FAYETTEVILLE -- University of Arkansas Coach Sam Pittman said Thursday that the Razorbacks will have players missing from Saturday's season opener against No. 4 Georgia, and he's crossing his fingers covid-19 testing from Thursday goes well.
"I feel good about our numbers," Pittman said. "And yes, there will be some guys that won't be able to play, but I feel good about our numbers and where we are right now with covid."
The UA has not released its positive coronavirus test numbers since a report of zero in athletics in late July, but there have been positives in athletics, including the football program, during preseason practices, as well as tracing that has led to quarantines.
"Now, we still have a few test results that are not back yet from our Wednesday tests, and we tested this morning," Pittman said prior to Thursday's practice. "So we won't get those back until probably about noon [today].
"But as of right now, I feel real good about our players' health and safety who have contacted covid and about our numbers going into the game."
On his radio show Wednesday night, Pittman talked about testing and how dealing with the virus has impacted him.
[Video not showing up above? Click here to view » https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E99aKPkejfs]
"We're back," Pittman told host Chuck Barrett. "We're not completely back. But we have most of our football team ready to play. ... To be honest with you, that weighs on my mind more than anything. It's who you're going to have available."
Later in the show, he said, "As of right now there's no conversation about not playing. We've got plenty of kids and all that. But it's scary you know as each week goes on."
Top 5 in house
No. 4 Georgia's appearance for the opener will mark a rare occasion for Reynolds Razorback Stadium.
The Bulldogs will be the first team ranked in the top five of The Associated Press poll not named Alabama to play in Fayetteville since No. 3 Tennessee came in 1999.
The Razorbacks dispatched the defending BCS champion Volunteers on Nov. 13, 1999, by the score of 28-24, the identical score from Tennessee's victory over Arkansas the previous season en route to the SEC and national championships.
Alabama has played five games at Razorback Stadium as a top five team since 1999, all with the Crimson Tide ranked No. 1, on their last five visits to Arkansas.
Alabama won those games by the scores of 24-20 in 2010, 52-0 in 2012, 14-13 in 2014, 49-30 in 2016 and 65-31 in 2018.
In a nutshell
The Razorbacks practiced in full pads on Monday and Tuesday, their 20th and 21st practice of the preseason, before working in "shells" on Wednesday and even lighter pads called "spiders" on Thursday.
"Trying to get ready, trying to build confidence, trying to let our football team feel what's going to come on them on Saturday," Coach Sam Pittman said on his radio show on Wednesday.
Pittman said he and the players could sense it was game week.
"I thought yesterday was a really, really good practice for us. Today was OK. We have to do some things a little bit better. I'm so glad that we have another Thursday practice to clean that up. I thought yesterday was really crisp, not many errors, physical, a lot of strain out there. I think the kids should be proud of their effort and the things they got accomplished yesterday."
Up and down
First-year offensive coordinator Kendal Briles will work games from the sidelines as is his preference, while defensive coordinator Barry Odom will coach from the press box.
The offensive assistant in the press box will be tight ends coach Jon Cooper.
"Well, used to, on the headsets, you'd have 3-4 guys on the headsets," Sam Pittman said. "Now, it's like 15. I don't know who all is going to be up with them, but Barry will be up and Kendall will be down. ... We'll have plenty on the headsets, I know that."
Feleipe vs. Bulldogs
Arkansas quarterback Feleipe Franks has played in two games against Georgia, as a freshman reserve in 2017 and a starting team captain the following year. Neither game went very well.
In 2018, Franks went the distance against the Bulldogs, completing 13 of 21 passes for 105 yards with 1 touchdown pass, 1 interception and a touchdown run in a 36-17 loss. Franks' 36-yard scoring strike to Freddie Swain gave the Gators a 14-13 lead early in the third quarter, but Georgia poured it on front here.
In 2017, Franks came on in relief of Malik Zaire in a 42-7 loss and completed 7 of 19 passes for 30 yards and 1 interception, and was sacked 5 times.
Hotel rates
The Razorbacks will stay in a hotel the night before home games as has been the case for many years.
While cost-saving measures in the athletic department are a concern during this covid-19 season, Coach Sam Pittman said the need to have players under one roof is the compelling reason to stay in a hotel.
"I think part of that is that you're in a bubble, you're quarantining them all there together," he said. "The idea was basically you know where everybody's at the night before the game. You can talk football with them, you can get the right nutrition in them and things of that nature.
"But the bottom line is you're probably going to have to give them each their own room. You really wouldn't want to have two guys in the same room, because if the test came back, certainly you'd have to quarantine the other one. There's a lot that goes into that."
Crying time
Sam Pittman built a close bond with his offensive linemen at Georgia, but he was unable to tell them face to face that he was leaving for Arkansas. The day after the Bulldogs lost to LSU in the SEC Championship Game he was interviewing with UA officials at his house, then he flew to Fayetteville for his introductory news conference held the following day.
"I didn't find out I was really a viable candidate for the Arkansas job until the morning after the LSU game," Pittman said Wednesday. "By the time that I had spoken with Kirby [Smart] and met with Arkansas, there was no time to talk to the players.
"They had a gala that evening and I was interviewing for the Arkansas job at the same time. ... I sent them all a text and talked about how much they mean to me. I'll be honest with you, I'm a crier, and if I had to sit in front of them and tell them I was leaving I would have bawled my eyes out. I love those guys to this day. It would have been very difficult."
Extra points
• Defensive back Jerry Jacobs, who had been wearing No. 8, will be the first Razorback to wear No. 0 since the NCAA allowed its re-introduction this season. The change was due to Jacobs sharing No. 8 with receiver Mike Woods and being on the same special teams unit with him.
• Sam Pittman said freshman Vito Calvaruso from Jefferson City, Mo., will be the Razorbacks starting kickoff man.
• Georgia Coach Kirby Smart is one of nine Power 5 head coaches leading his alma mater, joining Wisconsin's Paul Chryst, Northwestern's Pat Fitzgerald, Stanford's David Shaw, Nebraska's Scott Frost, Oklahoma State's Mike Gundy, Oregon State's Jonathan Smith, Michigan's Jim Harbaugh and Indiana's Tom Allen.
• Sam Pittman said he didn't have any big game-day superstitions and that he would probably go on a morning walk Saturday, hopefully accompanied by "old partner" defensive coordinator Barry Odom.