ARKANSAS DE DORIAN GERALD out for season, sources say.
FAYETTEVILLE — Multiple sources told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that University of Arkansas defensive end Dorian Gerald suffered a leg injury in practice Wednesday that is likely to end his season.
The injury was first reported by HawgBeat.com, the Arkansas Rivals site.
Gerald, a senior from Florence, S.C., has had a run of bad injury luck during his Arkansas career with injuries in the season openers in both 2019 and 2020.
Gerald was credited with no tackles and one quarterback hurry in Saturday’s 38-17 season-opening win against Rice. Pro Football Focus had the the 6-3, 235-pound starter with three hurries among his 42 snaps.
Gerald’s loss comes at a position at which the Razorbacks bolstered the depth chart during the offseason. Junior Zach Williams, who had four tackles and a half-sack in the opener, is likely to start in the “jack” spot in Gerald’s absence.
In 2019, Gerald suffered an artery strain in his neck in the season opener against Portland State, then had a leg injury in last year’s opener against Georgia that set him back several games.
Rivalry week
Arkansas Coach Sam Pittman is not letting the week go by without educating the Razorbacks on the magnitude of their rivalry against Texas.
The Razorbacks (10) host their former Southwest Conference rival and No. 15 Texas (10) on Saturday at 6 p.m. at Reynolds Razorback Stadium in a game that will be televised on ESPN.
“Oh yeah, in the team meeting he put up a couple clips from way, way back in the day of Arkansas vs. Texas and stuff like that,” senior receiver Tyson Morris said.
Morris couldn’t remember the exact year of the clip, but he knew it included a long punt return up the sideline “for like an 80-yard touchdown.”
That would have been Ken Hatfield’s 81-yard punt return touchdown for the 1964 national championship team.
“We saw Hatfield running down on the punt return against Texas,” Pittman said Wednesday. “We talked about the ’64 national championship team. We talked about the rivalry, with us winning 14 Southwest Conference championships and Texas had more than that.”
Said defensive tackle Isaiah Nichols, “It’s kind of a reminder of how big this game can be for us. Y’all know it’s an old Texas and Arkansas rivalry back in the Southwest Conference, so I think it’s really something good for the fans as well.”
Morris said Pittman also showed the team clips from the last game between the rivals, the Razorbacks’ 31-7 win in the Texas Bowl after the 2014 season.
Roster report
Arkansas Coach Sam Pittman gave positive reports on receiver Treylon Burks and defensive tackle John Ridgeway three days out from the Razorbacks’ home game against Texas.
Burks played in the opener against Rice after getting only one full practice in the two weeks heading into the game. He led Arkansas with five catches for 42 yards but also had a pair of drops.
“We certainly expect him to be healthy and ready to go,” Pittman said on the Wednesday morning SEC teleconference. “He’s practiced both days so far and will practice today, and seems to be healthy and ready. So once he’s that way, and it just goes back to show if you don’t practice a lot of times it’s hard for you to play well. And he’s back in the fold now and healthy, so he’ll be fine.”
Ridgeway did not play after undergoing an appendectomy the weekend prior to the opener.
“I’m not a doctor, so I don’t really know how long it takes to come back from that surgery,” Pittman said. “I do know we were anticipating two weeks, and it’s going to be one week. He’s a tough guy and doesn’t seem to be having any pain from it at all after practice.”
Pittman said the coaches are trying to accelerate tailback AJ Green to get him ready for game action. The true freshman missed a chunk of training camp that included both scrimmages.
Pittman said Trey Knox is training at both wideout and tight end.
“Trey has not moved to tight end or anything, but we have looked at him there some,” he said. “He’s played both spots to be honest with you.”
Target talk
Arkansas linebacker Hayden Henry said the targeting calls that flared up in Arkansas’ win over Rice and that sidelined him for the first half of that game are not a deterrent to his style.
“Doesn’t slow me down at all,” Henry said. “I’m going to play my game.”
Linebacker Grant Morgan missed more than three quarters of the game for a hit on Rice quarterback Wiley Green, and linebacker Bumper Pool must sit out the first half against Texas for a hit on receiver Jake Bailey.
“I know Bump went down, and I’ve got to step up and play my game,” Henry said. “It’s not going to slow me down, I can promise you that.”
Arkansas Coach Sam Pittman, asked whether he thought the targeting rules needed adjusting, said, “I feel terrible about the rule. I watched the Ole Miss game. I think they might have had four ejections in the first half.
“I think it’s certainly something that the rules committee is going to look at and probably need to. And we need to do a better job of coaching how to stay away from it as well. But it sure seems like the crime and the punishment don’t match a lot of times.”
Sack start
Defensive tackle Isaiah Nichols got a second-half sack against Rice, when the Razorbacks began dominating the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. The sack came on a forced fumble for a 7-yard loss on which Nichols knocked the ball away from quarterback Wiley Green.
“It felt pretty good being able to come out in the first game and make a big play to help my team win,” Nichols said. “It always feels good. I’ve been trying to work better on pass rushing and things like that. So, I think it was a huge step for me mentally, and I can work off that and see what I can do better.”
Jackson’s jump
Ketron Jackson’s play against Rice, even including a holding call that took 40 yards off a wouldbe KJ Jefferson 68-yard touchdown run, will merit the 6-3 receiver more playing time, Coach Sam Pittman said.
“I really like him. He made a nice catch in the game,” Pittman said, referencing a 16-yard grab in the fourth quarter. “He’s big, he’s physical, he can run, too. I think he’s only going to get better each and every week. I believe in him. I trust him.
“Certainly on the touchdown run of KJ’s, that was a bang-bang call. But he was out there fighting and doing what he was coached. He tried to keep his hands inside and those things. But he’s a physical guy.”
Senior wideout Tyson Morris said: “Ketron is going to be great. He got in and he played physical, man. He was one of the most physical guys we had out on the edge on Saturday.”
‘Nation’ in town
“SEC Nation” will be on the Hill this weekend with a variety of shows originating from the Arkansas campus, with fans invited to attend. “The Paul Finebaum Show” will air live from the northeast corner of Lot 44 starting Friday at 3 p.m.
Game day will get started with the “Marty & McGee” show at 8 a.m. as a prelude to “SEC Nation,” hosted by Laura Rutledge from 9-11 a.m. Joining Rutledge on the set are analysts Tim Tebow, Roman Harper, Jordan Rodgers and Finebaum.