Razorbacks Wrap Spring – What They’re Saying

Quick Take:

Sketchy Passing, Stout Running as Razorbacks Wrap Spring

Click here for full stats from the Red-White Game

Bret Bielema’s Post-Game press conference and comments are in a video at the bottom.

FAYETTEVILLE — Behind two scores from Korliss Marshall and another from an unexpected source, the Red team defeated the White team 61-22 in the annual Arkansas Football Red-White Spring Game at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Ark., on Saturday.

Marshall highlighted what was a dominant day on the ground for the Red team and finished with a game-high 99 yards, including a 59-yard score late in the second quarter. Jonathan Williams added a score of his own and 78 yards to contribute to 252 rushing yards on the day by the Red team.

Scoring came in all forms and fashions for the Red team, including Canaan Sandy making an appearance in the backfield for the Razorbacks and taking his first carry of the game 50 yards for the score late in the third quarter. Sandy was recently inducted into the ESPN Fan Hall of Fame as a member of the 2013 class.

In what was a dual of the Allen brothers at quarterback, Austin Allen finished a combined 11-for-17 with 139 yards and two touchdown passes playing between both teams. Brandon Allen quarterbacked the winning Red team, completing 12-of-21 passes for 108 yards and one touchdown.

Here is a link to the entire Red-White Game replay

Following a field-goal competition to begin the second quarter, it was only a 15-13 lead for the White team with just over three minutes until halftime. Things boiled over in the final minutes, however, as the Red team put together a flurry of strikes and scored 21 points in the span of 16 seconds over three drives to take a commanding 34-22 lead at the break.

Marshall’s 59-yard rushing touchdown sparked the scoring spree for the Red team, as Rohan Gaines followed up on the next play with a 31-yard interception return for a score, then Darius Philon came up with a 19 yard scoop-and-score on a fumble.

The White team finally came away with a turnover of its own to seize momentum, as Davyon McKinney made a nice play and hauled in a deflected pass for an interception. The late change in possession helped set up a 45-yard touchdown pass from A. Allen to Eric Hawkins for the White team in the closing seconds of the first half.

In the second half, Patrick Arinze hauled in a five-yard touchdown pass from B. Allen midway through the third quarter and extended Red’s lead over White to 41-22. Marshall followed two minutes later with his second score of the day, punching it in from eight yards out and pushing the Red team lead to 48-22.

Sandy’s 50-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter for the Red team, coupled with a 33-yard touchdown catch by Cody Hollister from A. Allen in the fourth, brought the Red team’s total to 61 points and closed out the win.

SCORING SUMMARY
– 1st 8:07 WHITE: L. Saling 32 yd FG
– 1st 1:29 RED: J. Williams 4 yd TD RUSH (PAT J. Henson)
– 2nd 15:00 RED: J. Henson 27 yd FG
– 2nd 15:00 WHITE: A. McFain 32 yd FG
– 2nd 15:00 WHITE: L. Saling 37 yd FG
– 2nd 15:00 WHITE: A. McFain 42 yd FG
– 2nd 2:52 RED: K. Marshall 59 yd TD RUSH (PAT by J. Henson)
– 2nd 2:48 RED: R. Gaines 31 yd TD INT (PAT by J. Henson)
– 2nd 2:36 RED: D. Philon 19 yd TD FUMB (PAT by J. Henson)
– 2nd 0:00 WHITE: E. Hawkins 45 yd TD PASS from A. Allen (PAT L. Saling)
– 3rd 5:13 RED: P. Arinze 5 yd TD PASS from B. Allen (PAT J. Henson)
– 3rd 3:05 RED: K. Marshall 8 yd TD RUSH (PAT J. Henson)
– 3rd 1:18 RED: C. Sandy 50 yd D RUSH
– 4th 3:33 RED: C. Hollister 33 yd TD PASS from A. Allen (PAT J. Henson)

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After the game, junior quarterback Brandon Allen recapped his performance during the spring, how the team improved over 15 practices and looked toward the summer.

What did you do during spring practices to take control of the starting quarterback battle?
“I think having a year under my belt playing in the SEC, things were slowing down for me at practice. I’m also trying to take on more leadership, and I think that helped me a lot. It came down to experience, and I was a lot more comfortable back there.”

How did you improve this spring?
“I worked on different parts of my game. I focused on throwing with a better base, not getting high and overstriding on some of my throws. I worked on a lot of technical parts of my game, and I think the little, nitpicky things are what helped me the most.”

What are you focusing on moving into summer workouts?
“I want to get with Coach Herbert in his program and get bigger, faster, stronger and be in the best shape going into fall camp. I’m ready for that to happen. As an offense, without our coaches being there, I’m looking forward to us stepping up and being able to run our own practices in the summer and be accountable to each other.”

What did the offense accomplish this spring?
“As a unit, I think we started clicking a lot better. We started understanding different aspects of what our offense entails. I think as an offense we came a long way understanding route structures and what we want to accomplish on certain routes between the quarterbacks and wide receivers. The offensive line was just big and physical, moving people and protecting people. They’ve always done a good job with that. The biggest improvement we wanted to make was in the passing game.”

How is the team different going coming out of its second spring practices under head coach Bret Bielema?
“I think we are in a better spot. The biggest reason for that is the familiarity and comfort level we have with our coaches. As an offense, getting that whole year with the coaches and not have anybody leave was good for us because everyone is comfortable with what’s going on. I think the defense is coming together and growing in the new defense they are installing.”

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Here is a roundup of what’s being said about the Razorbacks after the Red-White game:

Tim Letcher of Rant Sports writes:

Now that Allen has secured the starting spot (barring a disaster in fall camp), it will be his job to lead Arkansas from the depths of last year’s 3-9 disaster. It will be tough, especially in the Western Division of the Southeastern Conference.

If Allen can improve his accuracy and cut down on the number of interceptions he throws, it would boost the Arkansas offense in multiple ways. It would obviously make the passing game more efficient and effective, but it could also open running lanes for Collins and Williams, which would help keep defenses off balance.

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From Jack Jorgensen at Fansided:

[Korliss] Marshall was by far the most outstanding performer in the spring game on Saturday, finishing up the afternoon with 99 yards on the ground and two touchdowns while splitting time in the backfield on the first-team with both Alex Collins and Jonathan Williams.

There is the potential this season that Bret Bielema and the Arkansas offense will have three very capable running backs at their disposal at any given time, which is a good starting point to getting back into conference contention.

* * *

Kevin McGuire of CollegeFootballTalk says:

Expect Marshall’s numbers to go up in the fall if the spring game is considered a preview of things to come.

The strength on the ground should be of little surprise tough. Arkansas finished a dismal 2013 season ranked third in the SEC in rushing offense. The first-team rushing offense may have been dialed in, but on the flip side of the conversation you can suggest the Razorbacks have some holes to plug on defense. Last year the Razorbacks were 11th in the SEC in rushing defense, allowing 178.42 yards per game. Alabama and Auburn combined for 585 rushing yards and eight rushing touchdowns in back-to-back games against the Razorbacks, and LSU ended the season by rushing for 238 yards and three touchdowns in a 31-27 victory against their Arkansas rivals.

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Wally Hall of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette wrote:

Mostly, though, talk radio was helped when true freshman Rafe Peavey completed his first two passes for 13 and 7 yards. In the end, none of the three quarterbacks managed any real separation in the competition.

All in all, it was about what one should expect from an intra-squad game, especially one featuring a team that hasn’t had a real game-breaker on offense in two years. [Korliss] Marshall appears ready to end that drought, though.

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Matt Jones of NWAOnline says:

Austin Allen played the game’s final series with the first-team offense and completed all three of his pass attempts, including a perfect 33-yard touchdown strike to Cody Hollister. The younger brother of the Razorbacks’ returning starter had completed 8 of 14 passes for 94 yards with the second-team offense, but was intercepted twice.

One of those interceptions was returned 31 yards for a touchdown by Rohan Gaines in the second quarter. On the next play, Allen was stripped of the football by defensive end Deatrich Wise and Darius Philon returned the fumble 19 yards for another defensive touchdown.

The reserves, which made up the White team in the game, scored their only touchdown on a 45-yard pass from Austin Allen to Eric Hawkins on the final play of the first half. The Red team, made up of mostly starters, recorded nine sacks, including five by the defensive end Wise.

While the passing game struggled, Arkansas ran the ball well. Korliss Marshall had 99 yards on six carries, including a 59-yard touchdown in the second quarter.

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Tom Murphy of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette wrote:

Arkansas was expected to showcase a much-improved passing game… but quarterback Brandon Allen and the starting offense came out with a thud, making the final score somewhat deceiving.

The Red team needed three series to notch a first down – and ultimately a touchdown – against the reserves…