Vanilla was just a starting point

University of Arkansas head football coach Bret Bielema's relationship with tight end Hale Hentges has the Hogs in the running for the highly regarded prospect.
University of Arkansas head football coach Bret Bielema's relationship with tight end Hale Hentges has the Hogs in the running for the highly regarded prospect.

FAYETTEVILLE - Arkansas coaches intentionally kept their calls simple on both sides of the ball for the first scrimmage of camp.

The result was a fan-friendly 107-play scrimmage that was cleanly played and free of turnovers as the first offense and first defense played winning football against the reserves.

Defensive coordinator Chris Ash would like to see more havoc created in this evening’s scrimmage, which is scheduled to be closed to the media and public. Coach Bret Bielema could change that, as he did on short notice for the last scrimmage.

“I’m hoping the head coach lets us call a little bit more, to be honest with you,so we can run more of our defense,” Ash said. “I was pretty pleased with what we did last Saturday in our first opportunity to get live tackling. Now we need to come back and our [second-teamers] play a little better, because I thought our [first-teamers], statistically, were good.”

The offense did not dabble in formation changes, motions and such last week, but that’s likely to change tonight.

“That’s one of the big things for our offense is a lot of shifts and motions,” quarterback Brandon Allen said. “In the scrimmage we just kind of didn’t really call any. Kind of left it plain, just to help the flow.”

Allen took advantage of the situation last Saturday to complete 16 of 17 passes for 216 yards and 1 touchdown.

“I think he’s backing up a pretty good day on Saturday with some good practices thus far,” offensive coordinator Jim Chaney said Wednesday. “As he’s worked through some concepts that we have struggled with, we’re going back in and getting more reps and he’s getting familiar with those also.

“So I think his bank is getting bigger with things he understands and that I’m getting more comfortable calling for him.”

Receivers coach Michael Smith said he has been impressed with the way Allen is playing.

“He’s throwing the ball very well,” Smith said. “You know, he has a calmness about him that I didn’t see in the spring.”

Senior center Travis Swanson, who is expected to be back in action after missing the first scrimmage with a slight groin injury, said he liked what he saw from Allen on the sideline last weekend.

“I think it makes the whole team feel good,” Swanson said. “Obviously, he was hot that day. Hopefully he can carry that over into the next scrimmage, and the next one, and then games, and so forth after that.”

The Arkansas running game accounted for six carries of 10 or more yards, including two by freshman tailback Alex Collins, and that number could have been larger.

“There was lost real estate out there,” running backs coach Joel Thomas said. “It may be coming off a run read of a key that might have been the difference in a 4-yard run versus a 15-yard run. You know, there was a couple out there that I say next scrimmage, as we keep on getting a better feel for the system and what we’re doing, then I do project that, hey, we should have a 40-yard run here.”

Arkansas defenders accounted for seven “sacks” on quarterbacks and four more tackles for loss last Saturday, and they’d like to add to that count and throw in some takeaways this time.

“We’re working on our strip attempts,” middle linebacker Austin Jones said. “Every time the ball’s on the ground or it’s an incomplete pass or a fumble, we’re scooping and scoring like it’s a fumble. We don’t call them turnovers. We call them takeaways for a reason. We want to literally take the ball away from the offense.”

Ash said the takeaway count has been better in the closed practices, but still not as many as he’d like.

“We’re going to work as diligently as we can at creating takeaways,” Ash said. “They usually come in waves. Once you get hot, they come. We’re getting more and more. Our strip attempts are up at practice, our interceptions are up at practice.”

Ash said he would not describe any defensive player right now as a ballhawk.

“The more pressure we get on the quarterback, the more ballhawks that we’ll have, because that ball will be up in the air a little bit faster, and hopefully not as accurate,” Ash said. “But right now we don’t have anybody I’d call a ballhawk.”

Sports, Pages 21 on 08/17/2013

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