Hogs, 'Dogs can spread it around

FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas and Mississippi State are middle-of-the-pack passing teams statistically in the SEC, but the SEC West opponents trail no one when it comes to passing diversity.

The Razorbacks and the No. 1-ranked Bulldogs, who play at 6:15 p.m. Saturday in Starkville, Miss., are tied atop the conference with 10 different players having touchdown catches.

Arkansas reached 10 last week when tailback Jonathan Williams, tight end Jeremy Sprinkle and deep snapper Alan D'Appollonio caught scoring passes in a 45-17 victory over Alabama-Birmingham.

Arkansas quarterback Brandon Allen sprayed the ball all around, connecting with eight different players against the Blazers. D'Appollonio's gadget play touchdown came on a 6-yard fake field goal pass from offensive guard Sebastian Tretola.

"I know B.A. can throw the football, and I know that we have guys that can catch it," Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema said. "I think nine guys caught balls on Saturday, and we have a lot of different options."

The Razorbacks are inching closer to Bielema's goal of averaging 200 yards per game rushing and passing. They average 199 passing yards to rank ninth in the SEC.

"We're a balanced team and we do a lot of things in the run game," Allen said. "That's pretty noticeable. Any time we've got that run game going it really opens up our passing game.

"I think we've shown we can throw the ball and do some things in the passing game and pick up our run game a little bit."

Tight ends coach Barry Lunney Jr. said the ultimate aim of achieving balance is notching victories.

"Balance is nice, and we think that's a by-product of winning a football game," Lunney said. "But I think everybody that's followed our program knows that we're better throwing the football, we're better at catching the football, and we've got to do that Saturday."

Mississippi State's De'Runnya Wilson is the top target for quarterback Dak Prescott with six touchdown catches. Prescott has hit eight other players with scoring throws and he's been on the receiving end himself, catching a 24-yard trick-play touchdown pass from receiver Jameon Lewis in the Bulldogs' 35-3 victory at South Alabama.

Prescott has three touchdown catches in his career in Dan Mullen's offense that tries to make defenses account for play-makers who can reach any area of the field.

"When you talk about having a balanced offense, it is not always just about run and pass," Mullen said. "It's about putting guys on the field that they have to defend.

"I mean if we're going to have an advantageous matchup, we're going to put somebody in position that can take advantage of that matchup."

The Bulldogs and Razorbacks are two of the best running teams in the nation. Mississippi State ranks second in the SEC and 12th nationally with 273 yards per game, and Arkansas is fourth in the SEC and 16th in the nation with 259 yards per game.

While both teams would like to establish the run Saturday, they have proven they can take to the air.

Prescott is 16th in the country in pass efficiency, which calculates yards per pass attempt and factors in touchdowns and interceptions, with a 156.5 rating. Allen is 47th in that category with a rating of 140.5.

Prescott and Allen are tied for 32nd nationally with 15 touchdown passes each.

"[Allen] can really throw the football and is very, very efficient throwing the football," Mullen said. "You try to stop the run, because they're so physical and so strong running the ball, and they get some pretty good looks for him to take opportunities on-one-one down the field. Then they have the mismatches with really athletic tight ends."

Allen struck deep quickly last week, finding Drew Morgan down the left sideline for a 44-yard gain on the fourth snap to help back off the Blazers and give the junior quarterback more confidence.

"He's been making such a deal of that because everybody's on him about his deep balls," offensive coordinator Jim Chaney said. "I just keep telling him to relax. Since I've been here it's one of the best things he does is throw the deep ball. He threw a beautiful ball to Drew on that first pump play we called, and it was good to see him hit it."

Wideout Keon Hatcher and tight end AJ Derby lead the Razorbacks with three touchdown catches each. Hunter Henry and freshman Jared Cornelius have two touchdown catches apiece. Razorbacks with one touchdown catch, in addition to Williams, D'Appollonio and Sprinkle, are Cody Hollister, Morgan and Kendrick Edwards.

Kody Walker nearly joined the list before fumbling inside the 1 against Alabama.

Sports on 10/29/2014