Arkansas Razorbacks cornerback Ryan Pulley wanted to put on a show in the Red-White game Saturday, his first time in front of fans since his injury in last year's season opener at War Memorial Stadium.
Pulley had a ball of fun -- maybe a little too much for his coach -- as one of the top players on a starting defense that allowed no points in a 27-25 victory for the White team.
The junior from Fort Myers, Fla. -- who suffered a torn pectoral muscle late in the first half of the Hogs' 49-7 victory over Florida A&M here Aug. 31 -- had two tackles and a game-high three pass breakups, but he thought he should have been credited for one more.
Pulley could not believe an official threw a flag against him on a deep pass to Jonathan Nance in the second quarter. Pulley had jumped up from what he thought was a breakup and an incomplete long throw from Cole Kelley and began animatedly signaling incomplete pass.
Then he turned around, saw the yellow flag on the turf, squatted down and pointed at the laundry like it was a foreign object. He then motioned to the video board as if asking for a booth replay.
"That flagged killed me," Pulley said. "I didn't think I did pass interference. I asked the ref at the end, and he told me what happened so I accepted it. It was cool."
Coach Chad Morris wasn't happy about the display.
"He came right off the field after that," Morris said. "That's not the way we do things. That's not going to be accepted."
Pulley said he would not have added the antics in a regular-season game.
"I just had to make the fans happy in my first game back, you know back in Little Rock," Pulley said. "This is the place I got hurt last year, so I just had to have fun. I was having fun out there."
Pettway shines
La'Michael Pettway held up his hands in celebration after taking a big hit from Micahh Smith after a 34-yard catch from Cole Kelley on the sideline as the fans cheered.
"I was just messing with the DBs," Pettway said. "It's all about competition."
Pettway, a junior from Nashville, had a game-high six catches for 91 yards.
"I mean, he's a beast," Kelley said. "I've said this before, when he wants to be great, he is. He's built really well, and he's a freak. He made some really good plays out there today."
Coach Chad Morris said he expects Pettway to make tough catches.
"That's why he's got a scholarship," Morris said. "He's got to make those plays now. That's it."
Injury report
Tight ends Jeremy Patton and Cheyenne O'Grady both suffered minor injuries that knocked them out of the game. O'Grady caught two touchdown passes before landing on his elbow and coming out.
Nickel back Derrick Munson rolled an ankle in Thursday's practice and was held out of the game.
Senior Jared Cornelius caught punts on non-live plays but was not involved in the tackling portion of the practice, nor were receivers Koilan Jackson and Kofi Boateng, who are recovering from knee surgeries.
Arm grab
Defensive end Jamario Bell provided one of the game's biggest and most controversial plays.
Bell beat his blocker around the left edge of the offense on the final play of the first half, stormed in on Ty Storey's blind side and grabbed the quarterback's arm just as he was about to pass.
Storey reached up to check on his throwing arm as Michael Taylor rambled 35 yards to the 3 with the fumble on what was originally called a touchdown.
Storey said his arm is fine.
"It scared me for just a little, not expecting I guess to get the arm tugged on," Storey said. "It's football. I'm sure it was just kind of a football play."
Coach Chad Morris didn't like the play.
"What we say is just stay away from them," Morris said. "Jamario needs to run by the guy. Don't reach out and touch. We don't want to take a chance on that."
Storey got into a brief exchange with end Gabe Richardson as the teams headed to the locker room.
"We were kind of discussing maybe we probably shouldn't do that and going back and forth a little bit," Storey said. "I talked to him just a minute ago, and we're completely fine. It was just kind of all for fun."
New kicker
Chris Lopez, a walk-on from Rogers, kicked field goals of 38 and 31 yards while Connor Limpert -- last season's kicker -- struggled.
Limpert, a junior who hit the game-winning 34-yard field goal at Ole Miss last season, sent the opening kickoff Saturday out of bounds and missed a 33-yard field goal wide right.
"Limpert's had a really good spring," Coach Chad Morris said. "But you've got a little weather condition on you, good, that's great. Give us more. Let's kick it between the sticks. That's why you're here. And he will. He's doing a good job. We'll keep pushing them and see how they respond."
Spring awards
The University of Arkansas, Fayetteville announced its spring award winners before kickoff.
The spring most valuable players were defensive back Ryder Lucas (special teams), guard Hjalte Froholdt (offense) and linebacker Dre Greenlaw (defense).
The most consistent offensive players were linemen Colton Jackson and Brian Wallace, quarterback Ty Storey, running backs Chase Hayden and Devwah Whaley, and receiver Jonathan Nance.
The most consistent defensive players were linemen Armon Watts, T.J. Smith and Randy Ramsey, linebacker De'Jon Harris, cornerback Ryan Pulley, and safety Santos Ramirez.
Walk-on warriors were defensive back Matt Berry, wide receiver Tyson Morris and linebacker Grant Morgan.
Spring game?
The conditions from Fayetteville down to Little Rock on Saturday included light rain, sleet and snow flurries, a tough break for the first spring game under Coach Chad Morris.
The weather at kickoff was 35 degrees with 11 mph wind. A very light run of snow flurries fell during the second quarter.
Anthem
The Razorbacks are typically in the locker room during the national anthem, but things were a little different Saturday.
Dre Greenlaw, Hjalte Froholdt, Randy Ramsey, T.J. Smith and a couple of other players were caught just short of the tunnel, but stopped and paid respects for the anthem.
Coin toss
Gov. Asa Hutchinson called the pregame coin toss. He was joined at the Razorbacks logo at midfield by Coach Chad Morris, senior receiver Jared Cornelius and Arkansas Athletic Director Hunter Yurachek.
Sports on 04/08/2018