FAYETTEVILLE -- University of Arkansas Athletic Director Hunter Yurachek told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on Saturday there has been a minimal amount of dialogue between himself and Arkansas State University Athletic Director Terry Mohajir regarding a potential football game between the programs.
"Terry and I have had very casual dialogue to the point where Terry -- when he and I were traveling together in September to an event in Washington, D.C., and we were on a tour of the Capitol together with our political representatives -- said, 'We would love an opportunity to start a series with the University of Arkansas,' " Yurachek said.
"And he followed that up with a text message when we got back with some dates and guarantees, and that was the extent of any conversation we have had, period. We haven't talked about it again."
Last week, Mohajir was quoted on the website "Best of Arkansas Sports" as saying, "They should be begging us to play," citing the Red Wolves' standing as one of the best Group of Five teams in the country.
Mohajir also told The Athletic regarding Arkansas, "Their non-conference games are not filling the stadium. Some SEC games don't. We'd sell their game out."
Said Yurachek: "Terry said what he said. Because Terry and I are good friends, I don't take out of context that he's like challenging us."
The Razorbacks broke a long tradition of not playing in-state schools in any sport last year with baseball games against the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and the University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff. The Razorbacks and UAPB also played in softball and tennis last year, and they announced football games scheduled for 2021 and 2024.
Yurachek was asked how he felt about scheduling Arkansas State in football.
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"The University of Arkansas' stance is we are just six months into lifting a longstanding tradition of not competing against other universities across the state of Arkansas," Yurachek said. "So we've taken that first step to compete against our sister institutions. Whether that's the first and only step or there will be a second step, time will tell."
Yurachek added that he didn't think a football game against Arkansas State was "really on our fans' radar screen much, to be honest. I think it's obviously something that definitely appeals to Arkansas State to play Arkansas. Whether it appeals to Arkansas in the future, that's something that time will tell."
Rain day
The Arkansas Razorbacks were singing in the rain during Saturday's second practice of training camp.
What had been a light rain turned fairly heavy just before the Razorbacks finished their pre-practice stretch inside the Walker Pavilion. They took to the practice fields in shorts and helmets during a steady, moderate shower that lightened up after about 15 minutes and stopped all together a little while later.
Temperatures remained in the low 70s throughout the workout.
"Today we had a good day, a great day," junior slot receiver De'Vion Warren said. "It was raining. When it starts raining, receivers get all like, 'The ball's too wet.' But we had a great day. Everybody wanted to compete, even if the weather conditions weren't the best. That's what it's going to take."
Three picks
Linebacker Grant Morgan said the championship belt, which was won repeatedly by the defense during spring drills, will make its camp debut Monday.
It was not awarded during the first couple of days of camp, but Morgan said the defense would have claimed it on Saturday with three interceptions.
The picks were by cornerbacks Britto Tutt and Jordon Curtis, and safety Montaric Brown.
"Crap, I should have picked off Ben Hicks," Morgan said. "I had it go right through my hands. Yeah, that was one for the rain right there."
Early TDs
Receivers Koilan Jackson, Deon Stewart, De'Vion Warren and Mike Woods all had touchdown catches on Saturday, and Jackson also had one during the opening practice.
"It was a go route, just get vertical. It was actually another route, but it converts if they play a certain coverage, so I ran that and John Stephen [Jones] put a perfect ball up there and I caught it and ran it into the end zone," Jackson said of his Friday score.
"It was a deep ball from Nick [Starkel]," Stewart said of his touchdown.
Warren said his score was also a straight-line go route, but he could not recall the quarterback who threw it.
Clary's snaps
Offensive line coach Dustin Fry has instituted a policy in practice that a center who makes a snap that's too high or low has to run.
"If you have a bad snap, there's no questions asked," said starting center Ty Clary, a junior from Fayetteville. "You just take a lap around the whole field and hop back in when your lap is over."
Clary isn't training for the cross-country team. In the first two practices, Clary had one bad snap -- in Friday's opener -- through what he estimated was more than 100 plays.
"It kind of ruined my day, because snapping has been such a focus for me," Clary said. "I lost focus for just a little bit and I had a bad snap. But that's one bad snap too many. In a game, if you have 70 reps and 69 are great, but on that last drive if you snap it over the quarterback's head, you'll lose the game. So you can't have any bad snaps."
Clary struggled with snaps at times last season, resulting in Hjalte Froholdt -- now a rookie with the New England Patriots -- moving from guard to start the first three games at center.
"We have skills and drills all summer, so obviously that was a huge emphasis for me," Clary said. "I stayed after and did extra snaps every day."
Senior quarterback Ben Hicks said he's been impressed by Clary's work ethic.
"It's something we worked on all spring and all summer, and Ty is doing a great job now," Hicks said. "He's hard on himself at times, but he wants to be great. He wants to be the best. You can appreciate that.
"To be great at center, you can't have bad snaps, and I know he takes a lot of pride in that. He's worked his tail off on it, and he's going to be fine. I know I can trust Ty to get his job done every play. He's just going to continue to get better as the fall goes along."
Tackle Colton Jackson said Clary continues to make his snaps a priority even when he's on the sideline during practice.
"When Ty's not in there, he's over there working on snaps with the equipment guys," Jackson said. "The coaches are holding him accountable. He's been doing a really good job."
Gimme 100
Coach Chad Morris definitely wants the heat to be turned up during camp after two days of rain and temperatures in the 70s.
"I wish we could get some 100-degree days, a few of them in a row, because I think we need to strain them through some heat," Morris said Friday.
"No, we don't," quarterback Ben Hicks said. "That's one time I don't really care what Coach Morris says about the weather. I'll take this. I went home [to Waco, Texas] last week and it was almost 100 degrees. I was like, this is brutal."
Injury update
Redshirt freshman offensive tackle Noah Gatlin is likely going to be out for a while after going down with a knee injury late in Friday's opening practice of camp.
On Saturday, Gatlin was inside Walker Pavilion wearing a knee-immobilizing brace on his right leg.
The 6-7, 302-pounder played in four games and made two starts, both at left tackle, while retaining his redshirt in 2018. He was engaged in a battle for the starting right tackle job with Dalton Wagner at the time of his injury.
Line shift
The knee injury to right tackle Noah Gatlin led to some movement among the offensive linemen for the second unit.
Redshirt freshman Ryan Winkel, who had been the second-team right guard on Friday, moved to right tackle in Gatlin's spot. Walk-on freshman Austin Nix took the snaps at right guard on a unit that also included left tackle Myron Cunningham, left guard Kirby Adcock and center Silas Robinson.
The top group remained, from left to right, Colton Jackson, Austin Capps, Ty Clary, Shane Clenin and Dalton Wagner.
Punt practice
Deon Stewart, the returning top punt returner, continued to lead that group through two practices. Other potential punt returners working Saturday were freshman T.Q. Jackson and junior Kendall Catalon, a transfer from Southern University and older brother of freshman safety Jalen Catalon.
Jones out
Junior wideout Jordan Jones missed practice No. 2 due to a death in the family. He posted a tweet Saturday morning that read, "Wishing I could be there with my teammates today ... but thank you @coachchadmorris and @coachjstepp for letting me be with my family on this tough day! You guys go and get it today."
Sports on 08/04/2019