Razorbacks Watch

FIRST DOWN Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino has named his starting quarterback, but the bigger question is whether sophomore Ryan Mallett will play the entire game or be replaced for a series or two in the second quarter.

Petrino said in the spring that he’s considering a plan to shake things up by having redshirt freshman Tyler Wilson replace Mallett on the first series of the second quarter.

Petrino reaffirmed Thursday that Mallett will start the Sept. 5 season opener against Missouri State, but he left open the possibility of Wilson taking a few snaps at some point in the game.

“Ryan’s the starter. He’s going to start the game for us. Tyler’s a good quarterback and I certainly want to get him into the game,” Petrino said. “I haven’t made a decision yet whether that will be the first series of the second quarter or not. It’s something that we have spent a lot of time talking about.”

Petrino said he has confidence in Wilson to run the offense, and the Greenwood native has shown in practice that he can be an accurate passer.

Mallett, meanwhile, sounded open to the idea of Wilson replacing him for a few plays during a game. As Mallett sees it, switching quarterbacks would make things tough on defensive coordinators.

“That means the defense on the other team is going to have to prepare for two different kinds of players,” Mallett said. “When they’ve got to do that, it’s going to leave maybe a couple of open gaps here and there, busted plays (and) stuff like that.”



TWO-MINUTE DRILL

• Arkansas will hold a final scrimmage tonight inside Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville. The closed scrimmage has been called a “mock game,” and it will play a big role in determining Arkansas’ depth chart for next week’s season opener against Missouri State.

“(Friday) night, I guess, is the last rehearsal, the last chance to move up in the depth chart for the first game,” Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino said.

• Arkansas wide receiver London Crawford continued to show that he’s recovering from the leg injury that caused him to miss much of last week’s practices. The senior said his teammates encouraged him while he was struggling with the injury.

“Those guys, they kept me focused, kept pushing me, telling me it’s going to be all right,” Crawford said. “Just sit aside, get healed and come back strong. That’s what I’ve been doing.”

• Petrino said his team spent half of this week’s practices preparing for Missouri State and the other half continuing to work on finalizing the depth chart.



INSIDE SCOOP

Arkansas wide receiver Joe Adams often stands out in practice because of his ability to make defenders miss with his combination of speed and fancy moves.

It’s also easy to tell when he’s not at practice.

While fellow wide receiver London Crawford has returned to practice, Adams has missed the past two days because of a hamstring injury.

“Joe has a little tweak in his hamstring, nothing serious. We decided to keep him in and rehab,” Petrino said. “But he’ll be fine. He’ll be 100 percent ready to practice next week.”

Adams, who’s expected to be a big part of Arkansas’ passing game this season, caught three passes for 90 yards unofficially in the team’s final full preseason scrimmage. Petrino joked Thursday the sophomore has been “on a little vacation” over the past few days.

But Petrino didn’t sound concerned that the hamstring injury would keep Adams out of the season opener against Missouri State.

Said Petrino: “He’ll be back full-speed ready to practice next week.”