Trick Play Flop and Botched Snap Define Razorbacks Red-White Game

Cam Settles nearly won the spring game on a trick play that went sideways before it ever got started.

Arkansas Razorbacks running back Cam Settles attempts a pass for a 2-point conversion on the last play of the Red-White Game. | Ted McClenning-allHOGS Images

When somebody other than the Arkansas quarterback throws the ball, fans love it, but it doesn't pay off nearly as often as people think.

It's not really new at any level. Tom Landry used to have his "exotics" with the Dallas Cowboys that was his way to refer to those special plays. As the Cowboys' record slid downhill in the 1980's they were blowing up more than they were working.

Fayetteville got its first look at Ryan Silverfield's Razorbacks on Saturday afternoon when the Red and White squads met in the annual spring game inside Razorback Stadium.

The final score — Red 14, White 13 — was tight enough to keep fans engaged until the very last snap.

But that last snap? It's going to be talked about in barber shops and on sports radio across the state for a while.

The ending had everything. A running back lined up for a direct snap. A quarterback waiting to take a handoff and score the two-point conversion. A crowd leaning forward.

Then the ball sailed high and the whole thing fell apart before it ever had a chance.

That's trick-play football in a nutshell.

Before we get to that finish, though, let's back up and give this spring game the full treatment it deserves.

The Hogs played two 15-minute quarters and then each offense got one final drive starting from midfield to close things out. No live special teams.

It was a controlled environment built for evaluation, but the football was real enough.

The White jumped out first behind quarterback AJ Hill, who put together a patient drive featuring running back Braylen Russell on the ground and a 17-yard catch by Chris Marshall on a bubble route.

Hill finished it himself on a quarterback keeper to make it 7-0. It was a clean, well-paced drive that showed good rhythm between Hill and his playmakers.

The Red answered — but it wasn't their quarterback who provided the turning point. Sophomore cornerback Nsongbeh Ginyui stepped in front of a Hill pass and returned it for a pick-six.

Just like that, the game was tied at 7-7. Defensive touchdowns have a way of doing that.

Arkansas Razorbacks quarterback KJ Jackson. | Ted McClenning-allHOGS Image

CJ Brown Goes 65 Yards, Red Takes Control

KJ Jackson then found receiver CJ Brown open on a deep post route, and Brown did the rest — 65 yards to the endzone.

With Braeden McAlister's extra point, the Red led 14-7 and had themselves a cushion that would hold up to the final whistle, barely.

The White's final drive was the one that had fans holding their breath.

Starting from midfield and trailing by seven, Hill connected with Jamari Hawkins on a 33-yard comeback route to get the Hogs down to the Red 13.

Cam Settles punched it in from seven yards out a couple plays later to make it 14-13. That's when the White made its decision to not kick the extra point. Go for 2.

What happened next is where the story gets good — and where the lesson about trick plays gets taught in real time.

Settles lined up in the Wildcat spot. The play was designed for him to take the direct snap and hand it off to Hill, whowould then take it into the endzone. Settles explained it afterward with refreshing honesty.

"We were going to snap it to the running back — me," Settles said. "We were going to hand it off to Mr. AJ, and he was going to do his magic. But you know, things happen.

"I tried to make a play on it. Haven't really practiced the arm like that, but we tried to make something out of something. But, yeah, that's what was supposed to happen. Get the ball, snap it, hand it off to AJ and let him do something with it."

The snap sailed over his head. Settles scrambled, picked it up and heaved a pass toward left tackle Kavion Broussard that fell incomplete. Game over. Red wins 14-13.

Arkansas Razorbacks coach Ryan Silverfield. | Ted McClenning-allHOGS Images

Why These Plays Rarely Work Out

That sequence right there is why trick plays and non-quarterback passing plays go 50-50 on a good day and that's probably being generous.

They demand perfect execution from every single person involved. The snap has to be clean. The timing has to be exact. The defense has to be caught flat-footed.

If one thing goes wrong, the whole thing unravels fast.

It's not just the Wildcat conversion that illustrated this point on Saturday.

Earlier in the second quarter, receiver Courtney Crutchfield took a reverse handoff and pulled up to throw to Jaden Platt for an eight-yard gain.

That one worked. Eight yards. Fans buzzed. Players got excited. But eight yards on a trick pass in a spring scrimmage and eight yards on a trick pass against an SEC defense in October are two very different things.

The crowd response is always the same, though. The moment somebody other than the quarterback catches a snap and looks downfield, everybody wakes up.

That's just human nature. Fans love the misdirection. They love the idea that there's something in the back pocket nobody else knows about. Players feel it too and there's an energy that comes with running something creative.

Settles captured that spirit when talking about his overall game.

"I just feel like I'm a very balanced back," he said. "I can do it all. So that's just what I base my game off of. I want to be able to catch the ball in the backfield, be able to run through the tackles and be able to run outside the tackles as well.

"So I just wanted to allude that to my game, and I just had the juice today. I just had it."

He really did. Despite the botched conversion, Settles was one of the most consistent players on the field all afternoon, finishing with 72 total yards and a touchdown.

He had a long run close to 30 yards and showed a consistent ability to find yards after initial contact. That's exactly what Arkansas needs from a sophomore running back heading into a new era.

Silverfield Pleased with What He Saw From Settles

Head coach Ryan Silverfield didn't shy away from praising his running back after the game. He had recruited Settles hard at his previous stop before reconnecting with him at Arkansas — and Saturday reminded him why.

"I've been really, really pleased with Cam," Silverfield said. "He's a young man that I had recruited hard at our last stop, and I just think he's a dynamic back.

"He's one of those guys, you hate to sit there and single him out because all of our running backs have the ability to catch the football, but he's really good catching routes.

"He runs great wheel routes. He's good on the screen game. And then he's learned to run north and south."

Silverfield also spoke to Settles' growth as a player throughout the spring.

"When I remember Cam, I used to sit there and think of a, 'Hey, he's a lighter back,'" Silverfield said. "No, he's 208 pounds. I mean, he's going to be 215 pounds before we know it. He runs hard. He's got great vision. He's one of those guys that we got to see those gradual steps as he understood this offense.

"He continues to understand that, so I've been quite proud of him. He's taken a lot of pride in pass protection as well. Cam certainly has an arrow going up."

That's a coach who likes what he sees. Settles, for his part, is focused on the bigger picture heading into his sophomore season.

"It's just about growing maturity at this point of my life right now," Settles said. "Sophomore season, it's just about building the mental. The running back room right now, you've got Sutt — Sutton Smith — a veteran, who's also played in this offense before.

"He doesn't have a problem explaining to us how it's supposed to be. He just has that edge to him that lets us know he's not selfish at all.

"Then Coach YAK (David Johnson), as well. He keeps it very simple on us. We know our job. We know the O-line's job, as well, but he keeps it very simple where we don't have to focus too much on anything else but our job. He really just builds that character for me and maturity."

That's a young player who understands what it takes to grow — and that's a more valuable takeaway from a spring game than any trick play conversion.

The Bottom Line

The Red-White Game ended with a one-point margin and a failed two-point try that involved a wayward snap, a running back improvising under pressure and a pass thrown to an offensive lineman.

You can't make this stuff up sometimes.

It also involved a reverse pass earlier that picked up eight yards and got everyone chattering about what might be hiding in the playbook.

That's the nature of trick plays and non-quarterback passes. When they work, even for a few yards in a controlled spring setting, the energy in the building shifts.

Players feed off it. Coaches take note. Fans start speculating.

But they work out big very, very seldom and Saturday's busted Wildcat snap was a reminder that the bigger the moment, the less room there is for anything to go sideways.

Arkansas heads into the summer with a tight 14-13 spring result.

Eventually they'll realize they have a sophomore running back with an arrow pointing up and at least one play call the fans will debate until September whether it would've worked if the snap had just been on target.