What Chad Morris, coordinators said reviewing Auburn, previewing Texas A&M

Chad Morris, Arkansas head coach, during warmups before the game vs vs Auburn Saturday, Sept. 22, 2018, at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Ala.

A couple of notes before coaches enter the interview room:

– Arkansas' game against No. 1 Alabama on Oct. 6 will kick off at 11 a.m.

– There is no OR listed at quarterback on Arkansas' updated depth chart. Ty Storey is the Razorbacks' starting quarterback moving forward – as Chad Morris said following Saturday's loss.


Chad Morris

– Morris said he's very proud of the way the team continues to battle. Make no mistake, though, losing is not accepted in this program, he said. The effort is there and it's going to take toughness and togetherness to get to where they want to go.

– Field position, again, was troubling. Thirty-four of 58 Auburn snaps were inside Arkansas' 50-yard line. Morris said he thought Saturday's defensive performance was the best he's seen. Those guys played their best game to this point, he said, but the defense has to create turnovers.

– The offense competed and showed improvement in all areas. Ty Storey competed. He was hit and hurried too many times, but he kept getting back up. He showed toughness. Rakeem Boyd showed improvement and big-play capability. Offense was more consistent in the run game than the week before.

– "Very disappointed" in the special teams play. It's unacceptable, Morris said. We have to get better in all phases in our special teams.

– Jonathan Nance has decided he will focus on earning his degree. Morris wished him luck. He only briefly touched on the news that Nance will transfer.

– Nance came to Morris yesterday, and they had a good discussion, Morris said. You don't ever want anyone to leave the program. We've struggled offensively with consistency. It wasn't so much anything he's done in regards to his lack of targets (4).

– T.J. Hammonds is back, Morris said. Hammonds did not practice last Wednesday and did not travel with the team to Auburn last weekend.

– Texas A&M is very explosive. They do a good job running the quarterback. I know Kellen Mond, and he's done nothing but get better every year. It'll be a challenge to contain him. Receivers are explosive as well. His ability to run the ball provides a dual threat.

– I'll continue to be more and more involved on the offensive side of things. The guys showed improvement and we've got to continue to improve in all areas.

– There were a couple of missed assignments on the front line on punt coverage, Morris said. That's where the breakdowns were.

– Chevin Calloway is on the team, Morris said, but will not play again this week.

– As of right now, Morris said he doesn't anticipate redshirting offensive lineman Noah Gatlin.

– The guys continued to compete and get better last weekend. There was improvement. Defensively it was their best effort so far.

– We put a lot of emphasis on special teams and have for a while. We will have a meeting with me, the entire staff and Tanner Burns on Monday nights. Each day we're getting 15-20 minutes of meeting time on each phase. It can be fixed. Fundamentals have to carry through to the games.

– Extremely excited about going to AT&T Stadium and playing in this rivalry. Morris has not coached in the stadium before but has taken in many games there, he said.

– All practices this week will take place in Fayetteville despite the early kick on Saturday.

– Morris anticipates De'Vion Warren being back and Dorian Gerald being back. Gary Cross and Britto Tutt will likely not play.

– Chevin has stepped back for personal reasons. We're in contact with him and supporting him.

– Devwah Whaley is day-to-day after leaving the game Saturday following a big hit. Morris said he is being evaluated and will address it further later in the week.

John Chavis

– Losing isn't what we're going to become accustomed to. There was great effort shown, but there is always room for improvement. Auburn got the ball inside the 10 and we stopped them. You can build on that.

– There were tackles in the game that needed to be made. We're going to continue to push the envelope. Players are responded and they are like sponges.

– "Proud of the effort, but still not to our standard."

– We've got to do what we've got to do to win, Chavis said of potentially bringing defensive starters over to special teams. I'm all for it, he said.

– A&M probably has 6-7 receivers that could play anywhere in the country, Chavis said. Mond is capable of running the ball and is on track to be a 3,000-yard passer.

– Derrick Munson performed well in a starting role at Nickel. I was pleased, he said. He's doing a good job for us. We're going to keep moving guys in and out until we find the best 11.

– Rakeem Boyd has the ability to play behind his pads. He can stick his foot in the ground and make a cut. You really see that with him.

– We'll see as practice goes along whether or not Kevin Richardson will see increased playing time.

– We've found different ways to be able to stop the run and a lot of it is numbers in the box. A lot of teams don't want to run against seven men in the box. The philosophy doesn't change. It's numbers in the box against the run, and speed against the pass.

Joe Craddock

– Deon Stewart is going to fill in at Jonathan Nance's spot. Jordan Jones will be right behind him. It was his decision to leave, and we wish him the best. We're moving forward.

– Ty just kept getting back up and he earned some respect from his teammates. He gritted it out and gave all he had. I knew he would, Craddock said.

– Ty graded out really high. He did really well and got us into a lot of the right calls and managed the game well. We will continue to build on what we did last week. We'll be better by October if we build on this week's effort.

– Last time me and Dustin Fry were in the box together was at Clemson. Having him next to me was great.

– Hjalte gave us more athleticism at guard. He was more natural there. We got to the point where we felt more comfortable getting Ty Clary snaps at center, and ran with it.

– Wish we could have hit both of the swing passes to the backs on Saturday. We scaled back and that was part of the plan.