FAYETTEVILLE — University of Arkansas safety Jalen Catalon wants to see the defense do well in practice.
Of course he had to be happy for his older brother, Kendall, who caught an out route and turned it into a 50-yard touchdown Saturday.
“When he first scored, I looked and was like, ‘Dang,’ ” Jalen Catalon said. “But then I turned away and gave him a little smirk. I was happy for him. As a defense, you want to succeed, but at the end of the day, I always celebrate for my blood, for my brother.
“When he does something good I’m always going to congratulate him. I’m always going to be his No. 1 fan and be there for him, because I know he would do the same for me.”
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Kendall Catalon has won a lot of one-on-one drills in red-zone work and has garnered praise from coaches and teammates.
“It’s good to see him kind of get his time, you know, and start getting that buzz he deserves,” Jalen Catalon said. “Hopefully he can take that into the season, for sure. He’s done some great things, and I’m proud of him.”
DL additions excelling
The depth chart on the Arkansas defensive front is still a bit of a mystery due to a big influx of newcomers in the offseason.
However, the unit’s play in Saturday’s first scrimmage of fall camp has Coach Sam Pittman feeling much better about its prospects and depth heading into his second season.
“From a group that we were very concerned about as far as depth and starters and all that, it’s kind of taking shape a little bit,” Pittman said after Saturday’s eighth practice of training camp. “Those guys got after the quarterback, and a lot of times they were in a three-man rush, and certainly we had a four-man rush, as well.”
Pittman said end Tre Williams, a graduate transfer from Missouri, had at least two “sacks” and maybe three to lead the way.
Williams, former Missouri teammate Markell Utsey and Illinois State transfer John Ridgeway have all earned first-unit reps and have pushed the returning talent for playing time. Tackle Isaiah Nichols worked with the ones in the Hogs’ four-man fronts on Saturday, while end Dorian Gerald also got first-unit work.
Safety Jalen Catalon was asked about Williams’ play in the scrimmage.
“He’s a great defensive player, and he just brings havoc to the quarterback,” Catalon said. “And it isn’t just him. The whole D-line has done a great job.”
Pittman speculated the three transfer defensive linemen are going to be contributors and that all three are in the top rotations right now.
Hunter down
Arkansas Athletic Director Hunter Yurachek got tangled up in a play that went out of bounds on the practice field and came away with a facial injury.
Yurachek tweeted a picture of his face, which included a significant gash across his nose.
“Prior to this morning’s scrimmage Coach Sam Pittman talked about toughness,” Yurachek wrote. “AD leading by example after taking a cleat to the face on the sidelines.”
The Arkansas Equipment Twitter account commented on the incident, in which running back Josh Oglesby was knocked out of bounds by Jalen Catalon. As Yurachek bent down, arm extended to avoid contact, Oglesby’s cleat swung up and swiped him across the face.
“We asked if we could get him a new shirt, he shot it down and said it makes him look tough,” the account posted.
Coach Sam Pittman said he was unaware of Yurachek’s injury until after the scrimmage.
“I visited with him about it right before I walked in here because I didn’t know it happened,” Pittman told the media. “Actually, my wife was at practice and she told me that Hunter got a cleat in the face. By the way, the cleat was on somebody’s foot. It wasn’t like somebody threw a cleat at him.”
Injury updates
Linebacker Deon Edwards was injured during the scrimmage, and it is uncertain how long the senior will be out.
“I still have to wait and see exactly what his injury was, to be honest with you, and then we’ll go from there,” Pittman said.
Center Ricky Stromberg, who had a minor knee injury early last week, could be ready to return by the end of this week, Pittman speculated.
Freshman running back AJ Green was held out of the scrimmage due to being “banged up,” per Pittman, who said on Thursday that a couple of players suffered ankle injuries.
Center Austin Nix, who has been dealing with an ankle injury, might be back by Tuesday, Pittman said.
Two timing
Sophomore Dominique Johnson made the move to tight end last week, but he’s still getting work at running back to make sure he gets enough reps.
“Dom is doing a good job getting caught up,” tight ends coach Dowell Loggains said. “The advantage he had is he’s been in the system. So he understands signals and understands where the ball is supposed to go in the passing game and where he needs to be distribution-wise.”
Loggains said the move of the 6-1, 235-pound Johnson wouldn’t have been made if the coaches didn’t think he could be successful at tight end, which has been low on numbers.
Sophomore tight end Hudson Henry said he’s excited to see what Johnson can do at his new position.
“I think as he gets more confident, I think he’s going to be just a fantastic player,” Henry said. “He does what he’s supposed to do, when he’s supposed to do it.
“He runs his routes really well. He knows how to read a defense. He’s physical, he’s a big guy. He’s going to fit in really well.”
Johnson had some nice runs in Saturday’s scrimmage as he took reps at both spots.
“I don’t want him standing over on the sideline,” Coach Sam Pittman said. “So he’s learning, he’s getting his reps at tight end. I want him to learn tight end. But until he learns a little bit more of the offense, he can’t get the adequate number of reps in there. So we’ll probably continue to use him as a running back.”
Big foot
Freshman kicker Cam Little was perfect on his three field goal attempts, hitting from 52, 46 and 37 yards.
“He knows how to kick the ball between them two deals pretty consistently,” Coach Sam Pittman said. “We had a hurry field goal situation the other day and it was 57 [yards] and he kicked it 65, I guarantee you. Kicked it right through the middle.
“His leg is a lot better than what it was, in my opinion, from the spring. He just really had a good spring. Cam, I’ve watched him enough that I have a lot of confidence in him.”
Punting competition
Reid Bauer handled punting Saturday while Sam Loy was held out of the scrimmage.
“Sam’s dinged up a little bit,” Coach Sam Pittman said. “Before he got dinged up, he was the No. 1 punter. He had done such a really nice job. He’ll be back soon, and I’m assuming that battle will be ongoing when he gets back.”
Pittman said he likes Bauer, who has been the primary punter for parts of two years, because of his persistence.
“He’s just a scrappy guy,” Pittman said. “He’s like, ‘You’re not beating me out.’ I think that’s two years in a row that there may have been other plans for somebody to punt and there he goes, running out there. If he’s the best, that’s what we’ll do.”
On hold
Sam Pittman said last week that he’s not ready to determine which walk-ons will receive scholarships.
“I’ll probably wait another week or two,” Pittman said. “The thing about that is you want to make sure … because if I had it my way, I’d give them all a scholarship. But you want to make sure when you do that you’re giving it to whomever is helping the team on the field the most. They’re all helping the team. But whoever’s helping the team on the field the most, you want to make that happen.
“If I do give somebody a scholarship, it’ll retro back to whatever they paid [for the fall semester] they’ll get back, and then they’ll get their scholarship.”