Razorbacks report

New job good fit for Tate

Arkansas tight ends coach Barry Lunney Jr. watches practice on April 6, 2013 at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville.

FAYETTEVILLE - Arkansas’ tight ends are adjusting to preparing for the Aug. 31 opener against Louisiana-Lafayette with senior leader Austin Tate sidelined as he recovers from shoulder surgery.

“We’re managing,” tight ends coach Barry Lunney Jr. said after Wednesday’s practice “It’s added some stress on us, obviously. It’s brought some challenges from a depth standpoint.

We’ve had to bump some positions, and some guys are having to take on new roles that they weren’t taking on earlier, but I think we’ve responded pretty well.”

The tight ends who figure into the game plan for Louisiana-Lafayette are redshirt sophomores Mitchell Loewen and Alex Voelzke, redshirt freshman Jeremy Sprinkle and true freshman Hunter Henry.

“The food chain just kind of got bumped up a little bit,” Lunney said.

“So whoever you are, you may have to take on a dual-learning role, whereas before it was a single role as far as your position.”

Voelzke said he is confident there is enough depth at tight end.

“Everybody is stepping up,” he said. “We’ll be happy to get Austin back as soon as we can, but for now we’ll take those other roles over.”

While Tate won’t be able to get on the field for three or four weeks, Coach Bret Bielema kept him on the 105-man roster so he’d able to attend meetings and be at practice.

“Right now he’s Coach Tate,” Lunney said with a smile. “He’s my first assistant, and he’s done a nice job so far of teaching the young guys and staying with the script. … It’s been nice to continue to see Austin stay involved.”

Voelzke said Tate has embraced his role of mentoring the younger tight ends.

“You can’t even put it into words how important he is,” Voelzke said. “He knows what we’re going through from a player’s perspective, so he can watch now and then correct us on some things just because he’s been there for a while.”

Learning from vets

Freshman receiver Drew Morgan, who is getting plenty of practice reps with the position hit hard by injuries, said he’s following the lead of seniors Julian Horton and Javontee Herndon.

“Those guys are real solid in their belief with football,” Morgan said. “Hey, learn the routes, learn the concepts, this, this, this. I’m jumping on their back, and right now they’re carrying us.”

Morgan said he’s getting used to playing an increased role with the receivers.

“I’m feeling confident every time another ball comes to me,” he said. “I’m catching them. I’m feeling good. I mean, it’s what I do best. I’m going to keep doing it.”

Senior fullback Kiero Small said he’s been impressed by Morgan.

“I like Drew. He’s a quick guy,” Small said. “He understands a lot of things that you really wouldn’t expect a true freshman to understand.

“It’s good to see him stepping into the role when called upon.”

At the movies

The Razorbacks got a break from camp Tuesday night when Coach Bret Bielema took them to the movies.

“It was awesome,” kicker Zach Hocker said. “It was a relief, kind of stepping away from the grind of the football field a little bit and getting a good movie going and Coach being there.

“That hasn’t been characteristic in the past. If we’d go do a team event, it was usually just the team.

But seeing the coaching staff there with us and cutting up in the theater and actually watching a good movie, it was a really good time.”

The team saw 2 Guns, starring Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg.

“It’s amazing when you give 18- to 22-year-old kids a bucket of popcorn and a slushy how happy they are,” Bielema said Wednesday when he spoke in Little Rock.

Bielema said defensive linemen Robert Thomas, Byran Jones and Darius Philon and linebacker Jarrett Lake jumped into his Jeep and rode with him to the theater.

“It was just nonstop laughter,” Bielema said. “To get to know that side of them was really cool.”

It’s that time

The Razorbacks have started working on the game plan for Louisiana-Lafayette.

“Today was kind of our first big day of Lafayette preparation in all three phases,” tight ends coach Barry Lunney Jr. said of Wednesday’s practice. “I thought it went well. We got a lot of reps, got a lot of looks. I thought our [scout] squads did a really nice job.”

Louisiana-Lafayette has a new defensive coordinator, James Willis, who previously coached at Auburn and Alabama.

“It’s a little bit of an unknown because there’s been a change at coordinator in the off season,” Lunney said. “I think we’ve got a general idea of what we’re looking for and prepping for, but just like any other first game you don’t ever really know what to expect.

“So you’ve got to get good at what you do, and identify what you do well.

And get good at doing it, no matter what the look is.”

He’s everywhere

Coach Bret Bielema was talking about how physical linebacker Martrell Spaight plays - and referenced the term “getting Spaighted” - during a media session Wednesday in Little Rock when there was a crashing noise behind him on the other side of a wall.

“Somebody got ‘Spaighted’ back there,” Bielema said. “I didn’t know we took him on the plane today.”

Spaight’s hard-hitting style has raised the question of what happens in practice if he takes on fullback Kiero Small, who has broken numerous face masks with his physical blocking.

Small said after Wednesday’s practice there wasn’t a clear winner in their collisions so far.

“I didn’t get Spaighted. I don’t think he got Kieroed,” Small said. “It was a train wreck.”

Happy time

Tight end Alex Voelzke was among four players put on scholarship by Coach Bret Bielema in a Sunday night team meeting.

“You come in here as a walk-on and work your way up, and then being surprised with that scholarship, it’s just an absolute honor,” said Voelzke, a redshirt sophomore from Longview, Texas. “I can barely even describe the feeling.”

Voelzke said he was the last player to have his scholarship announced, after fullback Patrick Arinze and linebackers Austin Jones and Price Holmes.

“That’s the first time I heard, when everybody else heard,” he said.

Tight ends coach Barry Lunney Jr. said he’s happy for Voelzke.

“That’s a big deal,” Lunney said. “I think that’s validation to a guy that he feels a part of what’s going on and feels valued, because we certainly value Alex and what he brings to our football team.

“He’s kind of our utility player as far as he has to play all three positions we have at tight end and learn them and be good at it. He’s done pretty good at that.”

Cajuns crank it

Louisiana-Lafayette got an early start on preparing for the crowd noise the Ragin’ Cajuns will encounter at Reynolds Razorback Stadium in the Aug. 31 season opener.

The Cajuns cranked up the volume on their sound system for parts of practice, starting Monday.

“Today was monster jam Monday,” Coach Mark Hudspeth said. “We turn the volume way up, especially over the last four periods, so our guys get used to playing in a noisy stadium.”

The Cajuns’ school website said the music selections consisted of rock songs from the 1980s and the Arkansas fight song for the final period.

Sports, Pages 20 on 08/22/2013