LITTLE ROCK — Available to all three of Arkansas’ young quarterbacks in the season opener, the window for taking advantage of the NCAA’s new eligibility rule is unavailable to at least two of them for a month.
A flat-out, closed door for all three freshmen is avoided only because Connor Noland moving ahead of John Stephen Jones and Daulton Hyatt raises the possibility Noland could play Saturday vs. North Texas.
Otherwise, separating junior Ty Storey and sophomore Cole Kelley is the top priority, relegating an in-game look at the freshmen to a back burner. If Noland does not play, it would indicate head coach Chad Morris is convinced the freshmen cannot come close to displacing either of the two older quarterbacks.
The shame of all this is that a rule passed by the NCAA in June allows players to compete in as many as four games without losing a year of their eligibility and the door was open when Arkansas led Eastern Illinois by 35 points after three quarters. Enter Hyatt, who took four snaps, losing two yards on a running play and four yards on a pass attempt.
EIU scored a touchdown and with eight minutes remaining, starter Kelley was back on the field for eight plays, including an unproductive keeper, two short completions to Chase Harrell, an incompletion and a meaningless 42-yard TD pass to Austin Cantrell.
Given the same plays, who knows how Noland or Jones would have fared? Maybe Morris believed Kelley’s confidence needed a boost in light of Storey’s superior stats, which were partly the result of a coaching decision not to be stubborn about running the ball.
But, playing the freshmen seems to dovetail with what the NCAA had in mind when it adopted the rule proposed by the American Football Coaches Association. “Coaches will appreciate the additional flexibility and ability to give younger players an opportunity to participate in limited competition,” said Miami athletics director and Division I Council chairman Blake James. He also mentioned that redshirt athletes “are more likely to remain engaged with the team …” if they play some.
The skills of Noland and the others are a much-discussed topic for several reasons:
• Both Storey and Kelley have been average in the 1-1 start.
• Pointing fingers at the quarterback is always overdone and the three freshmen passed for a combined 19,949 yards in high school.
• The upcoming schedule.
Before the loss at Colorado State, Arkansas seemed capable of pulling away from North Texas late in the second half, possibly creating some fourth-quarter opportunities for the freshmen.
Instead, K.J. Carta-Samuels’s 32-of-50 vs. Arkansas leads to the conclusion that quarterback Mason Fine and North Texas will be a threat in the final 15 minutes on Saturday. Fine, who completed more than 63 percent last year while throwing for 4,052 yards, is 65-of-90 with seven TD passes and one interception in a 2-0 start.
After the Mean Green, Arkansas plays No. 7 Auburn, a Texas A&M team that lost to No. 2 Clemson by two points, and No. 1 Alabama.
No way Morris turns to Noland four months removed from Greenwood High School and says sic ‘em vs. the Tigers or the Aggies or the Crimson Tide unless he plays against North Texas. The long-term damage to the psyche of the chosen one, particularly a quarterback operating behind a suspect offensive line, vs. those three defenses, could be devastating.
If Arkansas is 0-3 in the SEC as expected, Morris could demote Storey or Kelley and promote Noland for the Ole Miss game on Oct. 13.
Whether Morris retains the status quo all season or makes a move that will be interpreted by some as giving up on 2018, egos will be affected and all involved will contemplate the future knowing highly touted Kenneth Jefferson is due on campus for the 2019 season and that six quarterbacks is two too many.