Arkansas offensive line commitment Zach Rogers and his family have visited Fayetteville numerous times and over the weekend it was for an official visit.
Rogers, 6-2, 297, 5.06 seconds in the 40 yard dash, of Carrollton, (Texas) Hebron earned his offer from the Hogs just a few weeks after completing the ninth grade at an Arkansas summer camp.
He and his parents enjoyed watching the Razorbacks break their SEC losing streak with a 17-0 victory over LSU Saturday night.
"It was an awesome deal," Rogers, who's rated a 4-star prospect by national recruiting analyst Tom Lemming of CBS Sports Network. "I have been up here for like 40 visits.... I’ve lost count at this point. It was nice getting up here and getting a hands on experience."
Rogers, who signed an athletic financial aid agreement with Arkansas in August and will enroll in January, plans to return this weekend for the Ole Miss game.
His mother, Kellie saw the shutout coming in the first half.
"We were sitting there in the first quarter and after we went up 10-0 and my mom turned to me and said, 'You know what would be better than beating LSU...a shutout against LSU’.” Rogers said. “That ended up happening and was awesome to see.”
Arkansas commitment, and punter Blake Johnson, 6-1, 190 of Los Alamitos, Calif., offensive lineman Tyler Howell, 6-9, 293 pounds, of Butler Community College in Kansas and receiver Dominique Reed, 6-3, 185, 4.36 seconds in the 40-yard dash, of Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College also officially visited.
The visitors were able to enjoyed the post-game celebration in the locker room.
"After they got the field calmed down a little bit and they got the Boot up there they took me, Tyler (Howell), Blake (Johnson) and Dominique (Reed) in there," Rogers said. "Coach (Bret) Bielema talked and everything.”
Rogers was able to see The Boot, the 175 pound trophy given to the winner of the Arkansas-LSU game.
“I got a couple of pictures of it, but not me next to it,” he said.
Being at the game and seeing the 17-game losing streak in the SEC ended was a big moment for the Hogs and Rogers.
"This whole season they have been right there in several games,” Rogers said. “Now they just finally just put one away and dominated the whole game. I think the defense only gave up 120 yards or something like that . That's some awesome momentum."
Rogers suffered an ACL injury before the start of his junior season and then a broken ankle on Sept. 12 against Plano that ended his senior season. Coach Bret Bielema and his staff never wavered in their commitment to Rogers.
"That was an awesome deal," Rogers said. "I had a buddy a couple year's ago I played high school ball with, he was a running back and when he tore his ACL a lot of schools said we don't want any part of you any more. That was an awesome deal and just let me know I like the place even more."