Arkansas quarterback Casey Dick's improvement during the spring has been chronicled, even applauded by his new, intensely-focused, tight-lipped coaches.

In the last two 100-plus-play spring scrimmages, the soon-to-be Razorbacks senior has completed 63. 3 percent of his passes, onward to more than 300 yards passing in each intrasquad scrimmage.

Dick admits that this spring has been the most exciting and confidence-boosting of his career. Yet, he still has a load to learn and improve on in Bobby Petrino's multi-faceted offense, his coaches say.

They expect perfection. They expect consistency. They expect leadership.

And, most of all, they're expecting you to think on your feet faster than you ever have on a football field before.

ADVERTISEMENT

" My job is to teach [the quarterbacks ] what Bob is thinking at all times, " quarterbacks coach Garrick McGee said. " I pretty much have a good understanding of what he's looking for and what he wants.... But to run this offense at quarterback, you've got to be excellent at lead- ing and you have to be an excellent thinker. You have to be ahead of what Bob is thinking, which is hard.

" Why is he calling this play ? What's he trying to tell me when he calls this play ?"

The Arkansas offense centered around the tailback and running game is now a thing of the past. For an offense to be successful through the air and on the ground, the quarterback must act precisely without hesitation.

" It's something totally different from anything they've ever been a part of, " McGee said.

Dick may have a heads up when adjusting to Petrino's Power Spread offense. The Allen, Texas native played primarily out of the shotgun in a Spread offense as a senior at Allen High and fared well in the system.

In his lone year as starter at the school, Dick completed 133 of 248 passes for 1, 942 yards and 14 touchdowns before falling to injury near the end of the season.

Petrino, however, doesn't think that small experience is going to help all that much in what McGee calls an " advanced" offense.

" I don't know if it's carried over any at all, " Petrino said. " We've kind of started from the ground up and just worked on what we've installed, his knowledge of our offense, our protections and what we see defensively. His experience carries over, as far as his ability to move in the pocket and feel the rush. I think that's helped a lot. "

Petrino is renowned for drastically improving offenses. The offensive-minded coach took a unit ranked 97 th in the nation at Louisville in 2003 and re-tooled it the next year with resounding success. As a result, the Cardinals exploded to a 488. 8 yards per game average, which was fifth nationally in total offense in 2004.

Now, he's trying to start from scratch and improve another quarterback in Fayetteville. Last Saturday, during the Hogs' third scrimmage of the spring, Petrino's work for improvement at the quarterback position was apparent.

" I think [Dick ] looked as in sync as he has all spring, " Petrino said. " His footwork was better, his timing. He understood coverages and distributed the ball. There were certain times when I thought we looked like, hey, we know what we're doing because the timing of the receiver, quarterback and protection were all in line together. It's going to be a continual process. "

Dick completed 26 of 39 passes for 309 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions in the team's latest scrimmage April 19.

Dick has not been an allstar under center at Arkansas, but he has steadily improved in his tenure. Last year, starting in every game for the first time in his career on a consistent basis, Dick completed 150 of 262 passes (57. 3 percent ) with 18 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

His old high school coach, Tom Westerberg, has watched the progressions from afar in Texas. Most of Dick's inconsistency in the last three years, he said, comes from Dick's constant insecurity.

" He's better any time he gets to play the whole game and he doesn't have to go in on fourth down against a team like LSU after [running back Darren ] McFadden has played quarterback for a few plays, " Westerberg said. " Then Casey has to go in and throw a pass to save the game. He had more pressure on him than any quarterback in the country to come in from the sideline and be expected to convert. He was in a tough situation, and I just didn't think that was fair from an offensive coordinator standpoint. "

Yet, fans grumbled. He can't hit the open man. He never hits a swing pass out of the backfield. He stares down receivers too long, fans said.

" From my standpoint, when you're only running a two-receiver route, you're going to stare down a receiver somewhere on the field, " Westerberg said of the offense ran under Houston Nutt at Arkansas. " He never really had a whole lot to work with on the different side of the field. I never saw that from the offense. "

As for insecurity at the position, last year was the third consecutive season for Dick to share snaps at the quarterback position.

In his freshman year, he came in for the last four games as a starter. His sophomore campaign was similar as he started the final five games for the Hogs after Springdale's blue-chipper, Mitch Mustain, was benched. Then, of course, was the " Wild Hog " formation with McFadden under center in the shotgun formation.

Dick won't make excuses, though.

" I'm not going to make any excuses because, basically, when your number is called, you're expected to go out there and make plays, " Dick said. " Back then, we had three or four [running ] backs that we had to feed. But I know that this year the offense will be exciting and fun to watch. "

McGee, like any new coach, has watched plenty of Dick's game tape. His notes, however, don't critique numbers or a performance. Technique was what McGee was looking for, he said.

" I try not to live in the past with anybody, " McGee said. " When you get a new coaching staff, you start fresh. We definitely don't want to live with what happened in the past. "

Today, McGee likes what he sees in the preliminary evaluation of Dick in an offense more structured than anything the quarterback has ever seen.

" There's still a whole lot going through our heads, but we got it narrowed down and we know what we're looking for protection-wise and routes-wise, " Dick said.

That bodes well, but this is just the beginning for Dick's course in the new offense, which marks the arrival of his fourth offensive coordinator in as many years.

" I really don't feel sorry for him, though, because I had five different offenses, " said McGee, who played at Arizona State, Northeastern Oklahoma A & M and Oklahoma. " It should force you to learn fast, so that could be to his advantage. He's used to change.

" I think he's a good athlete, which gives him a chance in this offense. The down side is that he's going to have to be more consistent. At this position, you can play 99 plays of perfect football and play the last play of the game as bad football and you're remembered by that last play. That's the position. That's what you sign up for when you want to be a quarterback and he's just got to learn that. "