Tight ends get in mix in big way

The offensive stars of Arkansas' scrimmage seemed to be the tight ends Friday.

Sophomore D. J. Williams, 6-2, 250, and junior Andrew Davie, 6-5, 226, had strong showings during a lengthy scrimmage at Reynolds Razorback Stadium. Williams caught 6 passes for 104 yards and 1 touchdown, while Davie caught 4 passes for 105 yards and 1 touchdown.

Davie had one of the highlight plays with a 63-yard catch-and-run from quarterback Alex Mortensen. Davie caught a quick out and ran up the sideline before Ramon Broadway pushed him out of bounds at the 7.

Williams and Davie caught 19 passes for 209 yards and 3 touchdowns last year.

"Not only myself but Andrew Davie is getting down the field a lot," said Williams, who played high school football at Central Arkansas Christian. "They're spreading out our offense by making our tight ends block and go down the field for deep balls. I think it's a great philosophy, and it's working out good." First-team quarterback Casey Dick worked mostly with Williams against the first-team defense. Dick completed 21 of 26 passes for 277 yards and 2 touchdowns. "The tight ends played real well today, got a couple of touchdowns," Dick said. "Andrew Davie had a long run there. They played well, caught some good balls, but we all have to get better together." The tight ends moved a lot before the snap, too. Several times both tight ends moved to the other side of the line, with one lining up as an HBack. "I say tight end, but you see us motion around," Williams said. "I do it, Davie does it. Tight end, H-Back, whatever you call it, who knows what kind of position it is ? It's a pretty good one to be."

Slippery fingers If the tight ends were the highlight, tailback Brandon Barnett was the lowlight. Barnett's five fumbles during the scrimmage clearly won't qualify for his "Best Of" tape. Barnett had a great opportunity to shine because of a prescrimmage injury to Michael Smith, but took the luster off his performance with his inability to hold onto the ball.

Barnett rushed 22 times for 84 yards and 3 touchdowns but lost 3 of his 5 fumbles.

Two of the fumbles were dropped pitches on sweeps that appeared to be catchable. Barnett recovered one himself, but the other was recovered by the defense.

Another fumble happened during an inside run and was recovered by lineman Ray Dominguez. Two plays later, Barnett fumbled again and it was scooped up by safety Dallas Washington, who probably would have returned it for a touchdown without the early whistle.

Barnett lost his fifth fumble, as well.

"You have your ups and downs," said Barnett, a junior from Texarkana. "This was just one of my bad days. Hopefully, I can recuperate and get better every day. Every time I come out I have to get better."

Barnett said the fumbles happened because of a lack of focus from trying to do too much on his runs. The fumble recovered by Washington came on a third-and-1 when Barnett made a nice bounce move to the outside but was stripped in the open field. Missing Razorbacks

The scrimmage was long, and so was the list of players who missed most or all of it.

Receiver London Crawford sustained a leg injury late in practice Thursday and spent Friday doing a light workout while his teammates practiced. Running back Michael Smith sustained an injury early Friday and carried one time for 5 yards in the scrimmage.

Cornerback Jerell Norton, running back Chip Gregory and receiver Crosby Tuck missed the scrimmage with injuries they picked up earlier in the spring. Linebacker Elston Forte was injured Thursday and sat out the scrimmage as well.

Second-team quarterback Ryan Mallett completed 5 of 12 passes for 63 yards before leaving the scrimmage after apparently hitting his hand on a helmet after a throw. Mallet was seen with his hand wrapped following the scrimmage, but the extent of the injury is unknown. Unofficial stats OFFENSE PASSING Casey Dick 21-36-1, 277 yards, 2 TDs; Ryan Mallett 5-12-0, 63 yards; Alex Mortensen 7-15-1, 166 yards, 1 TD; Nathan Dick 6-15-1, 66 yards 1 TD RECEIVING Williams 6-104, TD; Davie, 4-105, TD; Salters 7-87, TD; Miller 7-60; Coleman 3-63, TD; Fish, 1-36; Wade 4-36; Thompson 105; Barnett 3-11; Huckisson 1-12 RUSHING Barnett 22-84; Wilkins 15-61; Smith 1-5; Huckisson 9-23, 2 TDs; Williams 5-32; N. Dick 7-2, 2 TDs; Mortensen 1- (1-1 ); Mallett 2- (-10 ); C. Dick 1- (-5 ) DEFENSE

SACKS Robinson 4, Washington 1, Ambrose 1, Stumon 1, Bequette 1 INTERCEPTIONS Davis, Johnson, Glasper