FAYETTEVILLE — Senior offensive tackle Myron Cunningham — who said Monday he was returning for a senior season, his third at Arkansas — had applied for feedback from the NFL Draft Advisory Board.
“It was kind of a stressful process,” Cunningham said. “But the feedback I got from the NFL was probably like mid-to-late draft, so I just felt like it’s in my best interest to come back and try to increase my draft stock next year.”
He was asked what advice he was given to improve himself for the 2022 NFL Draft.
“One of them is just working on, obviously I put on this weight, and just another year showing them I can move well and fluid with it,” he said.
He said position coach Brad Davis and Coach Sam Pittman, both considered offensive line gurus, can help him with the finer points and knowledge of the game.
“This year they came with the whole O-line, not just me, more than we’ve learned in the past, and I think it has just been a great aspect to us,” he said.
Still unbeaten
The cancellation of the Texas Bowl on Tuesday, two days before Arkansas was set to face former Southwest Conference rival TCU, was a bummer for both teams.
Officials from both schools expressed their disappointment after the Horned Frogs were forced to pull out due to covid-19 testing and tracing, injuries and other issues left their roster short of the guidelines established by the Big 12 Conference.
On the positive side, both the Razorbacks and Horned Frogs kept alive their unbeaten records at NRG Stadium in Houston, site of the Texas Bowl.
Arkansas was going to take a 1-0 record at the facility into Thursday’s matchup. The Razorbacks crushed former arch rival Texas 31-7 in the 2014 Texas Bowl at the venue.
TCU had a 2-0 record in the stadium. The Horned Frogs defeated Iowa State 27-24 in the 2005 Houston Bowl, and edged Houston 20-13 there in the 2007 Texas Bowl behind freshman quarterback Andy Dalton.
Playoff?
Coach Sam Pittman had given the Razorbacks an idea to rally around for the Texas Bowl before the event was canceled.
Linebacker Bumper Pool talked about the initiative on Monday, saying, “We’re on a mission. Like Coach said, this is like our College Football Playoff, he likes to say. He can tell that we want to play because we all came back with negative tests and stuff like that. So he knows we’re excited to play TCU.”
Grad patches
The Razorbacks have 18 players who have earned their degrees and were eligible to wear the SEC graduate patch on their jerseys for Thursday’s Texas Bowl.
The list of graduates, in alphabetical order: Ty Clary, Shane Clenin, Myron Cunningham, Deon Edwards, Feleipe Franks, Dorian Gerald, Elias Hale, T.J. Hammonds, Hayden Henry, Xavier Kelly, Blake Kern, Jack Lindsey, Jonathan Marshall, Grant Morgan, Tyson Morris, A.J. Reed, Micahh Smith and Dalton Wagner.
Warren’s rehab
Senior receiver De’Vion Warren, who announced Monday he was returning in 2021, is recovering from a torn anterior cruciate ligament suffered on a noncontact kickoff return at Florida on Nov. 14.
Coach Sam Pittman discussed Warren’s rehabilitation.
“Well, De’Vion, he’s walking around doing good,” Pittman said. “I think he’ll be able to do some things in spring. I don’t think he’ll do any contact in the spring, but I think he can do some things on air. He’ll certainly be able to do walk-throughs and things of that nature. We’ll be really slow with him. ACL’s are a slow return injury anyway.”
TCU series
Arkansas leads the 70-game series with TCU by a margin of 44-24-2.
The teams had split their last two games with each winning at the other’s home stadium. Arkansas notched a 41-38 victory in double overtime at Amon Carter Stadium in Fort Worth on Sept. 10, 2016. The Horned Frogs returned the favor with a 28-7 win at Reynolds Razorback Stadium on Sept. 9, 2017.
Arkansas won 22 consecutive games in the series between 1959 and 1980, holding the Horned Frogs to 15 points or less in every year during that span, including six shutouts. TCU snapped that skid with a 28-24 home victory in 1981. Arkansas holds a 9-4 edge since that meeting.
The Horned Frogs won the first meeting between the programs by a 19-2 count in 1920. TCU held a 20-12-2 lead in the series before the Hogs started their 22-game run under coach Frank Broyles, who had an 18-1 mark against the Horned Frogs.