FAYETTEVILLE — Sam Pittman had some qualifying words and a bit of a hesitation when a reporter lobbed up a question about how the Arkansas Razorbacks looked on their first day in full pads Thursday.
The pause and the opening words made it feel like the third-year University of Arkansas coach was going to criticize the work or effort in the sixth practice of fall camp, but he took it the other direction.
“All I want to do is tell the truth, and I do,” Pittman started. “It’s hard for me sometimes on injuries and things of that nature, I get it, but if we had a terrible practice, I’d say it.
“But this was a wonderful practice. We got a lot of things accomplished.”
There’s an air of confidence around the Razorbacks following a 9-4 season, and that was evident from Pittman on Thursday, as well as veteran players Isaiah Nichols and Dalton Wagner, who came in afterward for media interviews.
The Razorbacks have bought into the systems on both sides of the ball, the work ethic demanded from Pittman and his staff, and there’s plenty of veteran leadership to help the installation portion of camp go more smoothly than in year’s past.
“It probably means there’s more people that believe in the team,” Pittman said of the team-wide confidence level. “There’s probably a few more fans, a few more players and all of that, but I think there’s a quiet confidence. That’s kind of what you want when you’re what you might call an underdog. There’s a confidence of, ‘We need to show people.’ ”
Nichols, a fifth-year defensive tackle, said he has been impressed with the first week of camp.
“It’s some of the best that we’ve looked since I’ve been here,” the Springdale High School product said. “We have a lot of good things on offense and defense.
“We’re playing really physical. If you take a look at the O-line and the D-Line after practice, we’re beat up. We’ve been hammering each other, so we’ve been playing really good, smart, fundamentally sound football, and that’s the brand of football we play.”
Wagner, a sixth-year senior, said the offensive line — which features four returning starters in himself, center Ricky Stromberg and guards Brady Latham and Beaux Limmer — has come out smoking.
“These first six days, I’ve been very impressed with our ability to communicate, pick up blitzes,” Wagner said. “It feels like we’re getting the book thrown at us right now from the defense.
“And it’s a testament to them, as well, too. Our defensive line has really, during the summer, changed their bodies and have gotten so much faster and stronger, and they’ve really stepped up.”
Pittman said he was pleased at the amount of work the Razorbacks got in. He touted the advancements in learning the playbook from freshmen who didn’t go through spring drills, such as receivers Isaiah Sategna and Sam Mbake, offensive lineman Patrick Kutas and defensive lineman Nico Davillier, who is taking reps at tackle with the Razorbacks down a few veterans there.
Arkansas had a day off Wednesday leading into the heavier work day in full gear, which was held outside on another hot day with the temperature touching 89 degrees with very light wind.
“We did third-and-1, we had a low red area, we did goal line situations, we did 2-point conversion prep today, team run, just a lot of things,” Pittman said. “It was a loaded practice, physical practice.”
Pittman touted the good work of pocket pass protection held between running backs and linebackers as well as tight ends and defensive ends Tuesday.
“That helped us tremendously on both sides of the ball,” he said.
The Hogs did more pass protection work Thursday and also added field goal protection into the mix.
“All those things,” Pittman said. “I thought our coaching staff did a wonderful job today in preparing that. The kids took advantage of the day off, They were really good-spirited, understanding how to practice against each other. For the most part, doing a really good job of staying up.”
Pittman said the practice had some ebbs and flows, periods when the defense set the tone and others when the offense rebounded to make it more competitive.
“We went through a series there of blitz and fourth [down], and I thought that the defense was wanting to get to the ball worse than we wanted to keep them away from the ball in those two periods,” he said. “I felt that.
“Then I think we kind of bounced back a little bit on offense in the tempo period, the red area period, down there in third down and short. Certainly the offense didn’t win every one of them, but I think they competed a little bit harder than in blitz and fourth. I felt like the defense wanted to get to the ball worse than we wanted to keep them away, and of course we talked to them about that.”
The Razorbacks will hold a lighter practice today in advance of Saturday’s first scrimmage of camp. Pittman said he still hasn’t decided if there will be minimal tackling to the ground or no tackling to the ground in Saturday’s closed workout.