While Arkansas fans might not have seen it before Saturday, redshirt freshman Isaiah Sategna's performance in the Razorbacks' Red-White scrimmage was an extension of what he's been doing all spring.
The 5-foot-11, 178 pound wide receiver hauled in three passes for 95 yards and two touchdowns during the Razorbacks' roughly 110-play scrimmage at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium.
Sategna shined the most of any Arkansas receiver, which is what he's done often during the spring practice schedule. The native of Fayetteville has a knack for gaining separation from defenders in one-on-one situations at practice, and he did just that during the scrimmage in front of fans.
"I feel like I’m a lot better player than I was last year," Sategna said. "Just the new schemes that we’re drawing up and stuff. They’re throwing great passes and stuff. Like I said in my earlier interview, I’ve just got to do the easy part. I’ve just got to catch the ball. They’re doing the hard part."
A rolled ankle early in the 2022 season set Sategna back and hurt his development as a true freshman. He ended up playing just 24 total offensive snaps on the year — six in the blowout win at Auburn and 18 in the Liberty Bowl win over Kansas.
Sategna is a former four-star recruit and was the No. 4 track and field prospect in the nation for the 2022 class according to MileSplit. His speed is what sets him apart, but he's really come along as a route runner and with his ability to make tough plays look easy.
"If you look at wideouts just in general, he played with a lot of confidence," head coach Sam Pittman said. "He’s always had a lot of talent. But he’s playing with a lot of confidence. From where I was, I felt like one of his two touchdowns was a tough catch, and he made that. He has a lot of confidence right now."
Sategna's first big play of the day was arguably the most electric during the entire scrimmage. He took advantage of a favorable matchup against South Florida transfer linebacker Antonio Grier and flew down the field for a 65-yard touchdown.
"I had seen (Lorando Johnson) tucked in a little bit," Sategna said. "It looked like he was going to maybe blitz, which was the nickel. I knew that it was going to be 1-on-1 with the MIKE linebacker, which was Grier and stuff, so I had cleared him. I was looking for the ball then saw it coming. I had to make the catch and then go score."
The next big play for Sategna was a 17-yard touchdown catch in the back left portion of the end zone on a well-thrown pass from Cade Fortin. He added a 13-yard reception two plays prior to round out his stats for the day.
While it is only the spring, it's clear that Sategna has taken a step forward. He mentioned that his confidence is up with the success, some of which could be contributed to a redshirting the 2022 season.
"I mean he’s much bigger if you look at him," Pittman said. "He’s much thicker than what he was. His confidence is way up. It’s one thing to have confidence in high school and it’s another one to get here and .. the game is so fast. Y’all see it out there. The closer you get to the game it’s fast.
"To play quarterback, to play wideout and make these adjustments on the run. It’s split second decisions. He’s got that ability to separate when he’s able to do that and now he’s able to do that and you now see his true speed."
While his coach has noticed his confidence, Sategna's quarterback, KJ Jefferson, said he is proud of where the wideout is at.
"He’s made great strides this spring," Jefferson said. "He’s really embraced it. That whole receiver room has really embraced the competition level. They come in each and every day ready to work. In that room, it’s just iron sharpening iron.
"I’m glad Isaiah got to showcase his talents today, his athleticism. He made some really good catches down the field and across the middle and stuff like that. We always knew that Isaiah had the potential to play in this league and just being able to just showcase his talents today is really just amazing."
Arkansas brought in a trio of transfer receivers in Tyrone Broden, Isaac TeSlaa and Andrew Armstrong, but an argument could be made that Sategna was the most impressive of the Arkansas receivers through 15 spring practices.
The Razorbacks' spring schedule is complete and up next will be summer workouts ahead of fall camp, in preparation for the season opener against Western Carolina on Saturday, Sept. 2.
