Dick Smith Lead Red to 45-14 Spring Game Victory in Front of 40000 Fans

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. –- Casey Dick passed for 404 yards and two touchdowns and Michael Smith ran for 157 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries as the Red posted a 45-14 victory over the White in Arkansas’ spring football game Saturday at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium.

The game, played in front of a crowd of 40,200, featured the first team offense and defense on the Red squad with the second and third teams on the White.

Dick was 33-of-49 passing with touchdown passes of four yards to London Crawford and 11 yards to tight end D.J. Williams. Smith, who averaged 12.1 yards per carry, scored on a 21-yard run on the game’s first possession. Dick followed with his scoring toss to Crawford.

“Michael Smith looked good,” head coach Bobby Petrino said. “I’m not used to coaching that type of a back, but he was impressive in terms of quickness and ability to get downfield.”

Nathan Dick hit Rod Coleman on a 50-yard pass to the Red three and Taylor Huskisson punched it in to get his club within 14-7 late in the first quarter.

Dick followed with his 11-yard TD pass to Williams.

Brandon Barnett’s 16-yard run capped a six-play, 55-yard drive for the White to pull the backups within 21-14, but Dick moved the first teamers from their 32 to the White 11 in the final 1:26 of the half and set up Alex Tejada’s 30-yard field goal for a 24-14 halftime advantage.

The second half was all Red with Barnett switching teams and scoring three times from three, eight and three yards out for the final margin.

Barnett finished with a combined 96 yards and four touchdowns on 17 carries.

“Brandon ran the ball well, but it was his pass protection that really impressed me,” Petrino said.

Williams had nine receptions for 80 yards and a score for the Red while Crawford had eight for 82 and Carlton Salters seven for 108.

“Our receivers got a lot of work in, which is something I wanted to focus on,” Petrino said. “Crawford and Salters both touched the ball quite a bit, and it was good to see great plays coming from the tight end position as well.”

Defensively, the White’s Ramon Broadway had 14 tackles and three passes broken up, and Freddy Burton logged 10 tackles.

The Red first-teamers accounted for 197 yards rushing and 6.8 yards per attempt, and 404 yards passing for 601 yards of total offense.

The White had 134 yards of offense.

“Our players came out and executed very well for the most part,” Petrino said. “There’s no question that we got a lot out of it, and our boys were out there working hard and having fun. That’s what it’s all about.”

In addition to Barnett, several players saw time on both teams, including junior free safety Rashaad Johnson, sophomore running back Chip Gregory, junior fullback John Durmon, sophomore guard Wade Grayson and sophomore defensive tackle Patrick Jones.

The game concluded the Fourth Annual EAS RazorFest, which drew a day-long estimated crowd of 52,000.

Download: red white game stats.pdf