OK, so now that I’ve gotten some lunch – and more importantly, some caffeine after a long night of writing – I’m back at the office and ready to talk some Arkansas scrimmage. In case you missed it, there was a lot to digest after the Razorbacks went 177 plays, according to Arkansas’ count.

  Quarterback Ryan Mallett didn’t have his best day. He overthrew several open receivers and missed on a few throws that would have turned into either big gains or touchdowns. Still, the sophomore finished 31-of-50 for 379 yards with three touchdowns and one interception.

  Mallett’s lone interception proved costly when defensive tackle Lavunce Askew caught it and returned it 59 yards for a touchdown. It was as if the ball just slipped out of Mallett’s hand.

  Tyler Wilson got into a rhythm at times and led the second-team offense downfield against the first-team defense. He finished 22-of-33 for 248 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Afterward, Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino criticized his first-team defense, saying that he thought the unit would dominate more than it did.

  Wide receiver Greg Childs continued to look strong, catching nine passes for 110 yards with one touchdown. The sophomore admitted afterward that he has picked up his game over the past week, and he appears to be on the verge of having a breakout year if things go as they have been lately.

  Fellow wide receiver Cartlon Salters also had a strong performance, making catches for 119 yards. He also caught a pass on a fourth down, leading Petrino to joke afterward that Salters is their fourth-down receiver. As you might remember, Salters had a big fourth-down catch against LSU last year that allowed Casey Dick to connect with London Crawford for the Miracle on Markham 2.

  We will soon have full scrimmage statistics posted on the blog. Bye for now. Oh, check me out on Twitter (@NWAAlex).

An interesting twist at Arkansas football practice. After spending all morning talking to players and coaches at the team’s media day, no one was available for comment after the three-hour workout.

And I’m not complaining.

We won’t have any new quotes to share, but there were still several things worth noting from the practice field this afternoon. So let’s roll through them:

• The Razorbacks lost one player in practice and it is believed to be offensive lineman Kareem Crowell. I say that because I never saw Crowell go down, but did see a lineman carted off the field. Crowell was on the field at the beginning of practice, but not there at the end. No word on what happened because players and coaches weren’t available for comment. But we’ll find out more on that tomorrow morning.

• Running back Knile Davis was still not on the field after being away for the first three practices because of his father’s death. Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino told us at media day he was expected Davis to be back sometime late this afternoon. So, chances are, we’ll see Davis on the field tomorrow.

• Receiver Carlton Salters had some flair for the dramatic this afternoon. Salters pulled in a pair of impressive, diving catches during team drills. Both of the throws came from Tyler Wilson and were practically in an identical spot on the practice field. Both were easily the catches of the day.

• I saw new punter Briton Forester taking a few field goal attempts today. Alex Tejada continued to handle field goals with the first team, but Forester and Cameron Bryan got their chances too. It as the first time I noticed Forester kicking the ball. He was 21 of 22 on extra points at Palomar College last year.

• Cornerback Isaac Madison picked off two passes (one from Wilson, one from Ryan Mallett) in the span of roughly five plays. It was a nice sequence for the junior, who Petrino has spoken highly of this summer. Madison continues to work with the first team defense opposite Ramon Broadway.

• Damario Ambrose got some reps with the first-team defense during team drills today, while starter Jake Bequette was standing on the sideline. Bequette looked dinged up. It didn’t look like anything serious, but was enough to keep Bequette out for a little while. We’ll let you know how he looks tomorrow morning.

That’s about it for tonight. Arkansas will be back on the field tomorrow morning at 9 a.m.

Just sat down in my seat here in War Memorial Stadium. And just got the wireless Internet to work. So here’s a look at the five keys to an Arkansas victory today:

1. Stop the Run: Bobby Petrino was clearly disappointed with his run defense in the opener. In fact, he admitted to having a higher opinion of the front four than he should have after Western Illinois gashed it for 157 yards. ULM only ran for 84 yards at Auburn, but running back Frank Goodin and company will be another test.

2. Eliminate Turnovers: The Razorbacks hurt themselves with three turnovers last week. Safety Elton Ford fumbled on the opening kickoff led to three WIU points. Receiver Carlton Salters also fumbled in the second half, wiping out a solid drive. The mistakes nearly led to an embarrassing loss. It could happen again if not elminated.

3. Start Strong: As mentioned, the fumble on the kickoff didn’t help. But the offense struggled to get in gear in the first quarter as well. Dropped balls, critical sacks and costly penalties all hindered the Razorbacks and helped built WIU’s confidence. The more Arkansas can accomplish in the early minutes tonight, the better off it should be down the stretch.

4. Be Wary of Lancaster: Arkansas couldn’t stop a power running game last week and it will face a different sort of challenge on the ground tonight. ULM’s Kinsmon Lancaster is a dual-threat quarterback who will use his feet to make plays. The Razorbacks must be wary of his ability to slip out of the pocket and pick up critical yards.

5. Improve on Special Teams: The Razorbacks had a woeful night on special teams in the opener. Turnovers, botched kickoffs and other costly miscues helped ULM win the field position battle and put pressure on the Hogs all night. Afterward, Petrino said Arkansas would re-evaluate and concentrate on its special teams. Will they improve?

Every week our newspaper prints the five keys to the game. I meant to post them on the blog late last week, too, but forgot. My bad. But with that said I want to try to look back at those keys every Sunday or Monday and see how Arkansas fared. So here we go:

1. Stay Balanced: Arkansas didn’t achieve that goal in the opener. Quarterback Casey Dick attempted 41 passes, was sacked four times and ran on two other plays. Arkansas’ running backs had 12 carries and receiver Joe Adams added another. Then there was the quarterback run that was called on Casey Dick’s second touchdown. So the breakdown is: 47 pass plays, 15 runs. That’s not balance.

2. Limit Careless Mistakes: The opening kickoff wasn’t a good start. Carlton Salters also lost a fumble in the second half. In all, the Razorbacks had three turnovers. Coach Bobby Petrino wasn’t happy with those mistakes after the game and said they must be eliminated. That kind of thing would’ve cost the Razorbacks a chance to win on most nights.

3. Protect Casey Dick: Arkansas’ quarterback was on the ground a lot in the first half. The Razorbacks gave up four sacks in 30 minutes. Offensive linemen were at fault for a couple of the sacks, but they weren’t alone. Running backs missed some blocks, too. And Dick held onto the ball too long on a couple sacks. The protection must improve with better defenses coming later this season.

4. Eliminate Big Plays: It wasn’t a great night defensively, but the Razorbacks did manage to eliminate most of the big gains. In fact, Western Illinois’ longest gain was a 20-yard pass play. So that was good news for the group. But there were some “big” plays that didn’t gain a bunch of yards. For example, running back Herb Donaldson rushed for 14 yards on third-and-14 in the fourth quarter to set up a first down inside Arkansas’ 10. That kind of “big play” has to be eliminated.

5. Keep Improving: Arkansas definitely did that. The game really couldn’t have started any worse with the fumble on the opening kickoff. The offense wasn’t in sync either, bumbling around for a couple of series. But the Razorbacks closed strong by scoring three touchdowns in the second half. The defense also buckled down late. In the end, the improvement helped the Hogs avoid disaster.

I just got home from practice, and after walking my dogs, I thought I’d provide some details from today’s practice.

Arkansas offensive coordinator Paul Petrino said freshman running back De’Anthony Curtis looked “good” in practice and has made progress over the past few days as far as coming back from a sprained knee. Petrino said there is a chance that Curtis could be available for Saturday’s season opener against Western Illinois. The highly touted freshman was listed as the No. 4 tailback on Arkansas’ depth chart, which was released Monday.

Petrino said freshman Jarius Wright was named a starting wide receiver because he has shown great effort in practice and has been consistent. However, Petrino said fellow freshman Joe Adams is right behind Wright, pushing him for the starting “Z” receiver job

At the same time, Petrino said there is still a competition between junior Lucas Miller and sophomore Carlton Salters for the starting “W” receiver spot. Petrino indicated that there are still a few days of practice left before the season opener, so the depth chart could get changed between now and Saturday.

That’s about some of the quick hitters, but there will be plenty more in tomorrow’s edition of The Morning News. Also, make sure to check out Robbie Neiswanger’s extensive package on the changes within Arkansas’ athletic department.