FAYETTEVILLE -- The loss of preseason All-American center Frank Ragnow comes as a tough blow for the Arkansas Razorbacks, who have been shuffling their offensive line much of the season trying to find the best combination.
Ragnow suffered a severe high ankle sprain in the first quarter of Saturday's 52-20 loss to Auburn that will require surgery. The Razorbacks gave up six sacks in that game and five the previous week against No. 1 Alabama to fall to No. 120 in the nation with 3.43 sacks allowed per game.
"It's a lot of things," offensive line coach Kurt Anderson said about the hits and sacks taken by Austin Allen and Cole Kelley the past couple of seasons. "It's our ability to execute the protection plan. It's getting five guys to execute it at all times, and it's not just five guys.
"There's tight ends involved in that. There's running backs involved in that. There's obviously receivers getting open, and there's the quarterbacks in their pocket. It's a team. It's an offensive thing and yes, we've struggled.
"We have dissected and worked on the issues tirelessly since we've been here. So it's something that obviously guys are frustrated and coaches are frustrated. It's about execution of the protection plan, and they've got to go out and execute it."
Anderson said the protections have been simplified as much as possible.
Junior guard Hjalte Froholdt, now the most experienced player on the Hogs' front, said there isn't enough great things to say about Ragnow.
"He's a great guy and he helps with everyone's mood," Froholdt said. "He communicates with everybody. He's an amazing friend and a great guy."
Junior Johnny Gibson has played the past couple of games with a sore knee. Zach Rogers has moved into Ragnow's spot at center. Brian Wallace, Colton Jackson and Paul Ramirez split time at tackle the past game.
"You want your starters to be the same the entire year, but we've been battling with some injuries and stuff throughout the season," Froholdt said. "I think it's about every guy stepping up.
"A lot of guys have been leaning on Frank as the centerpiece for this thing to move forward, and I think now this allows some guys to step up and have a voice. Frank was the only strong voice in the room. It's time for some of the guys to ... springboard forward."
Enos' dad
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville offensive coordinator Dan Enos wrote about the passing of his father, Robert Manuel Enos, on his Twitter account Tuesday, quoting a bible verse from Psalms and writing, "We lost a great one ... RIP Pops."
Robert Enos passed away Sunday at age 76 in Dearborn, Mich.
Per his obituary on the Detroit Free Press website, Robert Enos was involved in Golden Gloves boxing, played Class A baseball for Coca-Cola and the Dearborn Pressmen, played semipro football for the Milan Vikings, played in men's hockey leagues, coached three sports, and passed his love of sports on to his children and grandchildren.
Chase down
Tailback Chase Hayden's season-ending injury knocked out one of the brightest spots the Razorbacks had received from a newcomer this season. Hayden has 61 carries for a team-high 326 yards and 4 touchdowns. His work included productive snaps out of the WildHog formation and a 23-yard gain on a screen pass last week.
"I feel bad for Chase because he was just starting to hit his groove, and it seemed like he was getting more comfortable playing with his role and he was able to play on all three downs," running backs coach Reggie Mitchell said.
Coach Bret Bielema said sophomore T.J. Hammonds could assume the offensive packages Hayden was running.
"He looked good today," Mitchell said. "He's really got fresh legs."
Step back
Freshman quarterback Cole Kelley, asked whether the loss of offensive captains Frank Ragnow and Austin Allen put more of a leadership role on his plate, put forth a blunt answer.
"No. I feel like maybe some of my problems have been I put too much on my shoulders," Kelley said. "Especially not having that much experience, I feel like I just tried to make too many plays when they weren't there, instead of taking what the defense gives.
"I can only do my job, no matter who I'm taking snaps from. I can't worry about that too much."
K-Rich snags
Senior nickel back Kevin Richardson is on a pass-grabbing roll. Richardson has interceptions in three of the past four games, including picks in back-to-back games at No. 1 Alabama and against No. 21 Auburn.
With three interceptions, Richardson has the most in a season for a Razorback since Ross Rasner picked off three passes in 2013.
Ragnow No. 1
Injured Arkansas center Frank Ragnow had the highest rating among college offensive linemen in specialty stats compiled by Pro Football Focus at the time of his season-ending ankle injury.
Ragnow, who PFF named as the top-rated center in college football last year, had a grade of 93.5 through eight weeks.
The senior's streak of 33 consecutive starts, 18 at center and 15 at right guard, will come to an end Saturday at Ole Miss.
Ragnow was injured in the first quarter against Auburn and played through pain the rest of the game.
"It was the guttiest, most inspiring performance I've seen out of a player," offensive line coach Kurt Anderson said. "He wasn't aware, obviously, of how significant an injury it was."
Warren wows
Freshman De'Vion Warren provided one of the highlights in the Hogs' loss to Auburn with a 100-yard kickoff return touchdown in the third quarter to break a 21-point run by the Tigers. Warren moved up to No. 6 in the NCAA rankings among kickoff returners, now sporting an average of 29.6 yards per return.
Warren ranks second among players in Power 5 conferences behind Penn State's Saquon Barkley (30.33).
The SEC officiating crew originally threw a flag on Warren's 100-yard return, ostensibly on a Nate Dalton block deep in Auburn territory. However, referee David Smith waved the penalty off and Warren had the Hogs' first kickoff return for a touchdown since Corliss Marshall went 97 yards on the opening kickoff against Northern Illinois in 2014.
Warren's touchdown is the longest by an FBS freshman this season.
3 in a row
Arkansas has won three in a row against Ole Miss, the longest streak for the Hogs against an SEC opponent since 2008, when their nine-game winning streak against Mississippi State and their four-game winning streak against Ole Miss ended.
The Razorbacks broke a two-game skid against the Rebels on Nov. 22, 2014, with a 30-0 victory over No. 8 Ole Miss. Arkansas won 53-52 in overtime in Oxford, Miss., the next season, then prevailed 34-30 last year.
Sports on 10/25/2017