Arkansas’ scrimmage Saturday was unlike any other since Bobby Petrino took the reins of the program in December of 2007.
For one, it was perhaps the longest as the marathon encompassed 142 minutes and more than 180 plays. The offense, accustomed to big play after big play, struck quickly but sputtered in the second half against a defense out to prove itself after a dismal two years at the bottom of the Southeastern Conference.
Ryan Mallett was consistent but the defense held his first-team offense out of the end zone in the second half of a scrimmage Saturday. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/WILLIAM MOORE)
“Maybe that’s when you’re a good football team,” Petrino said. “When you compete back and forth, and one side does some good things and the other side does some good things.”
The first-team defense had one of its better performances of the Petrino Era, holding Ryan Mallett‘s offense to just one field goal on five possessions in the second half. Mallett’s big arm was held at bay for the most part, but he managed to complete a 54-yard pass to Greg Childs on his second drive. The play set up a 6-yard touchdown pass to Jarius Wright in the end zone, but it proved to be the lone touchdown with Mallett at the controls.
“We came out and knocked them off the ball,” Mallett said.”In the second half they made adjustments and they were playing faster and getting to the football.”
Mallett was the victim of several dropped passes by his receivers and impressive tight coverage by the first-team cornerbacks on deep routes.
Junior defensive end Jake Bequette was especially active. He stepped back in coverage, dove and broke up a pass on the goal line, and forced two fumbles, including a strip of Mallett in the backfield that would have led to a scoop and touchdown in a real game.The play was blown dead, however.
Petrino was not happy that the defensive end went after Mallett’s arm. Mallett, who set or tied 16 school records last season, was OK with the play, but Petrino was cautious and critical.
“He felt good about the play,” Petrino said of Bequette, “but if our quarterback is out for the rest of the year, it’s not a very good play.”
Arkansas’ offense had four plays of 45 yards or longer, but none were against the first-team defense. Tyler Wilson led the second team offense and was impressive, completing 16 of 22 passes for 268 yards and 5 touchdowns.
“Overall, I thought it was a pretty good day,” Wilson said. “I don’t think the entire offense was real thrilled with what went on, but for me, i felt it was pretty good.”
Sophomore receiver Cobi Hamilton was a huge target and caught five passes for 102 yards and two touchdowns, including a 60-yard catch from Wilson on the second-team’s first drive of the second half.
De’Anthony Curtis also took advantage of linebacker Ross Rasner, who wasn’t feeling too well before the play.
“When I took off, he was standing right there throwing up, so I didn’t have anybody to jam me up,” Curtis said.
Curtis broke off his route, juked a bad pursuit and tackle attempt by safety Anthony Leon near the sideline and scored a 67-yard touchdown.
Curtis also made sure to dodge Rasner’s breakfast, which was apparently on the field.
Concentration was an issue for Arkansas’ players at time, and so was execution. Assignment errors were a sticking point for Petrino.
“We wanted to come out and be physical and I thought there were times in the scrimmage we were physical on both sides of the ball,” Petrino said. “I didn’t think it was good enough.”
The scrimmage marked the end of 10 days of practices, which included 15 practice sessions and the marathon scrimmage Saturday. The team will meet Sunday afternoon to watch film and grade the scrimmage, and the coaches will re-work the depth chart.
“I’m sure there will be a lot of people up here watching film on their own to see what we did right and what we did wrong,” Mallett said.
Arkansas will practice twice Monday at 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.
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My Razor Review of the scrimmage, along with raw video of Petrino’s press conference, is coming up later on the blog.
Make sure to check out WholeHogSports.com and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for more coverage. You can also follow us on Twitter for breaking news updates with @bmarcello and @wholehogsports.
the defense is starting to come around
great job guys keep it up