With classes starting this week, fall camp is officially in the books for Arkansas football.
Between July 31 and this past Saturday, the Razorbacks practiced 16 times, including two major scrimmages. They resumed practice Monday, but that marked an important moment of the preseason.
It was the first of nine practices between the start of school and the Aug. 29 opener against UAPB at War Memorial Stadium.
Things can certainly happen over those nine practices, but for the most part – as the saying goes – the hay is in the barn.
Here is a closer look at three players, one in each phase of the game, who appeared to improve the most since the conclusion of spring ball in April…
OL E’Marion Harris
An injury to Patrick Kutas has forced Arkansas to tweak its otherwise solidified starting offensive line this fall camp and after some trial and error, E’Marion Harris has emerged as the frontrunner to take over at left guard if the projected starter isn’t healthy in time for the Aug. 29 opener against UAPB.
Considering he was a heralded recruit coming out of high school, it’s not a particularly surprising development. At the same time, though, he was not really even in the conversation as the sixth- or seventh-best offensive lineman during the spring.
However, new offensive line coach Eric Mateos singled him out as “by far” the most improved player in his room. He wasn’t hired until after the season, so it’s safe to say the biggest chunk of that improvement came between spring ball and fall camp.
“His level of play right now is extremely high,” Mateos said. “He had the best scrimmage probably of anybody in our room. … You see it in how he moves. He’s got shoulders back, chest up, chin up. He’s got confidence. He’s gotten his weight back where he wants it. He’s feeling strong. You’re just seeing the maturity of him being a third-year guy.”
Mateos spoke to reporters following a Saturday practice on Aug. 10 and mentioned that Harris took 10 reps as the first-team left guard that day. Two days later, the media got its first glimpse of him at that spot and he’s seemingly locked it down in Kutas’ absence.
It was an interesting development because Harris had previously been working as the second-team left tackle. However, all 104 of his career snaps in games have been at guard.
Listed at 6-foot-7, 300 pounds, Harris is pretty tall to be on the interior, but Sam Pittman told reporters the decision to move him back inside was made because it’d get their best five offensive linemen on the field at the same time.
“Well, a big reason was because he’d been playing so well,” Pittman said. “You rate him, with Kutas out…he’s at least five. He had a problem with keeping his weight. He’s a big ol’ kid coming out of high school and he had lost (weight). He had a problem keeping his weight, and now he’s over 300 pounds, playing well. We moved him in there and it made us better.”
It’s not just the coaches who’ve been hyping him up, either. Tennessee transfer Addison Nichols, who plays beside him at center, recently had high remarks for the Little Rock native.
“(Harris) has had a fantastic camp,” Nichols said. “He’s truly been unbelievable. He has really bought in, great effort, great execution and he’s someone that you trust playing next to.”
Quarterback Taylen Green is also confident in the redshirt sophomore if he’s forced to make his first career start this season.
“He’s been doing an amazing job, just stepping into that role and knowing what to do,” Green said. “Doesn’t complain. He’s really gritty. He’s just doing a great job of doing whatever the coaches tell him to do. And he does it with no questions asked. That’s what I really like.”
It’s hard to believe that nearly six years have passed since Harris burst onto the scene as a 13-year-old offered by Alabama before his freshman year at Joe T. Robinson.
The son of former Arkansas defensive lineman Elliott Harris, he was a consensus four-star recruit and ranked as high as No. 236 nationally by Rivals. Naturally, many fans viewed Harris as the next great offensive lineman for the Razorbacks.
That hasn’t quite come to fruition just yet, but star defensive end Landon Jackson has noticed a different mindset within Harris this year.
“He’s tired of not playing,” Jackson said. “He’s coming in and working real hard every day. He’s had a great fall camp. He’s worked his way into running with the ones now. I can see that sticking because he’s a really talented player. Real good hands, real good feet.”
DE Anton Juncaj
The most notable transfer Arkansas landed on defense was probably linebacker Xavian Sorey Jr. because he was a former five-star recruit who spent the previous three years at Georgia, arguably the premier program in college football.
Needless to say, Anton Juncaj’s background is much different, but his commitment was still heralded. He was neither a teen phenom like E’Marion Harris nor a blue-chip recruit like Sorey. Instead, Juncaj began his career at a Division II school, went to a junior college and eventually ended up at FCS Albany, where he was a solid player in 2022 before exploding into an All-American defensive end with 15 sacks last year.
While Sorey was able to pretty seamlessly slide into a starting role, it’s been a bit of a steeper hill to climb for Juncaj, who even admitted that the tempo at Arkansas was much different than his previous school. That was reflected in his performance this spring, according to defensive line coach Deke Adams.
“A lot of things that when he got here that he had not been taught or not been exposed to and he was learning,” Adams said. “As the spring went on and it got later in the spring, he understood what we were doing and he started, you can see his growth started to really take off.”
There was some hope that Juncaj would be able to pick up right where he left off when fall camp rolled around, but he suffered a concussion just a couple of days in and missed more than a week of practice.
However, when he finally got healthy, Juncaj jumped right back into the mix and head coach Sam Pittman said after last Thursday’s scrimmage that he’s pushing Nico Davillier for a starting spot.
“I think he’s playing better right now than he did anytime in the spring,” Pittman said. “He’s a load, now. Big, physical. The summer program really helped him a lot. And I think he’s a really good player, and excited about him. I just feel him all the time. You know, I stand behind offense. I feel him. When he’s in there. I know he’s in there.”
Finding a second big-time pass rusher would be huge for Arkansas because it already has one in Landon Jackson. The Hogs would really be able to get after the quarterback by bookending their defensive line with two high-caliber ends.
It sounds like Juncaj has made an impression on his teammate, too.
“He plays with his head on fire,” Jackson said after the scrimmage. “He’s flying around making plays. He was all over the field today. I feel like he’s a really talented player. I think that was a great get out of the portal.”
K Matthew Shipley
The Razorbacks were so confident in their kicking situation following spring ball that they went out and brought in an FCS standout to compete for the job in fall camp.
Kyle Ramsey made 14 of 15 field goals, including 4 of 5 from 50-plus yards and another seven from at least 40 yards, last season at Abilene Christian and appeared to be a legitimate contender to take over for Cam Little coming into fall camp.
What has happened instead, though, is that his presence has raised the game of Matthew Shipley. After struggling with consistency this spring, especially inside Razorback Stadium, the Hawaii transfer has seemingly locked down the job.
Shipley has gone 3 of 4 in each of the Razorbacks’ two closed scrimmages this fall, according to a UA spokesperson, and ended both of them with a “game-winning” field goal of at least 50 yards in a two-minute drill.
Needless to say, it sounds like he performed much closer to how he did at Hawaii, where he was a career 76.7% kicker on 73 attempts.
That kind of consistency, range and clutch-ness could be critical for Arkansas football if it finds itself in as many close games as it did in 2023.
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