Hogs Focus on Assignment Football
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Arkansas continued its preparations for Saturday night’s game with Vanderbilt in a two hour workout on the grass practices fields south of Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium Wednesday afternoon.
The Hogs practiced in full pads and focused on assignment football with Vanderbilt’s dangerous offensive attack coming to town. The Commodores run a multiple-set, two-back offense that is a threat both on the ground with the option and through the air with quarterback Jay Cutler’s strong arm.
“We had a nice practice today and the cloud cover for the final 45 minutes of was great,” Arkansas head coach Houston Nutt said. “We had good concentration for the most part. We are still working real hard on Vanderbilt’s different schemes on offense.
“Any time a team runs the option there is a lot of responsibility involved. You have to know who has the dive, who has the quarterback and who has the pitch. I think that is very important because they will do that to slow you down.”
Vanderbilt’s passing game is also a real threat to the Razorbacks’ defense. Cutler threw for 1,844 yards last season and scorched Wake Forest for 276 yards in the Commodores’ season opener.
“They have an excellent passing game with this guy we have been talking about the last couple of days, Jay Cutler,” Nutt said. “He is very accurate with good receivers. We are going to have to do a great job with our eyes in the secondary. We also have to put some pressure on the guy with a good rush.”
On the offensive side of the football the Razorbacks have put a premium on taking care of the football after fumbling five times and losing four last week against Missouri State.
“We have really been emphasizing that it is about execution and taking care of the football on offense,” Nutt said. “We have also been working hard on the passing game to continue to improve that.”
The Hogs will conduct their final practice of the week Thursday afternoon before Saturday’s SEC opener at 6 p.m. at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium.
