PHOTOS BY ANDY HODGES | HITTHATLINE.COM
???? Halftime Pod presented by Jeff’s Clubhouse — w/ Halftime Homework
Phil & Tye hit on Gabe Osabuohien being dismissed, SEC coaches ranking basketball jobs, plus Halftime Homework!
Fry on benefits of cross-training players in fall camp
With some injuries in the offensive line forcing players to move around, offensive line coach Dustin Fry talked after practice Thursday about how it’s developing.
Traylor on running backs, how fourth RB plays special teams
Razorbacks running backs coach Jeff Traylor talked after practice Thursday about how the fourth member of the group has to be a big part of special teams also.
Stepp on how young receivers have caught up quickly
Arkansas wide receivers coach Justin Stepp talked about the bad day his group had Thursday, but also on how because so little of offense was installed in spring, everybody’s at the same level now.
Hogs land three players on preseason All-SEC teams
FAYETTEVILLE — Three members of the Razorbacks have been named to the 2019 Preseason Coaches All-SEC Team.
Senior linebacker De’Jon Harris was selected to the second team defensive squad, while senior defensive lineman McTelvin Agim and junior defensive back Kamren Curl were placed on the third team unit by the league coaches.
After SEC Media Days, Harris (second) and Agim (third) were picked to the media’s preseason all-conference squad.
Harris led all conference defenders in total tackles and solo stops during the regular season last year, posting 118 and 62, respectively.
It marked back-to-back years Harris has paced the Razorbacks in total tackles, recording 115 the year before. He was the first Arkansas defender since Jerry Franklin (2010-11) to hit 100 tackles in consecutive seasons.
Seven of his 12 games resulted in double-digit tackle performances last season, the most in the SEC, including five during conference action.
He finished the year needing 15 tackles to crack the top 10 for most stops in a single season by an Arkansas defender.
Harris also recorded nine tackles for loss, including two sacks, with five pass breakups, a fumble forced and a fumble recovere
Harris’ performance in 2018 landed him on the Associated Press All-SEC Second Team. He’ll enter his senior campaign as the SEC active career tackles leader with 270, needing 60 stops to move into 10th on the career tackles list Arkansas.
Agim put together a strong junior campaign for the Razorbacks, racking up 45 total tackles, 16 unassisted, over 12 starts in 2018.
He led the team in tackles for loss last year with 10, making him the first Arkansas defender to reach double-digit TFLs since Deatrich Wise Jr. in 2015.
Nearly half of his tackles for loss were sacks (4.5), as he’ll enter the season as Arkansas’ active career leader in both categories.
Agim also forced a team-best three fumbles in 2018, including two at Colorado State on Sept. 8 to make him the only Razorback on the roster to force multiple fumbles in two separate games heading into the 2019 campaign.
Curl started all 11 games he played in for the Razorbacks at strong safety during the 2018 season.
He finished fourth on the team with 53 tackles, including 27 solo, with five pass breakups and a forced fumble during non-conference action.
He racked up at least three tackles in all 11 games, with five or more stops coming in six contests, five of those during SEC play.
Curl posted a season-high nine total tackles on Sept. 22 at Auburn, which featured four solo stops.
Osabuohien kicked off Razorbacks’ team Thursday
FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas coach Eric Musselman announced Thursday that forward Gabe Osabuohien has been dismissed from the program.
“We have set a level of expectations for our student-athletes on and off the court,” Musselman said. “After discussions with Gabe, it was decided that it would be best to part ways. We thank him for his time at Arkansas and wish him well.”
Osabuohien played in 54 games with eight starts in his two seasons with Arkansas. He scored 128 points (2.4 avg.) and had 136 rebounds (2.5 avg.).
Bud Light Morning Rush Podcast: Thursday
John & Tommy discuss how Arkansas has been practicing, Morris updates on injuries, plus Richard Davenport!
Morris probably won’t announce quarterback until he’s ready
As usual right now at this stage of a new football season, there are considerably more questions than answers and we honestly really don’t even know what to be asking about.
We always ask about the quarterback because somehow conventional wisdom makes many think that decision should always be made sooner rather than later.
Just like we’ve seen in the first 20 minutes of practices, there are good things … and bad. With every single one of the four quarterbacks. Well, five if you count some of the things Jack Lindsey was apparently doing Wednesday.
“Hey!” yelled offensive coordinator Joe Craddock after a Lindsey throw. “Peyton Manning decided to show up!”
It wasn’t a sarcastic remark. Craddock had praise for a couple of Lindsey’s passes.
There’s been plenty of praise at various times for every single one of the likely four leaders — Ben Hicks, Nick Starkel, John Stephen Jones and KJ Jefferson. There’s also been an equal amount of criticism at times.
“It depends on what period you’re really talking about,” Chad Morris said after practice Wednesday. “There’s different periods, situations, and one guy may have a little bit better period than the other.”
The whole situation is not about seeing some good things, but eliminating the bad things, it appears.
“All three, four, of them are showing great flashes,” Morris said. “It’s consistency that we’re looking for.”
Everybody has a play or two you can point to. Even Ty Storey and Cole Kelley had a couple of good plays last season, whether you want to admit it or not.
Quite honestly, nobody in the media has seen enough where any of us really know anything. Any projections by any of us is by guess and by golly. We’d simply be guessing.
Talking to the other players isn’t a lot of help, either. They aren’t going to say anything bad about any of them and will point out the big plays.
Morris admitted all of them have made a few of those.
But it was Craddock after last Saturday’s scrimmage that probably put it best when he pointed out the biggest thing was being able to get points on the board.
And Morris said the same thing Wednesday.
“I’d say whether you lead your drive or not, lead your team down the field, it’s can you get them in the end zone?” was how he pretty much summed up what is likely going to be the deciding factor.
It’s not about the big plays.
The key is going to be eliminating the bad ones.
Playing quarterback in this offense, Craddock told me back in the spring, is more about what happens above the shoulders. What that means is making decisions.
Oh sure, fans love to have a rocket-armed quarterback that will throw the ball between three defenders and hit a receiver in stride squarely between the numbers on the front of his jersey.
That usually won’t make it through the long haul of a season without a majority of the right decisions being made.
This offense requires a quarterback to make multiple decisions before the ball is snapped, a few after it’s snapped, then making an accurate throw or scampering down the field and either getting down or out of bounds.
With a scrimmage scheduled for Saturday and another next Wednesday, don’t expect a decision until at least Thursday.
“We’ll eventually announce it … just at the right time,” Morris said Wednesday.
That means when he decides it’s the right time.
Whether any of us agree or not.
Razorbacks to face Trojans in women’s basketball at Verizon in December
FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas will play Little Rock at Verizon Arena on December 21, coach Mike Neighbors announced today.
The two schools will play following athletics director Hunter Yurachek’s announcement last August that the Razorbacks would start to play other schools in the University of Arkansas system.
Tip-off is set for 1 p.m.
“When Athletic Director Yurachek announced that the board approved playing in-system, in-state institutions last August, we immediately were hopeful of scheduling a game or series of games with Little Rock,” Neighbors said. “Coach Foley has built their program into a perennial NCAA caliber team, so playing them will benefit our program and build support for women’s basketball across the state.
“When it became clear they were equally as interested in playing us, I couldn’t help but be excited to get the series set.
“Coach Foley started out as someone I idolized in women’s basketball during his tenure at Arkansas Tech, became someone I tried to emulate as my collegiate career began, and has become a trusted colleague over the last 20 years. To share a sideline with him and our teams will be very special.”
“This game is very exciting for the state of Arkansas and something the people in the state have wanted for years,” Foley said. “We will be making history starting this series just like our baseball team did last spring. This game will be great for the state and great for both programs.”
Despite the proximity of the schools, this will be just the second meeting ever between the two programs, and the first since December of 1977.
The Hogs won the only meeting, beating the Trojans 74-54 on the road. It will be Arkansas’ first visit to Little Rock since 2015, when the SEC Tournament was held there.
The Razorbacks have played well in Verizon Arena, or Alltel Arena as it was formerly known, over the years, sporting a 7-5 all-time record.
Little Rock is coming off of a great season, in which they went 21-11 overall and won the Sun Belt Conference courtesy of their stellar 15-3 mark in conference play.
The Trojans’ solid campaign earned the program its second straight trip to the NCAA Tournament, but Foley’s team fell in round one to fifth-seeded Gonzaga.
Little Rock lost leading scorer Ronjanae DeGray to graduation, but Kyra Collier, who was second on the team with 14.4 points per game last season, returns to Little Rock for her final collegiate season.
