Casey Dick was tucked all the way in the back, his head peeking out of the stall in which he sat. Five yards away from him, a pack of wide receivers were pulling off their pads. But Dick couldn't see them Saturday after he led Arkansas to its first victory of the year. A wall of lockers stood in his way.

During the No. 18 Razorbacks'46-26 victory over Troy on Saturday at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium, an even bigger barrier seemed to separate the Arkansas'junior quarterback and his wideouts. For much of the night, Dick looked to dump the ball to his stable of running backs - Darren McFadden, Felix Jones and Peyton Hillis. They accounted for eight of Dick's 11 completions. The wide receivers, meanwhile, were responsible for just two. Sophomore Reggie Fish made a 9-yard reception. Carlton Salters hauled in a 7-yard pass.

" It wasn't really designed to just go to the running backs the whole time, " said Arkansas sophomore split end London Crawford. " It just kind of fell like that. That's how it goes. "

On only five of his 20 pass attempts did Dick look for a wideout. Rarely did he throw the ball downfield. His longest completion of the night was an 18-yard swing pass to tailback McFadden.

McFadden, ironically, was responsible for throwing Arkansas' only touchdown pass of the game - a 42-yard strike to freshman split end Crosby Tuck.

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Dick, on the other hand, finished 11-of-20 passing with 108 yards through the air. His play seemed to be affected by the absence of Arkansas senior receiver Marcus Monk, who is recovering from two arthroscopic surgeries on his right knee.

" It didn't go the way I would have liked to in the first half, " Dick said. " But in the second half the rust got shaken off. "

By the end of the game, Dick's stat line had a lot of zeros in it. He didn't throw an interception. He didn't get sacked. But as Arkansas offensive coordinator David Lee pointed out, Dick struggled at times.

His inability to find his wide receivers " was just basically a lack of accuracy, " Lee said. " That was a first-game start. He was a little bit nervous. But he played better the second half. "

Lee was hired in January to beef up Arkansas' passing game, which was the 12 th least productive among the 119 teams that comprise the NCAA's Football Bowl Subdivision.

The Razorbacks averaged only 149. 5 yards through the air in 2006, relying on their superstar running backs, McFadden and Felix Jones, to move the ball. Under Arkansas coach Houston Nutt, the Razorbacks have historically had one of the best rushing attacks in the SEC and a subpar passing game to complement it.

Lee, who is in his third stint with the Razorbacks, pledged to restore some balance to Arkansas' offense by installing a Pro-Style scheme.

But on Saturday, the Razorbacks threw for only 157 yards, a slight improvement over the average output they produced last year through the air.

" Coaches went into the game with a heavy emphasis on run early, " Fish said. " And that's what we did. We ran a lot. Eventually, the pass opened up and we made some more passing plays down the stretch.

" We're working on our strength right now. If our strength is running, why not run ?"

Against Troy, Arkansas did. A lot. The Razorbacks rushed 50 times for 372 yards. The number of carries Arkansas had was more than double its 22 pass attempts.

" As long as you have Darren or Felix back there, you don't need to pass, " said Hillis, a fullback who happened to be Arkansas' leading receiver Saturday with six catches for 39 yards. " But the passing game could have been more effective. "

Lee, however, said Dick did everything he was asked to do. He didn't make any critical mistakes. And he did make the right reads on most plays.

" I'll take Casey's 150 yards with no interceptions every week, " Lee said. " I'll take that every week. I'd be thrilled to death. I want the guy who can drive the bus, keep us in the road, not turn it over, manage the clock, not let the 25-second clock run down and keep the tempo of the offense going. "

Arkansas coach Houston Nutt said Dick did just that. But as far as expanding the Razorbacks'passing offense to a point that it is not completely overshadowed by the running game, Nutt indicated that might take some time with Dick steering the ship.

" He didn't have any penalties, didn't have a delay, " Nutt said. " He did a great job with checks. He was accurate for the most part. He'll get better as we involve the wide receivers. There were some good spots, some not so good. We need to take it and build. "