Offseason Grind Picks Up In Week 5

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The fifth week of the football offseason reached a new level as team workouts and meetings joined the mix of strength and conditioning lifts. Early Thursday morning after 5:15 a.m. Hogonese 2017 meetings, the Razorbacks completed their second full team workout that ended with head strength and conditioning coach Ben Herbert putting together an offense against defense competition.

A little less than 12 hours after Wednesday afternoon’s strength and conditioning workouts that featured 20, 30 and 40-yard hill sprints and exercises that focus on building quick-twitch muscles, Arkansas returned to the Fred Smith Center at 5:15 a.m. for position meetings and the last full team workout of the week.

With 20 sleds weighed down by a 35-pound plate waiting in the west end zone of the indoor facility, Herbert dealt out the 10 individual matchups of the 20-yard dash competitions in which the players had the sled strapped to their shoulders.

SEC regular season rushing champion Rawleigh Williams III got the offense on the board in the first race by defeating defensive back Henre’ Tolliver.

20-Yard Dash Matchup Winner RB Rawleigh Williams III vs. DB Henre Tolliver Williams RB Devwah Whaley vs. DB Kevin Richardson Whaley WR Deon Stewart vs. DB Santos Ramirez Ramirez WR La’Michael Pettway vs. DB Ryan Pulley Pulley TE Cheyenne O’Grady vs. LB De’Jon Harris O'Grady WR Jared Cornelius vs. DB De’Andre Coley Cornelius RB T.J. Hammonds vs. DB Josh Liddell Hammonds TE Austin Cantrell vs. LB Dwayne Eugene Cantrell TE Jack Kraus vs. LB Alexy Jean-Baptiste Jean-Baptiste FB Kendrick Jackson vs. LB Josh Harris Jackson

The 7-3 win by the offense led into the morning’s final competition which pinned five members of the offensive line against five members of the defensive line in a 50-yard sled push. Each team’s sled featured over 700 pounds of plates and the team’s had to rotate a guy every five yards.

A controversial start by the defense put the offense behind early but Colton Jackson powered the sled through the final 20 yards to put coach Kurt Anderson’s group across the finish line first.

The commanding win by the offense sent the defensive side of the ball to the goal line following the linemen competition for 100 yards of up-downs.