FAYETTEVILLE -- Brandon Allen and the Arkansas passing game bounced back in a big way Saturday.
Allen threw four touchdown passes and led the first offense to eight touchdown plays in a 101-play scrimmage on a mostly overcast afternoon at Reynolds Razorback Stadium.
The scrimmage was closed to fans, but media members were allowed to watch.
Allen, working mostly against the second-team defense, rebounded from a mediocre first scrimmage last week against the starting defense. Allen completed 17 of 22 passes for 236 yards, with 4 touchdowns and 2 interceptions.
The return of senior wideout Keon Hatcher certainly helped. Hatcher had a team-high six catches for 111 yards, including an 18-yard touchdown grab from Allen.
"B.A. had a really good week," Coach Bret Bielema said. "I thought overall this past week has been really, really good with our wide receivers and tight ends on the routes."
The first unit relied heavily on its proven tight ends after giving the younger wideouts more of a look in the pass game in the first scrimmage. Junior Hunter Henry caught 3 passes for 51 yards, including a 17-yard touchdown, and Jeremy Sprinkle had 3 receptions for 40 yards, including an 18-yard score.
Bielema said he gave the team a little down time Friday to gear up for the scrimmage.
"I thought for the most part we did," Bielema said. "I would have liked to had a little more juice, but the bottom line is we're in for two and half weeks and I think our guys are tired of seeing their own color."
The defense scored first. Blitzing linebacker Dre Greenlaw upset the timing of a screen pass in the right flats, and Allen's throw bounced off the back of tackle Dan Skipper. Defensive end Jeremiah Ledbetter, who was in the area, alertly scooped the ball off Skipper's back and returned it 32 yards for a score.
The second defense made another play on the very next snap as Hatcher bobbled an Allen pass over the right side and safety Santos Ramirez grabbed the carom and returned the interception 12 yards.
Austin Allen completed 10 of 19 passes for 184 yards while working mostly against the No. 1 defense. He found Drew Morgan for an 18-yard scoring pass during red zone work and was intercepted by Kevin Richardson.
Austin Allen teamed with speed receiver Dominique Reed for the play of the day during the early situational work. Allen fired a go route to Reed on his fifth snap and Reed, who had gotten a couple of steps on cornerback Jared Collins, had to slow up, absorbed a bump from Collins and still made the catch for a 50-yard gain.
The Razorbacks appeared to avoid any major injuries, though tailback Kody Walker (shoulder) and center Mitch Smothers (ankle) both came off the field within the first five plays.
Walker returned and led the way with 10 carries for 72 yards. The 260-pound junior scored on a 4-yard toss during goal-line work. Smothers also was able to return.
The day's most serious injury appeared to be suffered by redshirt freshman tailback Tyler Colquitt, who stayed on the ground for a minute after being tackled by Scotty Thurman after a 13-yard gain. Bielema said Colquitt's injury might be a significant high ankle sprain.
Freshman tailback Rawleigh Williams had six carries for 40 yards and scored a 20-yard touchdown, where he used peripheral vision to make a cutback over the left side on the first play of a red-zone series.
"I wanted to see Kody work and really wanted to see the freshman, Rawleigh, run with the ones," Bielema said. "That was a big part of today's practice. He definitely has the talent, we just have to get him up to speed on everything else."
Ace tailback Alex Collins went through pre-practice drills but was held out of the scrimmage one week after starter Jonathan Williams was lost for the regular season with a foot injury.
Morgan, a junior from Greenwood, had another strong scrimmage, following up his 56-yard outing last week with 89 yards on six catches.
Greenlaw led the defense with 8 tackles, while Ramirez added 7 and first-team weakside linebacker Brooks Ellis added 6.
The Razorbacks worked several more periods after going through 94 live-tackling plays, but did not tackle to the ground again until a final seven-play segment for quarterback Rafe Peavey that was highlighted by his 7-yard pass to Will Gragg.
Brandon Allen led a 10-play sequence in the thud section -- where there is contact but no tackling -- late in the workout that concluded on Cole Hedlund's 32-yard field goal, his second short kick of the scrimmage. The series included Hatcher catches for 20 and 7 yards and an 8-yard run by Williams.
Sports on 08/23/2015