Razorback Report

Goggles give QBs new view

Arkansas quarterback Brandon Allen prepares to take a snap during a practice Saturday, April 11, 2015, at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville.
Arkansas quarterback Brandon Allen prepares to take a snap during a practice Saturday, April 11, 2015, at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville.

FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas' quarterbacks are starting to get a feel for what the team's new virtual reality cameras can do to help their play.

The Razorbacks began using the cameras in practice this week, so now the players can see the video wearing goggles.

"Those are something special," starting quarterback Brandon Allen said. "It's so weird how, when you put them on, you're kind of submersed in that reality. It's almost like real practice out there."

Allen said viewing how plays develop through the goggles doesn't make him ill.

"You move however fast you want," he said. "It's just like looking around. It's not nauseating at all."

Offensive coordinator Dan Enos said he'd never heard of the virtual reality equipment, which was developed by a former Stanford player, until being asked about it by Mark Taurisani, Arkansas' assistant athletic director for football operations.

"Mark brought it up to me about a month or so ago, would you be interested if the guys came in?" Enos said. "I said, yeah, absolutely. I don't even know what you're talking about, but it sounds like a good deal.

"They said Stanford was using it, and they're all smart at Stanford. So I figured that'd be something up my alley. I didn't go to Stanford, though."

Enos played quarterback at Michigan State.

Allen said he's looking forward to using the virtual reality equipment to study this summer to go over pass routes.

"Instead of just watching them on film, you can put those goggles on and just go through your read progression as you see things," Allen said. "That's going to be really helpful for us."

Good visit

Receivers coach Michael Smith, Arkansas' lead recruiter in Louisiana, led a contingent of six coaches who visited the state Wednesday.

Vernon Hargreaves, Clay Jennings, Barry Lunney Jr., Rory Segrest and Jemal Singelton accompanied Smith.

"It was good for us to show our Razorback logo down there," Smith said. "The high school coaches there are great. They're receptive to Arkansas. They've got some good players down there."

Smith said the Arkansas coaches combined to visit about 25 high schools in Louisiana.

Quick recovery

Senior wide receiver Keon Hatcher suffered a bruised knee midway through spring practice and was expected to miss up to two weeks, but he got back on the field in less than a week.

"I hate missing practice," Hatcher said. "This game means everything to me. It was hurting me not being able to get out there and work with my teammates and get better. I just had to get back."

Receivers coach Michael Smith said Hatcher's quick return is a testament to his maturity.

"We were real cautious with him, but we saw he could go back out and play," Smith said. "He did a great job working through it."

On the side

Offensive coordinator Dan Enos will work Saturday's Red-White game from the sideline, the same spot he plans to call plays from during the 2015 season.

Coach Bret Bielema said he never had a coordinator work from the sideline until Robb Smith did it last year and he liked the results for the defense, so he's fine with Enos doing it, too, rather than working from the press box.

"I like to be on the sidelines to be able to talk to the quarterback eye to eye," Enos said. "I like to see the quarterbacks. I like to be able to be on the field to get the flow of the game, to get to feel weather changes, to feel momentum changes, to be with the offense.

"I think during the two-minute drill and during hurry-up situations and things like that it's easier to communicate. It eliminates the middle man a little bit."

Enos said he likes his view from the practice field to reflect his game-day vantage point.

"I'm on the field during practice all day so that's what I'm used to looking at and I have a way I look at things," he said. "I've kind of trained myself to do that. At the end of the day I really enjoy being down there."

Red-White parking

University officials announced this week that all available campus lots will offer free parking for Saturday's Red-White game, but several lots -- notably lots 44, 6, 74, 67 and 59 -- will not be available. The primary lots for public parking for the spring game are 72, 73, the Stadium Drive parking deck, 55, 56, 58 and others.

Lighter side

Senior nose guard DeMarcus Hodge is 338 pounds this spring after playing at 346 last season,

"It doesn't sound like a lot, but it makes a difference," Hodge said of the eight-pound loss. "I feel so much better. I'm moving a lot better.

"My endurance is probably the best since I've been here."

Hodge said his ultimate goal is weigh 320 in August when fall camp starts.

Froholdt face-offs

Freshman defensive lineman Hjalte Froholdt has worked his way to second-string tackle behind Taiwan Johnson, last year's starter at nose guard, after opening spring as a nose guard.

Froholdt, 6-5, 308, said the physical requirements have been eye opening.

"It hurts," Froholdt said, laughing, when asked what it was like going against the big veterans on Arkansas' offensive front. "No, it's fun to actually be in there, even though it's very hard and I lose a lot of the one-on-ones and so forth. It's a lesson every time. I really enjoy it."

Froholdt said his transition from Denmark to Florida to Arkansas has been good.

"I love it so far," he said. "I do not regret anything. It's perfect."

Sports on 04/24/2015

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