Boyd, Agim expected to play Saturday against Tulsa

FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas coach Chad Morris said that two of the players injured in last Saturday’s 37-33 Southeastern Conference loss in Little Rock should play in Saturday’s nonconference matchup against Tulsa.

Running back Rakeen Boyd and defensive end McTelvin “Sosa” Agim are expected to take the field for the 11 a.m. game against the Golden Hurricane (1-5, 0-3 American Athletic Conference) at Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville that will be televised on the SEC Network (Resort Channel

79).

Boyd, who had 7 carries for

109 yards including a 69-yard touchdown against Ole Miss, aggravated an old back injury when removed from the game during the first half, but he appears OK now, Morris and offensive coordinator Joe Craddock said Monday.

Junior T.J. Hammonds and sophomore Chase Hayden, who finished last Saturday’s game after first Boyd and then Whaley went down, now back Boyd at running back.

Agim appears sufficiently recovered from last Saturday’s knee injury to play against Tulsa, Morris said.

Running back Devway Whaley, Morris said, was scheduled for surgery Monday on his injured ankle.

“We hope to get him back some time in November,” Morris said.

Whaley is expected to miss Saturday’s game and the Oct. 27 SEC game against Vanderbilt in Fayetteville.

Arkansas gets its open date during the Saturday Nov. 3 weekend before finishing with SEC games against LSU, Nov.

10 in Fayetteville and Nov. 17 at Mississippi State in Starkville and Nov. 23 at Missouri in Columbia.

Fourth-year junior starting quarterback Ty Storey left last Saturday’s game in the fourth quarter after taking a hard hit ending with his head hitting the War Memorial Stadium turf as he battled for 10 yards and a first down on second and 10.

“We’ll know more on Ty today and where we’re at with him,” Morris said. “And then from there we’ll just re-evaluate it and see how it goes from there.”

Craddock said the evaluation with Storey is “by the hour right now.”

“I talked to Dave (Polanski, the head football trainer) right before we came in here, and he said Ty’s feeling a little bit better than he has been, so that’s good,” Craddock said. “But, you know, it’s football. It is what it is. You have to have the next guy ready to go.”

Last Saturday night’s “next guy” was third-year sophomore Cole Kelley, a starter for four games last season and two games this season. The SEC Network crew broadcasting the game was apparently confused as they were under the impression that true freshman Connor Noland of Greenwood had moved ahead of Kelley, despite just one mop-up in the 44-17 Sept. 15 loss to North Texas as experience.

Kelley, 6-7, 250, played in Saturday’s first half in some goal-line/short-yardage packages designed for his size and threw a 39-yard second-quarter touchdown pass after Storey was shaken up for the first time on a hard hit.

Kelley finished Saturday’s game that Arkansas led, 33-24, going into the fourth quarter.

“Yeah, I’m not sure where they got that, but they’ve been splitting reps,” Craddock said, explaining Noland has improved. “Connor has really understood the offense a little bit more than he has since we started. He’s learning, and he’s getting more comfortable, and I think that may be why he’s been doing maybe a little bit better during practice when he gets out there and gets some reps.”

However Craddock said last Saturday’s setting made Kelley the obvious choice since he already he had played in the game and is far more experienced.

“Putting Connor in a SEC game in the fourth quarter I think that would be unfair to him,” Craddock said. “Cole obviously has played a lot of football. He’s played against Ole Miss before (starting Arkansas’ lone SEC victory of last season). We just felt like he gave us the best chance to finish it off. “

Because his game-ejecting unsportsmanlike conduct penalty in last Saturday’s waning seconds did not involve a fight, it appears the SEC office won’t suspend Arkansas cornerback Ryan Pulley from playing the first half against Tulsa.

However Morris, noting Pulley’s status from the ejection still hasn’t been officially clarified, implied he may have disciplinary plans of his own.

“I thought there were some things that we did that were not what we’re about,” Morris said. “I was disappointed.”

Morris and defensive coordinator John Chavis said redshirt freshman Montaric “Buster” Brown is next in line behind Pulley at corner.

Morris opened his Monday press conference extending “thoughts and prayers” to Rick Schaeffer, the former longtime

Razorbacks sports information director and still involved in hosting the Razorbacks Radio Network’s pregame and providing statistics during the broadcast.

Schaeffer became ill before last Saturday’s game at Little Rock and was rushed to the University of Arkansas Medical Science Hospital

Schaeffer was resting comfortably while undergoing further tests Monday at UAMS and reports anticipating being released today, Arkansas associate athletic director Kevin Trainor said Monday.