Turnovers highlight red flags from Razorback scrimmage

If the comments from Sam Pittman were any indication, turnovers highlighted a number of red flags that arose from Arkansas’ second scrimmage of fall camp.

For what it’s worth, Thursday’s practice was closed to media, but the body language and accounts from Pittman made it clear he was far from pleased with his team’s overall performance.

One scrimmage does not dictate the outcome of a season, but learning of Arkansas’ staggering eight interceptions thrown on the day serves as a reality check the Hogs have plenty of work to do before the results count on the scoreboard in two weeks.

“Yeah, it’s concerning,” Pittman said of the interceptions. “It’s concerning whether it was (Taylen Green) or somebody else to be honest with you.

“Of the first four, three of them were tipped balls, which has to do with catching the ball and accuracy and throwing the football. I know there was at least two of those three where if we just catch the ball, it’s not a pick.

“With interceptions, you look at them on the quarterback a lot of the time. All of us do, but a lot of times it’s on catching the football, running the correct route, accuracy and certainly the protection of the offensive line.”

When offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino said he wanted his quarterbacks to be aggressive and take chances in practice, he almost certainly did not have eight interceptions in mind.

Arkansas’ starter, Taylen Green, was not responsible for all or even a majority of the miscues, but it was not his best day at the office by any means.

“I thought he played well,” Pittman said. “Wasn’t as accurate with the ball as what he had been. His protection wasn’t as good either. So, that has something to do with it.

“Bobby didn’t run him as much this time as he did last week. He played well, just wasn’t quite as accurate as he was the week before.”

There is more to unpack from Pittman’s comments. As he alluded to, an interception isn’t always on the quarterback.

From the sounds of it, the receivers had some issues with securing catches and running crisp routes, which was likely amplified by the non-participation of projected starters Andrew Armstrong and Tyrone Broden.

Additionally, the offensive line continues to become an increasing area of concern as Arkansas shuffles through options at guard with Patrick Kutas still sidelined by a back injury.

Of course, there are always two sides to the story when it comes to scrimmages. A struggling offense typically means a successful defense.

Arkansas’ D-Line has consistently drawn praise in recent practices as well as an unknown linebacker room. The defense had six sacks on the day. Eight interceptions certainly suggests there are ball hawks in the secondary, as well.

However, Pittman also pointed out the defensive backs took a step back from last week’s scrimmage in the penalty department and admitted concern about the overall tackling of the defense.

“Defensively, thought they ran to the ball well,” Pittman said. “Certainly intercepted passes. We have to get better at our tackling.

“We’ve got some pretty good backs, but we have to get better at our tackling. We had too many penalties in the secondary. Too many holding penalties in the secondary.

“You have to understand this is with 1s, 2s and 3s now. I’m not categorizing any of them, I’m just saying as a defense we have to get better at that.”

Arkansas finds itself in the dog days of what has been a longer than usual camp, and for the first time Pittman felt the Hogs let one sluggish day turn into another.

“Yesterday, we were sluggish, and that was a spiders practice,” Pittman said. “I thought we were sluggish. I thought we were slow. Which we’re not trying to keep them fresh for the scrimmages right now. We’re not.

“We’re trying to continue to develop our team with toughness. We’re pressing them until Monday. So, we were sluggish yesterday, and I felt like offensively we were sluggish again today. Defensively, I felt like we flew around a little bit, but again, the tackling is a concern we have to get better at.”

Despite falling short of expectations during Thursday’s scrimmage, Pittman made it clear he remains confident and optimistic in where his team is at with two weeks until kickoff.

“I like where we’re at,” Pittman said. “I like our kids because they work extremely hard. It’s important to them. They’ve got a good team togetherness and culture about them.

“We just didn’t play as well either side of the ball at times like I wish we would’ve today.”