Arkansas DB has surgery, joins list of unavailable scholarship players
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FAYETTEVILLE — Micahh Smith will miss the rest of the season after having surgery on an undisclosed injury, head coach Sam Pittman announced Thursday.
The fifth-year senior defensive back said his surgery “went well” via a tweet Tuesday night. Pittman didn’t say what the surgery was for, but revealed it would prevent him from playing in the final four games of 2020.
“Micahh’s had a couple of injuries and we’ve been going back and forth on how long we basically could hold out and him not get hurt worse,” Pittman said. “Then he really couldn’t go back-to-back practices, so we decided, ‘Hey, why don’t we go ahead and get this fixed?’”
The various injuries limited Smith to appearing in just one game this season, as he played one defensive snap and one special teams snap at Texas A&M a couple of weeks ago. During preseason camp, he appeared to be competing for a spot in the two-deep at safety.
Last season, the former two-star recruit was a key contributor as the Razorbacks’ backup nickel back. The Marshall, Texas, native played 214 defensive snaps and was credited with 22 tackles, two pass breakups, one quarterback hurry and one fumble recovery.
It is the fourth season-ending injury for Arkansas this year, as he joins running back Josh Oglesby (toe), wide receiver Koilan Jackson (knee) and linebacker Levi Draper (shoulder).
Although Smith hadn’t had a large role on the defense, him being shut down for the rest of the year leaves the Razorbacks with only 74 available scholarship players. In addition to the four season-ending injuries, five players have opted out, one has entered the transfer portal and one is sitting out because of NCAA transfer rules.
That is significant this season because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. If their total scholarship numbers dip below 53 - or if the quarterback, offensive line or defensive line position groups dip below certain benchmarks - then Arkansas could have a game postponed.
With the threat of positive COVID-19 tests and subsequent contact tracing always looming, it isn’t unheard of for SEC teams to fall below those marks. In fact, it’s already happened several times, including with four games just this week.
Unavailable Scholarship Players
Opted Out
~DB Jordon Curtis
~DB Jerry Jacobs
~DB Jarques McClellion
~WR Shamar Nash
~OL Chibueze Nwanna
Season-Ending Injuries
~LB Levi Draper
~WR Koilan Jackson
~RB Josh Oglesby
~DB Micahh Smith
Other
~WR Jaquayln Crawford (sitting out because of NCAA transfer rules)
~RB A’Montae Spivey (entered NCAA transfer portal)