FAYETTEVILLE — The University of Arkansas went into the season with solid depth at cornerback and not as much at safety, and now both positions might be tested in the coming weeks.
Coach Sam Pittman said senior defensive back Hudson Clark is “very, very doubtful” to be available for Saturday’s 3:15 p.m. campus opener against Alabama-Birmingham, while sophomore cornerback Jaylon Braxton is questionable.
Senior cornerback Marquise “Cuddie” Robinson, who suffered a stinger during warmups on Saturday and did not play against Oklahoma State, is more likely to return to the field against the Blazers.
“Cuddie, I think he’ll be fine,” Pittman said on Wednesday’s SEC teleconference.
Braxton had been dealing with tendinitis early in the season.
“Braxton hasn’t practiced much this week,” Pittman said. “He’s got a bone bruise and we’re going to check him out a little bit more today. Hud, he’s doubtful. I don’t know that he’ll be ready this week.”
Clark was injured on the final play of the first quarter when Oklahoma State receiver Rashod Owens crashed into him near the turf after he was slung down by safety Jayden Johnson on a 5-yard gain on a third-and-10 play. Clark made a diving breakup of a pass intended for Brennan Presley on the play before his injury.
Clark did not play defense the rest of the game but participated on special teams. He has gone in for an MRI and a CT scan on the injury this week and the results haven’t been made public.
Speaking on his radio show Wednesday night, Pittman said defensive end Anton Juncaj’s knee was swollen after he took an illegal chop block against Oklahoma State.
Juncaj went back in the game after the foul against the Cowboys and finished with one tackle, a stop behind the line for the loss of 1 yard.
“We’re a little beat up at cornerback and at safety and on the defensive line,” Pittman said on the show.
Team captains
Coach Sam Pittman revealed the Hogs’ four team captains on Wednesday during his radio show, “Sam Pittman Live.”
Safety TJ Metcalf, a sophomore from Birmingham, Ala., and redshirt sophomore cornerback Jaheim Singletary of Jacksonville, Fla., will serve as the defensive captains.
Receiver Isaac TeSlaa, a senior from Hudsonville, Mich., will be the offensive captain, and junior punter Devin Bale of La Jolla, Calif., will serve as the special teams captain.
Ollie not free
The Razorbacks put together a fantastic defensive game plan to keep Doak Walker Award-winning tailback Ollie Gordon in check last Saturday.
Gordon led the FBS with 1,732 rushing yards last season and was second in the country with 21 rushing touchdowns.
Gordon managed 49 yards on 17 carries, with 12 of them coming on the Cowboys’ final offensive snap in double overtime, a 12-yard pitch play at left end that was right on the border of being called a pass statistically.
“We wanted to make sure we got a body on him before he could get to the second level,” senior tackle Eric Gregory said on Coach Sam Pittman’s radio show. “We took it as a challenge just to stop him. So every time we hit him we said a little stuff, getting in his head a little bit.”
Said Pittman on the show, “We wanted to make him run East and West and not North and South. We wanted to make sure that we took everything where he could get his shoulders turned and running between the A and B gaps. We wanted to bounce everything, and the guys did a really good job with that.”
Defensive end Nico Davillier said it was a big group effort to limit Gordon.
“I think it was the front seven just doing their job, and the back end coming down to help,” Davillier said. “I think everybody was just playing their role, knowing their role and executing their role, us just playing our brand of football is what helped us a lot.”
HBD Ja’Quinden
Arkansas tailback Ja’Quinden Jackson, who ranks 11th in FBS rushing with 125 yards per game and tied for third in scoring with 15 points per game, will celebrate his 23rd birthday Thursday.
A reporter bestowed early birthday greetings to Jackson on a Tuesday night video call, to which the big back replied, “Appreciate it.”
Dilfer details
The four Razorback players who did interviews on Tuesday night were not fully aware of UAB Coach Trent Dilfer’s background as an NFL quarterback.
Dilfer, 52, is a Fresno State graduate and was the sixth pick of the 1994 NFL Draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He spent six seasons in Tampa, accumulating a 38-38 record as a starter. Dilfer signed with the Baltimore Ravens and was a backup to Tony Banks before taking over as the starter about midway through the season. The Ravens went 10-1 the rest of the season and defeated the New York Giants 34-7 in the Super Bowl in Tampa.
Dilfer became the first Super Bowl winning quarterback to be let go by that team before the following season. He finished the last seven years of his career with the Seahawks, Browns and 49ers. Dilfer still holds the record for the longest pass completion in an NFL playoff game, a 96-yard touchdown strike to Ravens teammate Shannon Sharpe for the first score in a 16-3 Baltimore win over the Oakland Raiders on Jan. 14, 2001.
Arkansas receiver Andrew Armstrong and tailback Ja’Quinden Jackson chuckled when asked if they remembered Dilfer’s career.
“Nah, I was probably about … 2005? I was about 5,” Armstrong said. “I wasn’t watching, wasn’t watching.
Safety TJ Metcalf said he heard about Dilfer “but never really watched him.”
Added defensive end Nico Davillier, “If he didn’t play for the Saints I don’t know him.”
Coach Sam Pittman said he and Dilfer had crossed paths a little.
“I have spoken with him and talked to him just a couple of times over the phone,” Pittman said. “But that’s about the only thing I know about him except for his amazing playing career and certainly the fine job he’s doing as a coach.”
Foley’s foot
Former Razorback Patrick Foley is the No. 1 punter for Alabama-Birmingham.
The 6-3, 220-pounder from Omaha, Neb., is averaging 48.3 yards on three punts. Foley averaged 42.9 yards on 40 punts last season. Rated a 5-star punter in high school, Foley was on the Arkansas roster in 2021 and 2022, but he didn’t play in a game behind Reid Bauer and Max Fletcher.
Campus openers
The Razorbacks are 106-22-2 (.823) in home-opening games in Fayetteville. The Hogs are 70-16 (.814) since the opening of Reynolds Razorback Stadium in 1938.
Arkansas is 19-5 (.792) in openers at Razorback Stadium since 2000 and has won three campus openers in a row against Rice (38-17), Cincinnati (31-24) and Kent State (28-6) under Coach Sam Pittman since falling to Georgia 37-10 in his Arkansas debut in 2020.
All the way
Alabama-Birmingham’s Kam Shanks returned an Alcorn State punt 57 yards for a touchdown in the Blazers’ 41-3 season-opening victory on Aug. 29.
The punt return touchdown was the first for the Blazers since JJ Nelson brought one back 63 yards for a score against Northwestern State on Sept. 21, 2013.
Razorback fans should remember Nelson, who went on to have a 5-year NFL career with the Cardinals and Raiders. Nelson had a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in UAB’s 45-17 loss at Arkansas on Oct. 25, 2014, in the first meeting between the schools.
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