Swanson, Smith on coaches’ first team

Arkansas defender Chris Smith reacts after taking down Jacksonville State quarterback Marques Ivory in the second quarter of a Saturday, Sept. 1, 2012 game at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville.

FAYETTEVILLE - Arkansas defensive end Chris Smith and center Travis Swanson made a flurry of college football watch lists throughout the summer, and now they’ve received a major nod from SEC coaches to end the summer.

The seniors were the only Razorbacks named first-team preseason All-SEC by a vote of league coaches.

Swanson, who has started all 38 games of his Arkansas career, also was a first-team All-SEC selection by league media last month in Hoover, Ala. The native of Kingwood, Texas, has snapped for a 3,000-yard passer in each of his seasons.

Smith, whose 13 career sacks rank 12th on Arkansas’ career list, was also a first team selection by the media.

Arkansas placed two more seniors on the coaches’ third team, left tackle David Hurd and kicker Zach Hocker.

Hurd, a former walk-on, is projected to start for a second consecutive season at the left tackle spot that protects the blind side of right-handed quarterback Brandon Allen. Hocker enters the fall as the SEC’s active career leader with 287 points scored, and he’s the Arkansas career leader in points scored by a kicker, career extra points (143) and extra-point attempts (145).

Swanson, of Kingwood, Texas, has been included on numerous preseason All-SEC teams and is on the watch lists for the Rimington Trophy, Outland Trophy and Rotary Lombardi Award. Last week he was selected to the watch list for the Senior Bowl, and this week he was among 35 players on the watch list for the inaugural Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award.

The new award honors the legacy of Campbell, the 1977 Heisman Trophy winner at Texas. It will be presented to the best offensive player in college football who is a Texas native or played his high school or college football there. The award winner will be recognized at a banquet Jan. 10 in Tyler, Texas.

Smith, of Mount Ulla, N.C., also has been chosen to numerous preseason All-SEC teams. He has been named to the watch lists for the Bednarik Award, Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Rotary Lombardi Award and Hendricks Award.Smith, who had 13 tackles for loss and 9½ sacks last season, joins South Carolina’s Jadeveon Clowney as the only returning SEC players with at least nine sacks in 2012.

Hurd, a native of West Monroe, La., started 11 games last season and helped lead an offense that produced a 3,000-yard passer in Tyler Wilson and a 1,300-yard receiver in Cobi Hamilton. The Razorbacks ranked third in the SEC in allowing 1.58 sacks per game last year.

Hocker, of Russellville, has made 48 of 64 career field goals. He led the nation last season with an average kickoff distance of 64.7 yards and was second in the SEC and sixth nationally with a touchback percentage of 67.3. Hocker is a candidate to be the Hogs’ first-team kicker, kickoff man and punter this season.

Sports, Pages 24 on 08/23/2013