FAYETTEVILLE -- The University of Arkansas Razorbacks who engaged in media interviews Tuesday said the coaching staff has remained positive and the locker room upbeat after the team lost its third game in a row to fall to 2-4 heading into Saturday's home game against No. 11 Auburn.
"Everything's not promised," freshman receiver Treylon Burks said. "It's not going our way, but we'll just keep pushing forward and getting better day by day and maybe that miracle might come. We'll just keep getting better every day at practice."
Senior tight end Cheyenne O'Grady said the vibe from the locker room has changed from last year's 2-10 team to this 2-4 start.
"Like I said before in past interviews, we're a whole different team this year," he said. "We're 2-4, starting off like we did last year. Last year, we would have had people blaming, complaining, talking just bad noise. This year everybody, they're still coming together and we're being the same people, bringing it every day."
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O'Grady said the Razorbacks practiced hard on Sunday, and defensive end Gabe Richardson echoed that.
"We just got off a great practice two days after a tough one," Richardson said. "We come out here and continue to fight.
"You can't talk about it, you've got to show it. Continue to push forward. You've got to line up and play the best you can because if you don't that's what they're gonna see. There's no quit in us."
Richardson said it has been frustrating to lose three consecutive games by one score.
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"Of course it is. We've been preaching 'finish' since I've been here. It's hard at times. It really is hard dealing with this, but you can't quit. You've got to keep going."
Cornerback Jarques McClellion said he and others talk to the younger players to help keep them up.
"We let them know everything is going to be straight and we're not going to be down in the dumps," McClellion said. "We're always going to be up. This locker room is still going to be the same locker room, win or lose."
Personnel report
Tailback Rakeem Boyd and safety Joe Foucha were the only Razorbacks at practice on Tuesday in green no-contact jerseys. Receiver Shamar Nash was in a yellow (no participation) jersey.
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Boyd is nursing a sprained right AC joint injury in his right shoulder, while Foucha's issue has not been announced by team personnel.
Foucha gave no specifics on his issue, saying, "Just a little banged up from Saturday. Practice went well. No big of a deal."
Senior offensive tackle Colton Jackson was back at work for the first time since the Texas A&M game after clearing concussion protocol. Jackson was in a red jersey and participating in group drills.
"Colton Jackson, he looked fine," tight end Cheyenne O'Grady said. "He was moving around very well. I expect to see him play this Saturday."
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Bait and switch
Treylon Burks had a 26-yard punt return against Kentucky last weekend that began with him setting up Wildcats' gunner Jamin Davis by starting with a couple of stutter-step moves around right end on which he back-tracked 7 yards from his 44 to his 37-yard lines, before turning on the jets.
Burks broke Davis' tackle try with a stiff arm on the 37, and got blocks from Hayden Henry, Chase Harrell and Nathan Parodi on the Arkansas sideline before being forced out of bounds at the Kentucky 29.
"I mean, I was just trying to bait him up into biting, thinking I was gonna go backwards," Burks said. "He bit for it and I just did what I had to do."
Two gone
The Razorbacks in the media sessions Tuesday wished linebacker D'Vone McClure and cornerback Devin Bush well after their decisions on Monday to leave the team.
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"That was his decision," junior cornerback Jarques McClellion said of Bush. "He made the best decision for him. I'm happy for him. At the end of the day, I know whatever school he goes to they're going to get a great cornerback from New Orleans."
Said defensive end Gabe Richardson of McClure, "That's a grown man. That's a grown man with a child looking out for his best and his future. I wish him nothing but the best and so does this team."
Richardson said Bush was "one of the best players we've recruited at that position in a while. He's gonna have a bright future."
Get 'em ready
Defensive coordinator John Chavis said the Razorbacks are trying to get young defenders in the secondary ready to contribute.
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"We owe it to this team and each player to get them ready," Chavis said.
Jalen Catalon and LaDarrius Bishop are among the freshman defensive backs who have played limited reps this season.
"I'll use this as an example," Chavis said. "Last year we had to throw Bumper Pool out there before he was ready. He withstood the season that way. You see a much better player in Bumper Pool this year.
"At linebacker you can get by with some of those mistakes. But when you're on the back end mistakes usually cost touchdowns. So you've got to be careful. We need to continue to push the envelope. We're gonna try to do that: Try to get them ready.
"We've got one or two guys we want to get into the game. We were hoping we would be able to get them in this game. This game turned out being a different type game than we anticipated three weeks ago. So we went with more experienced guys and I think that was the right thing to do."
Radio guys
Sophomore Joe Foucha and freshman Trey Knox will join Coach Chad Morris and the voice of the Razorbacks Chuck Barrett for On the Air with Chad Morris tonight.
The hour-long radio show airs Wednesdays at 7 p.m. live from the Catfish Hole restaurant on Wedington Drive in Fayetteville.
Foucha has 35 tackles and 3 pass breakups while starting all 6 games. The native of New Orleans is coming off a career-high 11-tackle game in Saturday's 24-20 loss at Kentucky.
Knox, of Murfreesboro, Tenn., has 23 receptions, a team-high 323 receiving yards and 2 touchdowns. Knox leads all SEC freshmen in catches and receiving yards and ranks seventh and eighth, respectively, in those categories among all FBS freshmen.
Nevada payout
The University of Arkansas will pay Nevada a guarantee of $1.5 million for next year's season opener, the website FBschedules.com reported on Tuesday after making a public records request through the Wolfpack athletic department.
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported last week that the Razorbacks had contracted to open the 2020 season on Sept. 5 against the Wolfpack based on a public records request. UA officials redacted the guarantee amount, citing a competitive disadvantage exception to the state law.
The $1.5 million guarantee San Jose State received after its 31-24 victory over the Razorbacks on Sept. 21 is believed to be the largest payout by a losing college football team this season.
Sports on 10/16/2019