Thursday night’s practice was more physical for the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff football team, but Coach Alonzo Hampton said UAPB is being strategic with how much hitting it does during fall camp.
“We don’t have the numbers that a lot of people do at certain positions, so we’re not going to be running them into each other back-and-forth,” Hampon said. “So, we’ll be smart about it, but we’ll be able to tell who’s really physical at the point of attack, who can get off a block, and who can do the things we need to do on defense and offense.”
UAPB’s third practice was its first in shells after wearing helmets only for the first two. The team will add full pads on Saturday for its fifth practice of fall camp before the players have Sunday off. Monday’s practice will again be in full pads, but subsequent practices will be a mix of pads, shells and helmets.
Hampton said players sometimes get a little too eager to hit when they put on shells and pads, so the coaches must work with them on when and how to hit.
“What you want to do is, you want to teach them how to tackle,” Hampton said. “Teach them how to have the correct position, right shoulder leverage, things of that nature.”
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
The team got together to run 12 plays to begin practice before breaking up into position groups for an extended period. Hitting was limited during this time, but not nonexistent. The full team got together again at the end to run through more plays. There was some contact, but still not full.
One of the standout players Thursday night was wide receiver JaVonnie Gibson, who made several nice catches for big gains, including on the final play. Most of his receptions during the full team and 7-on-7 sessions came on passes from Mekhi Hagens, but he also had two from DJ Stevenson.
Transfer punter Shea Yurkunas drew a lot of attention midway through practice after firing off two or three big punts, leading Hampton to remind everyone no starting position is safe. Incumbent punter Jeremy Baker was named preseason all-SWAC second team.
“Every day is competition,” Hampton said. “We want to be able to bring in the best guys, and no job is safe. That’s in every job I’ve ever had. Not even as the coaches, your job is safe. So, what we gotta do is, we compete over and over. We’re trying to get them to understand that if you don’t come out here with your best day, you may be a two. If you don’t come out here that day, you may be a three.”
At quarterback, Hagens and Stevenson continue to compete with freshman Landon Holcomb. Hagens connected on each of his final nine passes, while Holcomb connected on a deep shot for a touchdown. Holcomb and Stevenson each had an interception.
As for the incoming freshmen, Hampton said on Tuesday moving up to the Division I level was a big adjustment for them, but he said Thursday they are already starting to grow into it.
“We’ve had four or five freshmen makes catches,” Hampton said. “You had two defensive backs get interceptions. They’ve been in really good coverage. We recruited some really good high school football players, and most all of them are going to play. That’s why we brought them here: to play.”