FAYETTEVILLE — Follow along as Bret Bielema, Dan Enos and Paul Rhoads discuss Arkansas' bye week and matchup with Texas A&M.
Bret Bielema
— Good to get back into game week. Took advantage of last week by looking in-depth at the TCU game. Guys healed up. This'll be the healthiest game they've had, should have everyone aside from Ryan Pulley on Saturday.
— Was fully in support of the uniforms when he saw them Saturday. The Jones family reaction was great. They practiced in them yesterday.
— Texas A&M is a good football team. One of two football teams in the West they haven't beaten. Their offense is making improvement as the QBs get more comfortable. Defense still has skill even though they don't have the names up front they did a year ago.
— "I think this team is very close to being where everyone will be proud of them."
— Defense did a lot of positive things. Offensively at times showed their capable.
— Made a few adjustments in schemes and emphasis in practice.
— Connor Limpert would be the kicker now, but there's still practice this week. Limpert's advantage over Blake Mazza is he's kicked in a live setting.
— Austin Allen's athleticism in the option game is a possible tweak. Some stuff to give a different look. Teams don't really have a goal-line package anymore, they just stay in the same thing. Have to capitalize on one-on-one battles.
— No changes on the offensive line. Jake Raulerson played well in a sub package against TCU. Brian Wallace has had a few good weeks of practice. Ty Clary has played well. Talented player who deserves the opportunity he's getting.
— Men don't really believe in things till they actually see them. To get that feeling consistently in a program is hard to establish. Until they hurdle the barrier, it's something they just talk about. Want it to be tangible. Block out why they can't and just do it.
— Four captains are awesome. Each have different stories. Frank Ragnow's leadership has been great since the Belk Bowl. Austin Allen had a setback in fall camp that caused him to miss some time and has tried to put the world on his shoulders this year. They have to help him.
— Christian Kirk is good in a variety of fashions. Can change the game in a minute.
— As coaches, you don't talk about stuff like Kevin Sumlin's pressure. Conversations are usually about everything but that. He's grown up with that in the business. They go way back and bump into each other quite a bit in recruiting and at meetings.
— Made it home and watched Texas A&M from the second quarter on. Showed the players believe and respond.
— Kellen Mond is a very gifted athlete. Threw the ball with confidence in the second half Saturday. When you have a young player, especially a quarterback, you try to make it easy around him.
— Dre Greenlaw is very poised. Never crosses his feet. Keeps most stuff inside-out. Told him after TCU that he had 17 tackles but could have had 22 or 23. He and Scoota Harris have a chance to be pretty special. Once he's been cleared, they're conscious and aware but really just modify his off-field conditioning or maybe keep him just off the team.
— Perimeter blocking is unique. Can practice but the game has full speed with people diving and getting over blocks. Austin Cantrell wants to play better. C.J. O'Grady is right on the cusp. When he goes, he's pretty special. Jeremy Patton has played himself into shape. Talent-wise and intelligence-wise he's doing what they need. Will Gragg had a non-football injury that's nicked him up. Going to try to engage him more when he returns to practice because he's been good.
— They feel more comfortable with Jared Cornelius at punt returner. De'Vion Warren and Gary Cross are options at kick returner. Deon Stewart hasn't been given a full shot. Someone let a guy fly through unblocked when he fumbled. Have to clean up those units overall.
— Brandon Martin wasn't able to go Tuesday or Wednesday last week. Ran with trainers yesterday and will practice Tuesday. Cornelius, Jordan Jones, Jonathan Nance and Deon Stewart got majority of reps with the ones. Martin, La'Michael Pettway, De'Vion Warren and Jarrod Barnes get reps with the twos.
— Allen and Dan Enos had conversations about his throwing motion and just letting the ball go. Allen's felt the weight of the world when all he's got to do is be the quarterback.
— TCU was playing split safeties looks. Took 5 shots downfield and just weren't able to connect. Right there knocking on the door, got to be able to connect on those things. Whether or not you complete deep balls, it brings an awareness in how you call a game. Have to be able to complete passes and convert scores.
— It's a 14-7 game against a team ranked No. 15 and "everyone gets all pissy and worried." If they get over the hump, a lot of good things will happen.
— A&M is opportunistic and can do that with their athletes.
— As you dedicate more players to the run, it clears up the back end for the QB. Those things are there. "We've got to get our guys to run the right routes, accelerate and get the timing down."
— The ones vs. ones brought everybody back. Competitive nature showed and they had to back out of it a little bit "because guys are getting so involved in it." Fourth quarter hurt them.
— Chase Hayden and T.J. Hammonds are very electric. Everyone talked to Hayden about not intending to only get him 2 reps. Now he has to hold up his end of the bargain and practice well. He'll do that. Hammonds has moved primarily to WR now. Both of them have the ability to change the game. Both are being considered in the return game.
— Kid from Fort Smith came up with the design and they sent it to Nike.
— "You're defined in your life more by adversity than your success." Can't bury kids with negativity, there's enough in this world today. Told them to put it behind them. Some young kids have come along. Wanted accountability in the position rooms and that's been there. Doesn't need Superman to show up, just needs guys to play at their level. Had some costly penalties against TCU and didn't tackle with the same efficiency as they had. When they do uncharacteristic things, they're going to have failure. Once you accomplish success, it makes it so easier. When our kids hear and see so much "blah, blah, blah, blah" they start to believe it. Try to keep it positive.
— Only really texts happy thoughts to coaches after bad games.
Dan Enos
— Had some time to reflect. Had a good week of prep. Look forward to playing a game again to get that taste out of their mouth. Think they made some positive strides.
— Cornelius "looks much better. I think he's made a lot of improvement." Looks much quicker and more comfortable. Looks like he's in much better playing shape. Thinks missing time had a big impact. Hard to play when you don't practice. He has a whole other level he can get to and they need him to do that.
— Run game helps the throw game and vice versa. Need to be clicking in both areas to be efficient on offense. Got behind the chains against TCU.
— Hayden has had a bunch of reps in practice and will get carries and touches. Had a good week of practice.
— Hammonds is healthy. "Right now it's probably more of a trust factor with everybody involved." When he gets an opportunity, he's got to do what he's supposed to do.
— A&M's DEs are athletic and quick. Third year playing them. Defensive tackles are explosive.
— Kickers have been doing well. Going to stay in my lane. "I've got my own problems." Kicking didn't affect offensive playcalling.
— Think they've gotten better at perimeter blocking. Receivers did a good job getting on guys in the secondary. Sometimes need to be more physical at the point of attack, but overall think they're much better.
— Armani Watts is a playmaker.
— A&M is playing some young guys at CB. Good group that's athletic.
— Allen has had a really good week. "Took us a couple days to get him out of the tank. He takes things very personally." Been good since. Good energy and enthusiasm.
— Everyone is different. Takes time to get out of the tank. His wife and kids got him out. Bye week makes you think you can stay in it longer. Allen was just upset about how he played and they played, knows their better than that. Had good practice since. You want it to hurt because you put everything into it. He's back and ready to roll.
— Thought they had chances to win both games against A&M. Great environment at AT&T Stadium. A&M has a very good program.
— A&M and Alabama have two of the best defensive lines in the country. Last year, failing to score on the goal line didn't have anything to do on the design. Last week, they had third-and-goal at the 2 and didn't score. Don't think you can compare the 2 games.
— Playcalling isn't affected by TCU red-zone struggles. They look at if a play doesn't work because of physicality or structure and try to problem solve.
Paul Rhoads
— Kellen Mond's confidence has noticeably grown. In the third game, he made all the throws. The easy throws and big throws against press coverage and deep balls down the field. Does a nice job executing their run game with the QB as a piece of it.
— Fundamentals were emphasized last week. The saying that a team improves most from game one to two isn't always true. Have a chance to make big improvement early in the year. Spent time tackling as a full unit Wednesday and Thursday. Was excited about how they executed Sunday.
— Great respect for Keith Ford. Saw him when he was at Iowa State. Trayveion Williams can be very effective and bust out.
— "Christian Kirk is as good as there is in this league." Can run short passing game, deep passing game, reverses and he's a threat as a returner.
— Last year wasn't the cleanest game on either side. You've got to play a clean game every week. That'll be a goal going back down. Had a chance to play A&M at Pitt, Iowa State and here. A&M is one of the great, storied programs in college football. Playing at a neutral sight is a neat idea and game for fans. That atmosphere last year was as good as he's been around.
— Doesn't think Greenlaw is reaching up and scratching the ceiling yet. Still learning LB as much as he's learning LB in the 3-4. Still learning spacing between him and the line, how fast or slow he scrapes. He was a safety. "We remain excited about how high that ceiling is" as he continues to learn.
— The key to early down success is stopping the run. That can push them into down and distance positions they don't want to be in. A&M likes to run early. Their OL is extremely well-coached. They've juggled people at different positions.
— Big plays were an issue all last year. The key to good defense is limiting big plays. Have to stay on upfield shoulder of receiver, win 50-50 balls. Have to make right fits and tackle well up front. Positioning and leverage are high priorities.