Big turnout expected for spring game, Razorfest
Posted on Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Arkansas head football coach Houston Nutt expects a big turnout for this year’s spring game, and he is hoping the fans’ curiosity about new offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn’s playbook will draw them to Razorback Stadium on April 15. "We’ve been to Razorback clubs and they have never been more packed and never been more excited,"Nutt said Tuesday. "I think that has to do with the Arkansas guys that signed with us and the anticipation of the team we have coming back and the excitement there."
For years, Arkansas has struggled to attract fans to its final scrimmage of the school year. Arkansas hasn’t come close to matching the attendance record it set in 1971, when 35,000 turned out for the Red-White game at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.
Last year, an estimated 10,300 people showed up to watch the intrasquad scrimmage in Fayetteville that took place in conjunction with Razorfest, a charity event organized by Champions for Kids that includes family activities and 7-on-7 flag football games featuring former Arkansas players.
The turnout was significantly larger than the 3,200 people that came the year before, but considerably less than the record crowd of 38,806 that showed up to Williams-Brice Stadium to see Steve Spurrier’s "debut"at South Carolina’s spring game last April.
Rick Schaeffer, a former sports information director at Arkansas, said he would like to see the Hogs match South Carolina’s attendance figure last year and draw 40,000 people to Razorback Stadium, which became the permanent location for the Red-White scrimmage after the NCAA outlawed spring games from being played at offcampus locations.
Schaeffer said he understands that it will be a challenge, especially with the Arkansas Derby and an AAU basketball tournament in Fayetteville taking place the same weekend. "In Northwest Arkansas, a lot of people can come down and watch practice every day,"said Schaeffer, whose wife Adelaide is the founder of Champions for Kids. "Part of it is because of [Arkansas’ previous] lack of depth they haven’t been able to play a game. When you say ‘game,’ people will come. When you say ‘scrimmage,’ some people will come."
In the last few years, Arkansas has shied away from playing four quarters of football and instead opted to work on certain offensive and defensive situations in front of fans. There is limited special teams play and certain elements like kickoffs and field goals are taken out of the context of a normal game.
But Nutt said fans should want to take a peek at the new-look Razorbacks as they take some preliminary steps toward instituting Malzahn’s revamped offense, especially since Arkansas will be able to play a more complete game with a healthier offensive line. "The bottom line is we’re going to have a good spring practice and ball game,"Nutt said. "This will be probably be the best spring game we’ve had since we’ve been here."
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