FAYETTEVILLE -- As the Oct. 30 season opener against Alabama A&M draws nearer Bobby Petrino met with the media at noon on Tuesday to talk about the offense and team.
One of the biggest issues with the offense last year was the number of turnovers. Petrino is hoping for big improvement there this season.
"We need to, there’s no question about that," Petrino said. "One of the things that helps you take care of the ball better is your pass protection, so we can secure the ball in the pocket, get the ball out of your hand and don’t take those blind hits in the pocket. We’ve had a good emphasis on carrying the ball correctly at each position when we get in traffic, chinning it and locking it, and I’m seeing those show up on video, so our coaches are doing a really good job of it."
Gone are the top nine players with receptions in 2024. So Taylen Green will have a lot of new faces to throw to. Petrino was asked who is moving to the front at wide receiver?
"It'll probably this week, you know, start working itself out a little bit more," Petrino said. "You go into some situation work this week and gameplan stuff and still go ones versus ones, so you get that competition. But Monte (Harrison) still had another big game, or big day out there. Made a lot of catches, did a good job of running routes, ran after the catch, so I was happy with him. CJ (Brown) had a big touchdown for us and run after the catch. J. Brown had a big day. I thought he felt good about it. He looked fast out there. And the thing about him is he is fast. So as long as he knows exactly what he's doing, he's going to play like that. And that was what was good to see, is that he wasn't hesitating. He really looked like he knew the offense better and made plays. O'Mega Blake had kind of a tough day as far as getting balls thrown to him. It just didn't work out. When you called the play for him, the progression took us somewhere else, and I'd like to seen him get more opportunities to catch the ball, but he just didn't get him done."
Harrison is a 30-year-old sophomore. Has he surpassed Petrino's expectations?
"Really didn’t know," Petrino said. "Didn’t know a whole lot about him. Did go back and watch his high school tape and very, very impressive the different things he did on high school tape. He was a good punt returner in high school. He lined up at quarterback a little bit in high school. All those things were exciting. Then this summer when you put up on the board all our players and their size, strength, speed, jumping ability, he just pops off the board and you’re going, ‘This is unbelievable how talented this young man is, or old man is.’ I don’t know what you call him, young or old. He’s still young to me, I can tell you that. But he is an unbelievable talent. Now he understands football. He’d been away from it for a long time, so he’s done a great job for us so far. We gotta keep it going."
Kam Shanks is a first-team All-America punt returner who doubles at wide receiver. He has missed some time with an injury, but is now back.
"Yeah, no doubt about it," Petrino said. "He’s little, but he doesn’t play little. He doesn’t play little because he can elevate and turn his body. Short guys that can’t jump and turn in the air are hard targets to hit, but you can actually throw him open and he’s able to elevate and turn and make those catches. It’s nice to have him back out there because we need the time with the quarterbacks working with him to understand where he’s going to be, what his quickness gives us, because he’s super quick, and he’s a hard matchup because of that quickness."
Petrino coached a great punt returner in Joe Adams when he was head coach of the Hogs. He was asked how Shanks compares to Adams?
"I think what we really need to do is get into the games so you guys can play it on phone so I can watch it when I’m driving to work," Petrino said. "Got new skills now, you can drive and watch at the same time, so I’ve been developing those pretty well. To be honest with you, I don’t spend any time at all watching special teams in practice, but I do remember him from a year ago, from what he did at UAB. To lead the nation in three different categories and see what he did out on the field, very, very impressive.
"His quickness as a receiver and his toughness, that would remind me a lot of Joe. Joe was unbelievably quick, change-of-direction, stop and go, and then tough and enjoying running the ball. When you’ve got that mental toughness, it helps a lot."
Brayen Russell is still set to play a big role at running back.
"Yeah, I mean he understands the offense," Petrino said. "Last year as a true freshman, you come in and you don’t realize how much you play into pass protection. In high school he probably didn’t have to do it a whole lot, but he’s taking it very, very seriously. He understands now how to use that big body and his strength, because he’s a very explosive guy. So that jumps out at you, is how much better a pass protector he is, which allows him to play in the game for second and third down. So that’s great."
Arkansas will return to the practice fields Tuesday evening.
