FAYETTEVILLE — The alternating of Arkansas’ starting quarterback will continue for at least one more week.
Ty Storey, the junior from Charleston who earned his first career start in the Razorbacks’ road loss at Colorado State in Week 2, will start this Saturday as Arkansas opens Southeastern Conference play against No. 9 Auburn in Jordan-Hare Stadium, Chad Morris said Monday.
“I think the message is that we want to settle on someone,” Morris said. “We came into the game last week with the intent to settle with Cole (Kelley) being there, and that’s why we went with him in the second half. I wanted to see if we could work through some things. … I just thought that it’s time to go with Ty and give him an even slate as he starts the game.”
Storey sparked the Razorbacks’ offense in the season opener against Eastern Illinois and led Arkansas on four scoring drives in five second-quarter possessions. He completed 12 of 17 passes for 261 yards and three touchdowns in the win, earning the job the following week against the Rams in Fort Collins. He followed the Week 1 performance with a shaky first start in which he was intercepted twice in one half and totaled just 47 yards of offense.
Storey did not play in Arkansas’ loss to North Texas on Saturday. Morris instead elected to field freshmen Connor Noland and John Stephen Jones with the game out of reach. This weekend, he will get another shot at solidifying himself as the starter in one of the SEC’s toughest venues.
“We’re going with Ty this week, and regardless of the practice, regardless of the way things go, I wanted him to know straight up from yesterday that, ‘Look, we’re going to go with you, and let’s respond,'” Morris said. “Now instead of putting you in to where you’re in a tough situation with the momentum not in our favor, how would you respond?’
“That was my intent and I shared that with him yesterday. His exact words to me were, ‘Let’s go, coach.’”
Morris and offensive coordinator Joe Craddock, since spring practices, have believed in Storey’s efficiency, work ethic and ability to get Arkansas into the right protections. Familiarity with the offense is a plus. Storey also knows the environment he will be stepping into having played at Auburn in 2016, a game the Razorbacks lost 56-3. Storey finished 1 of 3 passing for 3 yards in mop-up duty.
Morris said there is not much in the way of advice he can relay to Storey in preparing for the challenge of facing what Craddock described as "one of the better defenses we've seen in a long time." Attention to detail and focus on self will be vital.
“You know, it’s football,” Morris said. “We have to worry about ourselves. We have to worry about getting prepared. You know, understanding what they do defensively, getting us in the right protections, getting us in the right calls and go play. That’s really what it boils down to, for us as coaches to give the clarity of what we want out of this.“
In preparing for Auburn, Craddock said he and the offensive staff will revisit some of the positives from the Eastern Illinois win and the handful of series Storey led that fit this week’s gameplan.
Craddock is excited for Storey to get another chance in a big moment.
“He's gonna have to be ready. It will take a good week of practice,” Craddock said. “The good thing it's Monday and we have time to get the gameplan in and have him ready to go. I think he will be. He's very excited. I think he's going to do good.”