Razorbacks Finish Strong in Practice

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Razorbacks practiced again in shorts and shells on Wednesday afternoon for about 90 minutes. Even though Arkansas (2-5, 0-5 SEC) has a bye week, the Hogs are working on maintaining a focus on their next opponent, South Carolina (4-3, 2-3 SEC).

“We didn’t start out the right way at practice, but I think we finished better,” Arkansas head coach Houston Nutt said. “One thing about an open week is some times they start looking down the road and they know there’s not a ball game, but we have to come to practice every single day. That was the point of emphasis and we started a couple periods back over. We ended it right though.”

Nutt pointed out the excellent effort of the UA defense and the strong leadership skills of linebackers Pierre Brown and Sam Olajubutu. Olajubutu is on top of the team’s tackles list with 85 stops, including 48 unassisted and nine for loss. Brown is third with 47 tackles and two for a total of four yards lost.

“The defense really ran around at the end of practice and they looked good,” Nutt said. “Pierre Brown and Sam Olajubutu gave some good leadership. For our defense we want to keep building off that. There were some positive things, but we want to be consistent.”

Nutt and his staff have continued to work all the quarterbacks by placing them in different game situations. Overall, Nutt was pleased with how they handled the various defensive schemes.

“The quarterback didn’t start out as well, but they finished up good,” Nutt said. “We did one-on-one pass skel and put them in third and eight situations with people coming on different blitzes. They did a good job for the most part.”

The Gamecocks and Razorbacks will face each other on Nov. 5 at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Ark. Kickoff is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. with Jefferson-Pilot televising the game.