Mallett throwing the Wright way

Posted: September 9, 2009 at 6:47 a.m.

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FAYETTEVILLE — For all the complexities of second-year Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino's offense, sophomore quarterback Ryan Mallett and sophomore wide receiver Jarius Wright have worked out one pretty simple formula.

"Mallett loves to throw the deep ball and Mallett thinks if there is a deep play and I'm on it, he's just goingto throw it as deep as he can and let me run under," said the Warren-raised Wright after Tuesday's practice.

Wright ran mostly under deep passes from Mallett (including a 58-yarder) andbackup quarterback Tyler Wilson to catch a gameleading six for 139 yards in the Razorbacks' seasonopening 48-10 rout of Missouri State last Saturday night in Little Rock.

It could also be that he single-handedly saved Mallett from an interception. Wright made a one-hand snag, which set up a TD of a Mallett pass that Petrino said easily could have nes-tled into Missouri State hands.

"I saw the ball soaring over my head," Wright said Tuesday, "and I saw a later defender and knew if I at least didn't try and get a hand up and bat it down it would probably be intercepted. I guess I kind of gained on it faster than I thought I would. I just put my hand up and tried to hurry up and cuff it and just made the catch."

Currently in a byeweek, the Razorbacks will likely need Mallett and Wright and sophomore receiver Joe Adams - who caught a 40-yard TD on aMallett screen pass - to continue their chemistry if they are to succeed in their SEC opener, Sept. 19 against Georgia.

Senior wide receiver London Crawford underwent surgery Monday for a broken collar bone and will miss four to six weeks. And while he did some things Tuesday, including catching ball thrown by trainers on the side for the first time since breaking his collarbone during the August preseason, senior wide receiver Lucas Miller of Greenwood isn't quite ready at this point either to be inked into the Georgia game plan.

"He's still a little ways away but he looks good, feels good," Petrino said after Tuesday's practice."With London going down, that hurts. That's a big concern, particularly the leadership London has provided. We're getting a little thin."

Still, the Hogs do have Wright, Adams, Greg Childs, Carlton Salters, Reggie Fish and Cobi Hamilton, a freshman with a TD catch against Missouri State, on the flanks.

"We hate [the injuries] for them being seniors," Mallett said of Crawford and Miller. "But having so much depth from the younger guys really helps us at the position, being able to make plays. We're better when everybody's healthy. That's with any team. But I think we've got plenty of guys that can make plays."

Grayson on double duty

Starting offensive guard Grant Cook and backup defensive end Damario Ambrose both missed Tuesday's practice because of injuries suffered against Missouri State.

With Petrino and offensive line coach Mike Summers wanting to redshirt true freshman guard Alvin Bailey, they have junior Wade Grayson of Harrison working double duty replacing Cook on the first team and ready to back up starting center Seth Oxner.

Grayson started all 12 games at guard for last year's 5-7 Hogs. He was moved to center in the spring and practiced at both guard and center during the preseason.

After last year yielding more sacks than a grocery store (46 in 12 games), the offense kept Mallett and Wilson sack-free against Missouri State.

"We feel pretty good that we were able to protect Ryan and Tyler and keep those guys clean," said junior strongside offensive tackle DeMarcus Love said. "That's a game we can sure enough build on."

Just so long as they know much bigger games await starting with nationally 21st-ranked Georgia in the SEC opener in Fayetteville.

"We definitely got off on the right foot," senior strongside guard Mitch Petrus said, "but that game is over with. Give it to Missouri State, they played hard. But we're going toface a lot better teams than they are. So if we're giving up sacks to Missouri State, we'll be giving up sacks to Georgia."

So, Petrus said, no sacks versus Missouri State is not a celebration but "just a standard we needed to set."

Comparing his 96-yard touchdown kickoff return that beat Tulsa, 30-23 last November to his 91-yard TD kick return opening last week's victory over Missouri State, Dennis Johnson favors last week.

"This one was more exciting," said Johnson, a sophomore running backkick returner from Texarkana. "It felt better than last year's kick return, the very first play of Razorback football this year. So this one felt better."

Sports, Pages 9, 10 on 09/09/2009

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