FAYETTEVILLE — Cobi Hamilton was third up in the receivers’ line when the senior looked in and saw starting quarterback Tyler Wilson about to take the next snap in a 1-on-1 period for Arkansas’ receivers and defensive backs.
Hamilton, seizing on seniority, jumped to the front of the line only to see a thirdteam cornerback about to oppose him. Not satisfied, Hamilton waved to cornerback Tevin Mitchel on the sideline and urged the starting cornerback to jump in and match up against him on the route.
The Hamilton-Mitchel
“Cobi is a great player, and he’s one of the top receivers in the nation,” Mitchel said. “It’s an honor to be able to cover a guy in practice every day and get ready for the season.”
Hamilton has shaken free for several deep-ball touchdown passes through the course of camp against Mitchel.
In the second half of Saturday’s scrimmage, Mitchel celebrated after breaking up a first-down pass to Hamilmatchup has been perhaps the highest-level individual pairing during the Razorbacks’ camp, and it has played out time and again between the veteran wideout and the sophomore corner who worked his way into the starting rotation halfway through his freshman season.
“He’s a heck of an athlete ... one of the top DBs in this conference,” Hamilton said of Mitchel.
ton over the right side. On the next snap, Hamilton ran deep down the right sideline and settled under a Wilson pass for a 29-yard score beyond Mitchel.
“He’s going to win some, I’m going to win some,” Hamilton said. “Hopefully I win a lot more than he does.”
Said Mitchel: “He made a play and I made a play. That’s football. If you get beat on the play, especially as a corner, you have to keep your head up.”
Defensive coordinator Paul Haynes said Mitchel, who missed team periods Tuesday with a minor leg injury, is improving daily.
“Tevin is having a great camp for us so far, and it’s good to see you’re starting to win some of those battles,” he said. “That’s the great thing going against this offense. You’re going against great receivers every day, so you can only get better.”
Hamilton, of Texarkana, Texas, is the Razorbacks’ leading returning wideout with 34 catches for 542 yards and 4 touchdowns a year ago. Mitchel, of Mansfield, Texas, ranked sixth on the team with 56 tackles last year despite making just seven starts.
“Having a chance to go against a guy like Cobi is great,” cornerbacks coach Bobby Allen said of Mitchel, describing him as a growing leader in the secondary. “He brings a lot of energy every time he’s out on the field.
“Cobi wants to compete. I think he can get that spark to get our guys to want to go and compete. So all that is really good, healthy competition.”
Sports, Pages 17 on 08/15/2012