FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas Razorbacks Athletic Director Jeff Long, asked whether questions about Coach Bret Bielema being on a "hot seat" this season were fair, said, "You know what, I'm 100 percent behind Bret Bielema. He's our football coach. He's building our program. He's doing many, many things right."
Long made the remarks in a question-and-answer session with the media Wednesday following his appearance at the Northwest Arkansas Touchdown Club.
Bielema will enter Saturday's game against TCU with a 26-26 record in his fifth season at Arkansas.
"As I said to this group, sure we'd like to win a few more games," Long said. "Nobody wants to win more games than Bret Bielema. We all want to win games. That's what we're here for and that's what competition is all about.
"So, yes, I support Bret Bielema and he is our coach and he's doing a good job. And you know what? With a few more wins he's doing an incredible job."
In a question-and-answer session with club president Bo Mattingly, Long pointed out how Bielema fit the university's academic culture.
"You will find very few football programs across this country that have nearly a 3.0 GPA for their team," Long said. "We've led the SEC in academic honor roll the past two years. Those are important pieces.
"We just need to win some more games. Bret knows that. I don't have to tell him that. And neither do you. The call-in shows act like we've never thought about winning more games. We truly are working hard to win more games. It's important."
Jackson out
Arkansas Razorbacks freshman receiver Koilan Jackson will need surgery to repair an injury to his anterior cruciate ligament and is out for the season, Coach Bret Bielema said Wednesday.
Jackson suffered the injury during a one-on-one drill at practice Tuesday and will undergo surgery this week or next, Bielema added.
"He would probably redshirt for us with us stacked up at wide receiver," Bielema said on Wednesday's SEC teleconference. "This is a negative situation now and no one likes to see someone go through this, but he's a very strong young man, great in his faith and has a great family."
Jackson, a Little Rock native and a son of former Razorback radio analyst Keith Jackson, a member of the College Football Hall of Fame, did not play in Arkansas' 49-7 victory over Florida A&M last Thursday.
"You hate to see one of your guys go down," Arkansas receivers coach Michael Smith said. "But Koilan's a strong young man, strong in his faith. He's got great family support that's awesome. We're going to support him here."
Cornerback Ryan Pulley has undergone surgery to repair a pectoral muscle injury suffered late in the first half of the opener.
Pulley wrote "surgery went well" on his Twitter account Wednesday morning.
Return of Jared
Senior receiver Jared Cornelius said he played seven snaps in the season opener, but he's ready to cut it loose Saturday against TCU.
"We were just trying to get my feet wet, trying to get back in the game groove," Cornelius said. "It felt great to get back out there moving around."
Cornelius came off the 105-man roster in camp due to tightness in his back and only began practicing the week of the opener.
"I'm feeling great now," he said. "Feeling 100 percent. We didn't want to rush it because I wasn't getting hit at practice."
Cornelius, who was committed to the Horned Frogs at one time, had two catches for 17 yards in the Razorbacks' 41-38 victory at TCU last season.
Making grades
Left guard Hjalte Froholdt led the offensive linemen with a grade of 94 against Florida A&M, assistant coach Kurt Anderson said.
Other grades for the starting linemen: 91 for center Frank Ragnow and right guard Ty Clary, 90 for right tackle Johnny Gibson and 87 for tackle Colton Jackson.
Allen tripping
Senior center Frank Ragnow said he and quarterback Austin Allen are still going back and forth about who's mistake led to Allen tripping and falling for a 4-yard loss in the third quarter last week.
"That's ridiculous man. I'll tell you one thing. That's on him, 100 percent on him," Ragnow said. "Just kidding. I don't know. It was just kind of unlucky stuff."
Ragnow took a step back with his left foot after the snap and Allen, who was dropping back for a pass, stepped on Ragnow's foot and toppled.
"He's got to get out of his drop," Ragnow said.
Best play
Running backs coach Reggie Mitchell said tailback Devwah Whaley last year might not have made the blitz pickup he did against Florida A&M last week. Whaley crossed the formation and picked up a blitzing back, giving space for Austin Allen to throw a 16-yard pass to Deon Stewart in the second quarter.
"That was probably his best play of the game," Mitchell said, pointing out that Whaley missed a similar pickup in last year's opener against Louisiana Tech that led to Allen getting hit.
Worst play
Freshman tailback Chase Hayden had a sparkling debut with 120 yards and a touchdown, which led to SEC freshman of the week accolades Tuesday. But he broke a Bret Bielema rule on his 5-yard touchdown run by reaching the ball out to the goal plane while being held up at the 1-yard line.
"Yeah, you don't ever do that," running backs coach Reggie Mitchell said. "That was probably the worst play he had, was the one he scored his touchdown on."
Bielema said on Wednesday's teleconference he told the other offensive coaches "I'll take this one" when Hayden jogged back to the sideline after his score.
"Huge ball security and awareness," Bielema said. "There's only one time that ball can be reached and that's the last play of the game and it's fourth down. It's a learning moment. ... It's a learning curve they all go through."
Our fault
Bret Bielema said a "young coach" got too excited during Henre Toliver's fumble return for a touchdown last week and bumped an official while stepping toward the field to watch the play, which occurred on the Arkansas sideline.
"It was absolutely, positively 100 percent our fault," said Bielema, who did not identify the staff member. "We had a huge emphasis during the out of season about sideline and crowding that. It was a really good teaching moment ... to draw that penalty.
"It was a young coach who was caught up in the moment and we'll definitely make ourselves better."
Backs and Bielema
Running backs Devwah Whaley and David Williams will participate in the weekly radio show On the Air with Bret Bielema, at 7 p.m. today at the Catfish Hole in Fayetteville.
Whaley and Williams combined to score three of Arkansas' four rushing touchdowns in its season-opening 49-7 victory over Florida A&M last week.
Bielema, Whaley and Williams will preview the Razorbacks' 2:30 p.m. game Saturday against TCU with host Chuck Barrett.
Sports on 09/07/2017