Spring football notebook

Hogs fighting for reps at skill positions

Arkansas running back Maleek Williams goes through drills Thursday, March 1, 2018, during practice in Fayetteville.
Arkansas running back Maleek Williams goes through drills Thursday, March 1, 2018, during practice in Fayetteville.

FAYETTEVILLE -- One of the biggest differences fans will notice with the Arkansas Razorbacks' offense under Chad Morris as compared to Bret Bielema's will be the pace of play.

Morris and offensive coordinator Joe Craddock want to run a fast-paced attack for various reasons, and they will seldom huddle. That approach is pretty much the opposite of Bielema's ball-control bent.

To compare, SMU under Morris and Craddock ran 74.8 plays per game and averaged 478.5 yards per game last season. Arkansas ran 66.8 plays per game and averaged 373.4 yards per game.

Also, SMU averaged 2.53 plays per minute to rank No. 30 in the FBS compared to 2.13 for Arkansas, which ranked No. 103. The Mustangs took a snap every 23 seconds and the Hogs took a snap every 28 seconds.

It follows that more plays equals more chances for ball carriers and pass catchers, and one of the key elements of spring drills has been to identify playmakers in every segment of the offense.

Ty Storey and Cole Kelley are battling for the starting quarterback job, with Daulton Hyatt and others are trying to push for more reps.

At running back, the Razorbacks lost David Williams but welcome back every other top rusher, led by Devwah Whaley (559 rushing yards, 7 touchdowns), Chase Hayden (326, 4) and T.J. Hammonds (262, 1). Additionally, redshirt freshman Maleek Williams and former receiver Maleek Barkley have moved into contention, though Barkley has been injured recently.

Williams had a nice first scrimmage in the new offense, unofficially averaging 9 yards per carry (8 for 72) along with a touchdown.

Williams said his redshirt freshman season paid off and that he's lost 15 pounds, down to 215 to prepare for the harried pace of the offense.

"I feel really good," he said. "I feel explosive and I feel like I can be more efficient at this weight, rather than just bowl over people and be like gassed."

Hayden, who is coming off a foot injury that cost him the final 5 games of a breakout rookie season, had 68 yards on 8 carries.

Whaley and Hammonds combined for 3 rushing touchdowns and 44 yards, and Hammonds grabbed 4 passes for 51 yards. The junior from Little Rock had a breakaway touchdown from 80 yards on the first play of a team period Monday for the Hogs, who have gotten in seven of 15 spring workouts prior to next week's spring break.

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Craddock pointed out that the running backs who cannot pick up -- or hold up -- in pass protection, will struggle to get on the field.

"Nobody's going to play unless they can pass protect and run the football and that goes for everybody," Craddock said.

The receiving unit is even more crowded, a situation Craddock pointed out last Saturday.

"The difficulty is getting all of them reps," Craddock said. "There's so many guys out there."

Even with senior Jared Cornelius, redshirt freshman Koilan Jackson and redshirt sophomore Kofi Boateng being held out of live contact so far, the multiple receiving spots in Morris' system are chock full.

Jonathan Nance, La'Michael Pettway, Deon Stewart, Brandon Martin and Gary Cross are veterans in the corps, while younger wideouts Jordan Jones De'Vion Warren, Jarrod Barnes, Michael Woods and walk-ons like Tyson Morris and Tobias Enlow are scrambling for reps and targets.

Morris had two catches for 60 yards, including a 55-yard breakaway touchdown, in the opening scrimmage. Warren had two catches for 35 yards from Storey on the opening possession. Enlow caught three passes for 48 yards and a touchdown.

Woods, an early enrollee who had previously been committed to SMU and followed the Morris staff to Fayetteville, has made an early impression in his first spring at college.

Craddock said plenty of guys are getting reps at receiver right now to see who understands the offense and who can make plays.

"We're trying to make it equal reps right now to see what we've got," Craddock said. "As this thing goes, there's going to be a depth chart and we're going to have to start whittling down some guys and saying 'Hey, you had your chance.'

"Everybody is getting an opportunity right now. We are giving everybody equal opportunity and they've got to make the most of their opportunity."

Sports on 03/16/2018

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