FAYETTEVILLE — The top takeaway from the first scrimmage of camp for the Arkansas Razorbacks on Saturday: KJ Jefferson was well on target.
A second observation made by Coach Sam Pittman: Jefferson is going to have plenty of talented options to deliver the ball to this fall.
Jefferson and the first offensive unit converted a series of long pass plays working against the second and then the first defensive group to highlight practice No. 8, a 110-play closed workout for the University of Arkansas.
Pittman said there was no tackling to the ground per se, but the heavy “thud” work did result in some ball carriers going down on the UA’s grass practice field outside the Walker Pavilion. The quarterbacks were off limits as usual.
“We thudded, but it was a thud now,” Pittman said. “A thud that will knock them down. I think we did the right thing.”
Transfer receiver Matt Landers hauled in a 50-yard touchdown pass and also caught a 65-yarder from Jefferson. Tight end Trey Knox had receptions covering 20 and 35 yards with the first unit.
Warren Thompson hauled in a 40-yard scoring pass from Jefferson, and Jadon Haselwood also had a 25-yard grab with the first unit.
That’s 235 yards on six catches alone.
“Ol’ KJ was accurate today, wasn’t he?” Pittman asked UA director of athletic communications Kyle Parkinson as soon as his news conference wrapped.
“Our wideouts right now, guys, are playing really well,” Pittman said. [Thompson] caught a touchdown. … I really like the young [Isaiah] Sategna kid. I really like him. He did some really nice things today as well.”
Pittman also touted good work from the offensive line during a third-down segment, saying the offense converted six or seven third-down snaps ranging from 4 to 11 yards needed to gain.
The defense recorded numerous “sacks,” with Zach Williams, Dorian Gerald and Drew Sanders all notching obvious ones. Those defenders and other players accounted for some on which the “sacker” was obscured or the play was blown dead without an obvious player to credit, per UA sports information, which provided some details from the closed session.
However, Jefferson and the passing game excelled to overcome some of the negative-yardage plays.
“I think I had a pretty good performance starting out, but I mean, I gotta give credit to my O-line and the receivers making plays, helping me out from that standpoint,” Jefferson said.
“But I feel like I did have a great day today. Some things I do need to get better, go over small details and stuff like that. And as an offensive unit, I feel like we had a pretty explosive day today. We came out, took shots early, but just got to clean up the little mistakes and the little details, all the penalties that we had.”
Senior linebacker Bumper Pool was the lone defensive player in the post-scrimmage interview room.
“There was times where we were getting back to the quarterback,” Pool said. “We had a lot of sacks. It was just credit to guys working pass rush moves. We do it a lot in practice.
“I think Drew had like three sacks. And just being able to get to the quarterback, work running backs, one-on-ones, I thought that was a good thing. We had some balls get over the top on us today, but we were light in the DB room, so guys were getting a lot of reps.
“First scrimmage, you’re starting to see that fatigue kind of set in. And so it was good. It was good to see where we’re at. I always look at the scrimmages as a reality check, and then you get to build off of it. We still have 21 days before our first game, but I really like where we’re at right now.”
Pittman pointed out penalties as one of the day’s downers.
“In my opinion, there were nine penalties that we had that were just us,” Pittman said, referencing pre-snap flags, a couple of illegal formations and even two kickoffs out of bounds.
“Those things we have to clean up, and that’s usually what happens in the first scrimmage, especially with your younger kids,” Pittman said. “But the tempo was good, and I feel like our team is in pretty good shape. I think we’re in good shape with three weeks to go, but we’re certainly not game ready. I saw a lot of good things out there.”
Running plays were blown dead if the ball carrier advanced about 10 yards, so rushing statistics were not calculated by UA media relations.
Still, Raheim “Rocket” Sanders’ work as the starting tailback was good enough to deserve mention by Pittman.
“Rocket did some nice things, blocked well, certainly,” Pittman said. “Had some nice runs in there.”
Pool and other veterans did not log the same number of reps as younger players who need to have more scrimmage-type work on film to be evaluated.
“Today was a big emphasis with the younger guys getting a lot of reps in the linebacker room,” Pool said. “I thought Jackson Woodard had a really good day. Jordan Crook.”
Leading safety Jalen Catalon was not available as he was back in Texas dealing with a family matter, Pittman said. Catalon’s absence allowed Latavious Brini and Jayden Johnson to get more work with the top defensive unit.
When it came down to the end goal, moving the ball and putting points on the board, Pittman referred back to Jefferson and the wideouts.
“We’ve got big wideouts, we’ve got a quarterback who’s getting it to them, we’re able to protect, and right now that’s a good thing,” Pittman said.