Charting progress: Mallett striving to improve completion percentage

Bobby Petrino isn’t the type to be shy or coy when issuing a challenge to his players.

But he is hesitant — at least publicly — to address specific items in the Arkansas record book.

Still, Petrino didn’t hide the fact last August that he wanted an Arkansas quarterback to break Kevin Scanlon‘s passing record for completion percentage. The 66.2 percent completion mark, set in Scanlon’s senior season in 1979, has yet to be broken.

Is Ryan Mallett poised to break a 31-year-old record? (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/WILLIAM MOORE)

Ryan Mallett wasn’t close to setting the record in his first season. He set or tied 16 school records and threw for 3,624 yards, but completed just 55.8 percent of his passes. He struggled mightily on the road, where he completed just 39.3 percent of his pass attempts in four losses.

More than a year after Petrino issued a challenge to his quarterbacks to break Scanlon’s record, Mallett may finally be on track to make some noise and hit, perhaps, the most coveted record in the quarterback record books.

“I think I’ve been a lot more accurate,” Mallett said Thursday, the 18th day of preseason camp. “We keep a tally in the quarterback room every day and my numbers really haven’t been up and down, they’ve been consistent and gone up each day. That’s really what I’ve been working on — my completion percentage.”

Petrino says he hasn’t broached the subject this preseason in the meeting room. Maybe, though, the coach doesn’t have to flip through Arkansas’ media guide to get a point across to Mallett, a preseason Heisman Trophy candidate on many lists.

“I think it’s an understood statement that we want to do that every year,” Mallett said. “We want to set a new level of achievement every year, and that’s what we’re trying to do. That’s why we keep the completion percentage chart in the quarterback room.”

Mallett has struggled at times this preseason, but he has been unstoppable in stretches. He completed seven consecutive passes during a scoring drive in one practice in the middle of camp, and he connected on 31 of 39 passes for 483 yards and 5 touchdowns in a scrimmage against the second- and third-team defenses last week.

“He’s doing a good job,” Petrino said. “When I go in the quarterbacks’ meeting room every day, that’s the first thing I look at, is how many completions from the previous practice, what the percentage is.”

Petrino revealed after a practice earlier this month that Mallett had completed 79 percent of his passes, a noticeable and impressive jump even if there have been a few hiccups here and there.

Receivers have dropped their fair share of catchable balls this preseason, but Mallett has managed the offense well by finding open men in the middle of the field. The most noticeable improvement is the rekindled connection between the junior gunslinger and the reliable D.J. Williams at tight end.

Mallett often looked deep and forced throws on the road. At home, he looked relaxed and masterful with the offense. The junior completed 68.3 percent of his passes in those seven games, which included 21 of his school-record 30 touchdowns.
Mallett, criticized for overlooking a wide-open Williams in the middle of the field last season, has learned from his mistakes. During his blistering scoring drive that included seven consecutive pass completions in one practice earlier this month, Mallett found Williams on four of those attempts.

Mallett opened eyes with his scrimmage last week, which was open to the media. Arkansas closed its practices after the evening scrimmage, which was followed by some much-needed downtime for the players after an early morning practice Saturday.

“When I go in the quarterbacks’ meeting room every day, that’s the first thing I look at, is how many completions from the previous practice, what the percentage is.”
- Arkansas Coach Bobby Petrino

Practices have been closed to the media and fans since Saturday. A few short weeks ago the concentration was on Mallett’s surgically-repaired left foot, which had kept the quarterback hobbled for the better part of five months.

He hasn’t hesitated stepping into throws and looks comfortable on the move. He looks so comfortable, in fact, that it’s been more than two weeks since a member of the media has asked the Texarkana, Texas native about his foot.

“I haven’t had any problems, been able to go full speed and I couldn’t be happier with it,” Mallett said Thursday. “It’s come along just like we thought.”

With practice closed and Mallett’s foot completely healed, there are some simple questions remaining to be asked.

How has Mallett stacked up since his eye-opening scrimmage more than a week ago?

“We still have a ways to go,” Petrino said. “I thought we took a huge step last Thursday, when we gave them a break and they had time to get their legs back underneath them. Our timing really showed up. This week it’s been better, with not as much work, with the rest over the weekend. Our timing continues to improve.”

And the numbers, Mallett said, keep rising on the completion percentage chart in the quarterbacks’ meeting room.

Apparently those numbers are dangerously close to Scanlon’s passing marks from 31 years ago.

“If we continue to the game, I think we might break that with ease,” Mallett said.

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.

— Brandon Marcello