Calling the Hogs

FAYETTEVILLE — The first pitch for tonight’s Razorback game with the Georigia Bulldogs has been moved to 6 p.m. to accommodate ESPN2’s broadcast of the game. The game was originally planned to begin at 6:30 p.m.

Saturday’s game is set for 2:05 p.m. and Sunday is set for 1:05 p.m.

FAYETTEVILLE — Spring practice is always a time for movement on the depth chart so it’s never a surprise to see one player or the other pop up as a starter from a back-up role. Coaches often like to look at different combinations.

But when a back-up holds on to that starting spot for a week, it’s a sign the coaching staff are truly giving the guy a shot. Ross Rasner is one of those players this spring for the Hogs.

The 6-0, 205-pound sophomore from Waco, Texas, has worked at starting strong safety for the last week ahead of Anthony Leon. There is no guarantee Rasner will stick at the starter because Leon is a player the coaches has wanted to get on the field since he arrived from junior college last fall.

After the Hogs scrimmage last Friday, there could be a good bit of movement among the starters once the Hogs hit the field this afternoon. It will be interesting to see if Rasner continues to work with the starters.

“Running with the first team is more uptempo and more intense and but that’s how it will be in a game,” Rasner said. “We just have to know our responsibilities and play as a team and do a better job communicating and talking to each other on the field.”

Arkansas head coach Bobby Petrino complimented Rasner for how aggressively he played the run, but said his pass coverage needs to improve.

“I just need to sit and read my keys and be patient and make sure I don’t take off to quick,” Rasner said. “I felt we gave up a few big plays but other than that we played pretty well.”

FAYETTEVILLE — It would appear John Pelphrey’s No. 1 recruiting target for this spring is off the board. The Columbia Tribune’s online edition reported today that Ricardo Ratliffe committed to the University of Missouri after visiting Columbia, Mo., this weekend. Here’s the link to the story.

Ratliffe is considered by many to be the nation’s top junior college recruit and the best unsigned big man out there. He was being courted by dozens of schools. Ratliffe played AAU basketball with Razorback freshman Marshawn Powell when both were prepsters. Nothing’s truly over until signing day, but this isn’t good news for the Hogs’ program.

One of the biggest goals for Arkansas’ defense this spring was to improve at stopping the run.

The Hogs gave up 150.1 ypg. on the ground, which ranked ninth in the SEC. It was about 80 yards more than the league’s best defense, Alabama, allowed.

The Razorbacks don’t have to lead the SEC in rush defense to meet expectations in the fall, but they can’t rank ninth in the league again, either.

While the Hogs were able to stop the rush at times, what hurt them most was giving up runs. Some came because of missed tackles, while others came because players took poor pursuit angles. But much of the time players just got blocked.

Arkansas head coach Bobby Petrino and defensive coordinator Willy Robinson has stressed that defenders learn to get off blocks better. While there are techniques for doing that, but a lot of it also has to do with being physically quick and strong enough to do it.

Petrino has bragged about the strides made by many Razorbacks in the weight room and in agility drills, and it seems to be paying off from my view in the stands.

While Arkansas’ offense has moved the football, it has broken off many big runs in practice. In fact in Friday’s scrimmage, the longest run was a 26-yard touchdown run by Ronnie Wingo Jr. He broke two tackles, one at the line of scrimmage to make the run, where he bounced outside and streaked down the sideline for the touchdown.

That bodes well for the fall, but what doesn’t is the one Hog who evidently didn’t put enough work in during the off-season, junior linebacker Jerry Franklin.

Franklin’s seen limited work this spring after not testing as well in agility and the weights as he should have, according to Petrino.

While there is little doubt Franklin, who has led the Hogs in tackles as a freshman and sophomore, will wind up starting, the junior should be leading rather than dragging behind.

What’s doubly bad about the situation is that linebacker is perhaps the Razorbacks weakest link. There is talent at the position, but depth is a concern, and other than Freddy Burton and Franklin most of the other Hogs at the three linebacker spots are either undersized by SEC standards or inexperienced.

Hopefully Franklin will have a good final two weeks of spring practice, an excellent summer and a great fall camp because, as said before, he’s going to be a key player for the Hogs just has he has been the past two years.

But the Arkansas’ situation would be so much better if its leading tackler where also a team leader.

FAYETTEVILLE — D.J. Williams’ production was almost halved from his sophomore to his junior year. As Casey Dick’s favorite and most reliable target in 2008, he caught 76 passes for 723 yards and 3 touchdowns. But with Ryan Mallett’s more diversified approach to passing in 2009 and SEC defenses keying on him, Williams caught 31 passes for 299 yards and 3 touchdowns.

But that does not mean that Williams is a forgotten man by any means. Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino has plans for Williams and the Hogs’ other tight ends to be a vital part of the Hogs’ offense once again next fall. That was clear Friday in the Hogs’ scrimmage. Williams made nine catches for 82 yards and two touchdowns.

“It was a focus, yeah,” Petrino said of getting the ball to Williams and back-up tight end Chris Gragg, who also had a big day with 7 catches for 88 yards and touchdown. “We had a little list of things we wanted to get done with D.J. And we certainly feel Chris Gragg needs a lot of work. He’s very, very talented. He’s a little bit behind on his technique and exactly how to run routes. But certainly he can catch the ball if you get it around him and they both run really well after the catch.”

Injuries to Ben Clevland (appendectomy on Monday) and Van Stumon (shoulder) allowed Gragg to get extra work on Saturday, which should help his development. The extensive film the coaching staff got on him Friday will allow them to break down his performance and make the needed corrections.

Veterans like Williams know before seeing the film what they need to improve.

“It was fun catching the ball, but I’m upset with the way my blocking went today,” Williams said. “I need to put all those techniques to work. I need to help our running game and give our quarterback more time to throw with my blocking. Just on the catching part, I made some good third-down plays and that felt good.”

Ross Brown Photo: Arkansas quarterback Tyler Wilson

FAYETTEVILLE — Scrimmages can’t be processed like a game. They are held to improve a team so the plays that are called don’t mirror those that you see in a game.

Case in point, on a third-down and nine play inside the red zone Friday late in the scrimmage, Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino called tailback Broderick Green’s number for the third time in a row. It was like Houston Nutt was back in control of the Arkansas offense.

Bad joke, I know. But it makes the point.

Had it been a game, Petrino would not have called a dive play in that situation. He might call a double reverse or a bootleg pass, but he’s not going to pound the middle.

But Friday Petrino wanted to test his offensive and defensive lines while they were worn down. And on this instance the defense stood up. The D-line smacked Green down for little or no gain, which was a victory for those guys.

But, on fourth and nine, Tyler Wilson threw a soft pass over the top to a wide open Jarius Wright for the touchdown.

Now, that’s the type of call, Hog fans all know and love from Petrino.

The 164-play scrimmage looked good from an offensive standpoint. Wilson probably had his best practice of the season, and second-team quarterback Brandon Mitchell had the most productive day from a statistical standpoint, completing 15-of-22 passes for 242 yards and four touchdowns.

FAYETTEVILLE — The Razorbacks’ practice Wednesday was a more focused affair than Tuesday’s practice.

We know this because there was a lot more teach going on and a lot less butt-chewing by Arkansas head coach Bobby Petrino and his coaching staff.

There was a brief scuffle early in the practice between defensive back Jerry Mitchell and quarterback Jacoby Walker. The flare-up ignited when the defensive backs were working against the quarterbacks and backs on the option game. But defensive coordinator Willy Robinson nipped it in the bud quickly.

The Hogs keyed in on running the football and stopping the run, although the scrimmaging was not full-contact in the trenches. But it was full speed and the Hogs did tackle to the ground.

Linebacker Jerry Franklin, who has had limited work in practice after not meeting conditioning standards before spring drills, made several crunching hits, including making a tackle on Broderick Green for a 5-yard loss, But he also slid of running back Dennis Johnson after hitting him two-yards deep in the backfield. Johnson then rambled for a 59-yard touchdown run.

Quarterbacks Tyler Wilson, Brandon Mitchell and Nick Petrino continued to look sharp in drills. Mitchell made an excellent throw to Jarius Wright for a 59-yard touchdown on Tramain Thomas, but linebacker Bret Harris also picked him off late in the drills.

As expected DeMarcus Love, Jake Bequette and Grant Cook, who were sent to the locker rooms early during Tuesday’s workout, returned to practice.

The Hogs only have meetings on Thursday, but will be back to work Friday for what should be a grueling scrimmage. Arkansas went over 90 plays last Saturday in what was described as a half scrimmage. So if you decide to attend Friday’s practice, you might bring a snack or even dinner. It’s going to be a long one.foc

FAYETTEVILLE — A wild and varied as the weather has been in Northwest Arkansas this winter and spring, Dave Van Horn’s No. 9 Razorbacks (22-6, 6-3 SEC) have dodged most of the storms and played every game scheduled this season.

And with the storms moving out of the area this morning, it appear tonight’s 6:30 matchup with Saint Louis (15-14) is a go. It’s the final game of a nine-game homestand in which the Hogs are 7-1.

Randall Fant is the likely starter tonight. The left-handed freshman is 1-0 on the season and has 2.45 ERA.

The Razorbacks are hitting .307 as team with Zack Cox leading the way at .420, which is second in the SEC.

The Hogs hit the road for first time in two weeks on Thursday to head down to Starkville, Miss. for their three-game series with the Bulldogs.

Next week, Arkansas host New Mexico on Tuesday and Wednesday in a pair of 6:30 p.m. ballgames before Georgia comes to town April 16-18 for a three-game series.

FAYETTEVILLE — In no way, shape or form was it a pleasant day on the practice field Tuesday in the Hogs’ fifth of 15 spring practices.

The players didn’t hit the ground running at the tempo that Arkansas head football coach Bobby Petrino wanted, and they heard about it from him all day.

Petrino even fired a few verbal salvos at his assistants for not getting any better work out of the players.

After a tussle between players, Petrino had strength and conditioning coach Jason Veltkamp run the first-team offense and defense. Petrino pulled defensive end Jake Bequette, offensive guard Grant Cook and offensive tackle DeMarcus Love out of the running and spoke to them while the others were running and then sent them into the locker room.

Earlier in the practice after receiver Cobi Hamilton dropped two kickoffs in a row, Petrino had Hamilton hand him the ball, and Petrino tossed into the stands. A fan picked the ball up and gave to a youngster in the stands.

Petrino did not address the media after practice.

Arkansas gymnasts Casey Jo Magee and sophomore Jaime Pisani earned All-SEC honors Monay.

Magee was a first-tam selection all-around , while Pisani was on the second-team in the floor exercise. Magee is the first two-time All-SEC Selection in the program’s eight-year history.

The No. 9 Gym’Backs compete in the NCAA West Regional at Los Angeles at 8 p.m. Saturday against UCLA, Iowa State, Arizona, Brigham Young and Arizona State.