razorbacks
By Nate Allen
FAYETTEVILLE - The Razorbacks’ bye week starts after Saturday’s game with the UAPB Golden Lions and not before it, Coach Sam Pittman stresses.
Pittman’s 4-3 University of Arkansas Razorbacks representing the UA System’s flagship university from Fayetteville and powerful SEC, are prohibitive favorites in Little Rock over fellow UA System member University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
Saturday’s 11 a.m. SEC Network televised nonconference game at War Memorial Stadium renews the Razorbacks’ Little Rock presence. The 1948-2019 string of the Razorbacks playing home games both in Fayetteville and Little Rock was 2020 snapped with the covid revamped entirely SEC schedule limiting the Hogs’ home games to Fayetteville.
UAPB of the SWAC (Southwest Athletic Conference) hails from down a division (FCS instead of the top FBS played in by college football’s power conferences) and this season struggles 1-5.
So for a Razorbacks team “beat up,” Pittman freely admits, from the rigors of seven games in seven weeks including the Big 12’s Texas Longhorns plus four SEC games the last four weeks, Pittman obviously wishes quickly to rest his regulars and play younger players going into next week’s bye week healing the injured and walking wounded before November’s final four SEC games.
“"Lord willing we will,” Pittman said when asked if he hoped to play many young substitutes against UAPB. “That's not the plan. The plan is go play as good as we can. Certainly if something happened it would be good for the guys who haven't had opportunities, but we're going in like it's going to be a barn burner. We're going in like it's really going to be a competitive game.”
A wise choice.
Coach Doc Gamble’s Golden Lions seem bound to arrive at an apex playing UAPB’s first time against the Razorbacks.
It’s the first time any Arkansas based school has played football against the Hogs since they routed the University of Arkansas-Monticello in 1944.
“Doc will have them ready,” Pittman said. “I think they’ll be jacked up and ready to go. I’m positive they will be.”
Simeon Blair believes so, too.
The Arkansas safety from Pine Bluff who turned down a UAPB scholarship offer to walk on with the Razorbacks and earn a scholarship from them says he knows “about 10 to 15” Golden Lions from his elementary through high school days in Pine Bluff.
‘I think they will be very excited,” Blair said.
Just last spring, the SWAC postponed 2020 fall athletics because of covid, UAPB went 4-1 not losing until the SWAC Championship game in Jackson, Miss. against Alabama A&M.
“They’ve had some injuries that have hurt them,” Pittman said. “They had a really nice right tackle that got hurt. They’ve lost some games here this year but they have some speed and they play really hard.”
They lead the FCS in blocking punts, four in six games.
Arkansas has suffered two, first while trailing early in the season-opener it eventually won, 38-17 over Rice and one that Georgia not only blocked but recovered for a touchdown during the now nationally No. 1 Bulldogs’ 37-0 rout of the Razorbacks in Athens, Ga.
“They try to block every single punt which as you guys know is scary,” Pittman told media.
Pittman and special teams coach Scott Fountain will stress all that this week along with all the mental aspects.
Physically, the practices have been shorter and more limited.
Not because of the opponent but for being “beat up,” Pittman said.
In last week’s 38-23 loss to Auburn in Fayetteville, the Razorbacks were without injured starters Jalen Catalon, the Preseason All-American safety, cornerback LaDarrius Bishop, defensive tackle Markell Utsey, and right offensive tackle Dalton Wagner plus some like reserve tight end Trey Knox, just spot-played nursing injuries.
Catalon is out for the season following Monday’s shoulder surgery.
Wagner and Utsey, harboring hopes to heal by November, remain sidelined. Bishop returns but Knox likely is iffy.
Many others, including starting quarterback KJ Jefferson, play through ailments that Pittman has deferred to lightening this week’s practice load.
“ We would do it whether we were playing Auburn or playing Arkansas-Pine Bluff,” Pittman said. “We don't really have a choice. We've got to be smart with our team. That's certainly not being soft, that's being smart. The only thing really that we changed this week is our good on good (the portion pitting the No. 1 and No. 2 offenses and defenses against each other rather than against the scout teams emulating UAPB. We did not do as many reps good on good as what we had in fall camp and the first seven weeks.”