Sturdy secondary and other takeaways from Arkansas football's second practice of fall camp

FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas football went indoors Thursday to cope with the scorching temperatures and conduct its second practice of fall camp.

The Razorbacks will hold 25 practices before the season opener on Aug. 29 against UAPB in Little Rock (6:30 p.m., ESPNU). Arkansas practices seven times prior to its first scrimmage on Aug. 8.

More: Tyrone Broden shines with one-handed catch as Arkansas football opens fall camp

More: Sam Pittman believes better chemistry for Arkansas football will play key role in 2024

The next four months will be critical for head coach Sam Pittman, who is coming off a 4-8 season and carries a 23-25 overall record across four seasons as Arkansas head coach. He knows he's on the hot seat , and Pittman hopes new arrivals like offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino and quarterback Taylen Green can rejuvenate the program.

Here are three observations from the 15-minute open portion of Thursday's practice.

Defense shines in team drills for Arkansas football

Tyrone Broden's show-stopping catch highlighted day one, but the defense bounced back with a sturdy performance on the second day of fall camp.

The Arkansas offense was held to check-down passes and short runs throughout the daily fastball drill. The best play for the first team offense was a short pass from Taylen Green to Luke Hasz, with the sophomore tight end making a difficult catch down the right sideline. The secondary was tight in coverage and even forced Green into a sack on the third play of the drill.

The Arkansas pass catchers found more success during one-on-one drills, but those matchups are heavily tilted in the offense's favor. Still, TJ Metcalf and Kee'yon Stewart were able to record interceptions, with Green and Malachi Singleton each throwing a pick.

Bobby Petrino hammers home the details

The offensive coordinator was dishing out plenty of instruction Thursday. During a handoff drill between quarterbacks and running backs, Petrino was working closely with the footwork of his quarterbacks post-handoff. He also showed off his desire for perfection, correcting Green and Singleton on their ball position during rollouts.

His guidance stretched outside of the quarterbacks. Petrino took time to help the wide receivers with the depths of their routes during an offense-only passing period. His fingerprints will be on the entire offense by the end of fall.

Plenty of freshmen in the three-deep

Fastball is not an official depth chart, but it's the only time during practice where the media can get a sense of where players stand in their positional pecking order. Through two days of practice, 10 freshmen are inside the three-deep.

Wide receiver CJ Brown, running back Braylen Russell and safety Ahkhari Johnson are the only three freshmen to run reps with the second-string units. The seven others — including Forth Smith offensive lineman Kobe Branham and the highly-rated linebacker Bradley Shaw — ran with the third team.

There's a lot of time left in fall camp, but these freshmen are already being given an opportunity to break through for a major role this fall.

This article originally appeared on Fort Smith Times Record: Sturdy secondary and other takeaways from Arkansas football's second practice of fall camp