FAYETTEVILLE — There was a lot to see in the first scrimmage of the spring. The eye candy was there no matter where you looked.
Do you want to focus on perhaps 250 recruits lining the field, with their high school coaches and parents? It was amazing to see new Arkansas coach Chad Morris dismiss his squad, then call up all the guests in the center of the field.
Plain and simple, I've never seen anything like it.
Or, you could try to chart the snaps from scrimmage, tackles and all the assorted snaps.
Nope, that's not what I wanted to see.
I just wanted to know was there a center to run the show. In a spread offense with action fast and furious, there's two things that have to happen in a hurry: quarterback has to get things rolling, center has to make the call and then execute the shotgun snap a cue. It's a simple slap of the hands.
The questions for Morris afterward – repeated by some who probably were not listening for the first go round – concerned the play of the quarterbacks. How did Cole Kelley, Ty Storey, Daulton Hyatt, Jack Lindsey and Austin Aune handle the new system?
No, I was watching the centers - Dylan Hays, Ty Clary and Audry Horn. All were or are walk-ons.
That's quite a change from the last two years when the center was the best in America, the graduated Frank Ragnow.
Whether you are talking about the spread run by Morris and staff, or the pro system under Bret Bielema, everything starts with the center snap. And, it's different now that it's a shotgun system and a no-huddle system.
Morris intimated that things were too slow Saturday for the top quarterbacks, especially Kelley. Morris said he wants everything from the pre-snap read to the snap to take place in five seconds.
Wow.
That means the center has to make an immediate read of the defensive front – and it might be changing in the system run by defensive coordinator John Chavis – and get that relayed down the line with one simple word.
Offensive coordinator Joe Craddock knows the Hogs still have to get better, but he was pleased with Hays, the converted nose tackle.
"He's been very pleasing," Craddock said of Hays, the 6-3, 295-pound sophomore from Little Rock.
"He's tough and hard nosed. We like what we've seen there from Dylan."
Hays is pleased to be at center after bouncing between there and nose tackle the last two years, lettering last year while playing both.
"I think center fits me best," said Hays, although he said the same thing when the last staff put him at nose tackle, too.
They called him the Tasmanian Devil. It's because his motor runs at a high level.
Hays was poised and smooth in the interview room Saturday. He said he's adapted to the shotgun snap after the first day's jitters.
"I think all of my snaps were fine today," he said. "My target is the quarterback's waist band. I think I had one at the knees today, but that's it."
Clary, the backup, had a few high snaps on Saturday. But, Hays gave a reporter the summary of the first five practices on that topic.
"I don't think there have been a lot of problems with the snap," he said. "We got that down."
There was one perplexed look from Hays. A reporter asked about how "the conversion to the RPO in the Morris system" has played out over the first two weeks.
"For me, there's nothing to worry about that," he said. "As an offensive linemen, it's a called run. We never know what that's going to turn out to be and we don't worry. We just block. So I think that's been the easiest thing. I can't tell you how much that happened today because we never see what's going on behind us."
That was the only "I don't know" from Hays. He said the new blocking scheme installed by line coach Dustin Fry has been a joy to learn.
"It's simple," he said. "I really think I've got it now. It's about learning the steps and just repeating them. It's the same stuff.
"We are different. We had a lot of double teams that you just tried to take down the field as far as possible in the old system.
"This system, we are trying to get to the next level more, get the linebackers. Now, it's still physical stuff. But it's easier."
Easier?
"There's one less guy in the box, sometimes two," Hays said.
I saw that even on the goal line. There are never six, seven and eight in the box. There was a time on the goal line Saturday when the line got a three-on-one look. It made for an easy touchdown run.
"The box is no longer full," Hays said. "We like that as an offensive line group.
"I'm having a great time. How could things be better? I'm from Little Rock and I have a chance to play for the Razorbacks and a chance to be a starter. I love where I'm at.
"As far as today, I'm sure there are things we need to see in the tape room and get it fixed. I do know that we were able to run the ball today.
"We are still in the learning phase as far as the complete offense. But a lot of it for the blocking is the same. I think the O-line did well today."
Hays didn't seem tired when he came to the media room. Maybe it's because his group is fit beyond anything they've known in college.
"We have dropped weight and body fat," he said. "I'm in the best shape of my life.
"I played at 305 (pounds) last year. I'm at 295 now and I'm stronger. I think we are still working to become stronger, but our guys on the offensive line can throw some weight up (in the weight room). I was at 305 in January and I've got more muscle now.
"We are playing fast and going to get faster. I know we are still physical up front.
"I'm so excited. Like I said, I've got an amazing opportunity in front of me."
Craddock did admit that hardly any of the offense has been installed. He think it's at about 30 percent. Hays knows that. But while Morris and Craddock said quarterbacks, running backs and receivers probably a little dizzy at the amount of information crammed in the last couple of months, Hays didn't see it as complicated.
"It happens quick, but it's an easy, simple read for me," he said. "We've looked at a lot of stuff already with Coach Fry and we know a lot more is coming. We've seen what SMU does and we've looked at some NFL tapes for technique. Yes, we changed technique, but we can handle it."
I'd heard that offensive line play would become more simplified and would improve in this system. That's been the weak link for the last couple of seasons.
Morris praised a lot of players in the O-line, noting that Brian Wallace at right tackle has been a pleasant surprise.
There were probably some bad preconceived notions about some of these guys. One was erased for me Saturday: could the Hogs survive the loss of Ragnow? I'm not saying there won't be a slip there, but it might not be what I thought.
Everything is different at Arkansas. Nothing is perfect. I get it when Morris and his coordinators say it's a long way to get to the finished product.
But I'll say early in the process the Hogs have a chance at center. Hays is making everyone smile.