O-lineman Clark big on pancakes

Junior offensive lineman Austin Clark likes the physical part of run blocking.

Junior offensive lineman Austin Clark likes to run block and lives for the opportunity to dominate the defender and pancake him. One of the more comical responses from an opponent came last year.

“The funnest thing I ever heard was it was the first play of my third game,” Clark said. “I drove the guy like five yards down field and just as I was getting ready to pancake him I heard him go ‘Oh crap’. I couldn’t help but to get up and laugh a little bit when I went back to the huddle.”

His talent has earned him seven scholarship offers from schools like Virginia, Virginia Tech, Tennessee and Penn State while drawing interest from Arkansas and others. Clark has been interested in the Hogs.

“They were a school I was really looking at before I started getting heavily recruited,” Clark said.

Clark, 6-6, 280, 5.1 seconds on the 40 yard dash, of Lexington, Virginia Rockbridge knows Roanoke Northside High School junior offensive lineman/defensive lineman Chance Hall, who took part in Arkansas’ Elite Prospect Camp in July and gave heard good reviews.

He said he’s been fond of one of the schools that have extended an offer.

“I’ve kind of been a Tennessee fan since I was a little kid but that’s not really going to have a lot of say where I go to school,” Clark said.

Clark, who has a 3.75 grade point average, wants a home away from home and a chance for early playing time.

“The most important thing is that I feel at home,” said Clark, who has a 305 pound bench press, 530 squat along with a pro-shuttle time of 4.60 seconds. “Like this is the place for me. But other than that playing time is going to be a big deciding factor for me as well as the academic aspect.”