FAYETTEVILLE — The season doesn’t start for another month, but University of Arkansas freshman Blayne Toll already has moved positions three times since arriving on campus in January as an early enrollee.
Coach Sam Pittman said after Friday’s scrimmage Toll is again working at tight end.
Toll signed as a defensive end and moved to tight end during offseason workouts. He moved back to defensive end for the start of preseason practice.
With the lack of depth at tight end, the coaches decided last week Toll should go back to offense.
“He played well,” Pittman said.
Eric Thomas was moved from linebacker to tight end earlier in the week.
Other tight ends are Hudson Henry, Blake Kern, Collin Sutherland and Nathan Bax.
Henry caught two touchdown passes in the scrimmage, but Pittman said there is plenty of competition at the position.
“To be honest with you, we’re trying to find two really good tight ends, and if we can get three and four, that’d be great,” Pittman said. “But right now, that one right there, I can tell you I don’t have a clue who the starting tight end is yet.
“I’ll know a little bit more after I watch this film … but this next scrimmage will be really, really big for the tight end position.”
Roster notes
Redshirt freshman running back A’Monate Spivey didn’t take part in Friday’s scrimmage.
“He’s a little dinged up,” Coach Sam Pittman said. “But I think Spivey is going to help in that rotation.”
Pittman said senior Rakeem Boyd, who rushed for 1,133 yards last season, didn’t get much work.
“We limited him,” Pittman said. “I don’t know what he carried it, maybe three or four times. Maybe two or three times, I don’t know. Not very many, and that was as planned.”
Additionally, redshirt freshman cornerback Devin Bush did not participate in the scrimmage.
Brooks vs. big dudes
Jerry Jacobs was competing with nickel back Greg Brooks Jr. when he first arrived at Arkansas, but he has since moved to cornerback, where he and returning starter Jarques McClellion are in a good battle.
Jacobs likes the athleticism he’s seen from Brooks.
“The dude is awesome,” Jacobs said. “He has a drive for the football, so I know he’s coming out this year with a lot in his bag.
“He is smart and patient. He can cover and can play a lot of man on big dudes. You may think he’s short, but he can play a lot of man on big dudes.”
Tight with Blake
Transfer cornerback Jerry Jacobs, who joined the Razorbacks as a graduate transfer from Arkansas State, was asked how he saw Red Wolves Coach Blake Anderson deal with the difficulties of his wife Wendy’s death last year after a battle with breast cancer.
“It was sad watching him go through that,” Jacobs said. “That was my best friend. Like a father to me at Arkansas State. So seeing him going through that, then coming back and being with the team was like just crazy.
“He just showed his motivation and how much he loved the team. Like once he did that, he just became like an awesome person. I love that dude, and we still talk to this day even though I came here. He helped me out a lot in life.”
Blue-collar day
Friday’s scrimmage was held on the grass practice field outside Walker Pavilion rather than in Reynolds Razorback Stadium.
“We’re going to try to get in the stadium on our next scrimmage,” Coach Sam Pittman said. “But we had planned to go on the practice field for a reason. That was just that we wanted that scrimmage to be a hard-nosed, blue-collar, no rah-rah. We’re on the grass, and we’re just going to go hit each other, you know?”
Pac-12 friend
Running back Trelon Smith transferred to Arkansas from Arizona State, which is in the Pac-12 and isn’t playing fall sports.
Smith, eligible to play as a redshirt sophomore, said he recently talked to Arizona State receiver Frank Darby, a close friend.
“With their season not going on, he’s just trying to stay active,” Smith said. “Wished they’d play, but that’s just what it came to. He’s just trying to stay active, keep working and try to get ready for the draft.”
Jeff Long Bowl?
With 76 FBS teams on track to play this season and 37 bowl games — if they’re all still played — needing 74 of them, even Arkansas is expected to go bowling, according to projections by CBS Sports.
Arkansas will play Kansas in the Frisco Bowl in Frisco, Texas, on Dec. 20, CBS Sports is predicting. If such a matchup happened, it would pit Kansas Athletic Director Jeff Long against his previous employer.
Long was Arkansas’ athletic director for 10 years through his firing in November 2017. He was hired at Kansas in July 2018.
CBS Sports is projecting all 14 SEC teams to play in bowls, including Alabama vs. Oklahoma in the Rose Bowl and Georgia vs. Clemson in the Sugar Bowl to make up the College Football Playoff semifinals.
Other SEC matchups are Florida vs. North Carolina in the Orange Bowl; Auburn vs. Memphis in the Peach Bowl; Tennessee vs. Central Florida in the Citrus Bowl; LSU vs. Appalachian State in the Outback Bowl; South Carolina vs. North Carolina State in the Gator Bowl; Vanderbilt vs. Georgia Tech in the Birmingham Bowl; Mississippi State vs. TCU in the Liberty Bowl; Kentucky vs. Duke in the Music City Bowl; Missouri vs. Oklahoma State in the Texas Bowl; and Ole Miss vs. BYU in the Vegas Bowl.
Triple Turner
The Razorbacks’ group of newcomers includes three freshmen with the surname, Turner, who are all from big Southern cities and spread over different position groups.
Defensive back Nick Turner, who has been working with the cornerbacks, is a 5-11, 189-pounder from Brother Martin High in New Orleans. Jacorrei Turner, also a defensive back who is practicing with the safeties, is a 6-2, 193-pounder from Woodward Academy in Atlanta. Darin Turner, a two-way standout who is at wide receiver, is a 6-3, 208-pounder from Central High in Memphis.
Jersey notes
De’Vion Warren has changed to jersey No. 10 after wearing No. 1 during his career. Redshirt freshman quarterback KJ Jefferson, who wore Nos. 13 and 1 last season, is now sporting the No. 1 jersey on offense.
True freshman Blayne Toll is back in No. 89 as a tight end after switching for a while to No. 96, Coach Sam Pittman’s old number at Pittsburg State, when he transitioned back to defensive end.
For a time in the spring, quarterback Jack Lindsey was listed as No. 21 (his grandfather Jim Lindsey’s number during the national championship season of 1964) before he reverted to 18.
Redshirt sophomore offensive lineman Austin Nix switched from 69 to 54 this year, taking Austin Capps’ old number. Redshirt freshman defensive back Malik Chavis switched by one number, from 17 to 16. Redshirt freshman receiver John David White, who wore No. 86 last season, is now No. 17, and redshirt freshman receiver Karch Gardiner switched from 38 to 33.
Updated odds
The folks at sportsbettingdime.com emailed out proposition bets on all the SEC schools on Friday, and their outlook on the Razorbacks is glum.
The site has set the over-under on wins for Arkansas at 1.5, with only Vanderbilt (1) at a lower wins prediction betting line in the league. Meanwhile, Alabama (8.5), Georgia (8.5), Florida (7.5) and LSU (7.5) have been given projected win totals over 7, based on a 10-game season.
The site’s other odds related to Arkansas include 15,000 to 1 to win the SEC; 5,000 to 1 to play in the SEC Championship Game; and, oddly, 15,499.5 for the over/under in average attendance.
The site set Rakeem Boyd’s over/under rushing total at 974.5 yards; Treylon Burks’ over/under receiving total at 447.5 yards; Feleipe Franks’ over/under for passing yards and touchdowns at 1,889.5 and 14.5; and its odds of having the second-most passing yards on the team at 1-2 for KJ Jefferson, 7-3 for Jack Lindsey and 29-1 for John Stephen Jones.