FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Throughout almost all of fall camp Razorback cornerback Dwight McGlothern was seen playing with the third team defense. He proved in Saturday's 31-24 win over Cincinnati that he deserves to be a starter.
McGlothern playing with the third team defense during fastball periods was always a head-scratcher, but it seemed like a given that the former LSU Tiger would be a starter by the time Cincinnati came to town.
Even when Arkansas released the depth chart last Monday, McGlothern was not listed as a starter. Redshirt senior LaDarrius Bishop was listed as a starter alongside Hudson Clark.
When the defense stepped on the field for the first time Saturday, it was McGlothern who started alongside Clark, and it didn't take him too long to show he deserved to be in the game.
After Cincinnati recorded four first downs — three of which came on third down — on its first drive, McGlothern swooped in and picked off Bearcats quarterback Ben Bryant and proceeded to run it back 51 yards to setup Arkansas' first touchdown of the season.
"That was a huge play because on that drive, I think it was third and… it might have been eight plus on every one of them, and they converted them," Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman said. "And then they came back, and (McGlothern) picked it off and got us headed in the right direction."
It was the perfect moment after all the back-and-forth talk throughout fall camp of why McGlothern was with the third team defense.
Redshirt senior safety Simeon Blair said McGlothern had prepared for that play on film leading up to the game.
"That’s a play that we watched in film," Blair said. "We do a lot of film study together, whether that’s on our own, with the coaches or after just in the hotel room. We watched that play 100 times and he saw the play, broke on it and set us up in a big position."
McGlothern ended the day with four total tackles, the interception and had one of Arkansas' two pass breakups in the game.
Like the rest of the Razorback secondary, McGlothern was not perfect on Saturday. Bryant threw for 325 yards and two scores in the game and he could've had much more if he could locate the deep ball better.
But, McGlothern did prove that he is a starter on the Arkansas defense, and with injuries to Jalen Catalon and Myles Slusher making both of them questionable, McGlothern will be relied on more moving forward.
The Hogs will hit the field against South Carolina at Reynolds Razorback Stadium this Saturday at 11 a.m. CT. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.
