Arkansas Sports 360 - ArkansasSports360.com

8/14/2010 at 2:54pm

FAYETTEVILLE — Had Saturday been a game, Jake Bequette likely would have recorded the play of the day. He quickly got into the backfield on a first down play, stripped the ball from the quarterback and had a clear path to the end zone ahead.

Trouble is, Saturday wasn’t a game. And Bequette wasn’t supposed to be swiping at the quarterback's arm.

Coach Bobby Petrino was not happy with the junior defensive end. And the play — which put Ryan Mallett in harm's way — was indicative of an overall lack of discipline from the team, the coach said.

“He should not be reaching for the quarterback’s arm,” Petrino said. “That’s a mistake he made. Everybody on the team knows you don’t do that. He felt good about the play but if the quarterback is out for the rest of the year it’s not a very good play.  We don’t reach for quarterbacks’ arms and we don’t come down the bow. We have to be more disciplined as a team and do exactly what we are supposed to do what the drills call for and the assignment calls for. I am not happy right now with our discipline as a football team as far as doing the right thing all the time.”

Bequette understood Petrino’s frustration. Putting a teammate in danger obviously wasn’t intentional.

“That was a big no-no,” Bequette said. “I’ve got to learn to take care of my teammates better in practice and save it [for games].”

Bequette did have a good day. He forced another fumble and according to stats provided by the UA, finished with five tackles.

BLOWN CHUNKS/BLOWN COVERAGE
De’Anthony Curtis was all about taking advantage of opportunities on Saturday.

Curtis, who has worked since the spring to convert from running back to wide receiver, finished with three catches for 89 yards and a touchdown.

See, that’s a guy making the most of his chances.

How did Curtis get so open on the 67-yard touchdown play? We’ll let Curtis explain how that particular opportunity came about…

“Right before I took off, I seen Ross Rasner, he was throwing up. When I took off, he was steady right there throwing up so I didn’t have nobody jamming me up. [Anthony Leon] wasn’t paying no attention, so I just broke my route off and ran off and Tyler hit me.”

Don’t worry. Curtis adjusted his route to avoid the, uh, mess.

CARRYING THE LOAD
Arkansas will likely use multiple running backs this year. It’s what Petrino does to wear down defenses.

That didn’t keep Petrino from repeatedly feeding the ball to Broderick Green on Saturday.

Green finished with 26 carries for 75 yards. He caught a 20-yard touchdown pass and during an extended goal-line session Green carried five times and scored twice, including runs of three and four yards.

That’s quite a load. Did Green get worn down?

“No. I wasn’t even worried about it,” Green said. “I just kept pushing. Coach wants to test us and see who will keep going.”

Green likely got more carries because Knile Davis missed most of the scrimmage with a hamstring issue. Davis tweaked it a day earlier. He had the first carry of the day, but the hamstring tightened up on him shortly thereafter.

KICKING UPDATE
Senior Alex Tejada was 3-for-3 with a long field goal of 42 yards. Freshman Eduardo Camara was 2-for-4, but did hit from 48 yards.

“As far as the week went they have been inconsistent,” Petrino said. “They had some days where they both looked very, very good and hit every field goal. Tejada had a 3-day span where he didn’t miss a field goal. And then we had one day where neither one of them hit the ball very well. So it’s going to be fun to see how that plays out.”

QUOTABLE
“He’s a beast in there, man. When he’s the nose guard he demands a double-team every play. He’s dropped a lot of weight. Used to be two or three plays he was down. Now he’s a multi-down guy. He’s motivated and hungry and he wants to start this year.”
—Defensive end Jake Bequette on tackle Alfred Davis

QUOTABLE II
“That's the last question I'll answer from you with that hat on."
—Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino to a northwest Arkansas radio personality wearing a Florida Gators hat.

UP NEXT
Arkansas will not practice on Sunday, ending 10-consecutive days of workouts. Razorback players will watch film and lift during they day.

Tagged: Jake Bequette, Arkansas Razorbacks, Bobby Petrino, Florida Gators, Alfred Davis, De'Anthony Curtis, Ross Rasner, Broderick Green, Knile Davis