FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas has played eight true freshmen on defense in the first two games.
Defensive coordinator Robb Smith said playing so many freshmen so soon is more exciting than nerve-wracking.
"Those guys earned the right to play," Smith said Sunday while reviewing the Razorbacks' 73-7 victory over Nicholls State. "They had a good training camp.
"They had a good week of practice last week and those are the things we've got to continue to build."
Tthe Razorbacks had three freshmen playing in the secondary together at times against Nicholls State, with safety Josh Liddell and cornerbacks Henre' Toliver and Cornelius Floyd.
Liddell, from Pine Bluff Dollarway, got a few snaps in Arkansas' season-opening 45-21 loss at Auburn, but he played during the opening series against Nicholls State when senior starter Alan Turner had to leave the game because his helmet came off.
"I thought as the game went on, Josh got much more comfortable," Smith said. "I thought he was doing a great job communicating, especially the second set in the red zone.
"He made some good checks for us and got us into some good situations. Cornelius Floyd made a play on the ball in the red zone as well. It was two freshmen working together there to help us get off the field."
Several freshmen were in the game during the third quarter when Arkansas stopped Nicholls State at the 7 and forced a missed field-goal attempt.
Floyd had a pass breakup on second down when freshman defensive end Anthony Brown hurried quarterback Beaux Hebert.
The Razorbacks scored so quickly on most of their possessions -- five times they scored touchdowns on a their first play -- that Nicholls State had the ball for 34:10, which enabled Smith to get the freshmen a lot of playing time.
Khalia Hackett, playing his first game, had five tackles against Nicholls State and forced a fumble. Nose guard Bijhon Jackson, from El Dorado, had three tackles, including one for a 2-yard loss.
Jackson has played both games on the second-team defense behind Taiwan Johnson.
"I thought Bijhon was a lot, lot better this week," Smith said. "Nothing to do with the competition, but just in his approach, having gone through it one time.
"We're expecting bigger things from him to come."
Linebacker Dwayne Eugene had three tackles and Toliver had two. Brown had a pass breakup. Liddell and Floyd each had a tackle.
Linebacker Randy Ramsey, who played at Auburn, didn't dress out Saturday because of an undisclosed injury.
"I feel really good about their progress," Smith said of all the freshmen. "For us to get to where we're going to go, we're going to need those guys at different points in time during the season.
"As the season goes, their role will expand. But I really like what they did, and now we've got a chance to build on that this week in practice as well."
Smith said he's hopeful that some defensive backs who missed the Nicholls State because of injuries -- cornerback Tevin Mitchel and safeties DeAndre Coley and Davyon McKinney -- will be back for Saturday's game at Texas Tech.
But whether the Razorbacks get have more defensive backs in the mix, the defense likely will need contributions from some freshmen to beat the Red Raiders.
"We need all hands on deck," Smith said. "We want to get them involved."
Sports on 09/08/2014