FAYETTEVILLE — Defense tackling mistakes.
Arkansas will hold its second full-scale scrimmage of the spring Friday, then have a normal practice Saturday when junior day is being held and numerous recruits will be in attendance.
Special teams coordinator John L Smith said the reason for scrimmaging Friday rather than Saturday is because Coach Bobby Petrino wants the recruits to see how the Razorbacks conduct a regular practice.
Last week’s scrimmage featured 164 plays, excluding field goals and extra points, and Friday’s figures to be another marathon session with an emphasis on eliminating busted assignment and missed tackles.
“We had far too many mental mistakes last scrimmage,” said Smith, who also coaches outside linebackers. “We did not tackle like we can on the defensive side of the ball.
We’ve got to really look at ourselves and do a much better job tackling.”
Smith said Petrino has emphasized this week cutting back on installation and focusing more on fundamentals and execution.
Part of Wednesday’s practice was devoted to one-on-one tackling drills between the offensive and defensive players.
“You practice that among yourselves, as defensive guys, and you don’t get the same look as you do going against offensive guys,” Smith said.
“So today, going against offensive guys is the best thing in the world for us on the defensive end of the ball, and it’s good for those guys [on offense] as well.
“It’s a toughening drill.”
Mallett’s back
For the past two days, junior quarterback Ryan Mallett has made a handful of throws during skeleton work. He doesn’t take a dropback like the other quarterbacks. He just kind of steps with his padded boot and throws, but he’s still got velocity.
“I don’t watch the quarterbacks a lot, and I saw a ball go zipping by and I turned around and saw him,” first-year receivers coach Kris Cinkovich said. “I didn’t realize he was doing that. That ball had a nice firm trajectory and velocity to it. It’s fun.
“Ryan loves football, man. He’s like a thoroughbred, pulling him, not letting him out of the paddock because he can’t be out here doing much. ... He’s obviously a leader of this team. It’s great to have him back out.” Bash for bash
Linebacker Freddy Burtongave redshirt freshman guard Alvin Bailey props for the block that put him on his backside last week, but it turned out Burton returned the lick later and Bailey returned the nod.
“I pulled around there and gave him a pretty good lick, but we ended up repeating the play and he came through there the next time real hard and he kind of got me the next play,” Bailey said. “It’s just all fun.
We’re out there having fun.” Worth noting
Junior linebacker Jerry Franklin appeared to be close to full participation mode during Wednesday’s practice and took some reps with the first team.
Junior receiver Joe Adams returned to practice after missing Tuesday. He had a few good catches and returned to the punt return group.
Sophomore cornerback Darius Winston had two interceptions in scrimmage work, both on passes thrown by Nick Petrino.
A would-be touchdown pass from Tyler Wilson to Greg Childs turned into a fumbled catch during scrimmage work. Childs caught the pass at the 5-yard line and was headed into the end zone when he bobbled the ball into the air, and it came down behind him in the hands of cornerback Rudell Crim.
Redshirt freshman quarterback Brandon Mitchell missed a second consecutive practicebecause of a death in his family.
Linebacker Matt Marshall had his helmet knocked off during a drill, but finished his tackle against running back Mitchell Bailey.
Senior walk-on cornerback Dustin Cain added two interceptions in team and skeleton work Wednesday, including a diving catch on a pass over the middle, bringing his interception total to four in the past three workouts.
The Razorbacks, who are off today, have completed 9 of 15 allotted spring practices.
More on line
Junior receiver Jarius Wright said going through spring practice a third time with the Razorbacks has a different feel than the first two.
“I think this year we’ve got more on the line,” Wright said. “I feel like we’re practicing way harder, knowing that we’ve got a lot to lose this year.
“I feel like in the other springs ... the team felt like we had nothing to lose.”
So what’s on the line now?
“I feel like we’ve got a good chance to compete for an SEC championship and a national championship this year,” Wright said. “I think my team feels the same way.
“I know for sure we’ve got the team and we’ve got the chemistry. We’ve just got to put it all together in the spring and in [preseason] camp.”
Sports, Pages 19 on 04/15/2010