FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas' Red team escaped with a 14-13 win over the White squad Saturday at Razorback Stadium.
Ryan Silverfield chose to divide the squad as evenly as possible and it provided a game that saw the decision go down to the end. Silverfield explained why he chose that format.
"Yeah, it’s one of those that as we went through it, even being smart like sometimes I didn’t call a sack and was OK, let’s extend the play a little bit," Silverfield said. "Then sometimes you may have had a third string right tackle going against :Quincy Rhodes. That’s all part of the element when you’re trying to rotate and we wanted to make sure everybody got some snaps. So it wasn’t saying trying to makeshift if to the best of our ability. But I was pleased. I thought there was good competition. You got to see certain guys step up and certain guys that need to continue to make strides in the right direction.
"But all in all, listen, it was a pretty competitive day. We weren’t sitting they’re saying — I know a lot of teams say OK you’re getting two points if you get past the 50 … We weren’t doing that. We just wanted to put the ball down and try to play some football. We’ve done a ton of situational stuff throughout the spring and to be honest with you, I was limiting on what we were showing. I wanted to show our fans a good glimpse of who we are and what we are. But I didn’t want to show our two-minute offense, didn’t want to sit there and do a bunch of two-point plays, backed up, because some of those things we’ll still have a chance to see throughout the season, I think it’s best that it stays within our program and not necessarily out there for public eyes."
His team was leading 7-0 when White quarterback AJ Hill had first down at his own 35. He opted to attempt a pass to wide receiver Chris Marshall, but Red cornerback Nsongbeh Ginyui picked it off and raced for a touchdown. Unofficially, Hill was 9 of 17 on the day for 95 yards and the one interception. He explained what happened on the interception.
"Yeah, it was intended for Chris," Hill said. "We got this one route concept. Basically, it's an option route. Just miscommunication. I saw one thing, he saw another, and they were playing a little bracket, man coverage deal. We just weren’t on the same page. We just weren't on the same page right there."
The White team did come back to complete a 50-yard drive that ended with running back Cam Settles powering in from the 7-yard line to pull his team to within 14-13. Settles topped all rushers unofficially with seven carries for 57 yards and the touchdown. The White squad opted to for a 2-point conversion to try and win the game. However the snap was botched and went over Settles' head. He had lined up to take the direct snap with Hill next to him.
"Ok, we were going to snap it to the running back – me," Settles said. "We were going to hand it off to Mr. AJ, and he was going to do his magic. But you know, things happen. I tried to make a play on it. Haven’t really practiced the arm like that, but we tried to make something out of something. But, yeah, that’s what was supposed to happen; get the ball, snap it, hand it off to AJ and let him do something with it.”
Settles played some as a true freshman last season. He talked about his progress since last season.
"It’s just about growing maturity at this point of my life right now," Settles said. "Sophomore season, it’s just about building the mental. The running back room right now, you’ve got Sutt (Sutton Smith), a veteran, who’s also played in this offense before. And he doesn’t have a problem explaining to us how it’s supposed to be. He just has that edge to him that lets us know he’s not selfish at all. And then Coach YAC (David Johnson), as well. He keeps it very simple on us. He keeps it very simple. We know our job. We know the O-line’s job, as well, but he keeps it very simple where we don’t have to focus too much on anything else but our job. He really just builds that character for me and maturity.”
The Red team energized by Ginyui's pick-6, took a 14-7 lead when KJ Jackson threw a 65-yard touchdown strike to wide receiver CJ Brown. Unofficially on the day. Jackson was 9 of 13 for 129 yards and the touchdown. Brown had three receptions for 83 yards and the touchdown. Jackson described what happened on the play.
"That's a play that me and CJ have been running since we stepped on the college together," Jackson said. "It's funny, we were on the sideline, and we needed a play. We needed a big play. We hadn't had one all game. CJ stepped up and played a big role. He switched positions. He was in the slot today. So he did a really good job, and that, it's a big touch of his understanding of the offense because he played the A in the slot the first time all spring today. And he made plays for us. But he's a playmaker. So get him in space and just get the ball to him in space and see if he can run and score a touchdown for us."
The White squad took a 7-0 lead early when Hill completed a 12-play, 75-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run.
The Razorbacks will open the season on Saturday, Sept. 5, hosting North Alabama at Razorback Stadium.
