Arkansas Sports 360 - ArkansasSports360.com

8/16/2010 at 8:45pm

FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas redshirt freshman Travis Swanson began preseason camp practicing with the team’s newcomers. He’s worked his way into first-team reps.

Swanson, who at 6-foot-5 now weighs 304 pounds, estimated he’s splitting starting snaps “50-50” with Seth Oxner. It’s a welcome surprise for Swanson, who took the bulk of the team’s second-team snaps at center while redshirting in 2009.

“It’s definitely a lot faster on the first team, something you just have to adjust to,” Swanson said. “You are not going to just wake up one day and automatically be able to go with those guys. But I think it’s going good.”

Coaches liked Swanson when he arrived on campus last year. He was undersized, but had the athletic ability they were looking for at center.

It helped Swanson’s development that he was matched up across from defensive tackle Malcolm Sheppard (now with the Houston Texans) as a freshman. During the offseason he worked on drills to improve agility and technique. Swanson was especially focused on gaining weight.

“We knew he was really athletic. He wasn’t big enough at the time,” offensive coordinator Garrick McGee said. “He spent a lot of time in the summer getting bigger. He looks like a different person. He’s a lot stronger. ... We feel good about where he is, now he’s got a long way to go.”

BETTER IN THEORY
Sunday was supposed to be a day of rest for the Arkansas football team. Instead of getting up for treatment, meetings and then practice, the Razorbacks were given clearance to sleep in.

Easier said than done, tight end D.J. Williams said.

“The day off was great. The bad part of it was we were supposed to be allowed to sleep in and I woke up at 6 a.m. staring at my wall,” Williams said.

INSTANT REPLAY
Immediately after the scrimmage players and coaches had mixed reactions about the performance. It seemed the offense was good in the first half and bad in the second.

Upon further review, that opinion didn’t change much for McGee.

“Well, I think I was impressed with the way we started. We got all revved up in the locker room we had a fast start. I was disappointed with the way we finished,” McGee said.

CALM DOWN
Quarterback Ryan Mallett has drew criticism last year for trying too hard to make big plays. Mallett has also gotten in trouble for being too amped up before games.

It seems those things are areas Mallett continues to work on improving.

McGee said Mallett forced several throws in Saturday’s scrimmage when trying to break the offense out of a funk and the quarterback apparently missed some checks because he was “excited.”

“I think Ryan got out there and was pressing himself, McGee said. “He did make some huge plays... he’s doing well. He’s on the right path to come out here a few weeks from now and have a good performance.”

NOTABLE

*Senior Anthony Leon got work at linebacker. He’d been working at safety since arriving from junior college in 2009.
*D.J. Williams was named Monday to the Mackey Award watch list. The award is given annually to the nation’s top tight end.
*Rudell Crim was dressed out, but did not participate in practice. Crim didn’t play in the second-half of Saturday’s scrimmage.
*Linebacker Jermaine Love did not participate in practice. He spent time in the injury corner with a team athletic trainer and freshman offensive lineman Denton Simek.

QUOTABLE

“I think at some point the receivers legs kind of wear down, possibly, but things are doing all right. These are the dog days of two-a-days. This is when you go through the grind and you have to physically and mentally fight yourself. That’s what we’re going through right now. We’re tough enough we’ll get out of it.”
—Arkansas offensive coordinator Garrick McGee on the timing between the team’s quarterbacks and receivers

Tagged: Ryan Mallett, Garrick McGee, Bobby Petrino, Travis Swanson, Arkansas Razorbacks