FAYETTEVILLE — The Arkansas Razorbacks did not let an overcast day with a leaky gray sky dampen the enthusiasm of the first day of spring football Thursday.
The University of Arkansas got after it in shorts and helmets for two-plus hours inside the Walker Pavilion with a spirited practice filled with fresh position battles as it sprinkled rain outside.
“It was a lot of fun,” returning defensive end and captain Landon Jackson said. “Both sides I felt were flying around, going full speed, looking good.”
Junior transfer Taylen Green took reps with the first offense for the entirety of his work, the 6-6, 229-pounder looking the part and seeming to find his best connections with veteran receivers Andrew Armstrong, Tyrone Broden and Jaedon Wilson and tight end Luke Hasz.
Redshirt freshman Malachi Singleton operated at quarterback with the second group and conducted the most successful two-minute drill, hooking up with tight end Var’keyes Gumms on a 2-yard touchdown pass to cap the sequence.
Returning junior Jacolby Criswell ran the third offensive unit and he had his moments, particularly with a sharp performance in the early “fastball starts” segment of the workout.
True freshman quarterback KJ Jackson did not draw an assignment in fastballs, but the 6-3, 223-pound left-hander flashed his huge arm and agility to impress onlookers.
Armstrong said the Razorbacks did a good job of transferring their meeting sessions, walk-throughs and winter work onto the turf for the opening day of spring practice.
“Everything just feels smooth,” Armstrong said. “Everything feels right with the O-line, with the receivers, with the quarterbacks. It’s a battle with everybody.”
The quarterback position is sure to attract a focus throughout the 15 days of spring practices, right through summer and camp into the season-opener on Aug. 31 against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
“We’ve been throwing all winter break, like after workouts and before workouts, trying to get up there early and trying to get our timing right,” Armstrong said of the quarterbacks and receivers. “The battle right now, it’s going. I’m pretty sure by the end of spring they’ll probably have sort of an idea about it. But right now it’s all up in the air.”
Senior receiver Isaac TeSlaa might’ve made the best catch of the day, a deep-ball connection down the right side from Singleton during a team period with transfer cornerback Marquise Robinson draped all over him.
However, there were many standout catches. Green had a perfectly thrown deep ball down the left sideline descend into the arms of Broden with blanket coverage by a defensive back. The same combination hooked up moments later with Robinson in coverage, but the great catch went for naught as Broden was ruled out of bounds.
The first offense was stymied inside the 10-yard line in the two-minute drill, which began at the 32 with 38 seconds remaining, one timeout left and the offense needing a touchdown to win.
Senior safety Jayden Johnson broke up a Green pass for Hasz on first down and nearly intercepted it. Green then found Wilson over the right side for a solid gain, then the first unit completed another pass to get the ball to about the 6. On the final play of the sequence, Hasz caught a pass at the sideline short of the end zone going out of bounds and it appeared to be ruled incomplete.
With the second unit, Singleton threw deep for Gumms on the first snap and Kee’yon Stewart nearly picked it off. Singleton had an 8-yard scramble before being tagged by linebacker Alex Sanford, then Isaiah Sategna caught a 20-yard pass to the 8. Robinson made a powerful one-armed interception in the end zone on the next play while tangled up with Davion Dozier. The official on the spot flagged Robinson for interference, though the call could have gone either way. Gumms found space on a crossing route on the next snap and Singleton hit him for the 2-yard touchdown.
Bentonville High School product CJ Young had a 17-yard reception from Criswell to open the two-minute drill for the third-teamers. After a pass breakup by Jaden Allen, Criswell found running back Dominique Johnson on a check down for 8 yards to the 14.
Defensive end Kavion Henderson got loose on the next snap for a 10-yard “sack” on Criswell, setting up fourth down. Criswell threw down the left side, but Young could not hold on to the pass to end the sequence.