FAYETTEVILLE -- University of Arkansas defensive tackle David Oke will not play for a second straight game, Coach Sam Pittman confirmed Monday. The senior transfer from Abilene Christian has been dealing with a knee injury dating back to camp that was projected to keep him out at least two games.
"He seems to be doing really well," Pittman said. "To get him back by Ole Miss (on Sept. 13), we'll see. But I think there's a possibility. Now, what that is, I don't know, but I think there's more of a possibility that may happen than what I maybe thought last week."
Keyshawn Blackstock was moved from the offensive line to the defensive front to bolster depth three weeks ago. He didn't record a stat in Saturday's 52-7 win over Alabama A&M, though he did play. Defensive linemen Phillip Lee, Reginald Vaughn, Cam Ball and Quincy Rhodes Jr. were credited with tackles for loss. Pittman said he wants to keep developing the freshmen, Vaughn and Kevin Oatis.
"I like both of them and it was limited action, but hell, Vaughn had two tackles," he said. "I think we've got to continue to work Oatis and Vaughn more and more, especially with Oke being out here, to see if we can get them in the rotation when the game matters."
Antonio Jordan is expected to be out longer than Oke. The freshman wide receiver from Warren did not play in the season opener with a high-ankle sprain. Pittman labeled it serious Monday and said it didn't result from contact. Jordan's foot got caught in the ground while trying to make a catch.
"Those are usually about a four-week recovery, especially at that position," Pittman said. "You might get back a little earlier as an offensive lineman or something like that. So I'm still going to tell you probably three weeks from today."
3 key clips
Arkansas Coach Sam Pittman said he pulled three clips from Saturday's win over Alabama A&M -- one from each unit -- to show the full team top effort plays during Monday's team meeting.
The choice on offense was quarterback Taylen Green's 11-yard scramble on a third-and-11, with a big collision and deft body control to stretch for a first down from the first quarter.
On defense, several Razorbacks converged on quarterback Eric Handley on a third-and-5 on the first play of the fourth quarter, forcing a strip-sack. Justus Boone crashed into his back and jarred the ball free just as blitzing nickel back Shakur Smalls grabbed Handley's right shoulder and Cam Ball hit him from the front. Smalls recovered the loose ball in a scramble that included defensive end Charlie Collins.
The special teams clip was long snapper Ashton Ngo's tackle at the Alabama A&M 6 after Devin Bale's 56-yard punt in the fourth quarter.
"That was incredible," Pittman said of Ngo's stop, a couple of seconds after return man Jordan Chambers-Smith started upfield from the 1. "I mean, it really was incredible."
Green grass
Arkansas Coach Sam Pittman said Taylen Green made a smart decision at the end of the first half when he fired a touchdown pass to O'Mega Blake with six seconds remaining and Arkansas out of timeouts.
Green had been flushed out of the pocket by blitzing linebacker Tervae Williams around the 15-yard line, rolled right and had enough open space in front of him to consider bolting for the end zone. However, when he reached the 11 he spotted Blake at the back of the end zone and found him for the score, with Blake doing a good job of pivoting to make the catch behind him.
"There was the potential he could run it in there but we had no timeouts if he didn't make it," Pittman said. "The linebacker was coming in on him, coming to tackle him, and he made a good decision to throw that one."
Green conducted a late touchdown drive in the opening halves in both of his season openers as Arkansas' starting quarterback. He skirted a sack attempt and ran from the right sideline all the way across the field to the left corner of the end zone to score on a 36-yard scramble with nine seconds remaining in the half during the Hogs' 70-0 win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff last year.
50-yard boots
Arkansas freshman kicker Scott Starzyk's 53-yard field goal in the first quarter against Alabama A&M extended the program's streak of making at least one 50-yarder for a fifth consecutive year.
Starzyk's long kick in the first attempt of his college career was the 40th field goal of 50-plus yards in Arkansas history by the 12th different kicker.
Steve Little holds the school records for longest field goal with a 67-yarder and most 50-yard field goals with nine. However, he played when a kicking tee was still in use for placekicks.
Cam Little (2021-23), the Arkansas record holder with 82.8% field-goal accuracy, had seven field goals of 50-plus yards, including a career-best 56-yarder at Ole Miss in 2023. Zach Hocker (2010-13), the school record holder with 354 points, had five field goals of 50-plus yards.
Connor Limpert (2016-19) made three field goals of 50-plus yards, as did Bill McClard (1969-71), Kendall Trainor (1985-88) and Todd Wright (1989-92). Matthew Shipley made two 50-yard field goals last year, as did Ish Ordonez (1978-80).
Arkansas kickers with one 50-yard field goal are Starzyk, Kyle Ramsey (2024) and Adam McFain (2016).
Line side
This week's depth chart for the right side of Arkansas' offensive line didn't change. Kobe Branham and E'Marion Harris, listed in "or" fashion in that order are slated at right guard, while Harris is listed ahead of redshirt freshman Shaq McRoy at right tackle.
Branham made his second start at right guard on Saturday. He was the best-graded Arkansas offensive lineman in both run and pass blocking by Pro Football Focus. Still, the promising showing didn't narrow down the open competition for Coach Sam Pittman.
"I still think we've got to prepare like we did, but I think Kobe played well," Pittman said. "But I still think we've got to continue to develop guys that we feel like we can win SEC games with, so I don't know if there'll be a huge change in how we approach next week than we did last week."
Branham is from Fort Smith, while Harris is from Little Rock. The long-awaited first matchup with Arkansas State will take place in the state's capital city Saturday. Pittman said the Red Wolves and Razorbacks didn't have "a ton" of players from the state on their rosters. Out of the Hogs' 22 starters Saturday, four were from Arkansas.
Monday was still too early for Pittman to know about the duo's potential excitement for the previously unopened rivalry.
"Not as of now," he said. "We haven't had our meeting yet, and of course, Mondays are cleaning up from Saturday, which is big. We have to take our time to clean all that out. We got to get better and then proceed into this week."
QB1 honors
Taylen Green was named the East-West Shrine Bowl Monday Morning Quarterback on Monday. He completed 24 of 31 passes for 322 yards and 6 touchdowns Saturday, becoming the first Razorback since Nick Starkel in 2019 to have consecutive games of 300-plus passing yards.
Green's six passing touchdowns were the most in a game by a Razorback since Brandon Allen's school-record seven in 2015 and tied for the second-most in program history. His 77.42% completion rate was the most by an Arkansas quarterback with 24 or more completions since at least 1998.
Coverage
Following Arkansas' blowout Saturday, Coach Sam Pittman expressed concern for blown defensive assignments by his back seven in defending Alabama A&M's opening touchdown drive.
Numbers became clearer after watching film.
"We had six missed assignments there early in the first drive," he said Monday. "And then we cut a tight end loose in the second drive and that was from the linebacker position as well. So we've got to get those things cleaned up, which they did during the game."
Big numbers
Arkansas had 27 players record at least one assisted tackle in the season opener against Alabama A&M. Another three players produced a defensive statistic of some kind, with cornerback Keshawn Davila recording a pass breakup, defensive tackle Kevin Oatis logging a quarterback hurry and punter Devin Bale snagging a fumble recovery on the kickoff that hit a Bulldog on the front line.