Younger Hogs get share of reps
FAYETTEVILLE — The Arkansas Razorbacks resumed practicing on Friday with a date against Penn State in the Outback Bowl looming in 22 days.
The University of Arkansas (8-4) worked in spider pads inside the Walker Pavilion on a blustery, overcast day with the skies signaling storms and an imminent change from warm air to an overnight cold front.
The veterans had a shorter day of it as they worked through stretching, about 20 minutes of drills and a one-on-one passing session before wrapping up with some conditioning sprints.
The younger players had a lengthier amount of work.
“Practice went great,” senior cornerback Montaric Brown said. “The young guys got a lot of reps. It went great. They did their part.”
Added center Ricky Stromberg, “We had a little bit of indy [individual] today. I know the younger guys went out and played against each other today. … We went and ran.”
A handful of visitors were on hand to observe the workout, including Razorbacks commitments Isaiah Sategna and Mani Powell from Fayetteville High and JJ Hollingsworth from Greenland.
Coach Sam Pittman said it was important to give younger players plenty of reps during the on-campus bowl work as coaches kept working to formulate a game plan for the Nittany Lions. The Razorbacks will not dive into putting the game plan into practice until the week after next, Pittman said.
“I think these first six practices will be just nothing about but ourselves,” Pittman said on Sunday. “I think if we start talking and practicing about Penn State earlier than that I think we could have negative when we get there.
“So, we’ll have a segment or two that week before Christmas and then we’ll rev up certainly full fledged when we get down to Tampa.”
Pittman said the live tackling and scrimmaging would likely be limited to the younger group to keep a little off the veterans heading into finals week.
“We want to get the timing of throwing and catching and things back and some conditioning with the older guys,” he said. “Young guys will hit, obviously, throughout this process more than the older guys, and of course, until you get around 8-10 days out from the game.
“But we may look at some guys at different positions and different things like that, just try to use it a little bit more spring ball-ish but not with the physicality of it with the older guys. We want to take our good players to the party, you know.”
Three Razorbacks who participated in video interviews with the media on Friday had decisions to make about their futures in 2022 and only one of them has made his decision public, with Stromberg announcing he planned to return to the Razorbacks for his senior season next fall.
Brown and defensive tackle John Ridgeway, who have both been invited to postseason all-star games, said they reached final decisions.
“I’m not sure yet,” said Brown, who was chosen first-team All-SEC by league coaches in voting released this week. “I’m still deciding if I want to come back.”
Brown was asked what factors would play into his decision on whether to declare for the draft as a fourth-year senior or return for a super senior year allowed by the NCAA due to the covid-19 issues of 2020.
“It’s a lot of keys that play into that,” Brown said. “I just have to communicate with my family and my coaches.”
Brown has been invited to play in the East-West Shrine Bowl, while Ridgeway has an invitation to the Senior Bowl. Ridgeway, a graduate transfer from Illinois State, said he’d want to talk more to Pittman before announcing a decision.
“I haven’t really talked with Pitt yet lately,” Ridgeway
“I haven’t really talked with Pitt yet lately. I’m sure I’m gonna have a talk with him this week. As of now I’m just weighing out my options, seeing what’s best for me, best for my family and best for my future.”
Defensive tackle John Ridgeway on his possible return to Arkansas next season
said. “I’m sure I’m gonna have a talk with him this week. As of now I’m just weighing out my options, seeing what’s best for me, best for my family and best for my future.”
Ridgeway said he heard Arkansas offensive tackle Dalton Wagner’s shout-out to him on the SEC Network earlier this week when talking about signing a name, image and likeness deal with World Wrestling Entertainment. When host Peter Burns asked Wagner which of his teammates he would take into the ring with his as a tag-team partner, Wagner did not hesitate to say Ridgeway.
“He’s tough, he’s mean and I think he loves wrestling as much as I do,” Wagner said.
Ridgeway, and Wagner, both said they’d be ready to keep playing football before they delved into professional wrestling.
Ridgeway sounded like he had half a foot in the ring when asked if he heard the Wagner shout out.
“Yeah, that’s cool,” he said. “I appreciate it. But I think he’s barking up the wrong tree trying to wrestle me.”