Razorbacks report

Scoop on 'country' fumbles

Paul Rhoads, Arkansas defensive coordinator, leads warm-ups before the game against Florida A&M Thursday, Aug. 31, 2017, at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.

FAYETTEVILLE -- When Arkansas Razorbacks defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads heard a fellow coach talking about country fumbles vs. city fumbles a few years ago, he latched on to the phraseology.

"I can't take credit for it," Rhoads said Monday. "I have to give credit to Nick Aliotti, who we met with as a defensive staff with Iowa State a few years ago. That's who described a fumble in wide-open space as a country fumble and a fumble in traffic as a city fumble."

Aliotti, a running back at California-Davis in the mid-1970s, was most recently the defensive coordinator at Oregon from 1999-2013.

Razorbacks cornerback Henre Toliver used the descriptive terms to talk about his 18-yard fumble return touchdown last week as a "country" fumble because it lent itself to a scoop and score.

"The country fumble we scoop and score as Henre did so masterfully," Rhoads said. "The city fumble is a fumble we just recover. We get on it and get in the fetal position and get that ball covered up.

"It's great phrases like that in coaching that make immediate sense to players that I love ... to use and obviously when a kid repeats it he understands it very thoroughly."

Loud crowd

Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema thinks Reynolds Razorback Stadium has the capability of being louder this year, even though the north end zone construction is not complete.

"I think with the stadium being enclosed, even though it's not fully finished, has made a significant change in the volume, even with the small crowd that we've had in there," said Bielema, referencing the team's second scrimmage of camp.

Bielema expects Saturday's game to be a sellout, and he thinks the fans can affect TCU's offense.

"I really think it should be a very, very loud environment," he said. "This is a team that communicates a lot at the line of scrimmage offensively, so the more volume we can bring to the fight would be better for all of us involved."

Best for TCU

Big 12 teams suffered some humbling losses to open the season, as Maryland won 51-41 at Texas and Liberty won 48-45 at Baylor. The Big 12 also lost a marquee matchup when No. 21 Virginia Tech beat No. 22 West Virginia 31-24.

Those results prompted a question to TCU Coach Gary Patterson on Monday's Big 12 teleconference about whether the Horned Frogs are carrying the Big 12 banner into Arkansas.

"Oh, no," Patterson said. "I've never been like that. You've just got to go win ballgames. You don't need to add any extra pressure or even talk about those kind of things. All our conversations now are turned to just playing Arkansas."

Patterson said his focus is on winning for TCU.

"Just because I like to keep my job," he said. "You win games, you've got a better chance of keeping it. If you don't win games, then you don't."

Deep trip

Offensive coordinator Dan Enos said the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville did not throw deep passes in its opener partly by design and partly because Florida A&M was playing mostly a three-deep zone that left shorter routes more open.

"We called a couple. One of them, he tripped and fell," said Enos, laughing in reference to a first-down play in the third quarter in which quarterback Austin Allen got tangled with center Frank Ragnow and fell for a 4-yard loss.

Kelley crunch

Reserve quarterback Cole Kelley didn't go down meekly on a scramble near the goal line on his only series. Kelley rolled left on play action and didn't spot an open receiver on a second-and-goal snap from the 7. Florida A&M's Mack Green ran hard to cut Kelley off, but as he arrived, Kelley slammed his right shoulder into him and sent the defensive back into the turf. The play wound up not counting because of an illegal formation penalty against the Razorbacks.

"He lowered the boom," Coach Bret Bielema said. "He's not afraid of much. He realizes he's 6-7, 270, and he put the shoulder down, which I wouldn't recommend. It was his throwing shoulder."

Kelley threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Cheyenne O'Grady on a tight end screen two plays later and finished 2 of 3 for 44 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 sack.

"He was very composed. He was very poised," said offensive coordinator Dan Enos, who had not talked to Kelley about the shoulder drop as of Monday afternoon.

"Some of the people we play against, he might not live to tell that tale for long," he said. "He needs to slide. He felt really good about the matchup, so I liked the fact that he showed some toughness there and tried to gain some more yards.

"I wish he had thrown to the fullback in the flats who was open, but that's a whole other story."

New food options

Arkansas has brought in a new company, Levy, to provide food at football games this season.

Among the new options for fans are pork nachos, pork sandwiches, hummus and vegetables, chips and salsa, brownies, snack mix, BLT cheeseburgers, smoked brisket sandwiches, ham and cheese sandwiches, jalapeños and cheddar sausage dogs, beef tenderloin sandwiches, pork loin sandwiches, chocolate cake, assorted brownies and cookies.

Fresh take

Eight true freshmen played for the Razorbacks against Florida A&M: offensive lineman Ty Clary, tailback Chase Hayden, cornerbacks Kamren Curl and Chevin Calloway, wide receivers Jarrod Barnes and De'Vion Warren, and linebackers Hayden Henry and Kyrei Fisher.

Clary started at right guard and is listed with the first team on this week's depth chart. Curl is listed as a starting cornerback with Ryan Pulley suffering a season-ending pectoral injury.

Hayden had team-highs of 14 carries for 120 yards and 1 touchdown. Barnes had two catches for 30 yards. Warren had a 21-yard kickoff return. Curl had three tackles. Henry had one tackle.

Fisher isn't listed on the depth chart, but he got some snaps on special teams and inside linebacker.

Defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads said the coaching staff earmarked Fisher, an early enrollee in January who went through spring practice, as being mature and physical enough to play this season.

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"He can emerge for sure as a special teams player and then we'll just see as the season goes where depth is needed and how far he advances," Rhoads said. "Linebacker and running back are positions that you'd better have bodies and guys trained and ready to go."

Sports on 09/05/2017