UA plans another long day

FAYETTEVILLE — If you plan to watch all of Arkansas’ scrimmage today, allow more than two hours, just to be on the safe side.

The Razorbacks went a little longer than two hours and 164 plays in their scrimmage last Friday.

Offensive coordinator Paul Petrino said today’s scrimmage, which is set to begin at 10: 30 a. m., might go longer than last week’s session.

“[The coaches ] said to get ready for a good, long scrimmage, so that’s what we’re going to do,” senior guard Mitch Petrus said. “We just need to get some things covered. We’re looking to get better.”

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Arkansas Coach Bobby Petrino is expecting improvement, too.

“We want to see our assignment errors go down and our effort and second effort go up,” Petrino said.

Razorbacks defensive coordinator Willy Robinson said he’s looking for more consistency.

“Our effort is getting better, but it’s still not where we want it to be,” Robinson said. “Our consistency starts with our alignments, in our techniques, all the things that you hear every day from everybody else. But it’s really got to improve for us.”

Paul Petrino said he’s looking for the Razorbacks to be moving faster and quicker on offense as they continue to refine what they’ve worked on in practice.

“I think we are improving every day,” Paul Petrino said. “[Today ] will be a big day for the depth chart, [to ] see where we are going into the next week for the spring game.”

Senior linebacker Elston Forte missed last Friday’s scrimmage because of a mild concussion but returned to practice this week. “It was tough [missing last week’s scrimmage ],” Forte said. “I know it was long, but you still want to be out there with your teammates. For them to be going through that and me be on the sideline, it ate me up.” Forte said he’s excited to be able to scrimmage today. “I’ll be ready,” he said. “We know it’s going to be another long one, but we’re looking forward to it.”

Glasper who ? Visitors at the Razorbacks’ practice fields have come away talking about No. 13 in white, worn by walk-on cornerback Darrell Glasper. The sophomore from Baton Rouge might be battling Reggie Fish for smallest player on the team honors at his listed size of 5-8, 180 pounds, but he’s fast, he closes well and has strong ball skills. A former walk-on at LSU, Glasper transferred and sat out at Arkansas last year. “I didn’t really like it in Baton Rouge,” he said. “I saw the depth chart up here, and I wanted to come make a difference because I thought I could play on this level.” With first-team cornerback Jamar Love resting a bruised quad muscle Friday, Glasper saw his first reps with the starting unit. “Darrell is continuing to get better,” cornerbacks coach Lorenzo Ward said. “He does a lot of great things to be a small guy. He plays like a big man. I’ve been impressed with him so far.”

Outland man It was no surprise Friday when Arkansas center Jonathan Luigs was named to the Outland Trophy watch list. In fact, the bigger story would have been if the senior Luigs, last year’s winner of the Rimington Trophy as the nation’s best center, hadn’t made the 70-man watch list. Luigs is one of only two players on the list, joining West Virginia offensive tackle Ryan Stanchek, who were selected as All-Americans by the Football Writers Association of America last season.

Also the Outland Award watch list are LSU center Brett Helms, a senior from Stuttgart, and Arkansas State offensive tackle Matt Mandich. Worth noting Senior Jose Valdez has been elevated back to the first unit at an offensive tackle spot, regaining the position from Michael Aguirre. The Razorbacks worked in shoulder pads and shorts for a slightly shorter amount of time Friday in anticipation of today’s scrimmage. College football coaches from the National Polytechnic Institute in Mexico City have been observing Arkansas’ practices this week. Show him Love Defensive coordinator Willy Robinson said it’s been a good week of practice for sophomore backup linebacker Jermaine Love. “He’s a guy that has great tenacity, a tremendous motor, and things are starting to connect for him,” Robinson said. “One thing he brings to the table is his ability to strike, and we’ve seen that this week.”

Wading in Sophomore wide receiver Marques Wade got some praise from offensive coordinator Paul Petrino after Friday’s practice. “I’m excited about him. He’s a great kid and gives you all he has,” Petrino said. “His team didn’t throw the ball much in high school, and he hasn’t had that much work. “ He has a chance to be pretty good. He’s got a nice long stride. It’s just that because he hasn’t played that much some things don’t come easy for him. He needs to have a great summer and work hard on his own.”