FAYETTEVILLE -- Another edition of the starters vs. the subs will take place today as the Arkansas Razorbacks conduct their annual Red-White game at noon at Reynolds Razorback Stadium.
The format for the spring finale will be the same one fourth-year Coach Bret Bielema has used each season at Arkansas. The starters on both sides of the ball will comprise the "Red" home team, and the backups will make up the "White" roster.
Red-White game
When Noon today
Where Reynolds Razorback Stadium, Fayetteville
Format Red (starters) vs. White (reserves)
Scoring Standard for Red, double points for White. There could be field goal sequences at the end of quarters.
TV SEC Network
Radio A dozen or so affiliates on the Razorback Sports Network will carry the broadcast, including KQSM 92.1-FM in Fayetteville. Check your local affiliates.
"Ones against the world is what I call it," Bielema said. "The red better win. If our ones don't win, we're in trouble."
Bielema said he'll enact new scoring rules -- double points for the Whites -- and will unveil what he hopes are crowd-pleasing moments.
"I've got a couple of tricks up my sleeve to give to the crowd if they want to have some old-school memories or flashbacks," he said. "We'll do that at the end of the first quarter and third quarter, and it should be fun for the fans and everybody else."
The Razorbacks conducted their third workout of the spring in helmets and shorts Friday to have fresh legs for today's showcase.
"We want to make sure we're fresh and ready to go on Saturday," defensive coordinator Robb Smith said Thursday. "Basically, our three keys this spring were we wanted to make sure we aligned correctly on every play, we want to continue to have our eyes and our progression the right way, and then we have to finish. We've got to play with fanatical effort. We've got to finish around the football, and we've got to tackle well. If we do those things, we'll chalk it up as a good day on Saturday."
Bielema said other schools use gimmicks like having coaches draft the two rosters or splitting up the players and coaching staffs in other ways. He's not in favor of that.
"I preach and preach how we work together is going to give us success or failure," he said. "I want our one O-line to work together with the one quarterback, one tight end, one wide receivers against the best possible defense I can provide them.
"I want my No. 1 D-line to work with my No. 1 linebackers, No. 1 DBs. It's the only way you can consistently get communication and all that stuff together."
If recent Red-White games are any indication, the starters should win in a landslide. The Red team took a 62-18 victory last spring, with Kody Walker rushing for 174 yards and 3 touchdowns and Brandon Allen passing for 230 yards and 3 touchdowns. The Red prevailed 61-22 in the 2014 game behind defensive touchdowns from Rohan Gaines and Darius Philon, and the Red won 34-27 in Bielema's first spring game in 2013.
The Arkansas offense was loaded with offensive stars last season, but aside from a cast of receivers and tight end Jeremy Sprinkle, the offense is undergoing big changes, including new starting quarterback Austin Allen. With Walker sidelined by a broken foot and Rawleigh Williams not doing live tackling, the top runners in full scrimmage work will be converted receiver Damon Mitchell, Denzell Evans and Juan Day.
The second offense, led by quarterbacks Rafe Peavey, Ty Storey and Ricky Town, will face a huge challenge from the starting front seven on defense, spearheaded by end Deatrich Wise Jr., tackle Jeremiah Ledbetter, and linebackers Brooks Ellis and Dre Greenlaw.
New defensive backs coach Paul Rhoads has tried to get his veteran group locked in on playing with fundamentals and would like to see more advances today, as well as no injuries.
"We need to come out healthy," Rhoads said. "We need to go into the summer ready to step into the next eight-week training phase and get the most out of that that we can.
"I always want the group to be fundamentally and technically sound on a spring game Saturday. They should be where they're supposed to be. They should be able to finish plays as they're there, if the ball comes their way and you always want to tackle well, of course."
Veterans such as Ellis, Wise, Ledbetter and others might get to rest during the second half as the coaching staff looks for depth at linebacker, the defensive front and other spots.
"On offense, I think you let most of them play a half, maybe three quarters and take them out of there," Bielema said. "We had a lot of really good players. We don't have as many elite ones as we did a year ago, at least in my mind. We'll probably let Rawleigh play in the spring game, we're just not going to tackle when he's in there."
Sports on 04/23/2016