Razorbacks Pick Up the Pace During Friday Practice

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Razorback football team completed practice Friday inside Willard and Pat Walker Pavilion after a 90-minute workout that interim head coach Reggie Herring said started sluggish but picked up as the practice progressed.

“The tempo of the offense and defense picked up and that was all you could ask for,” Herring said. “They started a little slow but as they eased into that work mentality, I was very pleased with how the practice finished.”

The first team offensive and defensive units faced off at the end of practice in a spirited drill. Herring said he wants Arkansas to be familiar with handling game-like scenarios as the players continue their preparations for the Cotton Bowl Classic against Missouri.

“We had a great day of competition at the end,” Herring said. “What we’re trying to do is get (the players) to understand game-on-the-line situations and put them in pressure situations so they know how to react on game day and it’s not any surprise.”

The defense continued to move well and execute which is what Herring expects of the group.

“Those guys (on defense) have to play the game every snap and that’s the way they’ve been trained,” Herring said. “For the most part, these guys know how to work and that’s what you see and it had better be standard every day with our defense in how they work.”

Herring was also pleased with the offense and how it responded to the competition drills and made adjustments. The offense was without receiver Marcus Monk who sat out practice to rest. In the end, Herring said the ideal is to rest Monk and Robert Johnson and have them full speed on Jan. 1.

“Only (Monk) knows how his body or his knee is,” Herring said. “The whole objective with Monk is to get him to the game. He’s been fantastic (with) his attitude. When he comes here, he comes to work and he does a great job.”

Arkansas will return to practice Saturday as it gets ready for the program’s 11th trip to the Cotton Bowl. Log on to www.hogwired.com for continued coverage of Razorback football.