Arkansas Sports 360 - ArkansasSports360.com

8/19/2010 at 11:29pm

Image by The Associated Press

Quarterback Ryan Mallett finished 31 of 39 for 485 yards and five touchdowns against a defense made up of second, third and fourth team players.

FAYETTEVILLE — Big passing plays had been missing from recent Arkansas practices. Deep balls for touchdowns hadn't happened as often as coaches and players expected.

That changed with Thursday’s scrimmage.

Touchdown passes of 60, 50, 34, 21 and 65 yards highlighted the three-quarter event as Arkansas practiced under the lights at Reynolds Razorback Stadium. It was supposed to be set up like a game situation and the Razorbacks moved the ball as easily as they did at any point last year.

Offensive coordinator Garrick McGee liked what he saw from the offense. He was especially pleased with the reemergence of Arkansas’ deep passing game.

“We spent the last week and earlier this week missing a lot of deep touchdown passes,” McGee said. “It was good to see that they kept grinding and they weren’t shy about continuing to throw it deep and go after deep balls and they ended up making the plays tonight.”

Quarterback Ryan Mallett finished 31 of 39 for 485 yards and five touchdowns against a defense made up of second, third and fourth team players. He completed 13 consecutive passes during one stretch of the first and second quarters.

It was a far more efficient performance than what he’d experienced a week earlier. Granted, Mallett was playing against a weaker defense than he’ll often see this season, but it was an efficient performance.

Mallett credited his arsenal of playmakers for his big night.

“When you’ve got that many guys that can run and catch and get open, it makes my job a lot easier,” Mallett said. “I love having all these guys out here to get the ball to.”

Greg Childs had huge night, catching five passes for 175 yards and three touchdowns. Childs’ scores covered 60, 34 and 65 yards.

“They are both a big part of our offense,” McGee said. “They are both juniors and are in sync and have got good chemistry with the play-action deep ball. That’s no secret. Every defensive coordinator in the SEC knows it.”

WHAT PENALTY?
It looked like quarterback Brandon Mitchell wasn’t going to get credit for a 79-yard touchdown run. A penalty flag at the line of scrimmage seemed to negate the run.

That’s when coach Bobby Petrino intervened. Petrino waved off the flag and Mitchell wound up with the night’s longest play from scrimmage.

Mitchell needed something good to happen. He struggled passing the ball, completing just 1 of 5 passes for 14 yards and an interception.

GAMETIME
Maudrecus Humphrey is better than his practice performances indicate.

Humphrey again had a nice night catching the ball when stats were being charted. He finished with three catches for 86 yards and has nine catches for 168 yards over two scrimmages.

“It seems like we get out here in a game, game situations Maudrecus ends up making plays,” McGee said.

HAVING FUN
Sure, there were a couple of plays that Ramon Broadway and the defense would have taken back. That didn’t keep the defense from enjoying things on Thursday.

“There was no pressure, there was no mind full of calls,” Broadway said. “Coach Robinson kept it real simple for us. He wanted us to have fun. That’s all we came out to do today.”

Arkansas’ defensive players had some solid moments. Safety Elton Ford and linebacker Anthony Leon each recorded interceptions, while forced fumbles came from Byran Jones on one play and Isaac Madison and Tramain Thomas on another.

LOOSEN UP
Defensive end Tenarius Wright has been slowed throughout camp by back spasms. He said Thursday that he felt fine after participating in the scrimmage.

“We’ve got some muscle strains in the back but I am pretty well 100 percent just tightening up once in awhile,” Wright said.

QUOTABLE
“I would rather talk about what I was happy with than what I wasn’t happy with.”
—Garrick McGee when asked about the team’s running game

UP NEXT
Arkansas won’t practice Friday and returns for a 9 a.m. workout on Saturday. Following practice Arkansas will host fan day from noon-5 p.m.

Tagged: Arkansas Razorbacks, Ryan Mallett, Bobby Petrino, Tenarius Wright, Garrick McGee