It’s all clicking for Cobi

Receiver grabs 2 TD receptions

Arkansas sophomore offensive lineman Luke Charpentier (right) works through a drill before Saturday’s scrimmage at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville.
Arkansas sophomore offensive lineman Luke Charpentier (right) works through a drill before Saturday’s scrimmage at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville.

— Arkansas treated a fan day audience estimated at 15,000 to big plays on both sides of the ball, led by Cobi Hamilton’s two-touchdown night, in the Razorbacks’ final major scrimmage of the fall.

Hamilton grabbed scoring passes of 65 and 21 yards from Tyler Wilson and helped the first offense score on 5 of 11 possessions.

“That’s what we expect from Cobi every night, every day,” Arkansas Coach John L. Smith said.

“We were clicking on all cylinders,” said Hamilton, who finished with 11 catches for 165 yards. “We looked fantastic. Tyler was zipping the ball.”

Wilson completed 22 of 37 passes for 252 yards and 3 touchdowns. He also found tight end Chris Gragg for a 4-yard touchdown pass.

Second-team quarterback Brandon Allen completed 16 of 23 passes for 262 yards and 4 touchdowns and threw 2 interceptions. Allen completed nine consecutive throws early in the scrimmage and led his unit to touchdowns on 5 of 9 possessions.

Allen’s scoring throws were 10 yards to freshman tailback Jonathan Williams, 30 yards to Mekale McKay, 30 yards to Austin Tate and 2 yards to fullback Morgan Linton.

Williams capped the evening with a 24-yard touchdown run through the left side on a ground-based drive for the first offense. He led all rushers with 115 yards and 2 touchdowns on 18 carries, while Ronnie Wingo added 76 yards on 19 carries.

Top tailback Knile Da- vis did not take part in live tackling again, and tailback Dennis Johnson was in Texarkana following the death of his grandmother.

The top two offenses started fast, scoring touchdowns on their first five possessions combined, but the defense struck back by shutting down the next six drives.

“I think around the fourth or fifth series, we started opening it up [with stunts and blitzes] because everything’s a little vanilla when we first come out there,” defensive end Chris Smith said. “Coach Smith says we’re going to be real good, we’re going to be a hell of a team.”

The snuffed drives included a tackle for loss by Alfred Davis, an interception by Dakota Baggett on a tipped Allen pass, Trey Flowers’ 9-yard sack of Wilson, Jared Green’s 5-yard sack of Allen, a pass breakup by Kiero Small and Chris Smith’s 7-yard sack of Wilson.

Wilson moved the starters 65 yards in 10 plays to open the scrimmage, completing 5 of 6 passes to five receivers for 45 yards. Small, who continued to play both ways, capped the drive with a 6-yard, trap-play touchdown run up the middle.

Allen and the second offense scored on their first drive, overcoming a dropped would-be deep-ball touchdown pass to Julian Horton on the first snap and a false start that nullified Horton’s 19-yard diving touchdown catch.

Allen was scrambling to his right when he found Williams in the front corner of the end zone for a 16-yard touchdown pass.

Wilson connected with Gragg for a 4-yard scoring pass on the next sequence, but it almost didn’t happen. Chris Smith batted, then nearly intercepted a Wilson pass, but Wilson dived in and stripped the ball away before Smith could gain possession.

Hamilton took a pass over the middle midway through the first half, ran through tackle attempts by Ross Rasner, Rohan Gaines and Tevin Mitchel and went 65 yards for a score. Hamilton, feeling the enthusiasm of the fan day atmosphere, high-fived a few fans and drew a flag.

“To have a scrimmage be this exciting and have the tension in the air, you know it’s Razorback football season,” Hamilton said. “It was fun, and it makes you proud to be a Razorback.”

The Razorbacks have a mock game Friday, then open the season Sept. 1 against Jacksonville State at Reynolds Razorback Stadium.

Scrimmage stats

Saturday at Reynolds Razorback Stadium

SCORING PLAYS

Kiero Small 6 run (Zach Hocker kick) 10 plays, 65 yards Jonathan Williams 16 pass from Brandon Allen (John Henson kick) 11-65 Chris Gragg 4 pass from Tyler Wilson (Hocker kick) 9-65 Mekale McKay 30 pass from Allen (Henson kick) 4-65 Cobi Hamilton 65 pass from Wilson (Hocker kick) 1-65 Morgan Linton 2 pass from Allen (Hocker kick) 8-65 Austin Tate 39 pass from Allen (Henson kick) 4-65 Hamilton 21 pass from Wilson (Hocker kick) 9-65 Williams 9 run (Henson kick) 2-55 Williams 24 run (no PAT) 8-57

INDIVIDUAL STATS

PASSING Wilson 22 of 36, 252 yards, 3 TDs; Allen 16 of 23, 262 yards, 4 TDs RUSHING Jonathan Williams 18-115, 2 TDs; Ronnie Wingo 19-76; Kody Walker 6-29; Nate Holmes 7-23; Tayler Reed 2-12; Kiero Small 1-6, TD; Donovan Roberts 1-1; Brandon Allen 1-(-5); Tyler Wilson 3-(-21) RECEIVING Cobi Hamilton 11-165, 2 TDs; Mekale McKay 2-76, 1 TD; Austin Tate 4-65, 1 TD; Demetrius Wilson 4-56; Ronnie Wingo 4-35; Demetrius Dean 2-29; Chris Gragg 3-26, 1 TD; Jonathan Williams 1-16, TD; Javontee Herndon 1-12; Koday Walker 1-11; Morgan Linton 2-9, 1 TD; Keon Hatcher 1-7; Brandon Mitchell 1-5; Kiero Small 1-3

DEFENSIVE STATS

TACKLES Rohan Gaines 11, Bryan Jones 8, Braylon Mitchell 7, Kiero Small 6, Terrell Wiilliams 5, A.J. Turner 5. TACKLE FOR LOSS Trey Fowers 2-14, Jared Green 2-6, Tevin Mitchell 1-7, Alfred Davis 1-2, A.J. Turner 1-2, Pirice Holmes 1-2, Braylon Mitchell 1-1, Dakota Baggett 1-1 SACKS Trey Flowers 2-14, Jared Green 1-5. INTERCEPTIONS Dakota Baggett, Jerry Mitchell PASS BREAKUPS Tevin Mitchel 2, Chris Smith, Alan Turner, D.D. Jones, Kaelon Kelleybrew, Will Hines, Dakota Baggett, FORCED FUMBLE Mekale McKay RECOVERED FUMBLE Mekale McKay

Sports, Pages 21 on 08/19/2012

Upcoming Events