FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas held its first scrimmage of the spring on Thursday with a portion of it open to the media.
The quarterbacks had the best day of any media viewing periods. They executed well with the receivers and tight ends on most occasions, but still missed some open receivers. The only interception of the open periods was redshirt freshman Landon Phipps intercepting a Jacolby Criswell pass that hit a receiver in the hands and then bounced in the air. The pass would have been a touchdown, but bounced out of the receivers hands into those of Phipps.
During the nine open periods to the media, the Hogs scrimmaged two of those. They did some 7-on-7 in another period.
Some of the highlights during the first scrimmage period.
* KJ Jefferson hit wide receiver Bryce Stephens for a 20-yard gain. He just missed tight end Tyrus Washington on the next play for what would have been a similar gain. Washington stretched out trying to catch it, but the pass was just slightly overthrown.
* Rashod Dubinion had a 28-yard run for a first down. AJ Green raced 62 yards for a touchdown. Green showed outstanding speed. Both he and Dubinion appear to be picking up right where they left off in the win over Kansas.
* Freshman quarterback Malachi Singleton found wide receiver Chris Harris, who is from Dumas, for a 28-yard first down. Singleton also had a nice eight-yard pass to freshman tight end Luke Hasz.
Not all was good news in the first scrimmage session, transfer wide receiver Tyrone Broden was injured and had to be helped off the field. He couldn’t put any weight on his knee or ankle.
* Rocket Sanders had a 10-yard run for a first down.
* Safety Jayden Johnson and true freshman cornerback Jaylon Braxton both had very good pass breakups.
* Jefferson hit Stephens for a 15-yard gain. One of the biggest plays was Jefferson passing to Andrew Armstrong who broke several tackles on his way to a 25-yard gain with much of that yardage coming after the catch.
* Cade Fortin found Stephens for a 15-yard gain.
* Criswell found Hasz for a 10-yard first down.
* Singleton and Harris just narrowly missed hooking up on a 50-yard touchdown. The ball was just slightly overthrown landing to the turf in the end zone.
7-on-7 Highlights
* Jefferson threw a 12-yard touchdown to Armstrong and one from same distance to Isaac TeSlaa.
* Fortin threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Hasz. He tossed a seven-yard touchdown pass to TeSlaa.
* Criswell threw a 12-yard touchdown to Marlon Crockett and one from same distance to Isaiah Sategna.
* Singleton hit Kamron Bibby for a 12-yard touchdown. He also found Kalil Girault for a seven-yard touchdown and Green from the same distance.
Looking Great
Two offensive linemen who were close to or at 380 pounds are now looking great body wise. Redshirt sophomore Devon Manuel is listed at 6-foot-9, 310-pounds. Redshirt freshman E’Marion Harris is 6-7, 297. Redshirt freshman Andrew Chamblee is 6-6, 303.
