'A moment to cherish': Spence recalls his pick-6, Hogs' longest since 2014

FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas coach Sam Pittman and defensive coordinator Travis Williams were not bashful during preseason football practices about what they thought of freshman linebacker Brad Spence.

Williams remarked that the “the sky is the limit” and “a bright future” was in store for Spence. Pittman, while admitting he is bad at singling out standouts, quickly rattled off the newcomer from Houston as someone who caught his eye.

In his first game as a Razorback, Spence had a moment that put the cherry on top of a 56-13 victory over Western Carolina. Late in the fourth quarter, Spence dropped back in coverage, read the eyes of under-duress Catamounts quarterback Charlie Dean and made a break on a short pass.

He squeezed the ball and saw the only man to beat was 310-pound Western Carolina left tackle Tyler Smith.

“I saw an O-linemen when I caught it,” Spence said Tuesday. “I was like, ‘I think I‘ve got him beat.’ I was like, ‘Yeah, I think I’ve got this all the way.’”

He turned on the jets and had only green grass in front of him. Spence raced down the sideline step-for-step with teammate Jaylen Lewis, and 85 yards later all that remained was chest bumps and jubilation in the north end zone of War Memorial Stadium.

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Spence said he had scored on a fumble return before, but it was his first time to return an interception for a touchdown.

“It was a pretty fun experience seeing the crowd roar after I got my first pick in a collegiate game,” Spence said. “It was a moment to remember, a moment to cherish.

“It’s not common for a freshman to get his first pick in his first game.”

It was Arkansas’ longest interception return for touchdown since Rohan Gaines had a 100-yarder against Ole Miss in 2014. It is also the third-longest return since 1993.

“It was sort of like a right place, right time thing,” Spence said. “I played two coverages, and I ended up seeing the ball, [so it was] ball instincts. Seeing the ball, I went to go get it and it was like a shock when I caught it. And I was like, ‘I only see green,’ so I ran to the touchdown. It was great.”

It was a fitting conclusion to a game in which the Razorbacks turned over Western Carolina five times, including four interceptions. Jaheim Thomas, who led Arkansas with eight tackles, was excited to see Spence have a big moment in his first game.

“Spence, he’s a ball player with a bright future,” Thomas said. “Just seeing him out there and making plays was big for him.”

Spence became the first Razorback to score a touchdown on defense since Jalen Catalon and Grant Morgan each had interception returns for scores against Ole Miss in 2020.

“That was a lot of fun, wasn’t it?” Pittman said Saturday. “Because they had a drive going and I just didn’t want them to score. ... I was looking for flags, but there wasn’t any, so I didn’t see all of the whole run because I was looking behind him.

“But [it was] a great play.”