FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas freshman wide receiver Trey Knox was smart enough to not pick a candidate in the during the preseason quarterback battle between graduate transfers Ben Hicks and Nick Starkel.
But he will admit to loving the free-wheeling style of Starkel, who passed for 305 yards last week in a win over Colorado State in his first start as a Razorback.
Knox (13 catches, 216 yards and a touchdown this season) hauled in four catches for 92 yards and a touchdown against the Rams with a trio of them being fired before he turned his head.
“Oh, I love it,” Knox said. “He’s a medium-risk, high-reward type of guy, and I think that’s what we need in this type of offense - somebody to take chances, throw the ball downfield and give our playmakers chances.”
That’s just what Knox (6-5, 205) did by going over the top of smaller defensive backs to make plays.
“That’s my favorite play, just going up and making a play on the ball above the corner’s head,” Knox said. “I think we’re showing the teams that we can actually stretch the field and take the top off and go downfield. I think it’s a great addition to have in our offense.”
The pair seem to have good chemistry on the field as Starkel does with fellow freshman wideout Treylon Burks, who has 9 catches for 172 yards this season.
“We’ve developed a relationship,” Knox said. “He knows where I’m going to be and I know where he’s going to put the ball, so it’s good to know that I can count on him without having to look back. I know where the ball is going to be, so I just have to adjust to it and get open. Because he’s going to put it there, I just have to go make a play.”
Knox hopes the next step is Arkansas’ receivers hooking up on deep passes with Starkel, who is 41-of-64 passing for 554 yards this season with four touchdowns and one interception.
“Those deep balls come in big,” Knox said. “He was telling me going into that week, ‘If you have the one-on-one, I’m taking the deep ball, so you better get open.’ I like that because the deep ball is my thing and going deep, I love doing it.”
Knox became quick friends with Starkel once the signal caller graduated from Texas A&M and arrived on the Arkansas campus in June, even accompanying him to a Razorbacks baseball game.
“Nick is a good guy,” Knox said. “We gelled together as soon as he got here. He’s a great quarterback mind. He knows where he wants to put the ball, and he knows what he wants to do, so you can’t argue with somebody that knows what they’re here to do.”
Knox had a touchdown catch against Ole Miss called back, but was happy to find the end zone against Colorado State.
"It was great," Knox said. "It made me reflect back on the week before when I got in the end zone and it didn’t stand. But this one counted, so it made me even more hyped and jumpy and stuff. I mean, I just can’t get too high about it because I know I have to keep doing it and keep getting in the end zone and make plays.”
Knox was in a green no-contact jersey during Tuesday’s practice as a precautionary measure for a hip injury.
“I feel good,” Knox said. “My hip was a little stiff, but I’m progressing, getting better every day, so I should be fine.”
The injury happened in Arkansas’ loss at Ole Miss in Week 2, then he took another shot in last week’s game.
“It was the one where the corner ran off the sideline and then I took another big hit going this way in the fourth quarter, and I got hit in my hip again, but I should be fine,” Knox said.
Knox has watched tape of San Jose State (0-2), and thinks Arkansas (2-1) will work underneath a lot this week.
“They play a lot of off techniques, so we’ll probably throw a lot of short routes this week, 5-yard quick game, just stuff to move the ball down the field, and then we’ll probably go fast because they don’t handle tempo very well,” Knox said.
Knox, who starred at Murfreesboro (Tenn.) Blackman High School, believes Arkansas has stayed level-headed about the win.
“We’re just even keel,” Knox said. “We’re not going to get too high or too low. We’re just going to stay the same and keep working and try to respond to a win because it’s all about how you handle success at this point, and hopefully we can have ‘Uncle Mo’ wearing an Arkansas jersey for the rest of the season.”
Arkansas coach Chad Morris, to his players' amusement, displayed some dance moves in the locker room after the win.
“I mean, I enjoyed them,” Knox said. “I thought he was going to hit the meanest ‘Woah’ of the 21st century, and he started doing the wave or whatever and then he just lost me.
“But hey, he was going at it for a little bit, though. I was in the middle right there next to him, though. He impressed me. I didn’t think he had it like that.”
Knox is hopeful getting a win over San Jose State would send the Razorbacks into the following week’s game against Texas A&M in Arlington, Texas, with some momentum.
“It would definitely be big for us and having momentum on our side going into Texas A&M, going into Dallas, Jerry World, playing,” Knox said. “I think it would help us play. I think we’re growing together as a team and just getting another win would help us to have that edge about us being 3-1 going into Texas A&M.”