On a day when the defense didn’t show the intensity of last Saturday’s scrimmage, they actually were responsible for the first score.  Defensive tackle Lavunce Askew (6-3, 290) rumbled 59 yards for a TD after catching the ball in mid-air when it slipped out of the hand of Ryan Mallett.

Overall, Mallett really didn’t have one of his better days.  (Although his scrimmage stats were still huge…31 of 51 for 380 yards.)

It’s obvious that the coaches are doing a balancing act right now with Mallett:  pushing him to improve his “total package,” while also determining what he does best so they can adjust their game planning appropriately.

Tyler Wilson showed again today that, in the shotgun, he can pick a defense apart.  But unfortunately, he seems to have gotten worse under center (if that’s possible) since camp started.  Today it wasn’t necessarily fumbled snaps, but a slowness in receiving the snap.

It’s like Wilson is telling himself at the snap: “Okay…I’ve got the ball…now I can run the play.”  And while we suppose that’s progress over fumbling, that slight hesitation can throw off the timing of a play and make for sloppy execution.

Freshman running back Ronnie Wingo, Jr. continues to look more comfortable running the football.  He is fast, elusive and starting to learn when to pick his holes and when to turn on the jets.  Based on what we’ve seen out of Wingo so far, we’re moving him up on our depth chart.

Of all the plays ran today, we did note an interesting one.  On a third down and short yardage, tailback De’Anthony Curtis was inserted at fullback and, after a play-action fake, dropped into the flat for a 32-yard TD catch.  Nice.

Overall, the offensive line is looking solid.  But the block of the day was made by…Ryan Mallett?  On a sweep play to the left, running back Dennis Johnson reversed his field back to the right.  Mallett was just standing there and then, well, he sort of…uh…JACKED UP unsuspecting defensive end Chris Berezansky.  Kind of unfair when the defense isn’t allowed to sack the quarterback, huh?

Receiver Carlton Salters had a great day today, catching nearly everything thrown his way.  Salters appears to be the early season possession receiver the Hogs will need while Lucas Miller heals from surgery on a broken collarbone.

The secondary didn’t have their best day as a group today.  But one thing is for sure…the defensive backs should be getting enough pressure from this offense to be ready for the passing teams the Hogs will face this year.

As for special teams, there was more emphasis today on ‘game situations’ with kickoffs and punts executed full speed.  Joe Adams sparkled for an 85-yard punt return TD after a poor line drive punt by Briton Forester.  It also appeared that several backup players were given a chance to step up and earn a spot on both the kicking and return teams.

After today’s 170+ play, 3+ hour scrimmage, Bobby Petrino joked (well…we think it was a joke) that he still wanted to go “a few more series.”  The man is downright relentless.

But we love the organization and attention to detail this staff displays.  There is no doubt they will have this team ready to play in two weeks.

HogBaller and TipsterHog also contributed to this post.

Casey Dick ended his career with a heroic touchdown pass to London Crawford…and as the third all-time leading Razorback in completions, attempts, yards, and touchdown passes.

On the ground, I loved the way that Dennis Johnson brought the ‘will to win‘ into the game.  His 127 yards rushing was not only a testament to him, but to the entire offensive front.

And whenever questioned about different players stepping up like Carlton Salters, I loved that Bobby Petrino said, “He’s a guy that we have a lot of confidence in.”  That’s exactly what all these players (especially the younger ones) needed from their coach.

And in the finest (or perhaps only) second half performance all season by the Razorback defense, LSU managed only 19 yards on their last six possessions of the game.

The Hogs had nine players with four or more tackles.  Malcolm Sheppard, Jerico Nelson and seniors Cord Gray and Walner Leandre came up big on the refurbished (yet again) defensive line.  Maybe Robinson and Mitchell should have been banished earlier.

But admit it…when the Hogs got the ball on their 31 yard line with 2:14 showing on the clock, you thought we had an outside chance to win, didn’t you?  The progress made this year is illustrated by the fact that not only did we actually run a two-minute drill, but that we scored on it to win the game.

For the season, eight games were decided by less than 10 points — the Hogs lost four of those.  The inability to play with any consistency, along with consistently losing the special teams battle, doomed the young (very young) Hogs to a losing record.

While this year will not go down as one for the ages, it will be remembered as the year that the battleship that has been Arkansas football began to turn in a different direction.  The focus has been changed from feeling limited in what we can do…to becoming confident in what we want to do.

This year was about starting over.  Next year the true journey will begin.