Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

Drops and fewer big plays than he wanted had Cobi Hamilton upset following the first major scrimmage of Arkansas’ preseason camp. Simply put, Hamilton was upset because he didn’t “dominate” the Aug. 11 practice.

There were no such troubles on Saturday as the Razorbacks held their final public scrimmage of preseason camp. Hamilton caught 11 passes for 165 yards and a pair of touchdowns, putting on a show for what Arkansas officials estimated as a crowd of 15,000.

“It was good,” Hamilton said. “I try to be as dominant as I can on the field.”

Hamilton reiterated the belief that his play will set the tone for the offense this season. His performance no doubt helped the first-team offense as it scored five touchdowns and did not turn the ball over against the first-team defense.

A 65-yard touchdown from Hamilton on the first team’s third series was the highlight of the evening. He hauled in the pass from quarterback Tyler Wilson and made three players miss on his way to the end zone.

“That’s what we expect from Cobi every night, every day,” Coach John L. smith said.

Hamilton had five catches of 10 or more yards, including a 21-yard touchdown that put him over 150 yards for the day. It was quite a difference from this time last week when Hamilton didn’t hold back in expressing his disappointment, calling himself out for mistakes and drops.

Wilson followed up a few days later, noting Hamilton wasn’t as good as he could be. Hamilton had five catches for 83 yards and a touchdown, but was more concerned with the plays he didn’t make as the offense struggled to find consistency.

All that seemed to motivate Hamilton. He appeared more focused throughout the week leading up to Saturday's scrimmage. He had a big Wednesday practice with multiple NFL scouts on hand and the strong performance continued through Saturday.

Wilson, who completed 22 of 37 passes for 252 yards with three touchdowns, appreciated the effort from Hamilton. Arkansas will need the 6-foot-3 senior receiver to play a big role this season.

“He came to play tonight,” Wilson said. “There’s a mentality you’ve got to get to; he was there tonight and he wanted to play.”

There were other notable performances beyond Hamilton's.