Nichols says bye week helped Hogs get healthy, prepare for Texas A&M

Hogs defensive lineman Isaiah Nichols said after practice Tuesday the defensive line has gotten healthy and improved with bye week.

Warren would likely be interested in coming back for another year if Pittman asks

Senior wide receiver De’Vion Warren said Tuesday evening that coming back for another year with the new rules is something he is open to considering.

ON HALFTIME: Olson recapping last week’s high school games, previews this week

Nate Olson of Friday Night Scoreboard talked with Phil Elson, Matt Jenkins and Matt Travis (Halftime) on ESPN Arkansas with the latest in preps football.

Chavanelle on rivalry with Aggies from perspective of growing up in Texas

HawgBeat’s Nikki Chavanelle grew up near Houston and saw the Texas A&M side of things from the state plus update on Hogs’ recruiting.

How Hogs’ cornerback slipped through cracks of recruiters at Highland Park

College coaches flock to the Scots’ program near downtown Dallas, but looking for quarterbacks and linemen, not cornerbacks like Hudson Clark.

Joseph Hoyt of The Dallas Morning News talked with Tye Richardson and Matt Jenkins (Halftime) on ESPN Arkansas on Tuesday morning about how Clark wasn’t really noticed.

Bud Light Seltzer Morning Rush Podcast – Joseph Hoyt on Hudson Clark

0

Tye & Clay on Jerry Jacobs opting out, Lane Kiffin’s comments, plus the best Hot Sauce!

 

Jacobs’ exit not that big a deal, whether his choice or mutual parting of ways

0

It’s a good bet the departure of defensive back Jerry Jacobs was, at best, a mutual parting of the ways with Arkansas and it could actually be some addition by subtraction.

If Andrew Hutchinson hadn’t asked Sam Pittman specifically about Jacobs adding to the depth in the secondary this week against Texas A&M, a now-deleted Twitter post is all we’d have to go on.

That posting said:

“After much prayer and discussion with my family, I’ve decided that it is best for me to opt out of my final year and declare for the NFL draft. I have worked long and hard for the opportunity to play in the NFL and believe this is the right time to pursue this goal. I’m humbled and excited to attack this next challenge.”

Okay, so that basically has nothing to do with the Covid-19 opt-outs we’ve seen. This year has been so weird I’m not sure anything should be that surprising.

This wasn’t, based on what we’ve heard about Jacobs for a while now. He wasn’t given the option of coming back to Arkansas State and had to go to a junior college, according to sources familiar with the situation in Jonesboro.

Pittman wasn’t going to go into any details, either.

“Jerry Jacobs has opted out,” Pittman said. “So he’s no longer on the football team.”

It’s not a talent issue. The negatives aren’t legal or substance abuse from what I’ve heard for a couple of months from folks in Fayetteville. None of those were the problem at Arkansas State, either.

There are a lot of other issues that have gotten players kicked off teams for a century. The signs point to this with Jacobs opting out.

If it was health-related, there would have been a mention of that. Nope. With a tweet from Jacobs being deleted just hours after it was posted seems rather strange.

And it points to Jacobs and the Razorbacks mutually agreeing to part ways.

The emergence of Hudson Clark at cornerback probably played a role. Jacobs was injured against Auburn and played sparingly against Ole Miss when Clark showed what he could do with three interceptions against one of the most highly-regarded offenses in the SEC.

If Jacobs was a problem in the locker room or in need of an attitude adjustment, Clark’s emergence may have made it easier for Pittman to encourage him to prepare for the NFL Draft.

Which, in the end, could make this no big deal at all.

Pittman previews A&M game, says Jacobs has opted out of rest of season

Hogs coach Sam Pittman dropped an interesting tidbit late in his Monday press conference, saying that Jerry Jacobs has opted out of the remainder of the season.

O’Gara on Alabama’s offensive production being larger than expected

Saturday Down South’s Connor O’Gara told Phil Elson, Matt Jenkins and Matt Travis (Halftime) that the high-powered offense of the Crimson Tide has been a surprise.