RECOVERY of fumbles no accident.
FAYETTEVILLE — The Arkansas Razorbacks’ top statistical performance from the season opener — their five fumble recoveries — yielded a high ranking in turnover margin in the NCAA stats.
The Razorbacks rank second in the country with a plus-5 turnover margin after seizing the five fumbles in a 55-20 victory over Eastern Illinois at Reynolds Razorback Stadium.
Fresno State leads the nation with a plus-7 margin after recovering two fumbles and intercepting five passes in a 79-13 victory over Idaho.
Arkansas defensive coordinator John Chavis said creating turnovers always will be a priority. The Razorbacks recovered five of the six fumbles by the Panthers, which were caused by Chevin Calloway, Dre Greenlaw, Michael Taylor, Armon Watts, D’Vone McClure, and a combination of De’Jon Harris and Britto Tutt.
“Those are things every defensive staff in the country works on,” Chavis said. “What allows you to have success is when your players buy into it, and our players have done that.
“It doesn’t mean we’re going to go out and knock six balls loose every game, but we’re going to work on it and we’re going to continue to work on it. It’s going to be part of what we do every day.”
Poor punting
Arkansas started the season with a miserable showing from its punt team. The Razorbacks averaged 29.4 yards on five punts, four by junior Blake Johnson (who averaged 30.5 yards) and one by freshman Reid Bauer (25.0). The average ranks No. 122 of the 125 FBS teams who had played through Sunday.
“I was very disappointed in our punt game, extremely disappointed in that,” Coach Chad Morris said. “That’s an area we’ve got to hit head on.”
Johnson was asked to execute two pooch punts, from the Eastern Illinois 44 and 37 in the first quarter, but he put only one of those inside the 10-yard line. Johnson had a 35-yard pooch punt with a fair catch at the 9, and a 23-yard pooch punt caught at the 14.
“We did have one really good pooch punt, penning them inside the 10,” Morris said. “But our open-field punting, we had one good one of 45 yards with a really good hang time. But we had two that were not to our standard at all, so we’ve got to keep pressing these guys.”
Johnson had a 20-yard, open-field punt from the Arkansas 33 in the third quarter.
Tight ends
Arkansas tight ends combined for three catches against
Eastern
Illinois.
Austin
Cantrell had two catches for 53 yards and a touchdown, and Jeremy
Patton had
1 catch for 2 yards.
Coach Chad Morris said the tight ends were used extensively in blocking schemes, and that Patton was targeted several times.
“I thought Jeremy did not look like himself,” Morris
said. “He looked slow coming back off his [bruised ankle] injury. We had several opportunities to hit him and missed a couple of throws to him.”
Cantrell scored Arkansas’ final touchdown on a 42-yard pass from Cole Kelley.
“Obviously, we have to get better production out of those guys,” Morris said of the tight ends. “But overall they were heavily involved in the game plan.”
Off suspension
Safety Ryder Lucas, tight end Cheyenne O’Grady and receiver Mike Woods will be eligible to play at Colorado State, Coach Chad Morris said Monday. The players were suspended for the Eastern Illinois game because of disciplinary reasons.
Woods is listed on the depth chart as co-backup with Chase Harrell behind La’Michael Pettway.
Lucas figures to help on kickoff and punt coverage, where he had a combined 25 tackles the past two years.
O’Grady had 21 catches for 132 yards and 2 touchdowns last season.
Jackson mending
After junior offensive lineman Colton Jackson underwent back surgery in late July, Coach Chad Morris said the prognosis was for him to miss the first six games. The Razorbacks might have Jackson back much sooner.
Morris said Jackson is far ahead of schedule.
“We’ll look to next week, hopefully,” Morris said.
Jackson was projected to start at left tackle again heading into the season.
Merrick retires
Offensive lineman Jalen Merrick, who played on special teams last season and was expected to compete for playing time at guard, is retiring from football, Coach Chad Morris confirmed.
Merrick hadn’t practiced this year after experiencing headaches. He is considered a medical hardship case, meaning he can remain on scholarship but cannot play football again. His scholarship won’t count against Arkansas’ limit of 85.
Players of week
Chad Morris named four players of the week on defense: linebackers Dre Greenlaw and De’Jon Harris, safety Santos Ramirez, and defensive tackle T.J. Smith.
Quarterback Ty Storey was the lone player of the week for the offense.
True frosh
Six true freshmen played in the season opener: linebacker Bumper Pool, safeties Joe Foucha and Myles Mason, defensive tackle Isaiah Nichols, offensive tackle Noah Gatlin and punter Reid Bauer.
Under a new NCAA rule, freshmen can play up to four games and still redshirt.