Junior running back Knile Davis (Photo by Ryan Miller)
Arkansas’ big offensive numbers Saturday were a byproduct of the 195-play scrimmage in Razorback Stadium.
The Razorback defense more than held its own for a second consecutive week, especially early in the scrimmage. Quarterbacks Tyler Wilson and Brandon Mitchell led just eight touchdown drives in 24 possessions.
The offense scored on its first possession, then defense allowed no scores and forced two turnovers the next six drives. The offense turned the ball over four times in the scrimmage.
“Defensively, we keep getting better,” Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino said. “We’re playing our gap control. I really think we have a chance to be a very, very good defensive front that will really rush the passer. The key to us is to stop the run on a more consistent basis, so we can tee off and rush the passer.
“I think this will be our best group and rushing the passer and being able to get pressure with a four-man rush, which will really help us with the different things you can do in coverage.”
The scrimmage was the longest of the spring for the Razorbacks.
“We need to get tougher,” Petrino said. “I need to find out who the leaders are. That’s what I’m really looking for. When it’s hard, when the pressure’s on, who’s going to have the positive attitude, lift and direct the team in the right direction.
“I’ve seen it show up at times and at times we’ve flunked the test.”
The Hogs’ offense turned the ball over on downs six times in the scrimmage and had trouble moving the ball in short yardage situations.
The best example came midway through the scrimmage when, on a drive quarterbacked by Mitchell, the defense stopped the offense seven consecutive plays on fourth-and-1.
“That’s just what we’ve got to do if we want to be a great defense,” senior safety Tramain Thomas said. “We’ve got to come up and make plays like that. It’s definitely impressive. I’ve got to give credit to our defensive line. They were in there making plays, getting stops and getting us off the field.”
Junior running backs Ronnie Wingo and Knile Davis carried the ball four and three times on fourth down, respectively. The defensive got a push each play.
“I was happy with the defense, not happy with the offense,” Petrino said. “Also, offense is a little at a disadvantage because we don’t have any of our short-yardage goal line formations in and I just let Willy (Robinson) put everyone on the line of scrimmage. I thought it was good, showed a lot of aggressiveness by our defense understanding the sticks.
“Offensively, we could have got the first one, but Knile (Davis) slipped and after that we kind of got whipped.”
The defense forced three interceptions. Mitchell threw two picks and Wilson threw one.
Safeties Ryan Farr and Elton Ford intercepted Mitchell. Ford took advantage of sophomore Julian Horton bobbling a pass, snatching the ball and taking off for what would have been a 90-yard touchdown if whistles hadn’t been blown.
“I thought they both had good weeks,” Petrino said about Mitchell and Wilson. “They’re inconsistent at times and that’s what hurts us right now. They’re inconsistent in number one, understanding what the defense is doing and running the offense the way it needs to be run. Inconsistent in our decision making and at times inconsistent in our execution, our accuracy and ball-handling.
“We’ve got a long way to go to be the quarterbacks we need to be, but we took great strides this week.”
Davis lost a fumble inside the red zone and the other turnover inside the 20-yard line might have been the play of the day. Wilson threw a pass deep and Thomas leaped high for a one-handed interception.
“I don’t know what it is, I just had to make the play that came to me and that’s what I was able to do,” Thomas said. “I misjudged it a little bit and it caught me off balance, so I had to go up and get it with one hand.”
It was Thomas’ second highlight-reel interception in the last week. He had a one-handed interception at the pylon last Saturday, flashing to prevent a touchdown.
“He’s got two of them now this spring, one with the left hand and one with the right hand,” Petrino said. “He’s a guy that has one of the best verticals on the team. Tramain’s four years of experience are really showing up because he knows what’s going on out there. He breaks hard at the ball. His instincts are very good.
“You can’t throw the ball up in the middle of the field late or you can expect an interception. He made it look really good.”
SECOND DOWN: Adams’ Big Day
Junior receiver Joe Adams jumpstarted the offense on the first drive and turned in a productive scrimmage.
He finished with 12 catches for 187 yards and two touchdowns, including four catches for 58 yards on the Hogs’ 12-play, 80-yard touchdown drive to start the scrimmage.
“We tried to make it a focus come out and score instead of coming out later in the game,” Adams said. “We did that the first drive, but we’ve got to be consistent. We can’t get stopped on the second and third drive.
“I tried to open up the offense early so they couldn’t key on just one guy.”
The 5-foot-11, 190-pounder hauled in 35-and 59-yard touchdown passes from Mitchell and Wilson, respectively.
“I thought Joe Adams really got us going,” Petrino said. “Coach (Garrick) McGee and staff had a good plan to start out with and Joe made a bunch of plays early.”
THIRD DOWN: Quarterbacks Continue to Battle
Mitchell and Wilson continued to split reps with the first team in their competition for the starting quarterback job.
Wilson spent more time with the first-team offense and had the better day, completing 34-of-52 passes for 422 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He led the offense to five touchdowns and one field goal in 14 possessions, but just two scores in his first 10 possessions.
Wilson and Mitchell combined to throw three interceptions, including two in the red zone.
“Quarterback-wise we made a lot of improvement throughout the week,” Petrino said. “Today, we flunked the test in the so-called red zone, what we call the critical zone. I think we had three turnovers in the critical zone and that is something you cannot have. It will be great video to learn, study and get better off of.”
Mitchell was intercepted twice early in the scrimmage and finished 15-of-28 for 239 yards and one touchdown. The sophomore led the offense to three touchdowns and one field goal in 10 possessions.
“It was a good scrimmage, but it’s not where we want to be,” Mitchell said. “We wanted to be flawless. Being perfect is something that’s probably never going to happen, but you’ve got to try for it. The defense made great plays out there, but you just have to be better offensively and make plays for each other.”
The 6-foot-4, 230-pounder shone last Saturday, throwing for five yards and earning more reps with the first team.
“I didn’t think Brandon had one of his best days,” Petrino said. “He had a great week leading up to today, then he came out today and made a few errors you don’t expect Brandon to make. He usually takes care of the ball real well and does what he’s coached to do real well.”
FOURTH DOWN: Wingo, Johnson Shine
Running backs Ronnie Wingo and Dennis Johnson earned praise from Petrino, despite the defense bottling up the running game for much of the scrimmage.
Johnson had 66 yards and three touchdowns on 16 carries, while Wingo ran for 20 yards and one score on 11 carries.
“ Wingo keeps impressing me,” Petrino said. “He learned a lot from Knile a year ago, that ‘I go in there and run one of the fastest 40 times on the team, the secret now is to get to that speed on my tracks, get to that speed after my cuts.’ He’s really shown that acceleration.
“I liked what I saw out of Dennis. You saw that hard-to-tackle guy, that acceleration. He’s struggled this spring. I think coming off that injury has been a little harder than he thought it would be, but today he had a great attitude, ran and broke tackles.”
Starting running back Knile Davis struggled at times, but finished with 67 yards and one touchdown on 21 carries.
“Knile keeps pushing hard,” Petrino said. “Things aren’t happening for him as well as they did a year ago because of the inexperience on the offensive front and the quarterbacks not getting us out of bad plays. We’ve just all got to keep working hard, working on our tracks.”
Davis, Wingo, Johnson and senior Broderick Green combined for 158 yards on 57 carries, averaging 2.8 yards per carry.
“We still have a long way to go in our running game, being able to sustain our blocks, finish and open up the seams for the running backs to hit,” Petrino said. “Our timing’s not where it needs to be yet and we need to do a better job of getting there quicker than we did a year ago. I know it always takes some time, but we need to get to it quicker than we did a year ago.”
SCRIMMAGE MVP: Arkansas Defense
The defense bottled up the offense early in the scrimmage, outplaying the offense for the second consecutive week.
PLAY OF THE DAY: Tramain Thomas Interception
Thomas had an eye-catching interception on the goal line, jumping and grabbing Tyler Wilson’s pass one-handed at the peak of his jump, forcing the third offensive turnover in a short span.
Quotable: “We’re really trying to put a lot of pressure on them, put a lot of heat on them, get after them. I’m trying to fluster them and see how they react the next play. I thought Tyler did a nice job of trying to put that aside and focus on each play.
“We have to do a better job with our run game, though. Right now, with the inexperience on the offensive side and our quarterbacks not getting us out of bad runs, we’re having way too many negative plays running the ball.”
- Bobby Petrino on quarterbacks Tyler Wilson and Brandon Mitchell.
SCRIMMAGE STATS
Passing
Tyler Wilson: 34-of-52, 422 yards, 1 touchdown (59 yards), 1 interception
Brandon Mitchell: 15-28, 239 yards, 1 TD (35), 2 INT
Jacoby Walker: 11-17, 108 yards, 1 TD (16)
Brian Buehner: 10-13, 110 yards, 2 TD (19, 22)
Rushing
Knile Davis: 21 carries, 67 yards, 1 touchdown (4 yards)
Dennis Johnson: 16- 66, 3 TDs (2, 2, 6)
Ronnie Wingo: 11-20, 1 TD (1)
Morgan Linton: 5-16
Ronald Watkins: 5-10
Brandon Mitchell: 9-8
Broderick Green: 9-5
Brian Buehner: 1-5
Jacoby Walker: 1-(-1)
Tyler Wilson: 3-(-13) yards
Receiving
Joe Adams: 12 receptions, 187 yards, 2 touchdowns (35 and 59 yards)
Marquel Wade: 10-80
Julian Horton: 9-92
Maudrecus Humphrey: 7-69, 1 TD (22)
Jarius Wright: 4-57
Javontee Herndon: 4-48, 1 TD (28)
Ronnie Wingo: 3-62, 1 TD (37)
Dennis Johnson: 3-60
Cobi Hamilton: 3-51
Garrett Uekman: 3-43, 1 TD (19)
Chris Gragg: 3-43
Knile Davis: 2-44
Austin Tate: 2-15
Price Holmes: 1-15, 1 TD (16)
Brandon Mitchell: 1-8
Ronald Watkins: 1-6
Broderick Green: 1-4
Tyler Wilson: 1-(-5) yards
Kicking
Zach Hocker: 5-of-5 PAT; 2-of-3 FG (Made from 47 and 42, missed from 42 – wide right)
Defense
Ross Rasner: 10 tackles, fumble recovery
Greg Gatson: 10 tackles, pass breakup
Eric Bennett: 8 tackles
Jarrett Lake: 7 tackles
Jerry Mitchell: 7 tackles
Jerico Nelson: 6 tackles
Tramain Thomas: 6 tackles, interception
Michael Villegas: 6 tackles, PBR
Jerry Franklin: 5 tackles, PBR
Tyler Gilbert: 5 tackles
Bret Harris: 5 tackles
Tenarius Wright: 5 tackles
Elton Ford: 4 tackles, INT, 90-yard TD return
Jake Bequette: 3 tackles, 2 sacks, PBR
Alfred Davis: 3 tackles, PBR
Ryan Farr: 3 tackles, INT
Jared Green: 3 tackles
Chris Smith: 3 tackles, 2 sacks
Braylon Mitchell: 2 tackles
Austin Moss: 2 tackles
Robert Thomas: 2 tackles, 1 sack
Alan Turner: 2 tackles
Terrell Williams: 2 tackles
Lavaunce Askew: 1 tackle
De’Anthony Curtis: 1 tackle, PBR
Zach Stadther: 1 tackle
DRIVE SUMMARIES
NOTE: There was no punting. Punt means the offense failed to pick up a first down in three downs and didn’t go for it on fourth down.
TYLER WILSON
Drive No. 1 –12 plays, 80 yards, touchdown
Ronnie Wingo 1-yard touchdown run (Zach Hocker kick good)
Joe Adams caught four passes for 58 yards.
No. 2 – 6 plays, 14 yards, punt
Offense converted one third down, Wilson throws incomplete on second third down.
No. 3 – 3 plays, 3 yards, punt
The first defense continued to bottle up the first offense.
No. 4 – 6 plays, 25 yards, interception
Offense moved the ball, but Tramain Thomas makes a leaping, one-handed interception
No. 5 – 10 plays, 49 yards, fumble
Offense moved the ball for the second consecutive possession, but Knile Davis loses a fumble in the red zone.
No. 6 – 10 plays, 65 yards, touchdown
Dennis Johnson 2-yard touchdown run (Hocker kick good)
Offense finally scored again with Wilson at quarterback.
No. 7 – 3 plays, 55 yards, touchdown
Wilson 37-yard pass to Wingo (Hocker kick good)
Quickest scoring drive of more than 50 yards in the scrimmage.
No. 8 – 7 plays, 24 yards, turnover on downs
Wilson threw incomplete on fourth-and-2, the first of four straight possessions the offense turned the ball over on downs.
No. 9 – four plays, 8 yards, turnover on downs
Wilson completed 1-of-4 passes.
No. 10 – 8 plays, 34 yards, turnover on downs
Wilson threw three consecutive incompletions on second, third and fourth-and-3.
No. 11 – 3 plays, 55 yards, touchdown
Wilson 59-yard touchdown to Adams (Hocker kick good)
Adams caught the ball in stride and broke down the sideline untouched.
No. 12 – 7 plays, 26 yards, turnover on downs
Davis lost three yards on fourth-and-1.
No. 13 – 5 plays, 55 yards, touchdown
Johnson 6-yard run (Hocker kick good)
Wilson hit Cobi Hamilton for a 31-yard gain to set up the touchdown.
No. 14 – 3 plays, 0 yards, field goal
Hocker 42-yard field goal
Hocker nailed the same attempt he missed the previous possession.
BRANDON MITCHELL
No. 1 – 4 plays, 10 yards, interception
Mitchell intercepted at midfield by safety Ryan Farr
No. 2 – 10 plays, 70 yards, interception
Mitchell intercepted by safety Elton Ford after Julian Horton bobbled pass.
No. 3 – 9 plays, 46 yards, turnover on downs
Dennis Johnson carried five times for 26 yards, but Mitchell threw incomplete on third and fourth down from the defense’s 34-yard line.
No. 4 – 6 plays, 65 yards, touchdown
Mitchell 35-yard touchdown pass to Joe Adams (Hocker kick good)
Mitchell completed 3-of-4 passes for 64 yards on the drive.
No. 5 – 12 plays, 20 yards, turnover on downs
Defense stopped the offense on seven consecutive fourth-and-1 runs.
No. 6 – 5 plays, 55 yards, touchdown
Johnson 2-yard run (Hocker kick good)
Key play was a 37-yard pass to Johnson.
No. 7 – 9 plays, 25 yards, field goal
Hocker 47-yard field goal good
Mitchell completed 4-of-7 passes for 27 yards.
No. 8 – 3 plays, 0 yards, missed field goal
Hocker missed wide right.
No. 9 – 2 plays, 12 yards, touchdown
Davis 4-yard run (Hocker kick good)
Pass interference gave the offense half the distance to the goal.
No. 10 – 5 plays, 17 yards, turnover on downs
Mitchell’s 7-yard run short of the first down on fourth-and-10.
JACOBY WALKER
No. 1 – 3 plays, -2 yards, punt
The third-team offense struggled in its first series after Ronald Watkins lost seven yards on first down.
No. 2 – 13 plays, 70 yards, touchdown
Walker completed 5-of-8 passes for 52 yards, leading the offense to just the second touchdown in the first eight possessions of the scrimmage.
Walker 16-yard pass to Price Holmes (Hocker kick good)
No. 3 – 8 plays, 55 yards, touchdown
Walker 28-yard pass to Javontee Herndon (Hocker kick good)
BRIAN BUEHNER
No. 1 – 11 plays, 65 yards, touchdown
Buehner 19-yard pass to Garrett Uekman (Hocker kick good)
No. 2 – 7 plays, 60 yards, touchdown
Buehner 22-yard pass to Maudrecus Humphrey (Hocker kick good)