FAYETTEVILLE -- Receivers Jared Cornelius and Keon Hatcher made the day's best catches as the Arkansas Razorbacks conducted an open practice of a little more than two hours, mostly in the sizzling heat of the outdoor practice fields Saturday.
Cornelius got a step on cornerback D.J. Dean on the right sideline and hauled in a perfectly thrown pass of intermediate depth from Brandon Allen on the second play of the opening team period. The Razorbacks worked in shoulder pads and thigh pads with limited contact, which gave the passing game a chance to shine.
Hatcher ran an intermediate curl with Jared Collins in his hip pocket, but he managed to snatch the ball away from a breakup attempt by the cornerback to grab an Allen pass eight snaps later.
"Keon Hatcher has been a superstar at wide receiver," Coach Bret Bielema said while making his first media appearance of camp.
The Razorbacks moved inside for the final seven periods of the workout, which included a few team periods. Austin Allen dropped in a pass just beyond coverage for Jojo Robinson to bring in for a long gain during the inside work.
On the next play, cornerback Ryan Pulley, who had just given up the deep pass, popped Robinson in the backfield on an end-around. Pulley picked up plenty of snaps with the second defense.
"Pulley has jumped out from Day One," Bielema said.
Later, Rafe Peavey rolled right and found speedster Eric Hawkins open deep down the middle for the connection and a would-be touchdown pass.
Turnovers
Linebacker Josh Harris had the day's best defensive play, an interception over the middle in 7-on-7 work against Rafe Peavey that would have gone back for a touchdown.
Cornerback Cornelius Floyd fell on a fumble from freshman tailback Rawleigh Williams on the 13th play of the opening team period, a turnover that earned Williams an up-down session on his way to a water break a few minutes later at the request of running backs coach Jemal Singleton.
Floyd would go on to have a pair of breakups on passes intended for Cody Hollister and Dominique Reed to help round out his productive day.
With the newcomer and younger players working inside later, safety Matt Dodson recovered a fumble by running back Connor McPherson.
Receiver Kendrick Edwards caught and then lost a slant pass in a skeleton period, but the 6-5 sophomore dropped and made the fumble recovery.
Personnel update
Junior college transfer receiver Dominique Reed, a native of Camden, finished summer with a 3.5 grade-point average, Bret Bielema said.
"Everybody was worried about Dominique," Bielema said. "He's done everything we've asked him to do. The academic people I think were just blown away with the way he responded and helped himself in the classroom, and that's carried over to what we're seeing now."
Defensive tackle Bijhon Jackson practiced in a jersey and shorts, rather than half pads, because he missed Friday's practice while attending his grandmother's funeral, Bielema said. NCAA rules stipulate a player must go through two practices before wearing pads.
Defensive end Tevin Beanum and offensive tackle Brian Wallace sat out team periods Saturday because of minor injuries.
"Both just kind of rolled a foot the other day and got some mild amount of swelling," Bielema said. "X-rays were negative and both of them wanted to go, but the trainers really thought if we gave them the day off for the most part and got some rehab that they should be ready to roll on Monday, so we made the decision to keep those guys out of it."
Offensive tackle Dan Skipper missed a few reps after getting overheated, but after spending some time with trainers in the shade he returned and finished practice. With Skipper and Wallace missing time, Bentonville's Marcus Danenhauer took a few reps with the starters at right tackle.
Graham-Bell
True freshmen Jamario Bell and Derrick Graham, who signed as a defensive end and linebacker, respectively, have swapped positions early in camp.
Graham, who Coach Bret Bielema said gained weight up to 262 pounds, was running with the defensive ends Saturday while Bell took his reps with the linebacking corps.
"It was a no-brainer," Bielema said. "One of the things I love to do is to sit back and evaluate talent in front of you. You could just watch the guys move. Jamario just moved a little bit more like a linebacker and did certain things. We flipped them. Everybody agrees."
Bielema said Graham had gained 30 pounds in six weeks since reporting at 232 pounds.
"We do think he's a natural pass rusher, just not out in space," he said. "We'll see where it goes."
8 is enough
The quarterbacks combined for eight consecutive completed passes in 7-on-7 work before cornerback D.J. Dean jumped a slant route from Ty Storey to Eric Hawkins to post a breakup.
Brandon Allen and Austin Allen had one completion each, to Jared Cornelius and Luke Rossi, before cornerback Ryan Pulley broke up, and nearly picked off, a flag route throw from Brandon Allen for Dominique Reed.
After Josh Harris' interception of Rafe Peavey on the next snap, the quarterbacks wrapped up with four consecutive complete throws to Damon Mitchell, Will Gragg, La'Michael Pettway and Jovante Siglar.
Playing 'D'
Blitzing cornerback Kevin Richardson and defensive lineman Armon Watts combined for a sack of Rafe Peavey early in period 23 after the Hogs had moved indoors.
Safety Rohan Gaines nearly nabbed an interception from Brandon Allen on a roll-out pass. Allen threw behind Keon Hatcher and the pass bounced off Gaines' hands.
Camp beard
Defensive coordinator Robb Smith brought a veteran beard into the start of camp, and several of the Razorbacks are sporting facial hair, although none compares to the camp beard worn by lineman Brey Cook last year.
Cook, a senior last season from Springdale Har-Ber, attended Friday's practice. He participated in organized team activities with the Redskins and worked out with the Patriots but suffered a disk injury in his back and is going through rehab.
Cook was one of several former Razorbacks in attendance, including D.J. Williams, Casey Dick and current staffers Alfred Davis and Tenarius Wright.
Kick it
Redshirt freshman Cole Hedlund had made all his field goals through two days before missing for the first time on his final try from long distance from the right hash Saturday.
"He's really been striking the ball well and that was obviously the last kick on the right hash, which is his least favorite hash," Bret Bielema said.
Junior Adam McFain, the returning starter, did not kick Saturday at his discretion. Bielema said McFain suffered a hamstring or quad muscle tweak about a month ago playing disc golf and took a rest day on Saturday after kicking Thursday and Friday.
"So we banned Frisbee golf and he should get healthy," Bielema said.
Sophomore Lane Saling made all his field goals Saturday to improve on the 85 to 86 percent rate he had through two days, Bielema added.
Outside in
The Razorbacks worked outside for about two hours with the temperature hovering around 98 degrees, then went in Walker Pavilion for the last 30 minutes to get out of the sun.
Bret Bielema joked he was counting down the periods until the team could go inside.
"It feels like you're coming into a refrigerator compared to what's going on outside," he said.
Number changes
A pair of freshmen have already switched numbers, with receiver La'Michael Pettway swapping his No. 88 in for No. 16, and defensive end T.J. Smith moving from 92 to 54.
Smith made one of the day's best hits, a non-tackle collision with freshman tailback Rawleigh Williams III in the backfield during newcomer work that marked the final play of the workout and drew plenty of loud hoots from teammates.
Scholarships up
Bret Bieiema said he hopes to have four scholarships to award to walk-on players for the fall semester, and three for sure. He's waiting on an interpretation from the NCAA that could provide an additional scholarship.
Bielema said he might award a scholarship this weekend, but that he'll probably wait a few more days "to make sure everything's in order" with the process.
No captains yet
Bret Bielema said he expects to name team captains later in fall camp. Quarterback Brandon Allen is the only returning player who was a captain last season.
Sports on 08/09/2015