Razorbacks Conclude Capital One Bowl Practices

ORLANDO, Fla. – Capital One Bowl practices ended Saturday for Arkansas football. The Razorbacks will have a walk through on Sunday and final meetings in preparation to face the Wisconsin Badgers on Monday.

“It’s so good to be back at bowl practices which we started in Fayetteville” head coach Houston Nutt said. “We had carry over when we got here. I think our seniors deserve most of the credit. Their attitudes, they have given to the rest of the team. They practiced hard, they focused well. It’s time to go now, they guys are feeling it. A lot more Razorback fans are starting to come to town. We are excited and getting ready.”

After a chilly first day of practice on Tuesday, the weather has become progressively warmer but rainy conditions are predicted for game time on Monday. Because of the imposing inclement weather, Nutt and his staff have been preparing the players for the various weather situations that could arise on Monday, including practicing with wet balls on Saturday.

“It’s supposed to be raining on Monday,” Nutt said, “and you have got to be prepared for a wet ball day. There is a good chance of rain so you want to make sure that your quarterbacks and centers are prepared to handle the wet ball because we haven’t played in the rain for awhile.”

This week in Orlando has been spent perfecting aspects of the game on all three sides of the ball and preparing for the various personnel situations Wisconsin may present.

“We had an emphasis on kicking, on alignment against different defensive personnel,” Nutt said. “The different looks they give you offensively, the different fronts they give you. We are getting a hold of the personnel groupings, the goal line, the short yardage. You try to hit a little bit of everything.”

With game day approaching, Nutt and his staff have the daunting task of taking the players out of vacation/bowl week mode and into game week mode. Nutt has had a lot of assistance from his upperclassmen and has faith in the focus of his team.

“We are off to a good start,” Nutt said. “They had a great week here, a fun week. Now they are feeling it, they know game time is approaching very fast. They are going to be one of the teams across the country playing on January 1. What a privilege it is to do that so we want to be ready.”