TAT: Freshman CBs Fill-In Nicely

This article originally appeared on November 25, 2013 on The Arkansas Traveler website, uatrav.com.

The Arkansas football team escaped its eighth-consecutive loss Saturday relatively healthy, head coach Bret Bielema said at his weekly Monday press conference.

Senior defensive tackle Byran Jones suffered a leg injury during the Mississippi State game, but he should be able to practice Monday, Bielema said.

Although sophomore cornerback Will Hines did not accumulate any statistics in his first game back since breaking his arm against No. 18 Florida, he did not have a setback and will play in Friday’s game.

Putting more strain on the Arkansas secondary was the absence of sophomore cornerback Tevin Mitchel, who missed the game because of personal reasons. Bielema said that Mitchel had two good weeks of practice after a disappointing performance against Ole Miss, but his mother suffered a stroke, so Mitchel went to be with her.

With Mitchel out and Hines in a reserve role, true freshman D.J. Dean and redshirt freshman Jared Collins made their first career starts. They each had a pass breakup in the game, while Collins also had an interception.

“I think they didn’t do too bad,” cornerbacks coach Taver Johnson said. “Obviously we left a few plays on the field, but one thing they did was competed.”

I told (Collins) yesterday, ‘If I threw the ball at you right now, you’d drop it, but that was one heck of a play you made Saturday.’”

Offensively, the Razorbacks were without both of their starting running back for the first quarter of the Mississippi State game. Freshman Alex Collins and sophomore Jonathan Williams were suspended for the first quarter because they were late to a team meeting.

In their place, freshman Korliss Marshall and sophomore Kody Walker combined for 58 yards on 12 carries in the first quarter.

“I was very excited about the way our team responded (to the suspensions),” Bielema said. “We didn’t miss a beat. I thought Kody did a great job of competing.”

Bielema said that he had a conversation with Williams and Collins Friday night before the game and he doesn’t expect them to make that mistake again.

Saturday was also the debut of Arkansas’ all-gray uniforms. The Razorbacks wore anthracite-colored pants, jerseys and helmets.

While he is more of a traditionalist, “if it helps us get two more recruits or two more wins, you’re going to see some gray,” Bielema said.

Next year, the Razorbacks will make some uniform changes that resemble the jerseys worn during Darren McFadden’s time at Arkansas, Bielema said, but the gray uniform will be worn for at least one game.

Arkansas concludes its 2013 season Saturday in Baton Rouge, La., against No. 15 LSU. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. and the game will air nationally on CBS.