FAYETTEVILLE — Replacing Cam Little is no easy feat, but Arkansas football has two kickers vying to try to do just that.
Hawaii transfer Matthew Shipley entered spring practice as the favorite to win the job and has been battling Vito Calvaruso, who transferred from Arkansas to Wisconsin and then back to the Razorbacks last season. Calvaruso had to sit out last year due to being a second transfer.
Neither kicker candidate has shown consistency in spring, however.
Arkansas’ practices typically end with field goal drills. On a windy Saturday, Shipley was good from 38 and 43 yards out but missed wide right from 46 and 54. Calvaruso was good from 43 but missed wide left from 46 and 54.
“That’s been a really good competition with Vito Calvaruso and Matthew Shipley,” special teams coordinator Scott Fountain said after practice Saturday. “They’ve had their ups and downs. They’ve had some perfect days, and they’ve had some days.”
Fountain recruited Shipley after the senior made 14 of 18 field goals for Hawaii in 2023, including 3 of 4 from 50 yards out or more. He was perfect from 20-39 yards and went 3 for 5 from 40-49 yards. His season long was 51.
The Texas native looked like a solid get out of the transfer portal to replace Little, one of the best kickers in Arkansas program history. Little finished his three-year career with an 82.8 field goal percentage and could be selected in the upcoming NFL Draft.
“I was kind of in the thought process [Little] would be back,” Fountain said. “It didn’t happen that way. You always have to have a plan, so you just start looking in the portal and just see what's available.
“[Shipley] is a kid that caught my eye. He has a twin brother that kicks at Texas State. I like that, that there's two people in the family kicking in college football. … Had a really good career at the University of Hawaii. It’s a tough place [to play]. There's a lot of wind on the island and a lot of traveling back and forth.”
Fountain said part of Shipley’s early struggles have been adjusting to the conditions at his new school.
“I think part of it, for particularly Shipley being new here and particularly when you get in the stadium and you get on the north end zone, the wind is a little different with the way those tunnels open up,” Fountain said. “He’s kind of struggling with that a little bit.”
Calvaruso, who spent 2022-23 in Wisconsin before returning to Fayetteville, has also struggled with consistency. He was perfect on Tuesday with makes from 28, 35, 42 and 47 yards out, but he had two bad misses on Thursday and left two more wide Saturday.
“[He still has] a very strong leg as a kickoff guy,” Fountain said. “Field goal kicker, I think he's much, much improved. When he got here as a freshman, he would hit a great ball, and then the next ball might be really wide. … [Now] his misses are small misses, not big misses.”
Replicating Little’s success might not be a reasonable ask for any kicker, but the Razorbacks will look to fill its vacant kicker spot with someone who can come close.
“Cam was anywhere from 81 to 83% every year,” Fountain said. “People do get spoiled. I'm spoiled. But I'm hoping I can get these other guys to be somewhere near that mark.”
Sategna the specialist
Isaiah Sategna made a splash in 2023 in his first year as the Razorbacks’ return man.
A redshirt freshman last season, the speedster from Fayetteville High School ranked ninth in Division I with a 12-yard per punt return average. He was also the team’s primary kick returner and ranked 38th in the nation with 21.7 yards per kick return.
Among Sategna’s highlights was an 88-yard punt return touchdown in Week 3 against BYU.
He became the first Arkansas returner since De’Vion Warren in 2017 to be named to the freshman All-SEC team.
“That was my first time really going a whole year being the punt and kick returner,” Sategna said Saturday. “In high school they didn't really kick me the ball. I'm just very for fortunate for Coach Fountain. He gave me an opportunity last year and I got to just show a little bit of what I can do.
“I'm feeling more comfortable every day catching the ball — catching the punts with the wind and stuff — and I feel like this is going to be a great year in the return game.”
Sategna is expected to again be the Razorbacks’ top return specialist.
Fountain named other players to look out for as other options: Defensive back Jaylon Braxton and receiver Jordan Anthony.
“Jaylon Braxton is certainly in the competition,” Fountain said. “I think Jaylon is a very good returner — kick returner and punt returner. And Jordan Anthony, the transfer from [Texas] A&M, we worked him at punt returner, [but] I think kickoff returner is going to be more of a strength for him. He has tremendous speed.”
Fountain also mentioned defensive back Dylan Hasz could be in the rotation. Hasz has missed most of the spring with a broken hand.
Punter update
Max Fletcher, the Razorbacks’ 6-5 punter from Australia, will likely take on punting duties again as a junior. He has been the starter for two seasons and was seventh nationally in 2023 with a 46.95-yard punting average.
However, Fountain said Saturday there has been a “good battle” between Fletcher and Devin Bale, who transferred to Arkansas prior to last season from Northern Colorado.
“Fletcher has done well,” Fountain said. “Him and Devin, I'm telling you, are two very good punters. They really go after it.”
Fountain said the punters are graded on three categories: chartings, live reps and scrimmage reps.
“We do a charting in practice,” Fountain said. “That's kind of when nobody's around — it's me and the kickers. We do a lot of that work, but we base the grade off a very small percentage there. Then we do live reps. There's pressure now, right? People are around and we’ve got defense rushing. And then the scrimmage reps are really high-value.
“So you kind of go through those three categories, and at the end of spring we'll sit down and talk about each, and see who wins that battle for the spring.”
Fountain also said he has been “pretty pleased” with freshman punter Sam Dubwig, who is from Cabot.