FAYETTEVILLE – University of Arkansas defensive coordinator Travis Williams wanted a much faster start to Thursday’s practice game than he did a week ago.
Williams’ wish came true: The Razorbacks recorded eight interceptions and their experienced defense led by senior end Landon Jackson dominated the last big practice game of training camp at Reynolds Razorback Stadium.
Safety TJ Metcalf had two interceptions, one on a deflected pass, and his brother Tevis Metcalf had one early on a deflected ball from Taylen Green, sparking a flurry of interceptions.
According to coach Sam Pittman, many of the interceptions were due to defended passes, and many of them occurred when substitutes were on the field.
“I feel like the defense came out with a lot of energy today,” Jackson said. “We got off to a bad start last week, so our biggest task today was to flip the script, change the tone of the practice game and keep it in our hands.”
“The DBs made a lot of interceptions. We put a lot of pressure on the quarterback and just flew around and had fun. So I think overall the defense had a really good day.”
Green threw at least one of the interceptions, but none of the quarterbacks were spared from the turnover bug, according to the UA’s sports communications team.
However, the offensive could not be stopped completely.
Jordan Anthony caught a 65-yard touchdown pass from Green early on and tight end Luke Hasz had a great day with a 30-yard catch and at least 60 yards of pass receptions.
“I thought we were sluggish (on Wednesday), and that was a spider practice,” Pittman said, referring to the team’s lightest equipment. “I thought we were sluggish. I thought we were slow.”
“So we were sluggish yesterday and I felt like we were sluggish today, at least offensively. Defensively, I felt like we were flying around a little bit. But again, tackling is an issue that we need to get better at.”
Hasz, who spoke to the media with Jackson after the practice game, gave credit to the defense but also mentioned some winning moments for the offense toward the end of the two-hour-plus practice game.
“The defense had a really good day today,” Hasz said. “But we were able to pull ourselves together towards the end and finish practice strong. But the defense, the D-line and Landon had a great day. We have a lot of things to work on.”
The offense was missing top receivers Andrew Armstrong and Tyrone Broden, who were kept out of live tackles, and lead tailback Ja’Quinden Jackson was also only used for a limited time.
The first offensive unit won the two-minute drill by getting a first down and running out the clock while defending a lead. The second unit also won the two-minute drill when kicker Matthew Shipley ran on and made a 50-yard field goal as time expired.
In the running game, Rashod Dubinion scored a 2-yard touchdown on a move-the-ball segment, also scored a 2-yard touchdown in the red zone and later had a 30-yard gain. Braylen Russell had two runs for 25 yards and a 7-yard touchdown. Second-team quarterback Malachi Singleton scored a 30-yard touchdown on a scramble and third-team quarterback KJ Jackson had a 20-yard run on a run-pass option keeper.
The Razorbacks were also able to score points in the red zone. Isaac TeSlaa caught two 8-yard touchdowns, one each from Green and Malachi Singleton. Tight end Var’keyes Gumms caught an 18-yard touchdown from Singleton and tight end Andreas Paaske caught a 14-yard touchdown from KJ Jackson.
Pittman said several of the interceptions were due to balls that were deflected and could have been caught.
“Three of them were deflected balls, which has to do with catching the ball and accuracy of the throw,” he said. “I know that in at least two of those three cases, when we simply caught the ball, it wasn’t a catch, it was a completion.”
“So with interceptions, you often see it at the quarterback, and we all do that, but a lot of times it’s about catching the football, running the right route, accuracy and of course protecting the offensive line.”
On offense, redshirt sophomore E’Marion Harris started at left guard where Patrick Kutas missed his 12th consecutive day, joining tackles Fernando Carmona and Keyshawn Blackstock, center Addison Nichols and guard Josh Braun.
Jackson had three touch sacks, while Eric Gregory, Danny Saili and Dylan Hasz each had one.
The interceptions outside of the Metcalfs came from defensive backs Larry Worth, Jabrae Shaw, John Paul Pickens and Braylon Watson as well as linebacker Joseph Whitt.
The players with tackles for loss were Jackson, Cam Ball, Keivie Rose, Brad Spence and Dylan Hasz.
Pittman said the plan is to continue to increase the physicality factor through the end of the week and then ease off on that aspect on Monday, when the Razorbacks face Little Rock 11 days before their season opener against Arkansas Pine-Bluff on Aug. 29.
“I like where we are,” Pittman said. “I like our guys because they work extremely hard. That’s important to them. They have a really good team spirit and a good culture. But we didn’t play as well at times on both sides of the ball as I would have liked today.”
