Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

Scrimmages in recent years at Arkansas have typically been nothing more than a showcase for the offense. At times the workouts have looked more like glorified pass skeleton drills with the Razorbacks moving up and down the field with the defense offering little resistance.

There was resistance Saturday.

Defense emerged as the overall winner of the first full-scale scrimmage of fall camp, a 162-play outing at Razorback Stadium. It controlled long stretches of play, racking up 25 tackles for loss, 12 sacks and a pair of interceptions.

Perhaps more impressive than the statistics were a combined seven consecutive possession in which the first- and second-team offenses failed to score. It was a victory for a unit that has often been seen as responsible for losses over the past two seasons as the Razorbacks went a combined 21-5.

“We came out knowing that everybody in the stands, all the fans was looking for the offense to just beat on the defense. It happens every year,” defensive end Trey Flowers said. “We had a little chip on our shoulder like we had to come out here and make a statement.”

If the defense wanted to get people’s attention, the Razorbacks on that side of the ball succeeded. They often accomplished their pre-scrimmage goals of wanting to stop the run and get to the quarterback. Getting pressure up front allowed the team’s defensive backs better opportunities to cover and linebacker Otha Peters was able to come up with an interception of quarterback Tyler Wilson. Cornerback Kaelon Kellybrew intercepted second-string quarterback Brandon Allen.

Dropped passes didn’t help the offense’s cause, but mistakes were often the result of the defense making plays and closely covering receivers. When the offense opened the scrimmage with scores on two of the first three drives, it appeared the usual blowout was underway.

Then came a stretch where — to borrow a phrase from Flowers — the defense "semi-dominated."

Arkansas had a stalled drive with Wilson at quarterback. Then came Peters' interception, one that likely would have been a touchdown in a game situation. Wilson and the first team went three-and-out on the next possession, followed by four drives that yielded nothing with Allen and the second team on the field.

“They brought it,” tight end Chris Gragg said. “In these scrimmages usually we get after them. And I think they came out with that mindset today that they were going to get after us and they came out early.”

Even more impressive was the fact the defense was without three players who entered the preseason as starters. Safety Eric Bennett and linebackers Tenarius Wright and Alonzo Highsmith did not participate as they continue to heal from ailments suffered early in camp.

Arkansas is again expected to have one of the SEC’s most productive offenses. It’s been the norm the previous three years and should continue in 2012 despite the way the defense performed on Saturday.