Arkansas coach Eric Musselman talked Thursday afternoon about the exhibition opener against Little Rock when the court will officially be named Nolan Richardson Court.
Hicks or Starkel probably starters, but only quarterbacks to play?
Chad Morris didn’t name a quarterback for Saturday’s game against Auburn, but he created such a wide opening for anything to happen that, honestly, any guess among four could be right … or wrong.
“Everything is a possibility,” he said before practice Wednesday. “If I don’t name one until we get to the bus ride over here, then they will be well equipped and well prepared.”
It is reasonable to think Ben Hicks or Nick Starkel will start, but you get the idea that’s no guarantee they may even be out there for the second possession if they don’t do anything with the first one.
“I don’t have a problem if I put one on the field and have to bring somebody off the bench to be a reliever so to speak and get us going,” Morris said. “They both have done that.”
There are a lot of fans, though, that want to see freshman K.J. Jefferson hit the field. He does add a multi-purpose threat to the offense that neither Hicks or Starkel bring.
“We’ll keep bringing him along and see where we’re at with him,” Morris said earlier in the week.
It was interesting in both Tuesday and Wednesday practices that Jack Lindsey is wearing No. 10, which is the number Auburn freshman Bo Nix wears. He has also been working with the scout team.
Jefferson stayed with the quarterbacks during individual drills. He worked in tandem with Starkel while Hicks and John Stephen Jones were the other tandem. None of that really says much about anything.
But the questions remain why Jefferson and Jones haven’t seen the field. Auburn has one of the best defenses in the nation … maybe the best they’ve had in nearly 30 years.
“We’ve got to pick up first downs,” Morris said about the offensive approach to this one. “We’ve got to keep our defense off the field as much as possible. They’re extremely talented.”
All of that means the mobility Jefferson and Jones have could factor into the game plan. Morris has said he would like to redshirt Jefferson, but that’s usually reserved for situations where there’s an established starter and the coach can afford to develop one.
Morris may not have that luxury.
While you probably can’t find anyone giving the Razorbacks a shot on Saturday, well, stranger things have happened … especially in this series.
In 2001, Auburn came into Razorback Stadium ranked No. 17 in the country while the Hogs were a yawning 3-3 with a disturbingly close win over UNLV, a blowout of Weber State and beating No. 9 South Carolina the week before.
Arkansas kicked the Tigers sideways, 42-17.
Then there was 2006 when the Hogs went to The Plains and beat the No. 2 Tigers 27-10 and was the actual launching pad to a 10-win season.
But it’s not something you want to put money on it.
Or what quarterback plays the most.
Morris not naming starter for Saturday game with Auburn
Arkansas coach Chad Morris said before Wednesday’s practice he’s not naming a starter and doesn’t know if he’ll have one before they get on the bus to come to the stadium.
???? Halftime Pod presented by Jeff’s Clubhouse — Clay Henry
Tye & Matty T on the time Chad Morris will get, Clay Henry, plus what’s attractive about the Arkansas football program!
Is ‘outside noise’ causing Razorbacks to get fired up at midway point?
Before coming into the media room at the football center Tuesday evening, Arkansas players were heavily coached outside by the folks whose job it is to do that.
Nobody heard them, but it’s a good bet they were instructed on key talking points and pretty much stick to the script and they did. Based on that, none of them said they even paid attention to it.
The only one I know that doesn’t is freshman wide receiver Treylon Burks.
“I don’t do any of that, so it’s not a problem for me,” he said. His mother handles his account. “I don’t even get on Twitter.”
There are others that have probably not looked at their accounts this week. I can relate. I don’t look at the tweeter thing at all or Facebook other than to see what family members are up to.
“To be honest, if it’s outside these walls, I haven’t heard it,” senior defensive tackle T.J. Smith said.
Believe it or not, some of the players are actually able to tune it out. That’s a concept that’s difficult for a lot of folks in today’s social media world. It wants affirmation more than information for an awful lot of people these days.
“Y’all are giving me comments and y’all are not waking up at 5:30 in the morning and coming to 6 a.m. workouts,” defensive back Jarques McClellion said. “Why should I listen to what you have to say? I just make sure I listen to my coaches and my teammates and not anyone else that is not in this facility, so I shut out the noise.”
Now that’s about as honest of a statement as you’re going to get. They are capable of tuning out the negativity.
“I appreciate [the fans] at the end of the A&M game when they cheered us when we were going into the locker room,” McClellion said. “At the end of the day, we just need a win, just finish it out.”
Fans are feeling the same way … at least the ones that haven’t thrown in the towel on the coaches and this season.
For some of the players who’ve been around a few years, the frustration they are having may be starting to show a little.
“We’ve been preaching finishing since I’ve been here,” defensive end Gabe Richardson said Tuesday. “It’s hard at times. It really is hard dealing with this, but you can’t quit.”
A lot of folks have.
Senior tight end C.J. O’Grady hammered again that this year is different.
“Like I said before in past interviews, we’re a whole different team this year,” he said. “Last year we would have had people blaming, complaining, talking. Just bad noise.
“This year, everybody, they are still coming together and we’re being the same people, bringing it every day. Right after the game Saturday we came in Sunday and we came to practice and we practiced hard and stayed consistent. Just like today, we did the same thing. We had great energy and everybody was flying around and it was positive energy all around.”
The noted scientific genius Albert Einstein is often credited with saying “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” Nobody has it on tape and others have been credited with originating it, too.
But it has stood the test of time pretty well and usually tends to be especially true in football.
“Can’t talk about it, you’ve got to show it,” Richardson said.
Ultimately, that’s what the fans are wanting to see.
O’Grady on how team is ‘coming together’ through adversity of start
Razorbacks tight end C.J. O’Grady talked after practice Tuesday about how this team is different this year, “coming together” after the rocky 2-4 start headed to Auburn game.
Richardson with short answers for media after practice Tuesday
Arkansas defensive end Gabe Richardson wasn’t rude, but he wasn’t saying a whole lot meeting with the media following Tuesday’s practice before Auburn.
Burks after practice Tuesday: ‘Everything’s not promised’
Arkansas freshman wide receiver Treylon Burks said after practice that “everything’s not promised” in assessing the team’s rocky start to the season ahead of Auburn game.
