Razorbacks Report

Pulley's pick draws scrutiny

Arkansas quarterback Cole Kelley (15) goes through practice Thursday, March 1, 2018, in Fayetteville.

FAYETTEVILLE -- The Arkansas Razorbacks finished spring practice No. 2 with two-minute drills for the starters and the reserves on a sunny Saturday, and the defense and offense split the victories.

Cornerback Ryan Pulley ended the first two-minute drill with an interception off Cole Kelley, who was targeting Jonathan Nance. Quarterback Ty Storey directed the second offense down the field and connected with freshman Mike Woods for a period-winning touchdown.

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"I told the defense I was going to get an interception," said Pulley, who was in his first live periods since suffering a torn pectoral muscle Aug. 31. "I think we were in press coverage, and the receiver ran like a dig and I just jumped it, honestly."

Nance said Pulley got away with holding on the play.

"Yeah, Pulley held me, I'll say it," Nance said with a laugh within earshot of Pulley.

Coach Chad Morris said he was concerned with the energy level early in the workout and considered restarting practice before the players rebounded.

"They responded, and it's all about the finish," Morris said. "The last part of our practice was the hardest part, and it was by design. So we're straining them and training them. That's what this thing is about.

"Mike Woods made a catch to win the two-minute drill, a true freshman, and so that was good to see.

"Let me say this, there's incredible competition going on, man. They're having fun. They're competing against each other. There's winners and losers. And it's all about the finish."

Slow install

Chad Morris described the installation of the offense as "extremely slow" Saturday.

"They're trying to play fast, but they're thinking, and when you think it's hard to play fast," Morris said. "It's got to come natural to you. They're drinking out of a fire hose, and that's by design, and we're going to continue.

"We've got one more heavy day of install, and at that point we'll pull back. We've got to get better in that regard, but overall the want-to is there and they're having fun out there. The coaches are flying around and guys are being coached."

Leadership

Offensive guard Hjalte Froholdt and linebacker De'Jon Harris, two of the three players selected by their teammates for leadership positions, attended post-practice interviews.

"It means a lot to me just knowing that all the things I'm doing, the guys are appreciating it and looking up to me and they want me to be their leader," said Harris, who ranked second in the SEC with 115 tackles last year. "I take on that job every day to do the right thing because I know somebody's around watching me."

Froholdt said the leadership on offense has been passed down to him.

"There has been some great leaders before me that I've tried to pick up on, pick up on their traits and make my own kind of traits out of it," he said. "I think being a senior now ... I've had to take some of these young guys under my wing. With the new offensive scheme, try to get everything going smooth."

Agim talk

Chad Morris said defensive lineman McTelvin Agim has met with him a couple of times to talk about what he's thinking.

"I just wanted to tell Coach Morris that I'm open-minded to whatever he's got going on, whatever he's trying to bring," Agim said. "I want to win. We want to win. Like it's no resistance here. I just wanted to make sure he knew that. We're happy you're here and we're ready to work."

Morris said he appreciates the visits.

"He's not afraid to come and talk to you," Morris said. "He's been around and shared some things with me and wanted to talk about a few things. That's important. It takes an older guy to approach the head coach and just come and talk. That's been impressive."

Morris said he's also been impressed by Agim's motor and has even had to slow him down during walk-throughs because Agim has been "full, full, wide open."

Jump aboard

Asked about the overall talent level he inherited, Chad Morris said it would be presumptuous to make judgments, before adding the Razorbacks need to get faster and bigger in some areas, and more consistent in their approach.

"This program, this university, this state, they're so ready for this," he said. "Once we get it going -- and we're going to get it going -- that's all we've ever done is win. We're going to get it going. Once you do, it's going to take off.

"We want this to be popular, to wear the Hog around, that's popular. While it may not be as popular right now, I'm OK with that. Great. That's OK. Because it will be. You better get on the bandwagon now. Is it going to take time? Absolutely. Everything's going to take some time."

Early start

Chad Morris said he likes to start spring drills early for a variety of reasons, one being the extra time it provides in April for weight training and rehabilitation.

"We'll have our spring game on the 7th, then we'll have two practices after that to show them how we want to work our summer skills and drills," Morris said. "From there, I want to have quality exit meetings with these guys and with their position coaches, with their coordinators and then with me, so they know exactly where they stand coming out of spring."

Big numbers

As many as 500 visitors, composed of high school coaches, prospects and their families, lined the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville practice fields during Saturday's practice, Coach Chad Morris estimated.

Morris said the number of recruits and parents was probably around 195.

'Hammer' time

Coach Chad Morris, in a wide-ranging explanation of the team's goals and philosophies during his pre-spring news conference, let on that the "Hammer Down" motto also features acronyms for each of the letters, though he only described the "H" in his comments.

"People get a chuckle when we talk about hammer down," Morris said. "Hammer down is our culture. That's what we're about.

"Each letter of hammer down represents some form of our culture that we stand for, the first one being 'Hogs first, Hogs last.' We're always talking about accountability. It starts with us and ends with us."

New words

Coach Chad Morris invented two new words during the first week of spring: "inspectations" and "juiceful."

On Thursday, Morris said "If you're juiceful, you're useful" in regard to the amount of energy he wanted at practice.

Morris also said he and his staff did not go into spring drills with "expectations," but with something a little different.

"They understand my inspectations of practice," Morris said in his pre-spring newsconference. "We don't have 'expectations' because you get what you inspect, not what you expect. So we went through our inspectations of practice. I don't know if that's a word. If it's not, it's now one. But this is what we inspect because I'm going to watch you over and over and over."

Extra points

• Coach Chad Morris said senior safety Santos Ramirez has been an early standout through two spring practices, and that Maleek Barkley, who transitioned from receiver to running back, had a couple of breakaways Saturday.

• Offensive lineman Jalen Merrick, who appeared to fall out of favor with the previous regime, earned some snaps with the first offense at right guard, where he rotated with returning starter Johnny Gibson on Saturday.

• Linebacker Josh Paul, a 2017 signee who redshirted last year, is no longer on the team, Morris said Saturday.

Sports on 03/04/2018