Short practice prior to Saturday scrimmage

FAYETTEVILLE – The evening before they get on the field for their second scrimmage of the spring, the Razorback football team held a shortened 90 minute practice inside Walker Pavilion on Friday afternoon.

The Razorbacks quickly went through drills and plays before letting the upperclassmen go and working with the newcomers for another 15 minutes. All together, the Hogs practiced two times on Friday and had good results from entire team.

“Well, I liked the way that we came out here today,” Arkansas head coach Bobby Petrino said after the morning session. “I thought we came out fired up for practice and I thought that some groups really tried to take leadership and we gave great effort. We need to practice smarter and stay off the ground but some of that is created because they are trying to impress their coaches and play with good effort. We got a lot accomplished this morning.”

The Razorbacks may not have practiced for a long time on Friday afternoon, but kept the intensity from the morning session and accomplished quite a bit in their second practice. While the eventual goal is to be ready for the Aug. 30 season opener against Western Illinois, the Arkansas coaching staff is also looking toward Saturday’s scrimmage to give themselves another barometer on where they stand.

Defensive coordinator Willy Robinson spelled out exactly what he was looking for as the Razorbacks get ready to line up.

“A lot less long runs, a lot less long passes, execution, aggressiveness, coming out ready to roll right off the bat,” Robinson said.

Robinson was impressed with some of his defensive players.

“(Elton) Ford is really coming along,” Robinson said. “You’re just going to have to live with his mistakes for a little while. He’s athletic and physical and that is the type of player that we want on defense. The young linebackers really haven’t stepped up in that roll as of yet, that’s a patch work. In the defensive front we are pretty stable but the main thing is that all of a sudden you have a bunch of the young kids out there.”

The Razorback scrimmage on Saturday is closed, but the Hogs are available for autographs at Fan Day beginning at 3 p.m. at Walker Pavilion. For more information regarding Razorback football or University of Arkansas athletics please visit ArkansasRazorbacks.com.