Notebook: Morris addresses clock mismanagement, injury updates, more

FAYETTEVILLE — A classic case of clock mismanagement cost Arkansas points at the end of the first half Saturday afternoon.

Despite being well within Connor Limpert’s range, the Razorbacks watched the final seconds tick down and went into halftime leading Portland State just 10-6.

Arkansas got the ball back with 34 seconds left and quarterback Nick Starkel immediately connected on a deep ball to Trey Knox that gained 38 yards. With no timeouts left, he spiked the ball to stop the clock.

However, tight end Grayson Gunter fell down in bounds on the ensuing play. Instead of spiking it again, Starkel completed a pass to Rakeem Boyd and time ran out. Head coach Chad Morris blamed the sequence on poor communication from the sideline.

“I was signaling ‘clock’ to kill the ball and we had one of our signalers signaling a ‘run it again’ call,” Morris said. “So there was miscommunication right there. I thought we had an opportunity to kick a field goal and that’s on me. I’ll get that corrected.”

The points Arkansas left on the table loomed large when Portland State had the ball and a chance to tie - or win - in the final minute of the game. Luckily for them, the Razorbacks avoided the upset by hanging on to win 20-13.

Second Chance

For a brief moment, it seemed like Arkansas would be without its starting strong safety for the final two and a half quarters of the game.

Kamren Curl was penalized for a late hit on a scramble by quarterback Davis Alexander. The officials initially tacked on a targeting penalty, as well, but the call was overturned. That allowed Curl to remain in the game.

He made the most of his second chance by notching a sack on the very next play, putting the Vikings behind the chains and eventually leading to a punt. Later in the half, Curl came up with the Razorbacks’ first interception of the season and returned it inside the the red zone.

“On the pick, I was just the high safety reading the quarterback,” Curl said. “I read his eyes then I went to get it.”