FAYETTEVILLE — Despite some uninspiring comments by Sam Pittman, Treylon Burks not only started Saturday, but played a majority of the game.

The Razorbacks’ preseason All-American was considered “day-to-day” because of an undisclosed lower leg injury that sidelined him for a couple weeks before returning to practice late this week and playing in the 38-17 win over Rice.

Speaking after the game, Pittman said Burks participated in the first four periods of Wednesday’s practice and was a full participant Thursday. When trainer Dave Polanski said he was healthy, the coaching staff made the decision to play him.

The time off was evident, as he had a couple of uncharacteristic drops early on, but Burks still managed to catch five passes for 42 yards.

“He was rusty, I'm sure, and he was nerved up,” Pittman said. “We knew about him, but the nation didn't a year ago. All the sudden, all these publications started coming out that he's a first rounder... The guy hadn't practiced a whole lot (and) I’m sure there was a lot of pressure on him, as well. We'll see a much better Treylon Burks next week."

It wasn’t a highly productive game for the Warren native, but he did crack the top-20 list for career receiving yards. He moved past Jim Benton and Jim Hodge and into 19th place in UA history with 1,337 yards.

Razorback Debuts

Arkansas fans caught their first glimpse of freshman running Raheim “Rocket” Sanders on Saturday and probably came away feeling good about his future.

The four-star wide receiver-turned-running back carried the ball just seven times, but gained 44 yards for an average of 6.3 yards per attempt. A big chunk of that came on the Razorbacks’ game-tying field goal drive in the third quarter.

“t was good for him to get in there and play,” Pittman said. “We needed him in a meaningful situation. I thought that was good. I think that will really do something for his confidence.”

Quarterback KJ Jefferson described his performance as “awesome.”

“When he first came out there, I just told him to settle down, be yourself and when you see a hole, just hit it,” Jefferson said. “You’ve been playing this since you were in little league. This is a moment you’ve been waiting for.”

The other four-star recruit in Arkansas’ 2021 signing class was Ketron Jackson Jr. and he also played some Saturday. He caught a 16-yard pass, but his biggest impact was probably getting called for holding to wipe out Jefferson’s 68-yard touchdown run.