RB Smith excited to be a Razorback

FAYETTEVILLE — Considering how Arkansas running back Trelon Smith loves his head coach and running backs coach they seem lucky to be alive.

“Coach Sam Pittman, that’s my guy,” Smith said. ‘I love him to death. My running backs coach, Jimmy Smith, I love him to death.”

Considering Trelon Smith transferred as a sophomore lettered at Arizona State to Arkansas in 2019 planning to play for the former Chad Morris Razorbacks regime but compelled by NCAA rules first to redshirt, he might have fretted a new staff that didn’t seek him could signal the death of his Arkansas aspirations.

Obviously he didn’t fret. “When the coaching change happened, I wasn’t really worried about if I made the right decision on if I came to the right place,” Smith said. “Because at the end of the day I know what I can do on the field. I know what I can produce. So I wasn’t really worried about the new coaching staff coming in. I felt like they were going to notice what I was doing on the field.”

They have. Smith packs a big impact for standing only 5-9, 185.

“Trelon Smith is just a tough man,” Pittman said after Friday’s scrimmage. “He’s tough on the field. He’s tough off the field.”

And big enough to know not to fancy himself too big. Redshirting last year, Smith firsthand saw returning senior and fellow Houstonian Rakeem Boyd rush 1,133 yards and eight touchdowns even as the Hogs wallowed 2-10. Smith knows he’s No. 2 and appreciates what makes Boyd No. 1.

“Rakeem, that’s my big brother,” Smith said. “Ever since I got here Rakeem put me under his wing, and we started hanging out every day.”

Good as Boyd is, it takes more than one running back to get through a game. Much less this brutal entirely SEC schedule with seven of Arkansas’ 10 opponents ranked in the AP’s Preseason Top 25.

“I get to play with my boy Rakeem Boyd,” Smith said. “Man, I’m ready. I can’t wait to see what we can do. I’m planning on breaking some records. That’s our goal. I think you guys are going to like what you see come football season.”

Since they certainly know what Boyd can do, and with redshirt freshman A’Montae Spivey injured, Pittman, Jimmy Smith and offensive coordinator Kendal Briles turned much of Friday’s scrimmage running backs work to Trelon Smith and Josh Oglesby.

“I feel like we did a good job,” Trelon Smith said. “There wasn’t a lot of missed assignments. I got a touchdown and I broke on a few plays. I feel like I did very good, especially with the pass protection and just reading the holes.”

Oglesby, an All-American/AllSEC relays sprinter for Coach Chris Bucknam’s track and field Razorbacks, seems sprinting into a football role.

“Oh, man scatback,” Smith said. “He gets the ball and he’s like a rocket. I’m just excited to see what he can do when he gets the ball in his hands.”