Hogs coach sees progress as spring drills end

FAYETTEVILLE For at least one night, Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino decided to give up his offensive playcalling duties.

He wanted to be free to watch his young quarterbacks perform under pressure, and he was curious to see how his unproven defense would do in a game-like situation.

So, as offensive coordinator Paul Petrino and quarterbacks coach Garrick McGee called plays in Saturday's Red-White Game, Petrino watched like the estimated 30,000 other spectators inside Reynolds Razorback Stadium.

What he saw, aside from a few bad throws early on and some defensive breakdowns, was progress.

"I was happy with a lot of things that transpired out on the field," Petrino said Saturday night.

After 15 spring practices, the Razorbacks head into the summer with reason to be optimistic. The much-talked about quarterback competition could be resolved for now, and the defense has made strides since getting pushed around last season.

"To see a defense swarming around and getting turnovers, that means we've had growth," said free safety Matt Harris, who had one of the three interceptions in Arkansas' final spring scrimmage. "This time last year, we were just worried about stopping people."

The two-man quarterback race that has dominated much of the attention over the past month appears to be nearing an end.

Sophomore Ryan Mallett, the clear favorite to be named the starter, got most of the reps with the first-team offense this spring. And he perhaps solidified his place ahead of redshirt freshman Tyler Wilson by completing 15 of 26 passes for 233 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions Saturday.

Wilson was efficient during his limited work with the first-team offense, connecting on 14 of 16 passes for 169 yards and one touchdown. He also went 9-of-20 passing for 132 yards with one touchdown and one interception with the second-team offense.

Afterward, Petrino said he had an idea about which direction he was leaning when it came to his quarterbacks. But he stopped short of naming a starter, adding that he'll discuss it more Thursday, when he's expected to speak with the media.

"I would say the whole offense as a unit came out here from day one to day 15, (and) we've (improved by) leaps and bounds," Mallett said. "That's going to help us go into the summer."

Mallett said much of his focus between now and the start of preseason camp in early August will be to work with his wide receivers, tight ends and offensive linemen to build more chemistry with them.

Arkansas' running backs, meanwhile, showed they can provide more depth at the position than a year ago when starter Michael Smith was forced to carry the bulk of the load on his 5-foot-7 frame.

While Smith (hamstring surgery), senior Brandon Barnett (broken tibia) and freshman Knile Davis (broken ankle) were limited for all or most of the spring, sophomores Dennis Johnson and De'Anthony Curtis and junior Broderick Green got more reps and plenty of chances to impress the coaches.

"Some of them really improved because they were on the field. Some of them didn't get a chance to improve as much because they weren't (on the field)," Arkansas running backs coach Tim Horton said. "But again, I feel a lot better about the running back group going into it this year than I did a year ago."

Based on what he saw Saturday night, Arkansas defensive coordinator Willy Robinson also has less reason to be concerned heading into the summer.

While the first- and second-team defenses allowed a combined 70 points and 829 yards in the scrimmage, both units showed that they might be able to hold their own more than they did during a 5-7 season in 2008.

And unlike in last year's Red-White Game, Robinson admitted he didn't have the same "gut-aching" feeling while watching Saturday's scrimmage play out on a rain-slick field.

Said Robinson: "We're a lot farther ahead than we were at this point last year."