Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Keys To Victory
MULTI-SPORT ATHLETE LINDSEY HOLDING FOR HOGS
Repeatedly, Chad Morris mentions that he favors high school players who excel in multiple sports.
After the Hogs signed multi-sport stars Jalen Catalon (football, basketball, baseball) and Treylon Burks (football, basketball, baseball), Morris said they hit another level when they finally pick one sport in college.
What about quarterback/ holders? Jack Lindsey fits that category of a high school multi-sport star.
Lindsey might have played four sports at Springdale if not for a shoulder injury in football the week before the state golf tournament. He excelled in football, basketball and baseball. He was a big contributor in all three and would have been the low man on the golf team if he had been healthy.
“Or, if Coach (Zak) Clark would have let me play,” Lindsey said. “I hurt my shoulder the week before the state meet, but that week we were playing our rival, Fayetteville. I know the golf coach was asking for me, but I don’t think Coach Clark was going to let me out of practice.”
That was during a period when Lindsey was leading the Class 7A-West in passing. Eventually, he finished second when another quarterback went deeper into the playoffs. Lindsey completed 201 of 365 passes for 2,226 yards.
By then, it was a foregone conclusion that he would follow his grandfather (Jim) and father (Lyndy) to Arkansas. Jim Lindsey was a member of the 1964 national title team, then served as captain as a senior in 1965. Lyndy played tight end from 1988-91.
Whether or not Jack would walk on at Arkansas was never in real debate, but his grandfather was there anytime there was doubt.
“He sure was,” Jack said. “He’d just say over and over, ‘You can do it.’ We’d talk a little while and he would say it again, ‘You can do it.’ He encouraged me every time we talked.
“That’s the nature of my grandfather, a great encouragement to others. I think that’s his gift. He gives you confidence that you can do it.”
Of course, Jack Lindsey still has hopes of contributing as a quarterback. He’s improved his passing since high school when he was a sure thing as a possession thrower for Clark, a former Arkansas quarterback and Jack’s uncle.
“I think I’m a lot better,” he said. “More than anything, I’m bigger and stronger. I think everyone in our family is a late bloomer. My dad was. He got a lot bigger in college. So did my grandfather. I saw a picture of my grandfather when he was in the 10th grade at Forrest City. He was the smallest person there. He grew a lot as a senior and more here.
“Both my grandfather and my dad told me they had a bigger impact later in their athletic careers because they were so small early. My dad was 195 (pounds) when he got to college, but he played at 245.
“I was small in junior high, really small. I didn’t think I would be able to continue to play sports I was so small. But I played everything and I liked everything.”
Basketball was his first love and there was no question it was in the plan when his first football season finished at Springdale, after transferring from Fayetteville.
“I didn’t play basketball at Fayetteville,” he said. “I stopped playing because I was so skinny and it was hurting me for football. I spent the winters lifting weights. I’d lift before school and after school.
“I wanted to play at Springdale, but I wasn’t sure I could help the team and I just love basketball. It’s the sport where you are the closest to the fans and it’s just so much fun.
“I love the three-point line. I camped there. I surprised myself by what kind of impact I did make on the team at Springdale my senior year. I made five threes against Alma and four in several other games. I think I scored 40 against Alma.”
When basketball ended, Lindsey thought, “Why not baseball, too? I’d played travel baseball growing up and I had the best curveball on our team.”
That ended when that nasty breaking ball caused a broken bone in his elbow.
“I think it was the seventh grade,” he said. “Baseball was my best sport then. But I threw the curveball completely wrong and I heard something pop in my elbow. I broke a bone. I ran off the field because I knew something broke.”
He didn’t pitch again until moving from basketball to baseball as a senior at Springdale.
“It was one week from our last basketball game,” Lindsey said. “We played Fort Smith Southside and I went eight innings. I threw over 100 pitches. It was a 1-0 game and we lost.”
Clark said it was probably well over 100 pitches.
“We got after our baseball coach for leaving him out there that long,” Clark said. “The rule was you could only pitch eight innings so that’s when Jack came out.”
Lindsey said he could hardly the move the next day.
“Everything in my body hurt,” he said. “I just hadn’t used any of those muscles.”
It was fastball or cutter on every pitch.
“My dad made sure I didn’t throw any curves,” Lindsey said. “I finally ended up being our closer the rest of the season. It was a lot of fun.”
When the idea of holding on placement kicks came up, Lindsey didn’t know if that sounded fun or not.
“I did it in high school, so I knew what it was like,” he said. “But it made me nervous. I wasn’t sure I’d like it.
“I was thinking about declining to do it, but I got a call from Dowell Loggains. He said it’s a blast and I’d regret it if I didn’t try it.”
Loggains held for the Hogs in 2001-04 and is now an offensive coordinator in the NFL for the New York Jets.
“I am loving it,” Jack said. “I wasn’t nervous after the first one. You just do it.”
Some wonder about holding for a lefty kicker, but Connor Limpert isn’t unusual to Lindsey.
“Our kicker in high school was a lefty,” Lindsey said. “To be honest, your catch hand with a lefty is your right hand, so that’s easier.”
Lindsey continues to develop as a passer, too.
“He didn’t have a strong arm when he got to us at Fayetteville,” said Clark, who was Fayetteville’s offensive coordinator before taking the head job at Springdale. “But he adapted. It kind of floated. It doesn’t now. He’s got a real strong arm now, not even the same pass.
“But in high school, he figured out that he had to get it out really quickly. It would be floating out there before the receiver turned and then there it was. It was pretty good and he was accurate.”
That wasn’t the case at Springdale.
“No, he could throw it and he never turned it over,” Clark said. “He had six interceptions in 11 games. He protected the ball and he got beat up on about every play.
“I say this without hesitation: He’s as tough a player as I’ve ever coached. Really tough. He got beat up and kept performing at a high level.”
The conversations about walking on were never long. Lindsey had a test from deep in his memory on whether it was something to try.
“I grew up wanting to run through that A,” he said. “It’s all I thought about when I was 10. So when the chance came, I thought, ‘What would 10-year-old Jack thought have about this?’ It was an easy answer. Do it.”
Now, he’s got a letter, just like his grandfather and father. And he was awarded a scholarship this summer.
“I’m not going to lie, it’s not always easy to be a walkon,” he said. “But my dream was to play for the Razorbacks. It’s definitely been tough at times, but life is not always going to be a breeze.
“I just remember what 10-year-old Jack would think of this and know he would be loving it. So am I.”
Could he ever take a snap at quarterback? He’s a junior, so his time is running out.
“I think so,” Clark said. “I keep saying this about Jack Lindsey: His best days are still ahead of him. His arm strength now will wow you and he doesn’t make mistakes. He’s a totally different player now even from what I had at Springdale.
“What I always say about Jack is that he’s unique and fits in. He is totally comfortable in his own skin. Whether he was at Fayetteville or when he got to Springdale, he fit. I’ve seen him in a lot of different groups in a lot of different sports, he fits.”
Now, to the weekly top 10 keys, with a special thought to start with. Do the Hogs fit against a top flight SEC team? 1. SEC Elite
What makes an SEC team elite? I’ve always thought it was the line play. The defensive line and offensive line at Texas A&M is clearly better than Arkansas. That’s where the Hogs have to get to fit in the SEC West.
The comparison between the two offensive lines reveals the difference. The Aggies are both massive and experienced.
The only similarity is that both start a true freshman at right guard. Texas A&M has Kenyon Green; Arkansas Ricky Stromberg. The difference is that Green is 6-4, 330 pounds. Stromberg is listed as 6-4, 266 (although he’s now up to 277).
That’s among the keys in analyzing this game. From left to right, the A&M line weighs 325, 323, 298, 330 and 315. Compare that to an Arkansas starting group of 301, 304, 285, 266 and 302.
I think that plays into the difference in running game. A&M can move the pile in short yardage. The Hogs cannot.
The Aggies average 144 yards per game on the ground. The Hogs make 152. Yes, those numbers might seem backward, but A&M’s losses have been to Clemson and Auburn. The Hogs have lost to Ole Miss and San Jose State.
2. Mental State
Where are the Hogs this week after a humbling loss to San Jose State? Are they crushed, or mad? Outside linebacker Hayden Henry was clear that the outside noise from social media has hit the Hogs hard this week.
“All you can hear is people heckling you, ‘You’re this, you’re that, this is how bad you are, this one game has defined your season or defined you,’” Henry said. “You’ve just got to push all that away. You’ve got to focus on what the Arkansas Razorbacks are going to do this week to win this next game. San Jose State is behind us. All of our focus is on Texas A&M now.”
They deserve the heckling, although it’s time to move on with that. You get what you earn, goes the old saying, and the Hogs deserved their 31-24 loss to San Jose State.
Can the Hogs snap out of it? Can the Aggies snap back from a 28-20 home loss to Auburn?
3. The Dancing
It’s clear to me that the Club Dub celebration after the Colorado State game was a bit much. Psychology 101 would suggest that the Hogs ran before they could walk. Beating the Rams doesn’t suggest they are over the hump.
Morris said too much about the fourth quarter being a defining moment for the team. Unfortunately, another defining moment followed, a first half that saw San Jose State coast to a 24-7 lead.
You don’t know defining moments until well down the road. There may be several more candidates to be defining moments for this team or for the Morris era. Right now, it’s better to just put your nose to the grind stone and work.
No more dancing.
4. Wide Receivers
Who can play this week for the Hogs? The injury list has been long at that position.
Deon Stewart is out for the season with knee surgery. Jordan Jones has yet to play because of surgery for a high ankle sprain. He’s listed as day to day, but won’t play against A&M.
Treylon Burks (concussion) and Trey Knox (hip bruise) are both probable for this week, but De’Vion Warren (concussion protocol) did not practice Wednesday. Burks and Knox have hardly practiced the last two weeks, but are among the team’s most talented players.
The excitement of playing at AT&T Stadium will motivate both to be ready against the Aggies. This is a game that freshmen don’t miss if there is any way possible.
5. Give Him the Ball
TJ Hammonds has never been a constant. Injured during most of his first two seasons, he’s been serving a four-game academic suspension this season. But he’s back this week and it’s good timing.
“He’s worked at wide receiver and running back with our scout teams,” Morris said. “We need him at wide receiver now, but he’s in the game plan at both. We plan to give him the ball.”
Hammonds has the one thing this team is missing: breakaway speed. Whether or not he can outrun a fast Aggie defense is questionable, but he has more speed than
most on this Arkansas team. His return will be welcomed. 6. The Matchup
Texas A&M has dominated of late, but not by much. The Aggies have won the last seven games, but three were in overtime. The last Arkansas victory was in 2011 when Bobby Petrino’s last team came back from an 18-point deficit to win 42-38.
The Hogs lead the overall series, 41-31-3, but the Aggies have won all seven games since joining the SEC. A&M leads 5-3 in games played at AT&T Stadium.
The flavor of the game changes this season because the Arkansas quarterback is Nick Starkel, the graduate transfer from Texas A&M. Running back Rakeem Boyd also began his college career playing for the Aggies.
Morris is a Texas A&M grad, but did not play football there. He was a mathematics/ statistics major at A&M. His daughter Mackenzie is also a graduate of Texas A&M.
7. The Quarterbacks Starkel is coming off his worst performance as a college quarterback. Only three other players in UA history have thrown as many as interceptions in game as the five Starkel threw against San Jose State. Lamar McHan threw five against SMU in 1951, Joe Ferguson threw six against Texas A&M in 1972 and Wade Hill threw five against Georgia in the 1991 Independence Bowl.
Starkel took the blame after the game, describing his “bad quarterback play.” Morris and Joe Craddock, the quarterbacks coach, said Starkel responded with solid work in practice this week. The goal is to “play within the system,” especially in the red zone.
Three of the interceptions probably cost the Hogs points in the loss. There were also two failed fourth-down plays
in the red zone. One was a Starkel sneak that failed to gain on fourth-and-1 at the San Jose State 22.
Starkel has to play closer to his usual form for the Hogs to have a chance against the Aggies. He promised to be more focused after the San Jose State loss. That seemed to take shape on Sunday when Starkel destroyed the Justin Bieber T-shirt that he wore under his uniform the last few games.
Starkel will be competing against Kellen Mond, the Aggies starter who beat out Starkel last fall. Starkel had won the job two years ago when Kevin Sumlin was coach, but new coach Jimbo Fisher picked Mond.
8. Who Brings Fire? Arkansas did not bring any fire to the game until halftime in the loss to San Jose State. Effort was questioned by the head coach after the game. It was the sticking point with most fans. How can a team that has won only four games in two years overlook any opponent?
It reminded of last year when Fisher, the A&M coach, seemed perturbed that his team played poorly while beating Arkansas 24-17. It did seem like the Hogs won the battle in the trenches for the second half last season, but couldn’t finish the comeback when Ty Storey was intercepted in the closing seconds.
Who will have their stinger this week? Will the Aggies remember the close call from last year and play with fire? Will the Hogs find their competitive spirit after being challenged by everyone from their coaches to their fans after humiliation against San Jose State?
Morris seemed to address that in his weekly radio show. He said both teams will play like their “back is to the wall.” That should produce sparks. 9. The Run Game Football is never simplistic. It’s the most complex team game that I cover. It’s 11-on-11 and then there is a change of possession with
another 11-on-11 battle. Special teams can have as many as 25 different players with four different units.
They all must hold their own for 60 minutes.
But the run game has always been the key element of the game. If you can’t run the ball, it’s unlikely the other areas can overcome it.
Last year the Hogs ran for just 55 yards on 26 tries, while A&M made 176 yards on 46 attempts. The recipe to win for Arkansas would somehow be to flip those numbers. That’s not likely to happen.
If the Hogs are to have any running game, the middle of the offensive line has to hold up. That’s Austin Capps at left guard, Ty Clary at center and Stromberg at right guard.
Those three will have to contend with A&M’s best players, middle linebacker Buddy Johnson (30 tackles) and an improving set of tackles, Justin Madubuike (304 pounds) and Bobby Brown (325).
10. The Turnout
This week new Texas A&M athletics director Ross Bjork indicated he was not interested in renewing the neutral-site series against Arkansas after the contract ends in 2024.
There has always been more benefit for the Razorbacks to play in Dallas each year than the Aggies. Playing in a hotbed of high school football exposes recruits to Arkansas. As the designated home team, the Razorbacks will host between 300 and 500 recruits on unofficial visits Saturday.
Arkansas needs a good performance while it is exposed to the state that can help it most in recruiting.
“We can give them tickets from us, so each recruit will get three tickets,” Morris said. “When you go into a neutral site like that, while you can give tickets out, we cannot have any contact with the recruits at all. We can’t have any contact with them but we can give them a great show.”