Hammonds provides spark for Hogs’ backfield

FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas returned to the practice field Tuesday to prepare for Saturday afternoon’s homecoming game against Coastal Carolina in Reynolds Razorback Stadium.

T.J. Hammonds, who has bounced between running back and wide reciever this season, led Arkansas against Ole Miss last week in rushing, carrying 11 times for 84 yards, but he is excited to get back to the ground game.

“It’s exciting,” Hammonds said. “I’m glad I went back to running back. Coach feels like it’s a great spot for me, and I just feel like I just made the best of my opportunity.”

With injuries slowing him down at times, Hammonds felt “great” to have made such an impact.

“It just felt like I was back in high school,” he said. “My teammates gave me praises, my coach gave me praises, but it’s time to move on to the next team and try to get better.”

While averaging 7.8 yards per carry in his 18 carries this season, Hammonds has had no issues “switching from position to position.”

“Me and coach, we got a connection going,” he said. “He just told me he wanted me to play receiver. I asked him, ‘Can I play receiver?’ So we just switched back and forth, and running back is just a great fit for me. I moved back there and I just feel great about it. I’m excited.”

Hammonds expects to remain at running back, but added that he will do whatever it takes to help the team win games.

“I actually love it,” he said. “I just feel like it’s a great fit for me, coach feels like it’s a great fit for me, so I’m going to just stay right there and do what I can to help the team.”

Dan Enos was available Tuesday night instead of his normal time slot on Monday, and he talked about the team’s biggest comeback in the history of the team, erasing a 24-point deficit to win 38-37.

“We needed to win a game to be quite honest with you though, the way they did it worked out perfectly,” Enos said. “Obviously you don’t ever want to script it like that, but I think it just proved to our players that if they just keep believing and they keep playing and they keep pressing, and keep believing in each other that good things can happen.

“It was a testament to coach (Bret) Bielema, the way he’s handled this season, the way he handles this team, to get those players to continue to play as hard as they did and keep believing. I thought the staff and the players did a tremendous job. To go on the road and get an SEC win when you’re down like that is obviously a very difficult. It was exciting. It was really fun. It was fun for me to watch and just be a part of it and watch some of these guys continue to make the growth and development they’re doing.”

Trailing 37-35 with 4:04 remaining in the game, the Razorbacks took over on their own 22, taking 12 plays to travel 62 yards. Connor Limpert got a 34-yard field goal with four seconds remaining to give Arkansas its only lead of the game. Enos praised redshirt freshman quarterback Cole Kelly for leading the team on the final drive that provided the winning margin.

“I thought Cole (Kelly) did a tremendous job,” Enos said. “He didn’t play a perfect game, but he competed and he played well enough to help his team win. It really doesn’t matter how I think he played. It matters that he competed and helped his team win a game. He had a big third down throw. We got backed up and he hit that big throw to Jonathan Nance. He just, he’s great with the players. He’s very competitive. He’s a very good communicator. And he played big on that drive.

“We ran the ball effectively. We had to overcome a holding call. And then to get the first down. And then David Williams, the run he had on the last play, the line and the tight ends did a great job, and we were able to get that into a very makeable kick at that point. I thought they did a tremendous job handling that last drive and with the clock management.”

Enos also praised Hammonds and some other players on the offense who impressed him during the game.

“Yeah, you know T.J., I think he’s a real natural running back,” Enos said. “He looks very fluid back there. A lot of things come very easy for him. He’s got great vision and acceleration. He did a tremendous job coming in just a short week of practice and doing what he did. I thought he was tremendous.

“To watch, I thought there were a lot of guys as you mentioned who made plays. C.J. (Cheyenne O’Grady) made plays and Deon (Stewart) and Jonathan Nance and Jordan (Jones). It was a total team win. I thought the offensive line did a tremendous job being physical, running the football. The tight ends as well. I thought the backs ran hard. I thought our defense just did a tremendous job. In the second half they just kept playing and playing and the turnovers they got. It was a team win. Special teams, everybody was involved. Hopefully we can just continue to build on that.”

Enos felt Hammonds did well Tuesday during the tailback pass protecting in practice.

“He’s a quick learner,” Enos said. “We try to keep it very simple for our guys and T.J. will be good to go. We’re not afraid. By the end of last week, we felt pretty good about using him in some pass plays if we needed to and then this week, obviously we will do that. As we play some of these other teams, this week and moving forward, we have to break tendencies. We can’t just put him in there on certain plays. We’re getting to a point where we’re very comfortable using him in all situations.

“It’s a credit to T.J., first and foremost, that he was so willing to just change positions,” Enos said. “He’s invested a lot of time at wide receiver and we’ve seen a lot of growth with him there. For T.J. to just (say), ‘Hey, whatever I can do to help the team,’ that was awesome. It’s really nice to have three guys that you feel very comfortable about that can make a big play at any moment. We feel good about all of those guys.”

Saturday’s game will kickoff at 3 p.m. and be televised on the SEC Network alternate channel.