadcast live from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.

Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema is likely to make an appearance on the show.

The Arkansas-UTEP game kicks off at 2:30 p.m. on ESPNU.

More mattress discipline

Arkansas punter Blake Johnson and long snapper George Madden carried a large, heavy foam mattress around the practice field after the team stretching period during the Razorbacks’ practice Tuesday.

The unusual disciplinary action is the same one carried out by Razorbacks running back Alex Collins, cornerback Cornelius Floyd and receiver Jojo Robinson last week for being 30 seconds late for a team event.

Sports on 08/19/2015