Red Wolves close out the Spring with a QB competition

One is a true freshman who who Butch Jones says “should still be in high school. The other is a highly touted recruit entering his second year. One is a 6’0″ scrambler. The other is a 6’2” lefty pocket passer. Both Jaylen Raynor and Jaxon Dailey showed off their strengths at Saturday’s Spring Game, highlighted by the return of Corey Rucker and big plays from Jeff Foreman.

The format was as straightforward as it gets – a full-sized game with the first team offense and the second team defense (Black) taking on the second team offense and the first team defense (Red). What did we learn? Mostly, we learned that Spring football has come to an end. Spring Games rarely tell you much. But I have observations.

Both Dailey and Raynor looked a little jittery to start the contest, but both began to discover their strides as the game progressed. Raynor passed for 333 yards and a TD. Dailey threw for 240 yards and two touchdowns.
Jeff Foreman was in Fall form, collecting 138 yards and two touchdowns, including a #nice 69-yarder that broke dozens of defenders’ ankles.
Corey Rucker was not only back, he looks bigger, and he gained 73 yards.
We heard that the offensive line was “big,” and yeah, it’s a big unit.
Ja’Quez Cross and UT-Martin transfer Zak Wallace were the leading rushers, each collecting 62 yards. But Cross had the touchdown. Oh yeah, and he averaged 8.1 per carry.
Everybody always asks about the crowd and the crowd wasn’t bad. Was it the 10,000 Butch Jones wanted? Nope. But it was good.
New head basketball coach Bryan Hodgson was in attendance, and he took the mic to challenge razorback head coach Eric Musselman to a match.