As the Arkansas Razorbacks (2-1, 0-0 SEC) continue to prepare for the LSU Tigers (2-1, 1-0 SEC), there are plenty of storylines to monitor for the Hogs.
Star tailback Rocket Sanders has returned to practice, but his status is still up in the air. Head coach Sam Pittman commented on Sanders' health, other injuries, a potential battle at punter, who is playing Harold Perkins Jr. on scout team and more...
Injuries
As far as injuries go for the Arkansas Razorbacks, the top name fans want to know about is junior running back Raheim "Rocket" Sanders, who suffered a knee injury in the Week 1 win over Western Carolina.
Sanders participated at practice Monday and Tuesday for the first time since before that win over Western Carolina. He didn't look to be 100% healthy and also didn't go in full pads on Tuesday, so Sanders' status for Saturday's game at LSU remains unknown.
"Well, I don’t have an update on his status, but I can tell you that he’s ran really (well)," head coach Sam Pittman said Wednesday. "Ran well yesterday and progressing faster than what I thought he might. But I don’t know whether he’ll be able to play or not."
The injury is to Sanders' left knee and the initial time table given on Sept. 6 was "a couple of weeks."
Another player who could have a big impact on the offense is left tackle Devon Manuel, who has most recently been battling a stinger. Manuel entered fall camp as the starting left tackle, but injuries have set him back and allowed Andrew Chamblee to start.
"He’s practiced the first two days," Pittman said. "In my opinion, he’s yet to let it go. He’s got to let it go and get back to where he was to help us, so I don't know if he’ll be available full speed or not. If he won’t, then we won’t play him unless he’s full speed. He’s not there as of today, so we’ll have to figure that out."
Pittman said Monday that the team needs Manuel back as soon as possible. The only player on the Arkansas roster from Louisiana, being able to suit up against his home state team this weekend would mean a lot to Manuel.
"He wants to play," Pittman said. "I want him to play. All those things. He’s trying his butt off. He’s just still a little bit more beat up than I was hoping he would be. That’s why I’m not giving up on him this week because I know how bad he wants to get out there.
"However, he’s just not fully healthy yet, and a non-fully healthy guy, we’ve got one that would be better than him on the field if he’s not healthy. Hopefully he’ll be better today. We still got a lot of time, so I’m banking on him being ready to play, but he hasn’t to this point."
Starting cornerback Dwight McGlothern has also been dealing with turf toe for the past two weeks, but Pittman said he thinks that should be closed to healed up now.
"I think he would be more advanced, we would play him more and more if he was healthy, which I think he’s finally healthy now," Pittman said. "But I’ve liked the way he’s played this year. He seems to be around the football. He seems to be able to make big plays and things of that nature. That turf toe has just hurt his progress this year. But I feel like he’s about as close to 100% as he’s been this season going into this week."
Also on defense, Maryland transfer defensive tackle Anthony "Tank" Booker Jr. has been dealing with some sore knees, according to Pittman. The Head Hog added that Booker will be "full-go" for Wednesday's practice after he wasn't seen participating during the media viewing periods on Monday and Tuesday.
Punter battle?
Arkansas sophomore punter Max Fletcher began the season well, but he had a pair of punts in the loss to BYU that brought up some of the concerns fans had with Fletcher last year.
While he's still averaging just over 44 yards per punt through three games, Fletcher did have a 10-yard punt and a 28-yard punt against the Cougars. BYU scored on the very next play after the 10-yard punt to tie the game at 14-14 in the first quarter.
"You know, he’s been as consistent in the first two games," Pittman said. "I was really, really pleased with him. He’d been consistent in practice. However, I will tell you Devin Bale, he’s been punting the ball well, also."
Devin Bale is a junior who transferred in from Northern Colorado. The 6-foot-3, 211-pound punter is from La Jolla, California.
"We’re going to start Max," Pittman said. "But we will punt Devin Bale on Saturday because he’s earned the right to do that. And that’s no negative against Max. Maybe a little bit more concentration there and things of that nature. But competition helps everybody. But Devin’s a really good punter as well, so we will punt him some on Saturday."
Fixing penalties
Arkansas had 14 penalties for 125 yards in the loss to BYU, and it's not a stretch to say the Hogs truly beat themselves in that game. Just cleaning up the basic penalties like false start and holding can go a long way, especially when you have those on the last drive of the game.
"I think penalties come different in each game," Pittman said. "I do. You know, you have different officials too. But penalties are lazy feet. Sometimes they come because you’re wanting to have so much success that you strain or you hold on too long. So certainly we are working to try to clean that up and I believe that we will."
Saturday's game will be a very loud environment for the Hogs and they've been trying to counter that by pumping in crowd noise during practices.
"It's one of our goals this week to embrace the noise," Pittman said. "We're trying to make it worse than it could possibly be, so we can go have fun with the crowd. We know it's going to be loud and all of those type of things. One of our goals is to embrace the noise."
Who is Harold Perkins in scout team?
Harold Perkins Jr. terrorized Arkansas with eight total tackles, three sacks and three tackles for loss as a freshman in 2022
"Just unbelievably fast," Pittman said Monday. "Fast. I went back and watched last year's game this morning actually, and I mean he ran down Malik Hornsby several times, so I know he’s fast.
"But with Perkins, he can do so many things," Pittman said. "He’s probably as fast as anybody they have on their team. He’s very instinctive, but he is fast, and he will hit you. I mean he’s just a really good player."
Pittman mentioned Wednesday that freshman Alex Sanford out of Oxford, Mississippi, has been playing the role of Perkins on the scout team defense.
"He’s the closest thing we can get to him," Pittman said. "We just ask him to do whatever’s on the card. Whatever Perkins does. But, he’s done a really nice job. Obviously, you can’t duplicate that type of speed, but he’s done a nice job with it."
