FAYETTEVILLE — When Chad Morris scans his receivers room and locks in on Mike Woods, he sees a blossoming talent equipped with long arms, strong hands and gifts that can make him a star in the SEC.
Although Woods is only a sophomore, Morris also looks at the Magnolia, Texas, native as somewhat of a veteran on the offensive side of the ball. As a freshman, Woods showed flashes of his potential during Arkansas’ 2-10 season in 2018, finishing with 18 catches for 206 yards and one touchdown, which came in his home state against Texas A&M.
Woods became the Razorbacks’ top returning receiver entering the 2019 season following the departure of La’Michael Pettway, who grad transferred to Iowa State in early May. Suddenly, he was thrust into a leadership position, placed in charge of a largely new cast of pass catchers that included prized freshmen Trey Knox and Treylon Burks.
And as expected, his sophomore year is off to a promising start. In two games against Portland State and Ole Miss, Woods has caught a team-high 11 passes for 114 yards, good for second on the team. He is one of two players - Knox - with better than 100 receiving yards so far.
“I think as you see with him, and a lot of our players, the more reps that they're going to get the better they're going to get,” Morris said Wednesday on the weekly SEC coaches teleconference. “I think Mike is seeing that the speed of the game is slowing down for him a little bit. He's understanding things a little bit better.
“He's still a young player that's growing and learning every day. It's great to see him build off Week 1 to Week 2, and we need his leadership and his experience out there on the field.”
After a five-catch, 30-yard performance in Arkansas’ season-opening win against Portland State, Woods, statistically, turned in the best game of his young career, hauling in six passes for 84 yards. Two of his grabs resulted in explosive plays through the air - the first a 30-yard gain from quarterback Ben Hicks that set up a 36-yard Connor Limpert field goal, and the latter a 45-yard strike from Nick Starkel in the fourth quarter.
When asked about his career day Tuesday evening in the Fred Smith Center, Woods stated that he wasn’t satisfied with his play. He didn't believe he did anything special.
“I'm looking to improve,” he added. “(I had) mental lapses. I had a penalty when I was lined up in the backfield when I wasn't supposed to. Just stuff like that - mental lapses and my technique. Every week I'm trying to build on it and get better.
“I’m looking to have a 100-yard game. I haven't had one of those yet, so I'm just trying to do what I can for the team.”
Should Woods, or any other Razorbacks receiver, top 100 yards, he would be the first to do so since Jordan Jones, who missed most of preseason practices and the first two games with a high ankle sprain, went for 132 yards and a touchdown against Eastern Illinois to begin last season.
Starkel, who also mistakenly targeted Woods at Ole Miss on a play that went for a 14-yard loss, loves Woods’ playmaking abilities. His four catches from Starkel, despite the busted play, went for an average of 14 yards.
“Mike Woods is a player who’s going to make a lot of plays for us,” Starkel said Tuesday. “Not just in this game or this last game, but throughout the whole season. He’s a critical part of our team and I like throwing him the ball and he likes catching it, so he’s definitely going to make more plays for us.”
Starkel, who entered in the second half of the loss to the Rebels in place of Hicks and will start against Colorado State on Saturday, impressed in his first extended playing time at Arkansas, displaying a more-capable downfield passing game. Thirteen of his 24 pass attempts traveled 11-plus yards and netted 138 yards.
If those numbers remain consistent, one would believe they benefit a vertical threat like Woods, who has eight career catches of 15-plus yards and five of 25-plus.
“I saw confidence,” Woods said of Starkel’s play. “He wasn't the starting quarterback at first and I can see how that can do something to him, but he came out there confident just like we know how he is. He came in confident and threw it around the yard.
“(The ball is) going to be there when you get out of your break, so you better be ready or else it'll hit you in your facemask.”
Woods added that Arkansas responded well after halftime in Oxford, but the offense has to turn it up a notch against the Rams. And although he did not play in the Razorbacks' collapse at Colorado State last season, he is aiming to avenge the loss and expound on his showing last week.
“We've got to go out there and execute," Woods said. "If we execute, it's flying numbers for everybody. We should have executed last weekend and it would have been the same thing. We didn't execute.
"The gameplan is all there. Coaches are doing their job. We just have to do our job.”