Red-White game report

by Marty Cook

Posted on Sunday, April 27, 2008

URL: http://www.wholehogsports.com/adg/224036/

Spotlight shines on Broadway

Sophomore defensive back Ramon Broadway can’t complain about a lack of chances in Arkansas’ Red-White spring game.

Broadway was seemingly in on every play in the first half, which was good and bad for the sophomore from Shreveport Evangel Christian. Broadway, a second-team cornerback, finished the scrimmage with 14 tackles, including one tackle for loss and three passes broken up.

He had 12 tackles in the first half, seven in the first quarter. His best play came when he read a screen to tailback Michael Smith and broke up the play for a 1-yard loss.

“They were picking on me,” Broadway said. “London Crawford, my roommate, had told me they were going to try me. I’m trying to get in the rotation, so I had to step up and make some big plays.”

He missed a tackle on Smith on Smith’s 21-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. Smith broke through a big hole in the middle of the line and shook off Broadway a the 8.

On the Red team’s next drive, Broadway was beaten by receiver Crawford for a 4-yard touchdown pass on a fade route. Crawford made a one-handed catch in the corner, while Broadway complained briefly to a nearby official about offensive pass interference.

Broadway wasn’t concentrating on his bad plays, saying that comes with the territory as a college cornerback. He hopes the coaches focus on his positives, too.

“It’s a tough position to play,” Broadway said. “It doesn’t matter how many good plays I make, everyone is going to remember the bad ones.” Fumbles a concern

Tailback Michael Smith was an offensive star in the scrimmage, rushing 13 times for 157 yards and 1 touchdown.

His backups had a tougher time. Junior Brandon Barnett rushed 17 times for 89 yards and 4 touchdowns but fumbled inside the opponent’s 5-yard line.

Sophomore tailback Chip Gregory fumbled two times on his first three carries of the scrimmage.

The reserves can’t afford too many miscues if they want to see significant playing time. In addition to Smith, the Razorbacks have some highly touted freshman running backs reporting in the summer. Barnett fumbled five times in one nightmarish scrimmage earlier this spring. Gregory, trying to make the transition from linebacker to tailback, missed some time with a sprained ankle. Running backs coach Tim Horton said Barnett and Gregory also had some mistakes in pass protection. “The [fumbles ] are a big concern,” Horton said. “Chip hadn’t played very much or practiced very much. This is a performance-based business.” Defensive stars Defensive lineman Antwain Robinson had another standout scrimmage after recording four sacks earlier in the spring. Robinson, a senior from

1 Little Rock Central, had 1 / 2 sacks and recovered a fumbled snap by reserve quarterback Alex Mortensen. Malcolm Sheppard had 1 sack as the first-team defense 1 recorded 4 / 2 sacks in the game. The defense held the White offense to 55 yards rushing and 79 yards passing. Nathan Dick No. 2

Redshirt freshman quarterback Nathan Dick took the snaps with the second-team offense.

Earlier in the spring, Dick had been the fourth quarterback taking snaps in drills. Michigan transfer Ryan Mallett, who had taken second-team snaps, injured his throwing hand April 11 and missed the rest of spring practices.

Nathan Dick completed 2 of 4 passes for 50 yards. Junior Alex Mortensen was the third quarterback and completed 2 of 7 passes for 29 yards. Hooray for ex-Hogs

Some of the biggest cheers during the spring game came early in the first quarter when NFL Draft highlights were shown on the video board.

The crowd of 40, 200 erupted in cheers when former Arkansas stars Darren McFadden and Felix Jones were shown getting drafted by Oakland and Dallas, respectively.