Razorbacks scrimmage Saturday morning
The University of Arkansas football team continued practice with a scrimmage Saturday morning inside Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium. The Razorbacks are scheduled to return to practice Tuesday. Following today’s scrimmage, UA head coach Bobby Petrino spoke with the media:
STAT LEADERSPASSING: Ryan Mallett, 31-of-51 for 377 yards, 3 touchdowns, 1 interceptionRUSHING: Michael Smith, 7 carries, 96 yards, 1 touchdownRECEIVING: Carlton Salters, 8 receptions, 120 yardsDEFENSE: Jerry Franklin, 11 tackles, 2 TFL – 5 yards, 1 PBU
"It was a good scrimmage; we went a lot of plays. We ran about 177 snaps not counting the kicking. What we tried to do is make it as much like a game as you possibly can so we did have some live kicking snaps in there, which will really, really benefit us. I think we’re better in special teams than we were a year ago at this time obviously with all the experience coming back and how much time, energy and focus we are putting on them. I think we are executing well in special teams that will help us win some ball games. We had a lot of plays out there so we don’t want to get caught up in the stats. I saw some real good things. I think we can be explosive on offense. I like the ability to rotate the running backs, because we’ve got some weapons coming out of the backfield and our receivers are much better than they were a year ago. Defensively, we have to get better. We all know it. We still have to improve. I thought we’d come out and be more aggressive like we were a week ago. I didn’t see it, so we’ll just keep working hard. What is important to me is to play 11 guys out there who will play full speed and with contact on every play. We’ve got to take a good look at the competition and who wants to start and who doesn’t want to start."
On Dennis Johnson:"We’re really starting to understand what Dennis does well. Right now, he’s the guy that is making the big runs. He’s very quick out of the backfield and broke some tackles today. We put him in there to operate the two minute drill so he knows we have a lot of confidence in him knowing what we are doing now. He’s a good football player. We saw it in the LSU game. He just has to be consistent in practice all the time. The good thing is there is a lot of competition."
On Ronnie Wingo, Jr.:"Ronnie Wingo is very talented and he can really run with the ball and make guys miss. The thing both he and Knile (Davis) are learning right now is basically you are going to get one move and then you better go North and South because the speed of the game isn’t high school anymore. They will catch up to you and hit you. Ronnie is a very good football player. I like what I’ve seen a lot this past week. He’s really grown up. He’s tough and has something special about him."
On Greg Childs:"He’s been taking a ton of reps since London (Crawford) is banged up. London wanted to go today, but we held him. He’s fought through the last two practices, but he’s not at full speed so we held him out of the contact. Childs is making a bunch of plays. He’s much stronger and more physical and he’s really focused on what to do. I like what I’ve seen from him. He’s also a very good blocker. He’s probably our most physical guy at wide receiver. Salters is a guy we count on to know every position. He’s got great hands. When he gets open and the ball gets by him, he is going to make the catches."
