Dick, passing game trying to get something going

No one would characterize Arkansas quarterback Casey Dick’s performance as good last week in the Razorbacks’ 34-15 victory over Tennessee-Chattanooga. Against a below-average team from the Football Championship Division, Dick completed 13 of 22 passes for 116 yards. He also threw one touchdown and an interception.

“Casey had a rough day,” Arkansas offensive coordinator David Lee said Tuesday. “He had about five guys open that he missed. With us throwing about 25 times a game, we can’t miss five times. So from that standpoint, he did not have the best outing. He made a couple poor decisions. He can do better than that.”

Despite the fact he never established a rhythm, Dick’s completion rate ticked up to 52.6 percent this season. Nevertheless, he has continued to have problems with his accuracy. Some of his throws have sailed wide of their intended targets and over the heads of his receivers.

With No. 22 Auburn and the Tigers’ 14th-ranked defense in the nation coming to town on Saturday, Dick understands he has to play better than he has. Arkansas’ pass offense is ranked 11th in the 12-team Southeastern Conference, averaging 169.2 yards per game.

“We’ve been doing some things to work on timing and the mechanics,” Dick said. “I need to be a little more accurate and do things like that.”

Lee said Dick’s struggles have coincided with the absence of a go-to receiver. Senior split end Marcus Monk, who made 50 receptions for 962 yards and 11 touchdowns in 2006, hasn’t played a snap this season after damaging cartilage in his right knee during a preseason workout. Other injuries have created a revolving door of receivers — none of whom have yet to build a strong rapport with Dick on the field.

“You always see a quarterback has a receiver that is his guy,” Lee said. “I don’t know
if Casey has his guy right now. It has been difficult. We lost [Monk], then we lost [Crosby] Tuck and Robert Johnson came on and we lost him for a while.

“Ben Cleveland is out. So, he’s had to search to find that guy to get a rhythm and a timing and that intangible relationship.”

Dick said a rapid transformation in the passing game won’t happen overnight. Instead, it’s a work in progress.

“We didn’t execute as well as we’d like last week,” Dick said. “We have to continue to
work on that and get better.”

OTHER NOTES

• Darren McFadden is wearing a protective guard around his ribs after bruising them against UTC.
• Joe Chaisson, a freshman quarterback, has been given the duty of impersonating Auburn’s Kodi Burns on the scout team. Burns, a freshman, is starter Brandon Cox’s Tim Tebow-like replacement and last year played just down the road at Fort Smith Northside. A dual threat, Burns has thrown for 123 yards and run for 116 more this season.
  “We’ll game plan for his plays,” Arkansas coach Houston Nutt said. “He has a different set of plays than Brandon and we will try to be familiar with them.”
• Wide receiver Marcus Monk’s right knee is improving, but he is unlikely to play against the Tigers.

Filed under: Arkansas Football by Rainer Sabin. Posted on: October 9, 2007 at 7:51 pm