FAYETTEVILLE — University of Arkansas Coach Sam Pittman said a variety of players will take on more practice time and game reps with senior defensive end Tre Williams opting out of the Jan. 1 Outback Bowl against Penn State.
Williams, a 12-game starter, made the decision to opt out on Sunday afternoon, hours after his arrest on suspicion of driving while intoxicated. He had been going through bowl practices before making his announcement.
“I think we’ll be fine, first of all,” Pittman said.
He then referenced Jashaud Stewart, Zach Williams and Eric Thomas would pick up work in Williams’ absence.
“We’ll move Eric Gregory out there some,” Pittman added, referencing the 6-4, 295-pound sophomore, who has been an inside-outside player this season. “We have a few more inside players. It depends if we play more three or four-down front, which we’ll play both, but I think that’s probably who would, right off the top of my head, take the extra reps.”
Williams had 28 tackles, second-most among UA defensive linemen behind John Ridgeway’s 39, and led the team with 6 sacks while also contributing 6 quarterback hurries.
Pittman said his plan of action had Williams not been a senior would’ve looked like this: “I would’ve suspended him for a game. I would’ve made him run. I would’ve asked him to go get some rehab help, and then we would’ve gone on a game-by-game situation after that.”
Gregory and tackle Taurean Carter are tied for third among Arkansas defensive linemen with 24 tackles, followed by Williams (23), tackle Isaiah Nichols (18) starting end Markell Utsey (13), Stewart (7) and end Mataio Soli (6).
Busta move?
Coach Sam Pittman was asked Monday about cornerbacks coach Sam Carter’s Sunday Twitter post, where he wrote that senior cornerback Montaric “Busta” Brown was “one of the best DB’s in [the] 2022 Draft.”
Brown, a first-team All-SEC choice by league coaches who is tied for the SEC lead with five interceptions, said he hasn’t decided whether he’ll return for a super senior season or declare for the NFL Draft. However, signs appear to be pointing toward a Brown departure.
“Right now, I don’t know what he’s going to do,” Pittman said. “He hasn’t come and talked to me, but right now I would say he’s probably not going to come back. But I haven’t had that conversation with him yet.”
Personnel report
Jalen St. John and Ray Curry Jr., a couple of redshirt freshman offensive linemen, were not at practice on Monday, and Coach Sam Pittman provided partial updates on them.
Pittman said St. John, who is recovering from a wrist injury and had been at practices last week, didn’t show up for Monday’s work.
“I’m not positive what’s going on there,” Pittman said. “I’ve got to talk to him.
“Ray Curry is not going to the bowl, so that’s probably why you haven’t seen him. Other than that, I really can’t elaborate on St. John, because I don’t really know any more on that.”
Asked to elaborate on whether Curry was planning to stay with the program, Pittman added, “From what I understand he’ll be back in the spring”
Asked if there was a reason he wasn’t traveling to the bowl, he replied, ‘Not that I want to talk about.”
PSU LBs out
The Razorbacks began implementing practice plans for Penn State on Monday, but the plans will no longer have to include inside linebackers Brandon Smith and Ellis Brooks, the team’s top tacklers.
Smith had previously declared he was opting out of the Outback Bowl against Arkansas on Jan. 1 to begin preparations for the NFL Draft, and Brooks joined him on Monday.
Brooks, a redshirt senior, leads the team with 100 tackles, and Smith, a junior, ranks second with 81. Both Brooks and Smith are 241-pounders who drew early attention from Arkansas Coach Sam Pittman following the bowl pairing.
“Their two inside linebackers, No. 12 [Smith], and No. 13 [Brooks] are really, really good,” Pittman said on Dec. 14.
Renfro sidelined
Redshirt freshman quarterback Kade Renfro suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament knee injury near the very end of Friday’s scrimmage work for younger players and will be out for several months, Coach Sam Pittman said.
“Renfro just planted, a non-contact injury,” Pittman said. “So he’ll be out. He has an ACL, so he’ll be out for a while. But I hated it for him. Just planted and gave way on him, so I’m very sad for him, the whole team is. It’s a part of the game you wish we could get rid of, but it certainly happened.”
Pittman said on national signing day last week he and the coaching staff were happy with their quarterback depth for 2022, with established starter KJ Jefferson backed up by Malik Hornsby, Lucas Coley and Renfro, and that the Razorbacks might not use one of their six available slots on a signal caller.
The coaching staff might rethink that position or even consider moving 6-4 true freshman Landon Rogers back to quarterback after he’s been at tight end since training camp.
“It certainly makes you look,” Pittman said. “I think if you ended up [signing a quarterback in the current class], you’d certainly need to sit down and talk to Malik and KJ about it before you ever would do it. I just don’t know.”
Pittman said the Razorbacks would have to lose six more players to the transfer portal to have access to the full 28-man signing class that is available.
“Coley’s getting a lot of reps right now, as well, so I think you’d have to wait a little bit over the next week and a half to find that out, whether you felt comfortable there or not, and he’s getting a lot better, so we’ll just wait and see on that,” Pittman said.
Scrimmage stuff
Sam Pittman provided a summary of the young players’ scrimmage held on Friday during his Monday press briefing.
Pittman cited tailback Donte Buckner, quarterback Lucas Coley, the offensive line and other players, and said defensive back Chase Lowery had an interception return for a touchdown during the short scrimmage.
“I thought Buckner really did a good job in the scrimmage, [and the] offensive line played well,” Pittman said. “I thought Coley threw the ball well. Eric Thomas made some plays.”
Parodi going on
Sam Pittman said redshirt junior defensive back and punt returner Nathan Parodi will be put on scholarship next semester, which will give him financial support through his final season on the roster.
Parodi is one of 33 FBS players with a punt return touchdown this season, an 80-yarder in the Razorbacks’ 45-3 win over the University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff in Little Rock. He averages 12.3 yards per punt return to rank seventh in the country.
“He’s awesome, a great student, a fine teammate, a workaholic, doesn’t complain,” Pittman said. “He certainly has been a great Razorback and we’re awful proud of him and what he has done.”
Signees in
A pair of local signees and early enrollees in defensive end JJ Hollingsworth and linebacker Kaden Henley participated in practice on Monday and will get to go through workouts on campus this week before the team departs for a short Christmas break.
Hollingsworth is a 6-4, 250-pounder from Greenland. Henley is a 6-2, 225-pounder from Shiloh Christian in Springdale.
“It was awesome to see them looking around lost,” Pittman said, laughing. “I walked up to them a couple times and said, ‘Hey, you see all these guys around here? They were lost, too. Just kind of fit in where you get in.’
“They ran scout team today and went through individual. It was great to have them here. It’s fun to have those guys here. They have no clue what’s going on, but they’re so excited to be in Arkansas gear.”