HOOVER, Ala. -- Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema isn't pleased with a scheduling quirk that impacts his team this fall.
The Razorbacks are the only SEC team that will play back-to-back conference road games twice this season, Bielema noted Wednesday during his stint at the podium during SEC football media days at the Hyatt Regency Wynfrey.
Arkansas' dose of consecutive SEC games is actually tougher than that.
The Razorbacks will actually have to pack up for three consecutive games -- its "home" game against Texas A&M in Arlington, followed by true road games against Tennessee and Alabama in its first three conference games, starting Sept. 26.
Then, after two home games, the Razorbacks wrap up their road slate with back-to-back games at Ole Miss and LSU on Oct. 7 and 14.
"If you know how that [scheduling] computer works or where it lives, I'd love to find it," Bielema said.
Williams' return
Arkansas tailback Jonathan Williams said he had several compelling reasons to return for his senior season rather than pursuing his first NFL contract.
"Coach [Bret] Bielema helped me out with it a lot," Williams said. "A lot of it was he preaches uncommon men on and off the field, and I definitely wanted to graduate. ... Just seeing the potential of this football team and seeing where we could go this season, I wanted to be a part of it.
"I didn't want to be watching on Saturday mornings or Saturday evenings and wishing I was an Arkansas Razorback still."
Williams, who led Arkansas with 1,190 rushing yards, said he has one class in communications remaining this fall to obtain his degree.
He's a Hog
Arkansas quarterback Brandon Allen was asked if he preferred to play in the kind of pass-happy offense that predecessors Ryan Mallett and Tyler Wilson did as Razorbacks.
"I like to win games, and whatever offense we need to use to win games is my type of offense," Allen said. "I came into that style of offense when I first got recruited and then switched to more of a pro style approach.
"Whatever it takes to win games. I'm an Arkansas Razorback. This is the only team I ever wanted to play for. ... I'm excited to do whatever it takes to win games."
Thick skin
Georgia Coach Mark Richt's response drew laughter when a reporter asked him if he was a good example of how tough the SEC is because he's had so much success and still draws a lot of criticism.
"I didn't know I got criticism," Richt said.
The dean of SEC coaches in his 15th year at Georgia, Richt went on to explain a good lesson on criticism he learned as an assistant to Bobby Bowden at Florida State.
"When I first starting coaching 32 years ago ... Coach Bowden would have what we called a 'hideaway' and he talked about a few things in those sessions and one was criticism," Richt said. "He said it's just the nature of the beast in the profession. If you can't take criticism, then you shouldn't coach. I think anybody who is in a leadership role is going to get critiqued.
"I don't worry about anything [critics say], whether it's good or bad. People have said some good things over the years too."
No cliches
Florida cornerback Vernon Hargreaves III, a two-time All-SEC player and preseason All-American, offered some honesty at SEC media days.
Asked whether he thinks about entering the 2016 NFL Draft after his junior year, Hargreaves didn't say he'd think about it after the season as most players do.
"I think about it all the time," he said. "I want to play in the league for 10-plus years and hopefully get to the Super Bowl."
Hargreaves, the son of Arkansas linebackers coach Vernon Hargreaves, also didn't hesitate when asked if he considered himself the nation's best cornerback.
"I do consider myself the best cornerback in the country," he replied with hardly a pause.
Not good
Georgia linebacker Jordan Jenkins sounded anguished when a reporter asked him how it felt to rout Missouri 34-0 on the road but come up a game behind the Tigers for the SEC East title.
"That was one of the hardest things ... knowing we beat them and the way we beat them and they were the team going to win the East," Jenkins said. "It was a heart-breaker."
Georgia lost SEC East games at South Carolina (38-35) and against Florida (38-20) while Missouri's home loss against the Bulldogs was its only regular-season loss in conference.
Summer work
Arkansas will open preseason practice Aug. 6.
"Guys are very anxious, very excited," receiver Keon Hatcher said. "But as of right now, we have to finish our summer program and really get ready for fall camp."
Hatcher is among the seniors helping lead the summer workouts, which are supervised by strength and conditioning coach Ben Herbert.
"Coach Herb has been pushing us to our limit every day," Hatcher said. "I feel like it's going to pay off in the long run."
Quarterback Brandon Allen said he's been impressed by how the newcomers adjusted quickly to the pace of the summer workouts.
"They've bought in right off the bat to the way we work," Allen said. "I think if you'd ask anyone, we're a very difficult team to play -- we're hard-nosed and we're tough -- and that's kind of how we attack all our summer workouts."
Love for Chavis
LSU linebacker Kendell Beckwith said the Tigers won't make their game against Texas A&M about beating Aggies defensive coordinator John Chavis, who was LSU's coordinator the past six seasons.
"It's not a battle between us and Coach Chavis," Beckwith said. "We have nothing but love for Coach Chavis. When that time comes, we'll be ready to play, but we'll treat it like the next game and go out and try to play as dominant as possible."
Beckwith said he was surprised Chavis left for Texas A&M.
"Those things happen," he said. "That's the game that we're in. We've just got to move on."
Drake back
Alabama tailback Kenyan Drake said he's fully recovered from a broken left leg he suffered Oct. 4 at Ole Miss.
"It was definitely very difficult," Drake said."It took a lot initially to overcome that, because I'd never been injured to such an extent. But we have the best coaching staff, the best rehab staff, the best players to help with that type of situation."
Drake, who in the spring ran the 40-yard dash in 4.4 seconds, rushed 22 times for 112 yards and had 5 receptions for 159 yards before he was injured.
Pop and fizz
Bret Bielema has made it clear that Arkansas' 7-6 record last season was only a starting point for where he wants to lead the Razorbacks.
In the main media room he made several references to the record, one of them being: "Bottom line, we're 7-6. That's kind of like pop, pop, fizz, fizz. It's not a real exciting thing."
Sports on 07/19/2015