FAYETTEVILLE — Maybe Friday pointed the way toward some light at the end of the tunnel for an Arkansas defense that has had only second billing the past several years.
The first-team defense gave up an 80-yard touchdown drive, capped by Tyler Wilson’s 30-yard pass to wide-open Jarius Wright, on the first sequence of Friday’s 135-play scrimmage, but then clamped down as well as it has in the Bobby Petrino era.
“We wanted to prove a point, that we could tackle and not be the weak link on this team anymore,” safety Tramain Thomas said. “I think we’re taking steps in the right direction.”
The day’s offensive star was junior tailback Dennis Johnson, who scored on a 9-yard run up the middle with the first team and had touchdown receptions of 32 and 9yards from Nick Petrino with the second offense.
“Today, I thought his vision was really good,” Coach Bobby Petrino said of Johnson. “You could stand back there and watch the cuts, and he was right on on his vision, his quickness to the hole, his acceleration through the hole.”
Johnson had 47 yards on eight carries, while Ronnie Wingo Jr. led the offense with 12 carries for 72 yards, including a 2-yard touchdown.
Wilson completed 14 of 22 passes for 185 yards with the first offense. Nick Petrino went 17 of 27 for 140 yards and 2 scores, and Jacoby Walker completed 11 of 15 passes for155 yards with 2 interceptions and 2 touchdowns.
Bobby Petrino said Wilson has thrown the ball well all spring, and he’s working on not pressing and not letting the previous play - be it good or bad - affect his next play.
“He needs to learn how to relax and not get upset, not worry about the previous play,” Petrino said.
“I felt that as far as the offensive progression, the past two or three scrimmages have been really good,” Wilson said.
“Nick did a good job, just being in the huddle and taking charge, and so did Jacoby. Jacoby hit a couple of deep passes on some wheel routes that ended up being wideopen. That’s real good for his confidence and his motivation to keep going forward and keep getting better.”
The first defense held the offensive starters to no firstdowns on their second and third possessions. Then the top offense had to work hard to score two touchdowns and a field goal the rest of the scrimmage.
“That’s probably the most physical scrimmage that we’ve had,” Bobby Petrino said.
“Defensively, I thought they competed hard, were flying better to the ball. I didn’t think we had the errors on defense that we’ve had in the previous scrimmages as far as assignment errors and guys not being in the right gaps, and therefore it was a much more competitive, much harder day for the offense to move the ball and get it in the end zone.”
The Razorbacks have a morning practice today with a large group of high school juniors expected to attend, sothe 135-play workout, plus the advent of a cold front with overcast skies and a cooling breeze, didn’t feel as rigorous as previous scrimmages.
“It was a very fun day to come out and play, especially with the crowd we had and just the cool air,” said Thomas, who had one of the day’s biggest hits, on running back Knile Davis.
“I really think our team had more fun today,” said receiver Greg Childs, who had a teamhigh 57 receiving yards on four catches. “We weren’t just dog tired. We really went out and had fun today.”
The defense, which played more zone than it had in earlier scrimmage work this spring, got its hands on a lot of passes, with an unofficial 10 pass breakups.
Linebacker Ryan Powers forced and recovered a fumble from walk-on back Ronald Watkins, while linebacker Stephen Barnett and safety Jerry Mitchell had interceptions late against Walker and inexperienced receivers.
The hard hitting was exemplified by sophomore linebacker Terrell Williams, who had a big-time shot on receiver Cobi Hamilton over the middle among his several hard hits.
The Razorbacks will conduct practice No. 11 of springat 10 a.m. today, then finish out the season with four practices next week, concluding with the annual Red-White spring game April 24 at 6 p.m.
Stats Friday At Reynolds Razorback Stadium, Fayetteville OFFENSE RUSHING Ronnie Wingo Jr. 12-72, TD; Dennis Johnson 8-47, TD; Jacoby Walker 5-44, TD;
Mitchell Bailey 5-29; Ronald Watkins 11-22; Broderick Green 7-17; Knile Davis 5-5; Tyler Wilson 5-(-18); Nick Petrino 4-(-1) PASSING Tyler Wilson 14-22-0, 185 yards, TD;
Nick Petrino 17-27-0, 140 yards, 2 TDs; Jacoby Walker 11-15-2, 155 yards, 2 TDs RECEIVING Greg Childs 4-57; Chris Gragg 4-52, TD; Lance Ray 3-50; Jarius Wright 3-48, TD;
Dennis Johnson 3-47, 2 TDs; D.J. Williams 3-44; De’Anthony Curtis 4-39; Austin Tate 4-25;
Alvin Chambers 1-24, TD; William Serrano 1-22;
Justin Wortman 1-21; Ronnie Wingo Jr. 2-17;
Cobi Hamilton 4-13; Ryan Farr 1-10; Knile Davis 2-9; Broderick Green 2-9; Carlton Salters 1-7 SCORING PLAYS Jarius Wright 30 pass from Tyler Wilson (Alex Tejada kick)Dennis Johnson 32 pass from Nick Petrino (Ryan Wilbourn kick failed) Chris Gragg 38 pass from Jacoby Walker (no extra point) Tejada 23 FG Johnson 9 run (Tejada kick) Walker 11 run (no extra point) Wingo 2 run (Tejada kick) Johnson 9 pass from Petrino (Wilbourn kick) Alvin Chambers 24 pass from Walker (Tejada kick) DEFENSE INTERCEPTIONS Stephen Barnett, Jerry Mitchell FUMBLE RECOVERIES Ryan Powers FORCED FUMBLES Ryan Powers SACKS Ryan Calender 2-11, Caleb Evans 1-5, Jake Bequette and Lavunce Askew 1-5, Tramain Thomas 1-3, Alfred Davis 1-1 PASS BREAKUPS Terrell Williams 2, Ross Rasner, Elton Ford, Jerico Nelson, Jerry Mitchell, Rudell Crim, Ramon Broadway, Zach Stadther, Darius Winston
Sports, Pages 21 on 04/17/2010