Arkansas Razorbacks Scrimmage Report: August 22nd

Better! Much better!

Last week's scrimmage left some to be desired from the passing game, but they were much better today. That should be expected, considering top receiver Keon Hatcher participated in the scrimmage after sitting out last week, and the first-team offense went against the second-team defense (the 1s generally go against the 1s in Arkansas' scrimmages, and did last week). Brandon Allen completed 17 out of about 22 passes for about 250 yards and four touchdowns while rushing for a fifth.

Two of his incompletions were on back-to-back interceptions. The first came on a bad screen pass that bounced off Dan Skipper and into Jeremiah Ledbetter's arms, and Ledbetter sprinted back to the end zone to complete the pick six. On the next play, Hatcher bobbled a pass down the field and Santos Ramirez snatched it mid-bobble to force the turnover.

Arkansas' offense struggled in red zone practice last week, failing to score a touchdown, but Allen was much more efficient this week, and that's where most of the touchdowns came from. He also led Arkansas on a scoring drive in a 2-minute drill, hitting Jared Cornelius for a 2-yard touchdown with plenty of time left on the clock. Allen was 6-of-8 on the drive, highlighted by a really tough catch made by Hunter Henry on a 20-yard pass that brought the Hogs down to the 5-yard line.

The first-team defense stopped the Austin Allen-led second-team offense on their two-minute drill.

As you might expect considering last weekend's turn of events, Alex Collins was held out of the scrimmage for precautionary reasons. Kody Walker gave everybody a nice scare when he stayed down on the field after one of the first plays of the scrimmage, but he walked off the field and returned soon after, and ended up having a really nice day. He had about 10 carries for 70 yards and one touchdown.

Rawleigh Williams III also played well. He had six or seven carries for about 45 yards, including a really nice touchdown run. In red zone work, Williams took the handoff and made a sharp cut to the left to break free to the end zone for the score.

Probably the biggest play of the scrimmage came when Austin Allen uncorked a deep pass down the middle to Dominique Reed. Reed had a step on the safety but was being held, and the ball was a tad under thrown, causing him to slow down, but he still made the leaping catch at the 15-yard line, good for about a 50-yard gain. Reed nearly had another long reception later in the scrimmage, but dropped another slightly underthrown ball.

The only time the second-team offense scored on the first-team defense through the air came when Austin had to run out of the pocket and zipped a ball into Drew Morgan in the end zone.

It was also a good day for the kickers. The Hogs' three kickers made all four field goals they attempted. Cole Hedlund played with the first-team offense and made two kicks. The Razorback punters also looked really sharp.

Here's a link to unofficial stats.