Razorbacks Report

Hogs have job opening

Arkansas kicker John Henson watches his field goal attempt during the fourth quarter of a game against Texas A&M on Saturday, Sept. 27, 2014 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

— Bret Bielema said he was reopening the job for place-kicker this week following senior John Henson’s critical missed 44-yard field goal try in the fourth quarter Saturday.

Henson’s miss, which sailed way left, came with Arkansas leading 28-21 with 2:29 remaining and might have salted away a Razorback victory.

“I left on Sunday afternoon and was actually flying with Rory Segrest, our kicking coach, so we talked about it,” Bielema said. “We’re definitely opening up the competition.”

Bielema said Lane Sailing, new kickoff man Adam McFain of Greenwood and scholarship freshman Cole Hedlund will compete with Henson for the job.

Let's see whether shorts fit

Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema will follow up his recruiting visits later this week with a flight to New York City to appear as a guest analyst during CBS Sports’ coverage of Alabama’s game at Ole Miss.

Bielema said he couldn’t pass up a chance for the national exposure for his team.

“I’m jumping into your guys’ shorts for a little bit,” Bielema said, joking with reporters at his Tuesday news conference. “At first I said no, then I took 15 minutes … CBS really presented an unbelievable opportunity for exposure for our program.

“It doesn’t have anything to do with me. I’ve probably got more of a face for radio. So I was reluctant, but I’m going to do it just because it provides exposure.”

Bielema will be on the College Football Today set with host Adam Zucker and analysts Spencer Tillman and Brian Jones handling pregame commentary and halftime analysis.

Eye ball

One Arkansas player watching the massive video board at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, during last Saturday’s game against Texas A&M set in motion a chain of events that proved costly for the Razorbacks.

Starting cornerback Henre Toliver was watching Arkansas’ offense on the sideline when a throwaway pass by quarterback Brandon Allen hit him in his eye and knocked him out of the game.

Toliver had to be checked out in a hospital in Arlington before he could be cleared for the return flight. His absence forced cornerbacks Jared Collins, Carroll Washington and D.J. Dean to play virtually all the reps against a Spread team, which could have led to fourth quarter breakdowns that led to Texas A&M touchdowns.

“We lost him by friendly fire, which hurt our corner rotation,” Bielema said. “It put our other guys at that position playing a lot more reps than we would like them to play in a four-quarter game, especially against someone as talented as A&M with as many DBs on the field.”

Injury report

Bret Bielema said he expected receivers Demetrius Wilson and Drew Morgan to be ready to play against Alabama after the open date.

Wilson has missed the past two games with an ankle sprain. Bielema said Morgan dislocated a kneecap in practice Thursday, played just a few snaps in the game and would probably be rested this week.

Cornerback Henre Toliver might not practice this week because of the eye injury he suffered after being hit out of bounds by a Brandon Allen pass during Saturday’s game.

2’s as 1’s

The Razorbacks will move most of their second-team players up to first-team status in early practices this week to give the starters a chance for rest.

“So Tevin Beanum will be a one this week, Trey Flowers will take all the twos,” Coach Bret Bielema said as an example.

“What it will do, it will emphasize to our twos — [quarterback] Austin Allen is going to get all the one reps — how quickly you could become a one and they have to live in that world,” Coach Bret Bielema said. “And it will also efficiently give an opportunity for our ones to get their legs back under them a little bit.”

Bielema said developmental players also will get 15 to 20 minutes of focused practice time at the end of workouts this week.

Seal man

Senior Alan Turner provided the most critical block Saturday on Sam Irwin-Hill’s 51-yard touchdown run off a fake punt against Texas A&M.

Turner, positioned at the left end of the Arkansas line, blocked down on Texas A&M’s Shaan Washington, who rushed inside, which effectively sealed off Clay Honeycutt and Josh Walker. Kody Walker shoved the Aggies’ Myles Garrett inside, which created an undefended flank for Irwin-Hill to sprint around.

Deep snapper Alan D’Appollonio hustled 30 yards downfield and engaged punt returner Nick Harvey at the 20-yard line, although Harvey shed the block and missed an arm tackle at the 16. Walker made a diving attempt at the 10, but Irwin-Hill powered through that tackle to post the Razorbacks’ second special teams touchdown in two weeks.

Collins stuffed

Arkansas did not create a push up front and Alex Collins was stuffed on a fourth-and-1 snap from the Texas A&M 16 in overtime on the final play of the game.

Collins started left, met immediate resistance and as he bounced right, and defensive end Julien Obioha and defensive back DeShazor Everett corralled him behind the line.

“It’s definitely frustrating,” offensive tackle Brey Cook said. “That’s our bread and butter. That’s what we like to do. We did it well for the most part during that game, but when it came down to it we couldn’t execute.”

Tide fan

Bret Bielema said an Alabama fan had praise for the Razorbacks on Sunday after he landed in Alabama on a recruiting trip.

“The [guy] grabs my luggage and he looks at me and says, ‘Coach, Roll Tide, but I do like how you played last night,’ and I just started laughing,” Bielema said.

Seven plays

Bret Bielema said he sent seven plays from Saturday’s loss in to the SEC office for examination and explanation.

One of the plays was a personal foul penalty against offensive tackle Brey Cook called at the end of Alex Collins’ 50-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.

“Brey unfortunately got flagged for something that he was not involved in in any way, shape or form with anything that went on during the course of that play,” Bielema said. “The guy got him from behind and knocked down. He turned around and the official sees one of my guys — who weighs 320 pounds — standing over one of their guys. … He assumed our guy did it, and that wasn’t the case.”

Arkansas had to kick off from its own 20 after the 15-yard penalty and the Aggies drove for a touchdown on their ensuing series, which started at their own 35.