THREE QUOTES
Austin Allen on throwing an interception during bowl practices:
"I might act like I'm nonchalant about it, but it pisses me off inside. I get fiery inside. Sometimes I don't show it, but yeah, I still remember that pick in practice. It wasn't too good."
Austin Allen on his new hairstyle:
"You can thank Hunter Henry for this. He bet me 50 bucks that I wouldn't grow it out, so I had to."
Frank Ragnow on playing center:
"It's like you're a big, fat point guard."
FIVE THOUGHTS
1. Rawleigh Williams
- It's great to see this guy out there again, even if he's only going to be doing non-contact stuff throughout the spring. One of my least favorite memories since I've been covering the Razorbacks was watching Williams' whole body go stiff after taking that disgusting hit last fall.
Obviously you don't ever want to see that happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere, but if you've spent any amount of time around Rawleigh you can't help but love him. Like everyone else, I'll probably worry about him from now on, but it's great to see the kid back out there again.
2. Still an interesting Storey
- I knew as soon as Trey asked me to get plenty of slow-mo of the quarterbacks what might happen, and sure enough I was right. For a while now you've heard and seen us talk about Ty Storey's throwing motion, and I knew fans would pick it apart once they saw it slowed down and placed side-by-side with the more mechanically-sound Austin Allen, Rafe Peavey and Ricky Town.
But let's pump the brakes on this thing after Day One of Storey's second spring in Fayetteville. Let's also remember a quarterback's main job, which is to complete a high percentage of his passes and take care of the football. Storey did that surprisingly well with the limited reps he got last spring and fall when he hit 17 of 27 total attempts (62.9%) for 162 yards in a total of six major scrimmages -- funny-looking throwing motion and all.
Sure, plenty of those reps were against the backups, but some were against the starters in the Red-White game, too.
I don't know how the quarterback situation will pan out, but I do think it's way too early to overanalyze or write off any of them.
3. Tighty-whities
- Spring camps can be very misleading, but especially this early in spring camp. They're literally just out there running around in their underwear. No one's being hit yet. That'll come in a few more days.
My point is, and this is a reminder to myself as much as anyone else, that not all "so and so had a good day" or "so and so struggled today" comments mean a whole lot. Time and time again we've seen guys look absolutely great in the spring and totally disappear when the season rolls around. For example, last spring it seemed like every time we got to attend practice, Eric Hawkins had at least one big play that made us think, "Maybe he's finally putting it together. Good for him." But he didn't record a single catch during the season -- a season in which they lost a lot of players at his position. (I'm not picking on Hawk, just using him as an example. I hope he goes out with a bang.)
We've also seen guys have very moderate spring camps and go on to have a good season.
I understand fans hang on every single word that comes out of these practice reports, but for now, just remember they're still in their underwear and there's a long time before the real lights come on.
4. Chris Jones
- There's a lot of awesome kids on the roster. Super-nice guys, just dozens and dozens of them. But if there's a nicer one than Chris Jones I've yet to meet him. He made it a point on Tuesday to come over and ask how my daughter was doing, which obviously means a lot anytime anyone does that. From there, he went to reporter after reporter, shaking hands and introducing himself to the ones that he'd never met.
It's worth noting, too, that he's still right there in the thick of things to win the fullback job. They'll have Damani Carter and Hayden Johnson (when he arrives) there as well, but Jones definitely has a chance. If you go back and watch last year's Auburn game, I thought he had a very solid performance after being thrown in the fire that week.
5. Excuses, and other things you won't care about
- Have you ever had one of those days when you feel 100 percent prepared for something but you still end up just totally sucking? That was my Tuesday.
To understand why I'm calling it a bad day, you have to realize that I'm a freak about my job and being at important events way, way ahead of time, and I'm a total maniac in three times of the year in particular: The peak recruiting season, spring camp, and fall camp. My wife, relatives and closest friends all know not to be offended when I don't respond to them during those three times of year. When it comes to being punctual, I usually arrive at practices and press conferences 30-45 minutes ahead of time and about 3 hours early for games.
Here's my first excuse for Tuesday: It was my daughter's first day with the babysitter. I told the babysitter to be here at a certain time. Practice starts at 4, I want to be there by at least 3:35, 3:40. What I didn't plan for was 10 minutes of answering questions about the baby. I guess I was thinking it'd be a "Here ya go, just take care of her and don't steal anything" kind of deal.
So I end up leaving the house at 3:40 with no room for error. I pull into the parking lot at the facility at 3:55, so I think I'm good.
Excuse No. 2: Last Saturday I had some friends over and we were playing catch out in the yard. I threw the ball, my foot came off the side of the patio sideways, and down I went. I could barely walk Sunday and have been hobbling ever since. I think it's just a bad sprain -- hope so anyway.
So I get out of my car at the parking lot today, hobble to the gate to enter practice and I see that the first period's already started early. A security guard meets me at the gate -- the same gate we've gone into for years with no issues -- and tells me I've got to walk back around and through the Walker Pavilion in order to get to the spot that is literally 30 yards from me if he'd just let me in the gate. I hobble away, cussing. I get to the Walker Pavilion doors and of course the doors are locked.
Finally someone opens it for me, so I take off as fast as I can, about to cry like a baby every time my right foot hits the ground, finally make it to the field and turn on the camera. I've finally made it, and I don't think Trey's even noticed I wasn't there the whole time.
About that time, Trey walks by me and says, "Someone pass the tardy sauce."
So, that was my Tuesday.
For what it's worth, the babysitter is scheduled to be here quite a bit early on Thursday. As far as the mic cutting in and out on the video interviews, I'm out of excuses on that. That cord's worked lately, but of course it doesn't on the first day of spring camp. It's in the garbage now.
Austin Allen on throwing an interception during bowl practices:
"I might act like I'm nonchalant about it, but it pisses me off inside. I get fiery inside. Sometimes I don't show it, but yeah, I still remember that pick in practice. It wasn't too good."
Austin Allen on his new hairstyle:
"You can thank Hunter Henry for this. He bet me 50 bucks that I wouldn't grow it out, so I had to."
Frank Ragnow on playing center:
"It's like you're a big, fat point guard."
FIVE THOUGHTS
1. Rawleigh Williams
- It's great to see this guy out there again, even if he's only going to be doing non-contact stuff throughout the spring. One of my least favorite memories since I've been covering the Razorbacks was watching Williams' whole body go stiff after taking that disgusting hit last fall.
Obviously you don't ever want to see that happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere, but if you've spent any amount of time around Rawleigh you can't help but love him. Like everyone else, I'll probably worry about him from now on, but it's great to see the kid back out there again.
2. Still an interesting Storey
- I knew as soon as Trey asked me to get plenty of slow-mo of the quarterbacks what might happen, and sure enough I was right. For a while now you've heard and seen us talk about Ty Storey's throwing motion, and I knew fans would pick it apart once they saw it slowed down and placed side-by-side with the more mechanically-sound Austin Allen, Rafe Peavey and Ricky Town.
But let's pump the brakes on this thing after Day One of Storey's second spring in Fayetteville. Let's also remember a quarterback's main job, which is to complete a high percentage of his passes and take care of the football. Storey did that surprisingly well with the limited reps he got last spring and fall when he hit 17 of 27 total attempts (62.9%) for 162 yards in a total of six major scrimmages -- funny-looking throwing motion and all.
Sure, plenty of those reps were against the backups, but some were against the starters in the Red-White game, too.
I don't know how the quarterback situation will pan out, but I do think it's way too early to overanalyze or write off any of them.
3. Tighty-whities
- Spring camps can be very misleading, but especially this early in spring camp. They're literally just out there running around in their underwear. No one's being hit yet. That'll come in a few more days.
My point is, and this is a reminder to myself as much as anyone else, that not all "so and so had a good day" or "so and so struggled today" comments mean a whole lot. Time and time again we've seen guys look absolutely great in the spring and totally disappear when the season rolls around. For example, last spring it seemed like every time we got to attend practice, Eric Hawkins had at least one big play that made us think, "Maybe he's finally putting it together. Good for him." But he didn't record a single catch during the season -- a season in which they lost a lot of players at his position. (I'm not picking on Hawk, just using him as an example. I hope he goes out with a bang.)
We've also seen guys have very moderate spring camps and go on to have a good season.
I understand fans hang on every single word that comes out of these practice reports, but for now, just remember they're still in their underwear and there's a long time before the real lights come on.
4. Chris Jones
- There's a lot of awesome kids on the roster. Super-nice guys, just dozens and dozens of them. But if there's a nicer one than Chris Jones I've yet to meet him. He made it a point on Tuesday to come over and ask how my daughter was doing, which obviously means a lot anytime anyone does that. From there, he went to reporter after reporter, shaking hands and introducing himself to the ones that he'd never met.
It's worth noting, too, that he's still right there in the thick of things to win the fullback job. They'll have Damani Carter and Hayden Johnson (when he arrives) there as well, but Jones definitely has a chance. If you go back and watch last year's Auburn game, I thought he had a very solid performance after being thrown in the fire that week.
5. Excuses, and other things you won't care about
- Have you ever had one of those days when you feel 100 percent prepared for something but you still end up just totally sucking? That was my Tuesday.
To understand why I'm calling it a bad day, you have to realize that I'm a freak about my job and being at important events way, way ahead of time, and I'm a total maniac in three times of the year in particular: The peak recruiting season, spring camp, and fall camp. My wife, relatives and closest friends all know not to be offended when I don't respond to them during those three times of year. When it comes to being punctual, I usually arrive at practices and press conferences 30-45 minutes ahead of time and about 3 hours early for games.
Here's my first excuse for Tuesday: It was my daughter's first day with the babysitter. I told the babysitter to be here at a certain time. Practice starts at 4, I want to be there by at least 3:35, 3:40. What I didn't plan for was 10 minutes of answering questions about the baby. I guess I was thinking it'd be a "Here ya go, just take care of her and don't steal anything" kind of deal.
So I end up leaving the house at 3:40 with no room for error. I pull into the parking lot at the facility at 3:55, so I think I'm good.
Excuse No. 2: Last Saturday I had some friends over and we were playing catch out in the yard. I threw the ball, my foot came off the side of the patio sideways, and down I went. I could barely walk Sunday and have been hobbling ever since. I think it's just a bad sprain -- hope so anyway.
So I get out of my car at the parking lot today, hobble to the gate to enter practice and I see that the first period's already started early. A security guard meets me at the gate -- the same gate we've gone into for years with no issues -- and tells me I've got to walk back around and through the Walker Pavilion in order to get to the spot that is literally 30 yards from me if he'd just let me in the gate. I hobble away, cussing. I get to the Walker Pavilion doors and of course the doors are locked.
Finally someone opens it for me, so I take off as fast as I can, about to cry like a baby every time my right foot hits the ground, finally make it to the field and turn on the camera. I've finally made it, and I don't think Trey's even noticed I wasn't there the whole time.
About that time, Trey walks by me and says, "Someone pass the tardy sauce."
So, that was my Tuesday.
For what it's worth, the babysitter is scheduled to be here quite a bit early on Thursday. As far as the mic cutting in and out on the video interviews, I'm out of excuses on that. That cord's worked lately, but of course it doesn't on the first day of spring camp. It's in the garbage now.
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