FAYETTEVILLE -- The Arkansas Razorbacks are making a concerted effort this spring to bolster their passing attack, which ranked No. 100 in the nation last season with 188 yards per game.
Coach Bret Bielema said he has taken the unprecedented step of devoting somewhere between one-third to one-half of practice time to the passing game under new offensive coordinator Dan Enos.
"It's been a huge point of emphasis, partly because I thought we had a chance to make a big jump, but mainly because of Dan Enos," Bielema said Wednesday. "Our kids have thrived. I've seen our wide receivers' eyes just light up."
Bielema said the lead group of Keon Hatcher, Jared Cornelius, Cody Hollister, Drew Morgan and Damon Mitchell are competing at a high level and redshirt freshman Jojo Robinson had a solid first week of spring drills.
Bielema said he put Kendrick Edwards, the tallest wideout at 6-6, on an indefinite suspension last week and has given the sophomore clearance to talk to other schools about transferring.
"The issues with him here are not talent-based, they're performance-based off the field," Bielema said.
Prior to spring, Bielema said Edwards and Robinson would not be listed on the depth chart until they started showing up on time to all their commitments.
Receivers coach Michael Smith said last week Enos has shown a willingness to plan for a bigger variety and more use of sets with three or more wideouts.
"What he's shown the guys on tape and explained to them in what we're trying to do from a wide receiver position is to get them more involved in our offense," Smith said. "I think they're really excited and anxious to get after it, and I am as well.
"Putting three receivers on the field is going to be good for me on some of the early downs. They'll feel more involved in the game plan."
Hatcher said Monday he likes the direction Enos is bringing.
"I feel he's trying to throw the ball a little bit and we like that," Hatcher said.
Enos and Bielema don't want an improved passing system to detract from the Razorbacks' No. 24-ranked rushing game, which averaged 218 yards per game last season, so improved efficiency in both areas is a goal.
"One thing I feel strongly about is that to be a balanced offense doesn't really mean that you run and pass for the same amount of yards each game," Enos said. "What we try to do is be very, very good in both areas.
"In order to do those things you have to practice them. The run game is about precision and landmarks and reading things and getting guys in the right spots. The passing game is no different. It's about spacing, it's about timing, it's about the drop matching the route and the route adjustments and all those things. So you have to spend time on those things."
The increased emphasis on passing has several fringe benefits, particularly when full gear and contact are added today for 12 of the next 13 spring workouts.
Tailback Jonathan Williams, a 1,190-yard rusher, is being withheld from most if not all of full contact and Alex Collins, who ran for 1,100 yards last year, is not cleared for contact after an appendectomy.
The multi-receiver sets, run at high tempos, get more players involved in the action at practice, move defenders around to create better running lanes and give quarterback Brandon Allen more freedom.
"I would say B.A. ... likes those open sets," Bielema said. "What quarterback doesn't? If he can hit that, in addition to our play-action game, it's really going to make us better overall."
Enos said Allen's experience at studying and practicing multiple offensive concepts under different coordinators has given the ability to examine and talk through schemes.
"It's been good to hear his version of things," Enos said. "There are a couple of things we've tweaked with him. Obviously he doesn't need an overhaul. He's played a lot of football and has been productive.
"He's a quick study, a quick learner, so it's been good."
Bielema said the ultimate reason three-receiver sets could be more prominent for Arkansas is to take advantage of the strength of the players.
"When I got here ... our best personnel by far was to have [fullback] Kiero Small on the field and to minimize the number of wide receivers," he said.
Bielema said he also has seen new energy out of the receivers coach Smith.
"To get that [receivers] room right, we were dealt a bad hand there," Bielema said. "I thought coming in, because of the type of offense they had run here previously, we'd have kind of a pretty good stock of receivers. We had a stock, but they weren't good in the things that we want them to be.
"So to see that room, it's just been awesome."
The Razorbacks finish their first week of spring in full pads today, then take an 11-day break before resuming practices March 31.
Sports on 03/19/2015