FAYETTEVILLE — Tyler Wilson completed 39 of 49 passes for 448 yards and 3 touchdowns and led Arkansas’ top offensive unit to seven touchdowns and a field goal in 11 possessions in Friday’s third scrimmage of the spring.
Wilson completed 20 consecutive passes in one stretch of the 147-play workout on a breezy and overcast afternoon at Reynolds Razorback Stadium.
“There’s not a quarterback in the country playing better than Tyler Wilson right now,” Arkansas offensive coordinator Paul Petrino said. “If anyone watched him last Friday and again today, he’s throwing all kinds of TDs; he’s executing.He knows what he’s doing.”
Wilson threw touchdown passes of 17 yards to uncovered tight end Chris Gragg, 6 yards to Javontee Herndon and 26 yards to Herndon.
Other touchdowns for the first offense came on Kiero Small’s 1-yard run, Dennis Johnson’s 19-yard tackle-breaking run, Gragg’s recovery in the end zone of an end-around fumble by Marquel Wade, and Ronnie Wingo’s 3-yard run.
Zach Hocker kicked a 28-yard field goal on the top unit’s other scoring drive.
The top defense stopped one drive after seven plays on a sequence that included one of defensive tackle Robert Thomas’ four sacks and Trey Flower’s 1-yard tackle for loss against Johnson on fourth-and-2.
One possession by the first offense reached the 1, but Wingo fumbled in the end zone and linebacker Jarrett Lake recovered for a touchback.
“I thought the offensive ones did a really good job today moving the ball down the field,” Wilson said.
“We’ve got to take a little more care of the football when we get down inside the red zone, but I thought today’s practice was good.”
Wilson has completed 80 of 104 passes for 1,126 yards and 13 touchdowns with no interceptions this spring.
Injury report
Receiver Cobi Hamilton left the field looking slightly groggy and his condition was unknown. The seniorfrom Texarkana had seven catches for 77 yards before leaving after the starting offense’s fourth series.
Linebacker Tenarius Wright limped off midway through the workout with what he later called a deep thigh contusion. Wright said he’d be ready for next week’s Red-White game.
Tight end Austin Tate was driven off the field on a cart, headed for the medical examination room.
No update was available on his injury, but offensive coordinator Paul Petrino said, “I think he’ll be OK, too,” while also referencing Hamilton.
Double dose
Interim head coach Taver Johnson and defensive coordinator Paul Haynes departed Ohio State after a scandal, which cost Jim Tressel his job last spring, to enter another in which Bobby Petrino was fired.
“It’s similar but different, just with the uncertainty,” Haynes said. “The thing about it is all you’ve got to do is get these guys together, get together as a coaching staff, talk about the goals, make sure the goals are still the same and move forward.”
Ohio State appointed Luke Fickell as its interim coach last year and went through a 6-7 season beforehiring Urban Meyer.
Johnson could have remained in Columbus, Ohio, but came to Arkansas to take the assistant head coach title. Little did he know he’d be the acting head coach three months later.
“Any time you go through that kind of adversity, it ends up a little tough,” he said.
“The good thing is, I’ve got two little ones, so they’re still excited.” Sack king
Defensive tackle Robert Thomas was in the offensive backfield for much of Friday’s scrimmage. The senior posted four sacks for 27 yards and added another tackle for loss.
No Knile
Junior tailback Knile Davis was withheld from live contact for the third consecutive scrimmage.
“Knile is not going to get hit this spring,” offensive coordinator Paul Petrino said, meaning Davis won’t be playing in next Saturday’s Red-White game.
‘I am a Razorback’
Quarterback Tyler Wilson said he has not considered looking into the option of filing for the NFL Supplemental Draft since the firing of Coach Bobby Petrino.
Wilson sought input from the NFL’s draft advisory board before deciding to return to Arkansas. Analysts think Wilson could have been drafted between the first and third rounds, and possibly higher since Ryan Tannehill’s apparent push toward the top five in the draft with fellow quarterbacks Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III.
“That has never been an option,” Wilson said of the supplemental route.
“I decided to become a Razorback again, and I want to continue and concrete my legacy here. I am a Razorback.”
Keep it together
Tailback Knile Davis is among the players who have spoken to Athletic Director Jeff Long since Bobby Petrino’s firing.
“I threw a few suggestions out to him as far as how the seniors would like the coaching situation to go,” Davis said. “We are in favor of keeping the staff we’ve had here for a while going into the season.
“But he’s going to make a decision. Just like he made the decision to let Coach go, he’s going to make the decision how the coaching situation is going to go and I think he’ll make the right decision.”
Sports, Pages 22 on 04/14/2012