Arkansas’ final open practice of the preseason has ended. The players are filtering their way down to The Gardens for the fan day festivities and will be signing plenty of autographs.
It’s already been a busy Saturday on and off the field. The Hogs got in a two-hour practice filled with some big offensive plays and, while the offense was drawing applause from a few hundred fans in the stands early this morning, they also entered The Associated Press preseason poll at 17th.
By the way, if you’re out at fan day, share your photos and stories on Twitter (@bmarcello) and in the comments below.
For now, here are some observations from the final practice open to the media:
— Ryan Mallett was criticized last season for overlooking tight end D.J. Williams. Was there a rift between the two stars? Was Mallett too anxious to throw the ball deep, forcing throws that ended in some interceptions and plenty of incompletions?
At least in practices and scrimmage this preseason, Mallett has cut back on those bad decisions and found his security blanket in the middle of the field. The record-setting Razorback has thrown to Williams early and often in simulated situations, and it continued today in practice when he tossed a touchdown to Williams near the goal line. Backup quarterback Tyler Wilson also tossed a touchdown to Williams and holder Austin Tucker nearly threw a third touchdown on a fake field goal late in practice.
— Several hundred fans were in the bleachers at Razorback Stadium to watch the practice before the start of Fan Day fesitivities. There were several cheers, but the loudest came on a one-handed grab near the sideline by freshman tight end Garrett Uekman in the newcomers’ section of practice.
Other big plays includeda great loft pass from Mallett to Joe Adams in the end zone for a touchdown and a catch on a go route by Jarius Wright. Mallett and the offense was backed into its own end zone and Wright streaked past cornerback Isaac Madison for the beautiful catch. But there was a problem with the play.
Wright relaxed after the catch, slowed his stride and Madison slapped the ball out of Madison’s clutch and to the ground. The ball was quickly recovered by safety Tramain Thomas.
— Arkansas worked on onside kicks and its hands team.
Who is on the hands team right now?
Running backs Broderick Green, Ronnie Wingo and Dennis Johnson; tight ends D.J. Williams, Chris Gragg, Ben Cleveland and Austin Tate; receivers Greg Childs, Julian Horton, Jarius Wright and Cobi Hamilton.
Johnson was not at the line for the kicks. Hamilton, Williams and Gragg fit the bill when working with the hands team and were the most impressive on kicks.
— Anthony Leon seems to be catching on at linebacker. He had two pass breakups in drills today, including one which bounced off his hands and into the grasp of defensive end Tenarius Wright. Leon moved from free safety to outside linebacker Monday.
Backup quarterbacks Brandon Mitchell and Brian Beuhner each threw interceptions.
— Zach Hocker may be Arkansas’ only option for long field goal attempts late in games.
Hocker joined the competition at placekicker earlier this week, but has mainly kicked from 30 yards and further. He has the strongest leg of the kickers, but wasn’t as sharp Saturday as he has been in the past. The freshman from Russellville was 2 of 6 on kicks and missed both attempts from 50 yards, including one that bounced off the right goal post.
He connected on a 34- and 44-yarder.
Alex Tejada was 5 of 7 on kick attempts and his longest conversion was a 42-yard kick from the left hash mark. Freshman Eddie Camara was 3 of 3 with a long of 44 yards.
ON TAP
Arkansas will have a two-day break from the practice field, which will include the first day of classes at Arkansas on Monday. The Hogs will hit the field again Tuesday afternoon.
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.
Like the ranking. Hopefully we’ll be in the top 15 by the Georgia game, then top 10 by Bama. GameDay will definitely be in Fayetteville for Bama if that happens.
one game at a time…
if the Hogs want at least 50% on third downs,simple hit DJ with a pass.
dwp, I’m just a fan…I can afford to look ahead. As long as the players and coaches take the right approach, I think it’ll be alright.
i look for the Hogs running backs to have a breakout season,to many eyes will be locked on our receivers.
I don’t have a Twitter, but Fan day was Hot!!! – Long Mallett line.. Last year I was there an hour early and I was 3rd in the Mallett line.. This year I got there 2 hours early and I was somewhere around 75th in line! – Took 2 hrs of waiting before autogrpahs started and 1 hr of waiting after they started signing! – I was able to get over to the Petrino line and was one of the last few to get signiatures from him, until time was up… -
Notables – I asked CBP if anyone tried to get him to sign a Gator hat. He just kind of chuckled and smiled and said “No”…
I also asked Mallett to make the signature out to “My hero Renee Gork”. . . I got some laughs but you could tell it wasn’t as easy a subject with him for some reason…
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