Recapping Arkansas' spring game

Arkansas coach Chad Morris watches quarterbacks warm up prior to the team's spring game Saturday, April 7, 2018, at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.

Chad Morris

-"We stayed healthy. When you can count (the players) up and they're still standing it's a good day."

-Morris said Arkansas will have another physical practice on Monday before wrapping up the spring on Wednesday.

-Offensively, the tempo was good, but not great. Morris thought the offense started slower but picked it up as the game progressed. "Progress is the goal. We saw some guys making some plays."

-The first player Morris mentioned was La'Michael Pettway. The Nashville native finished the day with a game-high 6 catches on 7 targets for 91 yards. He also mentioned Kam Curl, Ryan Pulley and Chevin Calloway. Arkansas' defense totaled nine pass breakups today.

-Morris said Arkansas ran around 109 plays. Everyone got in and was able to play except Derrick Munson. He got rolled up on Thursday.

-Morris said the defense played two fronts and two coverages. Randy Ramsey continued to show what he's done all spring long. It's a natural position for him on the edge. "He has a chance to be really special."

-Special teams has to improve. "We can't open the game kicking the ball out of bounds."

-Devwah Whaley did some good things. That's what he said he's seen from Whaley all spring.

-On the offensive line: Pass protection is an area the group has to get better at, but the quarterback has to help with that.

-D'Vone McClure has been a pleasant surprise as a walk-on. When he first approached Morris about walking on, Morris mentioned perhaps special teams, but feels McClure can be an asset on defense.

-Pettway definitely shined today. He's been good at times and inconsistent at times. "It's time for him to be a guy. I want to find guys who can make plays in games." The catch he made along the sideline and got popped by Smith "is why he's on scholarship."

-The offense was very generic and vanilla today. "We were very scaled back, by design." Morris wanted to see what they could do.

-Kam Curl had a real great break on the ball today in the end zone. Morris said he wasn't sure how many shots the offense took, but there were some balls the receivers should have brought in, too. Pulley and Calloway were right there to contest the ball quite a bit.

White 27, Red 25 - Final

Some final stats of note:

Passing

Cole Kelley 10-19, 126 yards, 1 TD

Ty Storey 7-4, 126 yards, 1 TD

Daulton Hyatt 2-2, 24 yards

Rushing

Devwah Whaley 8 carries, 62 yards

Maleek Williams 15 carries, 61 yards

Kendrick Jackson 12 carries, 43 yards

Chase Hayden 8 carries, 28 yards

Receiving

LaMichael Pettway 6 catches, 91 yards

Tyson Morris 4 catches, 58 yards

C.J. O'Grady 2 catches, 58 yards, 1 TD

Defense

Hayden Henry 8 tackles

Deion Malone 7 tackles

Jamario Bell 7 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 forced fumble

Ryan Pulley 2 tackles, 1/2 tackle for loss, 3 pass breakups

Randy Ramsey 3 tackles, 2 sacks

Kicking

Connor Limpert 0-1 (32)

Chris Lopez 2-2 (38, 31)

White 27, Red 22 - 7:51 left

Chris Lopez made his second field goal of the day, this one from 31 yards out, to extend the White team's lead. Maleek Williams had a solid drive at running back. Quarterback Jack Lindsey had a touchdown pass dropped by Mike Woods in the back corner of the end zone. Woods has had a pair of big drops today.

White 24, Red 21 - 4:24 third quarter

Daulton Hyatt led the White squad on a nice drive, capped by Maleek Williams' two-yard score. Hyatt made a couple of plays with his feet and also connected with tight end Grayson Gunter for 20 yards and a first down. He hit Tyson Morris for a short gain as well.

Red 20, White 17 - Half

Jamario Bell stripped Ty Storey on the final play of the half, and Michael Taylor scooped the ball and returned it just shy of the goalline. The play gives the defense seven points and a halftime lead.

Passing stats:

Kelley: 10-19, 126 yards, TD

Storey: 7-14, 126 yards, TD

Rushing stats:

Whaley: 8 carries, 62 yards, long of 17

M. Williams: 7 carries, 29 yards, long of 10

Hayden: 8 carries, 28 yards, long of 8

Receiving stats:

Pettway: 6 catches on 7 targets, 91 yards

O'Grady: 2 catches on 2 targets, 58 yards, 2 TD

Morris: 2 catches on 3 targets, 31 yards

Warren: 2 catches on 3 targets, 26 yards

Woods: 2 catches on 7 targets, 21 yards

Defense:

Jamario Bell: 6 tackles, 2 sacks, forced fumble

Ryan Pulley: 3 PBU

D'Vone McClure: 2 PBU

White 17, Red 13 - 1:57 left second quarter

Cole Kelley overthrew Mike Woods for what would have been an easy score. But he came back and fired a nice ball down the left sideline to La'Michael Pettway for 34 yards. Pettway was popped by Micahh Smith but held on. A couple of plays later, Kelley hit O'Grady for his second touchdown grab of the day.

Pettway and O'Grady have had solid days catching the ball. Together, they have eight catches on nine targets and both touchdowns. Pettway has six grabs for 91 yards.

Red 13, White 10 - 4:20 left second quarter

Kendrick Jackson was stopped short of the line to gain and the defense picked up another three points for a turnover on downs.

Later, Ryan Pulley broke up his third pass of the game. The offense should be happy the defense isn't credited a point for PBUs. Arkansas' secondary has seven on the day. Jamario Bell has five tackles to lead the defense.

In other news, snow flurries are falling.

White 10, Red 8 - 9:41 left second quarter

Kicker Chris Lopez knocked home a 38-yard field goal.

Red 8, White 7 - end first quarter

Cole Kelley hit Tyson Morris for a 19-yard gain on fourth down to keep the drive alive in the defense's territory. Kam Curl made a nice play anticipating a Kelley pass to record a pass breakup in the end zone. The Arkansas defensive backs have six PBUs to this point.

Connor Limpert then came out after the PBU and hooked a 32-yard field goal.

White 7, Red 5 - 4:52 left first quarter

Cole Kelley bounced back from a nine-yard sack to begin the drive and completed an 18-yard strike to Deon Stewart. Kelley then tripped and fell forward for a couple of yards and a first down on the next play.

The drive essentially stalled after freshman receiver Mike Woods dropped a pass far down the left sideline. TJ Hammonds then caught a pass out of the backfield and was held short of first-down yardage.

White 7, Red 4 - 7:39 left first quarter

Ty Storey hit tight end Cheyenne O'Grady in the flat on the first play of the series, and he turned it into a 53-yard score. O'Grady was wide open. La'Michael Pettway had a great block downfield to help set up the touchdown. Chad Morris has really liked Pettway's pass blocking this spring, and he certainly showcased it there.

Red 4, White 0 – 7:51 left first quarter

Devwah Whaley carried the ball three times for 25 yards on the first drive of the day. His best carry of the series was a 17-yard run straight up the middle for a first down.

Ty Storey was 0 of 2 passing on the drive. Ryan Pulley had great coverage on Jonathan Nance and recorded a PBU. I take it he didn't care much for Nance's 'Bomb Squad' comments from Thursday.

The Red team was credited with one point after Chase Hayden fell down behind the line of scrimmage and given three points for a 3-and-out on Cole Kelley's first run with the offense. The quarterbacks are a combined 0 of 3 passing to this point.

Pregame

It is a cold, damp and overcast day in Little Rock. Some sleet fell at the stadium as the team arrived a couple of hours ago. The bad weather is supposed to push out this afternoon and give way to some sunshine, but it is going to be cold and that is going to limit the attendance.

The format for today's scrimmage is offense vs. defense. Scoring is traditional for the offense, and the defense will get points for a number of objectives including defensive touchdowns, turnovers, three-and-outs and tackles for loss.

You'll see three different colored jerseys today. The quarterbacks are in the anthracite jerseys and the rest of the offense is in white. The defense is in red jerseys. All players are wearing red helmets.

Chad Morris awarded a long line of players for their consistent play throughout the spring. Ryder Lucas was named special teams MVP, Hjalte Froholdt was offensive MVP and Dre Greenlaw was named defensive MVP.