FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema commended the Razorbacks' defense Saturday for turning in an outstanding spring performance.
"What goes well on one side of the ball usually is because the other side isn't, and you have to take that into account a little bit," Bielema said after the White team's 39-21 victory over the Red at Reynolds Razorback Stadium. "Our defense all spring I thought has played extremely well. We have tackled efficiently and done a lot of really good things day in and day out, which tells me it's not a fluke.
"They're trained, they're coached, they're responding and doing a lot of really good things, and I think you saw that, particularly in the first half."
The defensive starters accounted for five sacks and did not permit a touchdown to the Red team.
Hit and miss
There was good news and bad news on the place-kicking front.
The good news?
Adam McFain hit a 51-yard field goal and Cole Hedlund hit from 48 yards.
The bad news?
Hedlund, last year's kicker who had missed only one field goal in team drills all spring, was 6 of 10 on Saturday, with misses from 42, 43, 48 and 48 yards.
McFain, the kicker in the latter half of 2014, was 3 of 5, including misses from 33 and 53 yards.
Lane Saling also was 3 of 5, with a long of 38 and misses from 38 and 43 yards.
Several misses came during a shootout kicking competition after the first quarter.
"I went over there and lit them up a little bit, and they responded 100 percent after that," Coach Bret Bielema said.
What did Bielema say to the kickers?
"I don't think you can print it," Bielema said. "Just a little motivation that if we don't perform better, we'll just go for it on every fourth down. A PG version."
Beating the Vols
Bret Bielema promised fans a bit of nostalgia between the third and fourth quarters Saturday, and former Razorbacks Clint Stoerner and Anthony Lucas delivered.
Donning their old jerseys -- No. 14 for Stoerner and No. 80 for Lucas -- they re-created their memorable play when Stoerner hit Lucas with a 23-yard touchdown pass on a double-post route with 3:44 left to lift Arkansas to a 28-24 victory over No. 3 Tennessee on Nov. 14, 1999.
Stoerner showed he still has a pretty good arm, and Lucas hauled in the pass in the same south end zone that he did to beat the Vols 17 years ago.
"You never lose the arm strength; it's the knees and legs that go first," Stoerner said.
Stoerner served as analyst for the SEC Network's telecast of the game, so he threw the touchdown pass with a jersey pulled over his dress shirt and tie while wearing pants and dress shoes along with sunglasses.
"You don't ask any questions, you just go do it," Stoerner said. "It was fun, and I was thankful to be a part of it."
Stoerner huddled up the Razorbacks before the play.
"I actually called the play in their verbiage," Stoerner said. "That was pretty cool."
In the 1999 game, Stoerner hit Lucas in the end zone. Saturday, Lucas caught the ball in front of the goal line.
"If I'd put it in the end zone, Anthony might have run into a goal post," Stoerner said. "I was trying to keep him from being injured.
"We didn't get a chance to practice the play, but I had no doubt he was going to catch the ball. He still has great hands."
Let's do it again
Hunter Henry was presented with the Mackey Award as the nation's top tight end Dec. 10 during the Home Depot Awards Show in Atlanta, but he got an encore Saturday at midfield after the first quarter.
Jerry Mackey Sr., the nephew of NFL Hall of Fame tight end John Mackey, for whom the award is named, traveled from his home in New York to Fayetteville to again make a presentation to Henry.
"We wanted to do something a little bit different this year and let the fans be a part of his celebration," Mackey said.
After the presentation, Henry led the fans in a Hog Call with Mackey joining in.
Former Razorback D.J. Williams, who won the Mackey Award in 2010, also was on the field for Henry's presentation.
Henry entered the NFL Draft after a junior season in which he had 51 catches for 739 yards and 3 touchdowns. He's expected to be a late first-round or early second-round pick.
"I think the sky's the limit for him," Mackey said. "He's a tremendous person and a tremendous player. His family is great.
"I'm expecting him to do some great things, not just on the field but off the field."
Arkansas senior tight end Jeremy Sprinkle figures to be high on the Mackey Award watch list for 2016 after he had 27 catches for 389 yards and 6 touchdowns last season.
"Ever since I got to Fayetteville, everybody's been talking about Sprinkle, so he's already got a big buzz," Mackey said. "Good luck to him, and hopefully he'll do well this season."
Rogers works with 1s
Sophomore Zach Rogers worked at first-team right guard Saturday in place of Brian Wallace, who was sidelined by a foot injury.
The rest of the starting offensive line included tackles Dan Skipper and Colton Jackson, center Frank Ragnow and guard Hjalte Froholdt.
The second-team offensive line had tackles Johnny Gibson and Jalen Merrick, guards Deion Malone and Cooper Sone, and center Jackson Hannah.
Ex-Hogs
A large number of former Razorbacks attended the game, and many of them milled around in the northwest corner of the field. Among the former players spotted on the sideline: Chris Gragg, Trey Flowers, D.J. Williams, Ryan Mallett, Brandon Allen, Sebastian Tretola, Jonathan Williams, Ronnie Wingo, Rohan Gaines, Mitchell Loewen and Davyon McKinney. Many former players were honored at halftime.
Held out
Players who didn't dress out for the game were Kody Walker, Tevin Beanum, Josh Williams, Brian Wallace, Ke'Tyrus Marks, Jack Kraus and Luke Rossi.
Return guys
Redshirt freshman Deon Stewart and junior Drew Morgan fielded punts in the second half and may compete for the No. 1 punt returner job in the fall, along with receiver Jared Cornelius and cornerback D.J. Dean, who both returned punts last season.
Sports on 04/24/2016