Monday, July 25, 2011

Arkansas’ Warning in the West

SEC Coaches echo each other at SEC Media Days once they hear a question about Arkansas. They each shake their head and utter the same nervous answer,  “They’re good.”
Time to study the competition.

When opposing coaches talk about their upcoming 2011 engagements with Arkansas its a quick lesson to the threat looming for SEC schedules.
With out hesitation USC head coach Steve Spurrier knows right away who he's nervous for.
"Arkansas played against us better than anybody," he said. "They blocked and tackled, didn't make many mistakes either- they're a good team."
South Carolina defensive tackle Travarian Robertson also nervously eyes the competition and remembers them vividly from last year.
"Arkansas had a great offensive line," he said. "They got a great coach and from what I've seen they stuck together as a team, have great confidence and great discipline."
Like many other teams in the conference, Arkansas has to replace a prolific quarterback in Ryan Mallet, who left for the NFL Draft. The competition in Fayetteville will pit junior Tyler Wilson and sophomore Brandon Mitchell against each other for starting quarterback position.
“With Wilson, it’s very impressive how much he cares, his commitment not just studying offense but defenses,” head coach Bobby Petrino said. “I’ve been very impressed with Tyler.”
“He still has a little time to get ready,” receiver Jarius Wright said. “But who ever the coach decides to put out, the team will have their back.”
Petrino says Wilson fills a leadership role amongst the team. Wilson and the younger Mitchell have been competing since the spring, and Petrino doesn’t think much will change about making a decision closer to game time. He describes that it is a ‘process’. When one quarterback does great in practice, he may falter with the spring game. If one does poorly in practice, he may flourish in scrimmages.
With inexperience in that position, a lot of help will come from the running game and an extremely successful back in Knile Davis. 
“We have a huge advantage with Davis,” Petrino said. “He can get us out of bad runs.”
Last year, Davis had better numbers than both Alabama’s Trent Richardson and South Carolina’s Marcus Lattimore. This year the quiet expectation of his explosion on the field is hard to miss from teammates and opposing teams alike.
“We have a running back that’s going to shock the world,” said teammate defensive end Tenarius Wright.
When Petrino talks about his receivers like Jarius Wright, Joe Adams, Greg Childs, or Cobi Hamilton he simply says, “they make plays.” That small statement makes a gigantic impact on the field for young Razorback QB’s.
“The benefit for our QB is they don’t have to be saying, ‘this is my best receiver, I have to throw to him,” Coach Petrino said. “They can all make plays for you.”
The Razorback offensive line has also improved according to teammates. And that’s great news for a team needing to protect young arms and using Davis as a weapon. But according to Petrino, while his offensive line has been given accolades, after losing key players there is still reason for concern.

“On paper that unit will have the biggest question mark,” Petrino said. “The advantage of having back our interior makes the question marks on the edges. Size wise and athletic wise we’re there. They’re just youthful.”
On top a stellar offense anticipated in Fayetteville, coach Bobby Petrino says his defense doesn’t get enough credit. “They never do,” he says.
 “Every game I tell them, ‘Hey, defense is where you win big games, where you win championships.’” He said. “And they held their rope, they kept us in a lot of games.”
“We have pride in our defense,” receiver Jarius Wright said. “This year we have depth on D, more experience. We’re kinda depending on them this year.”
Last year Arkansas was good. This year, they have even more pre-season buzz surrounding them. From what coaches and players say, they are using the mistakes of last year to perfect their present season.
“Being a 7-5 team, having that taste in our mouth…” Tenarius Wright said shaking his head. “We don’t want that taste in our mouth anymore.”
No matter the unit Petrino says the goals are avoiding mental mistakes. Mistakes Wright saw some of last year.
“Last year we needed more focus, more mental capacity,” he said. “We just needed that extra edge. The big stage was just a lot to us. It was definitely jaw-dropping to me.”
Now, there’s a call to action. The team as a whole has made an effort to study more film and to study it better, paying more attention to more detail. Outside the film room, there’s a blatant and upfront goal whether it be as a team or individually.
“Just being faster and stronger,” Tenarius Wright said. “We are realizing this is not just a game. We’re going to strive to be better. We’re watching film and picking up more detail. We just are playing no hesitation, no thinking about it, just full speed football right now.”
According to Petrino spring’s focus for the team was third downs, and creating offensive confidence by going with the big plays, the deep throws and explosive runs. On the other side of the ball, defense worked on red zone D and stopping the run, which is everyone’s weapon in the SEC this year.
For Arkansas’ running game, while things look good, Davis knows there is still room to improve. Whether that’s with the ball in his hands or being a team leader in the weight room.
“I’ve definitely stepped up to be a vocal leader this year,” Davis said. “My blocking has to be good but my reads coming out of the backfield have to be better than last year.”
In Arkansas’s weight room instead of flashy signs, there is just a 2011 schedule- no circles, no marks, just a black and white view of what’s ahead. While they stare at opposing names and dates as they train, enemy camps are training too, only they have Arkansas’s name circled on their schedules.
“Do you think you are an honest contender for the National Championship this year?” one reporter asked several Arkansas players.
“I do,” was the only answer given.
“There’s no extra pressure with the West, we have high expectations ourselves,” Jarius Wright said. “We’re a pretty close bunch already, we take care of our teammates.”

 Jarius speaks for a team with focused confidence and chemistry. A team that realizes the blemishes of last season and their close path to success this year, as long as they stick together and keep on the “grind.” 


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