Razorbacks Report

Bielema announces team captains; All-SEC Hogs

Arkansas' Brooks Ellis (51) looks for a teammate after an NCAA college football game against Auburn, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2015, in Fayetteville, Ark. Arkansas won 54-46 in four overtimes. (AP Photo/Samantha Baker)

FAYETTEVILLE -- Senior middle linebacker Brooks Ellis is an Arkansas team captain for the second consecutive year.

Ellis was voted a captain by his teammates, along with senior offensive lineman Dan Skipper, senior tailback Kody Walker and senior defensive end Deatrich Wise.

Coach Bret Bielema announced the captains Thursday night after telling the team at the conclusion of practice.

When Bielema met with the media earlier Thursday, he didn't want to reveal the captains before telling the team, but said he was happy with the selections.

Burnham joins staff

Wally Burnham and Paul Rhoads are back together at Arkansas this season after working on the same staff at Iowa State.

Rhoads, Arkansas' defensive backs coach, was Iowa State's head coach the previous seven seasons with Burnham as his defensive coordinator.

Burnham, 74, has joined the Razorbacks as a defensive analyst.

"It's not a hell of a lot of responsibility," Burnham told the Des Moines Register. "It's a lot of fun. I'm enjoying it."

Burnham played for Bear Bryant at Alabama before finishing his college career at Samford. He was an assistant at Florida State for Bobby Bowden, and he was South Carolina's defensive coordinator from 1994-1998.

Arkansas previously announced the hiring of Rob Ash, a former head coach at Montana State, as an offensive analyst for this season.

All-SEC Hogs

Arkansas placed six players on the preseason All-SEC coaches' team released Thursday, led by the team's lone first-team selection, offensive tackle Dan Skipper.

Linebacker Brooks Ellis was a second-team choice, and the quartet of receiver Drew Morgan, center Frank Ragnow, tight end Jeremy Sprinkle and defensive end Deatrich Wise made the third team. All the Razorbacks are seniors with the exception of Ragnow, a junior.

Coaches were not allowed to vote for players on their teams.

Top camp

Bret Bielema touted the team's depth at safety and gave junior De'Andre Coley a major plug at his Thursday news conference.

"I think we have three, possibly four, at the safety position," Bielema said. "In addition to Josh Liddell and Santos Ramirez, De'Andre Coley has had probably the best camp of anybody."

Coley was tied with combo defensive back Kevin Richardson with five interceptions during training camp, then he added two more Tuesday to give him a team-high seven.

'Druice' Juice

After receiver Drew Morgan's recent, passionate address to the team about being "the juice" and not being a sponge, several "Juice" memes have blossomed in social media circles surrounding the Razorbacks.

Bret Bielema got a chuckle Thursday when asked about Morgan's "juice" campaign, wondering aloud whether Morgan has looked into getting a patent.

"[Quality control assistant] Tanner Burns brought it up, we're calling him 'The Druice' now," Bielema said.

Same old song

Sophomore Rawleigh Williams and freshman Devwah Whaley have gotten a lot attention in recent days as the team's top tailbacks.

Kody Walker, a sixth-year senior, isn't worried about it.

"I get that every year," Walker said. "It's always somebody else.

"I'm cool with that, but it does feed into what I do on the field and off the field."

Calling Baton Rouge

The UA Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, Associated Student Government and athletic department are collecting supplies for flood victims in the Baton Rouge area.

Based on recommendations from agencies in Louisiana, the UA groups will collect bottled water, youth clothing, bedding and school supplies in Lot 44 East at the northeast corner of Reynolds Razorback Stadium from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday.

Annoying Led

Hjalte Froholdt's learning curve at offensive guard has been assisted by his matchups with 280-pound defensive tackle Jeremiah Ledbetter, an end last season whose burst and athleticism are well-renowned at Arkansas.

Froholdt was asked what it was like to block Ledbetter.

"It's just annoying at times," he said. "I think that's the best way to describe it because he's so good. He's just so smooth in all of his movements. It was kind of scary to see a guy be so smooth and flipping his hips on pass rush and so explosive out of his stance.

"When you're 280 and can do a backflip, you've got some power to you. It's also great to be able to go against a guy like that because when we come to game time, I've been practicing against the best in the country."

Drawing a crowd

Bret Bielema said NFL scouts at practice have taken notice of senior punter Toby Baker.

"I was standing next to a group of NFL scouts the other day, and they usually don't come to watch punters," Bielema said. "They usually watch the other guys. But there was a crew of them watching Toby. He put about five straight punts with a 5.0 [second] hang time that were 50-yard plus punts. He just has an extremely long and gifted leg."

Return guys

Arkansas has a lot of options for kickoff returners, Bret Bielema said, with the top choice being senior receiver Dominique Reed due to his speed as long as he suffers no relapses from his ankle injury.

Other players in the mix are receivers Drew Morgan, Jared Cornelius, Deon Stewart and Jordan Jones, running backs Devwah Whaley and T.J. Hammonds, and cornerbacks Jared Collins and Henre Toliver.

Tech look

O'Shea Dugas, Louisiana Tech's biggest lineman at 6-5, 329 pounds, is questionable for the season opener against Arkansas after suffering ligament sprains in his leg in a scrimmage. Coach Skip Holtz said the Bulldogs dodged a bullet because it appeared Dugas had broken his leg after being rolled up at the end of a play and carted off on a stretcher.

The Bulldogs are playing Joshua Outlaw, a junior college transfer from Texas Tech who was at right tackle, and Ethan Reed at left guard in Dugas' absence.

Holtz recently dismissed cornerback Jarrell Jackson from the team for an unspecified violation of team rules. Jackson, a 6-1, 191-pound transfer from Hawaii, was atop the depth chart after spring drills.

Taylor update

Defensive end signee Michael Taylor of Riverside (Calif.) City College was en route to campus Thursday, Bret Bielema said, but still had paperwork to complete.

His eligibility for 2016 is yet to be determined, Bielema said, but if Taylor qualifies this semester he'll have three years of eligibility.

Sports on 08/26/2016