Postgame Notebook: Parodi return a bonus

Arkansas' Nathan Parodi returns a punt for a touchdown during a game against UAPB on Saturday, Oct. 23, 2021, in Little Rock.

The main reason Nathan Parodi returns punts for the University of Arkansas is because of his sure hands.

If Parodi gets a few yards after catching a punt that’s considered a bonus.

But Parodi found plenty of running room against the University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Saturday, including an 80-yard return for a touchdown in the Razorbacks’ 45-3 victory at War Memorial Stadium.

Parodi, a redshirt junior walk-on safety from Austin, Texas, was the first Razorback to have a punt return for a touchdown in 10 years and a span of 116 games, which had been the seventh-longest drought for an FBS team.

The last punt return for a touchdown by a Razorback had been Joe Adams’ 51-yarder in Arkansas’ 29-16 victory over Kansas State in the 2012 Cotton Bowl to cap the 2011 season.

“That was awesome,” Arkansas Coach Sam Pittman said of Parodi’s touchdown. “It’s priceless to see his face when he scored.

“The whole team was excited as I’ve seen them in a long time when Parodi scored. It was real neat.”

Parodi, who came into Saturday with 10 punt returns for 41 yards in the first seven games this season, had 4 for 114 against the Golden Lions. His 80-yarder is tied for the sixth-longest punt return in UA history and was the longest for a touchdown since Adams scored on a 97-yarder against Ole Miss in 2010.

300 hitter

Arkansas senior linebacker Bumper Pool had eight tackles on Saturday to give him 301 for his career. He has 77 tackles this season.

Shorter half

With Arkansas leading 45-0 at halftime, it was announced before the second half started that the third and fourth quarters would be cut from 15 to 12 quarters.

For starters

Arkansas freshman safety Jayden Johnson, sophomore nickel back Malik Chavis and sophomore defensive tackle Jashaud Stewart all made their first career starts.

Vs. FCS

Arkansas won its 18th consecutive game against an FCS opponent since losing to The Citadel 10-3 in the 1992 season opener.

That was the Razorbacks’ first game as an SEC member after moving from the Southwest Conference and resulted in Jack Crowe’s firing as Arkansas’ coach the next day by Athletic Director Frank Broyles.

Defensive coordinator Joe Kines was promoted to interim coach to replace Crowe.

Fumble fingers

The Razorbacks, who had lost just two fumbles through the first seven games, lost two on Saturday.

UAPB recovered fumbles by quarterback KJ Jefferson and running back T.J. Hammonds.

Halftime show

Fans usually use halftime to head to the concessions stands or rest rooms, but most of the crowd stayed in their seats to enjoy the show put on by UAPB’s “Marching Musical Machine of the Mid-South” and the Arkansas Marching Band known as “The Best in Sight and Sound.”

After both bands put on separate shows, they ended the halftime entertainment with a joint rendition of “Beat It” to highlight Breast Cancer Awareness.

Honorary captains

Arkansas and UAPB both had a group of former athletes in several sports who were honored on the field as honorary captains before kickoff.

The Razorbacks’ honorary captains were Randy Coleman (track and field), Carl Kidd (football), Juliet Jackson (basketball), U.S. Reed (basketball), Ray Doakes (track and field) and Michael James (football).

The Golden Lions’ honorary captains were Chris Akins (football), Jesse Mason (basketball), Kimberly Robinson (track and field), Bruce Bailey (football), Oliver Elders (basketball) and Ron Davis (football).

In-state competition

Arkansas improved to 39-2-3 all-time against other college teams in the state with the Razorbacks’ victory in their first meeting against UAPB.

The Razorbacks are 15-0-2 vs. Hendrix (last matchup in 1933), 8-0 vs. College of the Ozarks (1935), 6-2-1 against Ouachita Baptist University (1923), 6-0 vs. Henderson State (1929), 2-0 vs. the University of Central Arkansas (1926) and 1-0 against the University of Arkansas-Monticello (1944).

Monticello Navy — a team comprised of students enrolled in the Navy V-12 training program — beat Arkansas 20-12 in 1943.

The Razorbacks also played high school teams in the early years of the program and are 8-0 against Fort Smith High in games played between 1894 and 1904 and 0-1 against Little Rock High in a 1904 game.

In the Rock

Arkansas improved to 169-69-5 all-time Little Rock 152-62-4 in War Memorial Stadium.

The Razorbacks’ next scheduled games in War Memorial Stadium will be against Western Carolina in 2023, UAPB in 2024 and Arkansas State University in 2025.

Crowd count

The announced crowd for Saturday’s game was 42,576.

That was well above the 33,961 for Arkansas’ previous game in Little Rock when Missouri beat the Razorbacks 24-14 in the 2019 season finale.

The Arkansas-Missouri crowd was the second-smallest crowd in War Memorial Stadium since Arkansas joined the SEC in 1992.

The smallest crowd was 22,329 against LSU in 1996.

Other recent games in Little Rock had announced of attendances of 51,438 for Ole Miss in 2018; 36,055 for Florida A&M in 2017; 46,988 for Alcorn State in 2016; 49,591 for Toledo in 2015; 54,959 for Georgia in 2014; 47,358 for Samford in 2013; and 45,198 for Mississippi State in 2013.