FAYETTEVILLE — Mike Woods told himself he was going to go make a play.
Lined up on the perimeter to quarterback Feleipe Franks’ right, Woods was envisioning coming down with the most crucial completion of the game against Auburn. It was fourth-and-5 at the Tigers’ 41, and the Razorbacks were trailing 27-21 in the fourth quarter.
The junior ran an 11-yard in route, extended his arms above his head and secured an all-important first down for Arkansas between a pair of defenders. The grab set the table for De’Vion Warren’s 30-yard touchdown on the next play to give the Razorbacks a late lead.
“I’ve made some good, contested catches, but I still have got to get better,” Woods said Tuesday. “I just have got to keep getting better every week and make sure when the ball comes my way, I’ve got to do something with it every time.”
Second on the team with 150 receiving yards through three games, Woods set a goal in the preseason to have zero drops in 2020.
So far, so good.
Woods has been Franks’ most-often targeted receiver to this point (16) and he has 12 catches to show for it, the most among those at his position. He and Warren — one of the pleasant surprises on the offensive side of the ball this fall and the team’s leader in receiving yards — have challenged each other to be great.
That includes winning 50-50 balls and creating receptions for an offense that has largely been without its top running back in Rakeem Boyd and best receiver Treylon Burks the last two weeks.
In addition to Woods’ fourth-down catch at Auburn, Warren won a handsy one-on-one battle with a Tigers defensive back on his 44-yard grab. Warren’s effort kickstarted Arkansas’ second scoring drive, which he capped with a 7-yard touchdown.
“Those contested catches, we think of it as our ball all the time,” said Warren, who is Woods’ roommate. “When the ball is in the air, we’ve got to make sure that it’s our ball no matter the circumstance, no matter what. And when you hold yourself to that type of standard, it makes you more confident that when people are around you, you’ve got to catch the ball.
“That’s what we’ve worked on, making sure everybody in our group has the ability to go make those contested catches.”
Woods enters this weekend’s meeting with Ole Miss fresh off his best game of the young season — six catches for 81 yards and a touchdown. It would be easy to perhaps become overconfident ahead of facing the Rebels’ defense given the previous weeks’ results, but Woods is keeping a level head.
Ole Miss’ poor defensive numbers — 51.7 points and 641.3 yards allowed per game — mean nothing to him.
“We haven’t done anything against Ole Miss this year,” he said. “We haven’t made a yard against them this year. We still have to go out and earn every yard. It’s still an SEC team, just like every team.
“We can’t go out taking anybody lightly. It’s all about us, so we just have to go out and execute.”
Through film study, Woods says the Rebels are likely to give the Razorbacks room to operate on the perimeter rather than play physical, in-your-face man coverage. Woods, who caught six passes for 84 yards against Ole Miss last year, is prepared to see plenty of zone coverage Saturday.
Arkansas’ offense will be just fine, Woods said, as long as it doesn’t stand in its own way.
“Ain’t no pressure, really,” Woods added. “Like I said, we’ve just got to go out and execute and do what we’re supposed to do and let the chips fall where they fall. We just can’t make mental errors, stupid penalties and shoot ourselves in the foot.
“We can’t stop ourselves. If we don’t stop ourselves, I don’t believe anybody can stop us. It’s really about what we do.”