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In a normal year, HawgBeat publishes a “Redshirt Tracker” after each week of the season to keep an eye on which players have played enough to burn their redshirt.
This started a couple of years ago when the NCAA made a rule change that allowed all players - not just freshmen - appear in as many as four games and maintain the year of eligibility.
Last season, this proved to be a significant piece because of the way former head coach Chad Morris bungled the rule for a few players, using them on meaningless kneel downs in multiple games to essentially waste one of those four games.
However, this is far from a normal year. With the constant threat of COVID-19 forcing players to miss games - through positive tests or contact tracing - and even possibly canceling or postponing games, the NCAA voted to grant all players an extra year of eligibility, regardless of how much they play.
That will allow true freshmen and upperclassmen alike to play in every game this season without having to worry about burning their redshirt.
Because of that, HawgBeat decided to turn its “Redshirt Tracker” into simply a “Freshman Report” in which we give a rundown of which true freshmen have appeared in games this season.
Here is the update after Arkansas’ game at No. 13 Auburn…
K Vito Calvaruso
Games Played: 3
Snaps: 12 on ST
PFF Grade: 69.5 (ST - kickoff grade)
It wasn’t a great day for the walk-on kickoff specialist. Calvaruso failed to get a touchback on any of his four attempts, with one of them actually going out of bounds. It proved to be a critical mistake because it gave Auburn great field position with only a couple of minutes left in the first half, allowing the Tigers to drive down and get a field goal.
The other three kicks stayed in bounds, but none of them got into the end zone. Two were caught at the goal line, with one of them not getting great hang time, which allowed the returner to get to around the 30 before the coverage unit got to him and brought him down at the 33.
Calvaruso’s fourth kickoff was caught at the 1-yard line and returned 35 yards, but it wasn’t necessarily his fault. The coverage unit should have brought the returner down around the 25, but poor tackling let him get the extra yardage.
