FAYETTEVILLE — How you feel about the last major Arkansas football scrimmage of fall camp likely depends on your overall level of optimism entering 2024.
Practicing inside Razorback Stadium for the second time this camp, the team flipped its showing from a week earlier when the offense jumped out to a fast start and the defense closed strong.
Just like the first one, reporters weren’t allowed to watch any of Thursday’s scrimmage, but Arkansas football coach Sam Pittman met with the media afterward to discuss what had unfolded over the previous couple hours.
It’s never wise to overreact to anything from a scrimmage that no one outside of the Arkansas football program witnessed, but that has never stopped fans in the past, so let’s look at both sides of the argument before jumping to your conclusions…
It Was a Terrible Scrimmage for Arkansas Football
Based on what Sam Pittman told reporters, the offense stunk Thursday — or, in his words, it was “sluggish.”
There were eight total interceptions, plus at least six sacks and another five tackles for loss, based on stats provided by a UA spokesperson. Pittman also added that there were a “little bit of too many penalties.”
In the passing game, Taylen Green “wasn’t as accurate with the ball as what he had been,” Pittman said, but part of that could be chalked up to the fact his “protection wasn’t as good either.”
Those could be scary comments to Arkansas football fans considering Green completed only 57.1% of his passes last year — and that was at Boise State, not in the SEC — and the struggles of last year’s offensive line, which have supposedly been fixed through the transfer portal with additions of Fernando Carmona Jr., Keyshawn Blackstock and Addison Nichols.
Perhaps part of that could be the continued absence of projected starting left guard Patrick Kutas, but he’s dealing with a back injury and Pittman didn’t know exactly when he’d be back at practice. It could be as early as next Monday, but he also said it might not be until the following Monday — which is only three days before the opener against UAPB.
“He’s in rehab right now, rehabbing that back, and he’s feeling much better,” Pittman said. “We don’t want to get him out there too fast, so it doesn’t complicate him the entire year. So we’re being very, very, cautious with him. And really, we’re just going off of how he feels.”
It probably didn’t help that Ty’Kieast Crawford went down with a shoulder injury early in the scrimmage, but he’s spent all camp working with the second unit despite the coaches’ hope he’d push for a starting role. That’s encouraging considering a spot opened up with Kutas’ injury just two days into camp.
On the other side of the ball, Pittman said the defense must get better at tackling, another issue that has flared up in the past. He also said there were “too many” holding penalties in the secondary, which was a unit that got flagged for multiple pass interference penalties in the first scrimmage.
Even special teams had some rough moments, including a bobbled punt. Also, Kyle Ramsey — the transfer kicker from FCS Abilene Christian — missed all four of his field goal attempts, which isn’t good considering he was brought in to compete for the starting job.
Don’t Hit the Panic Button Just Yet
The obvious flip side to the offense struggling in Thursday’s scrimmage is that the defense performed really well.
That wasn’t necessarily the case last week, as the main talking point then was the defense’s desire to start strong. If anything, that poor start in the first scrimmage was concerning because the offense lacked five starters.
A couple of those guys returned to action Thursday, but the defense still came out and did a good job, just as they emphasized throughout the week.
“I feel like the defense came out with a lot of energy today,” defensive end Landon Jackson said. “We had a bad start last week, so our biggest thing going in today was really just flipping the script, changing the tone of the scrimmage and keep it in our hands.”
Speaking of Jackson, he notched three of the Razorbacks’ sacks, plus had one of the additional tackles for loss. He’s a preseason All-SEC selection and is widely viewed as their best overall player.
It’s not a bad thing that the best player dominated a scrimmage like that. In fact, it could probably be viewed as a good thing because it means he’s still pushing to be great two weeks into fall camp.
The defense also had Anton Juncaj, the transfer defensive end from FCS Albany, back in the mix and it sounds like he’s pushing Nico Davillier for the starting spot opposite of Jackson, with redshirt freshman Quincy Rhodes Jr. sitting there as the fourth defensive end.
“Getting Anton back really helps us at the defensive end spot,” Pittman said. “I think there’s a battle there with him and Nico, and Quincy’s coming on. So that makes us pretty close to pretty damn solid on the two deep.”
Another guy pushing for a starting spot is sophomore TJ Metcalf, as Pittman said he’s battling Hudson Clark for the safety spot next to Jayden Johnson.
The Alabama native had a huge day, coming down with two interceptions and stuffing a running back short of the line to gain. His brother, Tevis Metcalf, is also trying to carve out a role as a true freshman and picked off a pass in the scrimmage.
“Both those Metcalf kids, they’re hard working guys and football’s important to them, and I love them both,” Pittman said. “TJ is probably more improved right now than a lot of guys on the team. It’s just because of his work ethic. He’s always been a good athlete, but he’s worked his way into a really solid football player.”
Some context is needed when it comes to the large number of interceptions thrown by the quarterbacks, too.
Half of the eight interceptions were made by walk-on defensive backs, indicating they were thrown by the third-team offense — likely freshman KJ Jackson, Coastal Carolina transfer Blake Boda or possibly walk-on Austin Ledbetter.
At least one of the other four was thrown by starting quarterback Taylen Green, but it came early in the scrimmage and was the result of a pass tipped into the air by the receiver. In fact, most of those remaining interceptions came on tipped passes and might not have been the quarterback’s fault.
“Of the first four (interceptions), three of them were tipped balls, which has to do with catching the ball and accuracy of throw on the football,” Pittman said. “I know there was at least two of those three that if we just catch the ball, it’s not a pick, it’s a completion.”
Receivers tipping the ball into the air would normally be a concern, but Arkansas was without two of its three projected starting wide receivers in the scrimmage, as Tyrone Broden and Andrew Armstrong were held out for precautionary reasons.
They, along with Isaiah Sategna, have shown to be the most consistent and sure-handed receivers on the team, so it’s fair to assume there won’t be as many tipped passes if they’re the ones being targeted.
On special teams, Matthew Shipley had a good day and seems to be showing why the Razorbacks used a scholarship to bring him in out of the transfer portal.
After struggling in the stadium during the spring, the Hawaii transfer is now 6 of 8 in that setting this fall. That includes another 3-of-4 day Thursday, with makes from 37, 46 and 50 yards and a miss from 38.
The 50-yard kick was another pressure situation, as he booted it with 2 seconds left to “win the game” in a two-minute drill at the end of practice. He did the same thing, from 51 yards, in the first scrimmage.
It’s also worth noting that Ramsey, his apparent top competitor, is dealing with a groin injury that might have contributed to him missing all four of his kicks. Vito Calvaruso, another kicker, was held out again for a groin injury, as well.
Scrimmage Stats
NOTABLE PASS PLAYS
- Jordan Anthony had a 65-yard touchdown from Taylen Green early in the scrimmage
- Isaac TeSlaa had a pair of 8-yard touchdown catches in the red zone (Taylen threw one, Singleton threw the other)
- Luke Hasz had a 30-yard catch and a pair of 15-yard catches
- Ja’Quinden Jackson had a 25-yard catch from Green
- Kamron Bibby had a 25-yard catch from KJ Jackson
- Jaedon Wilson had a 15-yard catch from Singleton
- Var’keyes Gumms had an 18-yard touchdown catch in the red zone from Singleton
- Andreas Paaske had a 14-yard touchdown in the red zone from Jackson
NOTABLE RUNNING PLAYS
- Rashod Dubinion had a 2-yard touchdown early and another 2-yard touchdown in red zone late.
- Braylen Russell had a 30-yarder, 25-yarder and a 7-yard touchdown
- Malachi Singleton had a 30-yard touchdown on a scramble
- KJ Jackson had a 20-yard run on a pull on an option play
- Dubinion also added a 30-yard run late in the scrimmage
NOTABLE DEFENSIVE PLAYS
- There were 8 interceptions on the day, three of which were on tipped passes (which should have been completions)
- Tevis Metcalf had one interception (tipped) and older brother TJ Metcalf had two
- Landon Jackson had three sacks and a tackle for loss
- Jabrae Shaw, John Paul Pickens, Braylon Watson, Joseph Whitt and Larry Worth also had picks
- Eric Gregory had a sack
- Cam Ball had a tackle for loss
- Dylan Hasz had a tackle for loss and a sack
- Keivie Rose had a tackle for loss
- Brad Spence had a tackle for loss
- Danny Saili had a sack
SPECIAL TEAMS
- Matthew Shipley was good from 46, 37 and 50. He missed a 38-yarder.
- Kyle Ramsey missed from 41, 44, 36 and 45.
Arkansas Football Post-Scrimmage Interviews
After the scrimmage, which also marked Day 14 of fall camp, reporters met with Arkansas football coach Sam Pittman, as well as tight end Luke Hasz and defensive end Landon Jackson:
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Miss our story from the first scrimmage of fall camp? Here you go:
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More coverage of Arkansas football and fall camp from BoAS…
