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FAYETTEVILLE — Finally getting an opportunity for extended playing time, Jalen Catalon is showing Arkansas fans why he was so highly touted coming out of high school.
The redshirt freshman safety came up big again in Arkansas’ 33-21 win over Ole Miss on Saturday, recovering a fumble near the goal line, returning an interception for a touchdown and delivering several bone-crushing hits.
One of Catalon’s nine tackles actually briefly knocked Elijah Moore, the Rebels’ star receiver, out of the game in the first quarter.
“He’s one of those guys he's a technician,” linebacker Grant Morgan said. “Linebackers have a joke about him. We call him Ironman because we always know he's going to be able to make us right, if we mess up, behind us.”
The pick-six came on Ole Miss’ first play after Arkansas kicked a field goal, giving the Razorbacks 10 points in a span of 10 seconds. It was a 35-yard return that made it 17-0 early in the second quarter.
Morgan added a 23-yard pick-six late in the fourth quarter. It marked the first time Arkansas has had two interceptions returned for a touchdown in the same game since at least 1990, which is as far as HawgBeat’s records go.
Through four games, Catalon - a Rivals250 prospect coming out of high school in 2019 - is second on the team with 45 tackles. That total includes a team-high 29 solo stops.
Here are several other notes and tidbits from the Razorbacks’ win over Ole Miss…
Clary’s 1st Start of 2020
Despite being a two-year starter, Ty Clary didn’t play a single snap the first two weeks of the season. He finally got his chance during the second quarter last week and was part of a resurgent offense that nearly knocked off Auburn.
Fresh off that performance, the senior from Fayetteville was in the starting lineup against Ole Miss. Just as he did a week earlier, he replaced Beaux Limmer at right guard. It was the first time this season that Arkansas changed up the starting five on its offensive line.
However, Clary and Limmer appeared to split the reps at the position. They rotated back and forth multiple times throughout the game.
Punter Switch
Another change in the Razorbacks’ starting lineup Saturday was at punter. Used as a situational guy a couple of times during the first three weeks, Reid Bauer was the primary punter against the Rebels - a role he had most of the 2018 season.
