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Butch Jones Names Former Tennessee QB as Arkansas State Starter | Rocky Top Insider

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Butch Jones Names Former Tennessee QB as Arkansas State Starter | Rocky Top Insider


Former Tennessee quarterback J.T. Shrout. Photo via Caleb Jones/Tennessee Athletics Communications.

While the 2023 Tennessee football team is gearing up for the season opener on Saturday in Nashville, former head coach Butch Jones has named a familiar face as the starting quarterback at Arkansas State.

According to the Red Wolves’ official game-one depth chart, former Vols quarterback J.T. Shrout will be Arkansas State’s starting quarterback this week against Oklahoma.

“I first want to state this,” Jones said via RedWolfReport on YouTube. “We call it an organizational chart. Everywhere I’ve been, we’ve called it an org chart. Everybody’s considered on a thing called a depth chart. Really, that doesn’t mean anything in today’s world of football. That’s like something that people talked about 20 years ago, 15 years ago. All that means is who’s going to take the first rep. You know, I know coach Saban’s made a big deal of it, but most coaches do. Because you need, as we found out, you need more than 11 individuals on both sides of the ball to play winning football. That’s been one of our challenges here is how could we grow our competitive and our quality of depth. But in terms of the quarterback situation, J.T. Shrout will start the game and we’ll see how that goes.”

Jones also noted “a little more consistency” and “some game experience” as some of the factors that led the staff to this decision, along with Shrout doing some things differently offensively.

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Jones took over the head coaching position at Arkansas State prior to the 2021 football season. Shrout, on the other hand, transferred to Arkansas State this past offseason after spending the previous season at the University of Colorado. Shrout played in nine games for the Buffaloes during the 2022 season and threw for 1,220 yards and seven touchdowns on 90 completions.

More from RTI: Tennessee Announces Sell Out For Season Opener Against Virginia

Prior to his one season in Colorado, Shrout was on the Tennessee roster from 2018 to 2021. Shrout made appearances in eight games and started one game as a redshirt freshman during the 2019 season. Shrout threw for 494 yards and five touchdowns on 37-of-69 passing during his two active seasons at Tennessee in 2019 and 2020.

Butch Jones’ five-year tenure at Tennessee came to a close prior to Shrout’s arrival. Jones was fired from Tennessee in November 2017 while the Vols didn’t even offer Shrout until December 13, 2017, according to 247 Sports.

So despite the two not crossing paths at Tennessee, redshirt senior quarterback J.T. Shrout and third-year head coach Butch Jones will look to lead Arkansas State this season after the Red Wolves only mustered a record of 5-19 over the past two seasons.

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Arkansas

DoorDash activates severe weather protocol, suspending service in parts of Arkansas

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DoorDash activates severe weather protocol, suspending service in parts of Arkansas


LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Due to the ongoing winter storm sweeping through the Natural State, DoorDash has activated its Severe Weather Protocol and temporarily suspended operations in Little Rock and various parts of the Natural State.

According to a release Friday night, the precautionary measure comes as the winter storms deliver hazardous conditions across the city, including heavy snowfall and strong winds.

Cities with suspended operations include Little Rock, North Little Rock, Conway, Pine Bluff, Jacksonville, Cabot, Searcy, Malvern, Lonoke, Heber Springs, Star City, Clinton, Rison and Sheridan.

“With heavy snowfall and low visibility, the snowstorm is a serious threat to our community, and we’ve taken decisive action by activating our Severe Weather Protocol,” DoorDash spokesperson Julian Crowley said. “We deeply appreciate the patience and understanding of Dashers, merchants and consumers, and will resume operations as soon as it’s safe to do so.”

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Officials said they will continue to monitor conditions on the ground and will communicate additional changes to their operations as needed. 



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Knowing the Florida Gators Opponent: Arkansas Razorbacks

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Knowing the Florida Gators Opponent: Arkansas Razorbacks


Gainesville, Fla. – The Florida Gators men’s basketball team’s next destination is Fayetteville, Ark., as they’ll take on the Arkansas Razorbacks (11-4, 0-2) on Saturday for their third SEC matchup of the season. 

Florida is currently sitting at 14-1 on the season and 1-1 in conference play. They opened their SEC slate with a nail-biting loss to the Kentucky Wildcats, losing 106-100 in Lexington. 

However, the Gators were able to avenge this loss with one of the most dominant wins in men’s basketball history on Tuesday over No. 1 Tennessee. They trounced the Volunteers 73-43 in the O’Dome, marking the Gators’ first regular-season win over an AP No. 1-ranked team in program history and the biggest win over a No. 1-ranked team in the NCAA since 1968. 

But enough about what Florida has done this season, let’s shift the focus to their opponents, the Razorbacks, and see who they are. 

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Arkansas’ season started out nice with a win over Lipscomb. However, it wouldn’t be the same for them in their second game of the season against then-ranked No. 8 Baylor, as they found themselves on the losing end of a tightly contested battle. 

Then, following a good stretch for the team in red, they were tasked with the current No. 13 in the AP Poll, Illinois, and things wouldn’t go so well for new Razorbacks head coach John Calipari. His team was outclassed in this game 90-77, which ended their winning streak at four. 

Arkansas did make amends with their fans a few games later, though. While participating in the Jimmy V Classic, they matched up with then-ranked No. 14 Michigan, who they narrowed past 89-87. 

This win over the Wolverines helped maintain a three-game win streak that would eventually turn into a six-game streak. However, since SEC play started for the Razorbacks, they are 0-2 with losses to Tennessee and Ole Miss, who are currently ranked in the Top 25 AP Poll. 

These pair of losses put Arkansas at just a 1-4 record against teams on their schedule to have been ranked or that are currently ranked.

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While it was a complete roster overhaul for Calipari and the Razorbacks this offseason that was fueled by the transfer portal, their biggest grab has been from the high school ranks. 

They added highly ranked players like Johnell Davis, Adou Thiero and Jonas Aidoo all from the portal, but it’s former five-star guard Boogie Fland who’s been arguably the best player for the Razorbacks this season. 

Fland is averaging 15.5 points, 5.9 assists and 3.6 rebounds per game through 15 games this season. He is also connecting on 35.7 percent of his threes, which shows he’s more than just an inside scorer. Additionally, his 5.9 assists rank 24th among his competitors. 

But in these first two SEC games, Fland is just 10-for-35 from the field and 3-for-17 from deep. 

If the Gators can’t keep him in check like he’s been over these last two, then it might be a long afternoon for the visitors on Saturday. 

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Despite bringing in tons of talent that should’ve resulted in a great offense, Arkansas has been anything but that. 

They currently rank inside the bottom five teams in the SEC in scoring offense, averaging 79.4 points per game. They do have two players scoring at least 15.0 points per game, but that’s pretty much it. Outside of Thiero (16.9) and Fland, they only have one other player in double figures (DJ Wagner, 10.5). 

Moreover, if this becomes a free-throw-dominated affair, the Gators shouldn’t be too worried about the Razorbacks’ performance at the line. They are shooting 71.1 percent from the charity stripe, which is good for 12th in the league. 

And, lastly, they have little to no presence on the glass. They are the worst team in the SEC in offensive rebounding, and they are 13th out of 16 teams in overall rebounding. These are two areas where the Gators dominate, and if things play out like they have been this season, then the visitors should outmuscle their counterparts. 

This game will be televised on Saturday at 4 pm on ESPN. 

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Viewer pictures: The Natural State transforms into a winter wonderland

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Viewer pictures: The Natural State transforms into a winter wonderland


LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – A winter storm rolled into Arkansas Thursday and brought with it snow to the majority of western and central Arkansas.

Many from around the Natural State sent in pictures of their area covered in snow.

Though Arkansas is already full of natural beauty, there’s something about the state covered in snow that makes it even more of a winter wonderland.

Several kids from around the state got out and took advantage of the day off of school by throwing snowballs, digging up the snow, sledding and of course making snow angels.

Many who got out in the snow had enough accumulated to make snow men.

Share your snow day pictures at KARK.com/winter-pics.

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