Woods ready to lead young receivers into opener

Arkansas receiver Mike Woods runs after catching a pass during a game against Vanderbilt on Saturday, Oct. 27, 2018, in Fayetteville.

— There will be 11 new starters on offense for Arkansas this season, including a trio of young wide receivers all getting their first starting nod in Saturday’s opener against Portland State.

“A lot of change, a lot of good change,” sophomore wideout Mike Woods said Tuesday.

Woods (6-1, 203) and true freshman four-star products Treylon Burks (6-3, 223) and Trey Knox (6-5, 205) are listed as the first-teamers heading into the 3 p.m. contest at Reynolds Razorback Stadium.

“They have been looking real good,” Woods said. “They came in like a bunch of sponges. They have been soaking it all up, getting in the playbook, all that extra stuff. It has been real good on that.”

Knox, who chose Arkansas over Auburn, Florida, LSU, Tennessee and others, arrived on campus in January after a senior season in which he had 35 catches for 558 yards and four touchdowns while also rushing for 301 yards and five more scores on 34 carries.

He was back at practice, but not in uniform on Tuesday after missing the last several practices due to an illness.

Burks, whose chose Arkansas over Auburn, LSU, Florida State, Michigan and others, had 151 catches for 3,403 yards and 43 touchdowns in his high school career at Warren despite missing his team's last four games due to a torn ACL.

Woods, who had 18 catches for 206 yards and a touchdowns last season after missing the opener due to suspension, is not surprised about the ascent of the youngsters.

“No,” Woods said. “Like I said, they have been doing everything we ask them to do as far as the playbook, recovery, nutrition, all that kind of stuff, so nothing has surprised me. I already knew what they were going to do.”

While Burks and Knox were rated the 11th- and 16th-best high school receivers in the nation in the 2019 class, it will be a new dynamic in college.

“I told them it was just going to be another game and try not to think too much of it," he said. "It will be exciting to see how they do.”

Woods believes he is more prepared heading into this season than he was a true freshman.

“I would say experience,” Woods said. “This summer, I took everything a lot more serious as far as recovery, nutrition and what I am putting into my body, what I am doing after workouts to help recover, those type things.”

The receivers are just part of a massive overhaul from a team that finished 2-10 last season in coach Chad Morris’ first year with the Razorbacks.

“We have come a long way,” Woods said. “Big coaching change, a whole lot of new faces. We have come a long way and we are just ready to go put it out on the field on Saturday.”

Woods is cautiously optimistic about a turnaround this season.

“We can be a lot better,” Woods said. “I don’t want to say too much. I don’t want to jinx it, but we just know.”

He is also not surprised about the nine true freshman listed on the two-deep depth chart.

“Like I said, we have been getting extra work all summer preparing for this," Woods said. "Ain’t no one surprised because we have been preparing for this all summer.”

Woods noted something that has seemed like a constant refrain from players so far this preseason and credited starting quarterback Ben Hicks with an assist in that.

“Like I said, big coaching change and a lot of people are pulling in the same direction now,” Woods said. “Ben was a big part of that. He came in and kind of took command of the offensive side. Like I said, we are all pulling in the right direction now.”

The receivers were not about to pick a side in the quarterback battle between Hicks and Nick Starkel, but were happy to have a choice made.

“Let’s go. Let’s ride,” Woods said of his reaction to Hicks being awarded the job. “I’m ready. We're ready. That’s it.”