Razorbacks Report

Three Hogs injured in camp

Arkansas wide receiver Demetrius Wilson warms up at the first fall scrimmage at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville. Arkansas coach Bret Bielema announced the senior wide receiver tore his ACL.
Arkansas wide receiver Demetrius Wilson warms up at the first fall scrimmage at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville. Arkansas coach Bret Bielema announced the senior wide receiver tore his ACL.

FAYETTEVILLE - The second week of training camp has been a rough one for Arkansas with injuries to three key contributors in tight end Austin Tate, receiver Demetrius Wilson and linebacker Otha Peters.

Coach Bret Bielema revealed late Saturday thatWilson had suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in one of his knees and will be lost for the season. The senior, who was listedas a starter, has a redshirt season available.

Peters suffered a broken arm and will be out for a period of six to eight weeks, Bielema said, which would put the Razorbacks right near the start of the SEC play.

“Hopefully try to get him back for the start of SEC play,” Bielema said. “I know he’s got a redshirt, but we’ll kind of talk through that as it goes.”

Peters was backing up senior Austin Jones at middle linebacker.

Tate suffered a shoulder injury Wednesday that required surgery Thursday.

Bielema said it had no bearing on Tate’s previous shoulder surgery.

“They went in there and put in a little plate, and he should be back at a maximum of six weeks,” he said. “There’s a chance to get him back before that.”

Bielema said he was planning to reveal Tate’s injury when he spoke withreporters Friday, but the news came out via Twitter on Friday from former Arkansas assistant Tim Horton, who is now at Auburn. Bielema said he had a phone conversation with Horton about the incident.

Scrimmage notes

Coach Bret Bielema said Brandon Allen didn’t have another 16-of-17 night, as he did in the first scrimmage, but the sophomore quarterback led a 14-play scoring drive in a move-the-ball period that overcame two penalties during Saturday’s evening scrimmage.

“He wasn’t whatever he was last week, but I would say today he was equally as strong in his performance,” Bielema said.

Bielema mentioned that safety Kelvin Fisher Jr. had a pass interception, which marked the Razorbacks’ first in a full-scale scrimmage of camp, and the defense also recovered a fumble.

Freshman receiver Melvinson Hartfield caught a touchdown pass Saturday.

“He’s got fresh legs,” Bielema said. “He’s making people look silly out there.”

Freshman offensive tackles Denver Kirkland and Dan Skipper took a series of snaps with the first offense after starting tackles David Hurd and Grady Ollison had procedure penalties, Bielema said.

Depth news

Reserve quarterback Brian Buehner has switched positions to help with depth at receiver after the season-ending injury to Demetrius Wilson. Bielema said freshman Austin Allen would be the No. 3 quarterback now, behind his brother Brandon Allen and AJ Derby.

Coach Bret Bielema said Daunte Carr and Robert Atiga are battling for second-team reps at middle linebacker behind Austin Jones, who “has really takencontrol of that position.”

Bielema took a positive view from a depth standpoint of the injuries to tight end Austin Tate and linebacker Otha Peters.

“I think that we’ve established a lot better depth than I could ever have imagined at the beginning of fall camp just because of some of our injury situations,” he said.

Spaight soars

Linebackers coach Randy Shannon said he’s been impressed by linebacker Martell Spaight through two weeks.

Spaight, a junior college transfer from Little Rock, moved to strong side linebacker this week after opening camp on the weak side.

“He’s doing a phenomenal job,” Shannon said late Friday. “He’s playing very, very physical.

He’s very powerful in his legs, and he’s doing an unbelievable job of learning and understanding what we’re trying to get done.”

Pushing through

Defensive line coach Charlie Partridge said the Razorbacks have heavy legs midway through camp, noting it’s a grind week for teams across the country.

“They’re pushing their way through,” Partridge said. “They’re recognizing when they’re not moving as well, or maybe they lose a little focus because of fatigue.

“But that’s part of it. You have to create that for these kids to know how to push through it when we’re in a battle on game day.” Daily special

The Razorbacks spent a good portion of Friday night’s practice working on special teams, said Charlie Partridge, who coaches the defensive linemen and kickers.

“Our style of football is going to be to do everything we can to notbeat ourselves,” Partridge said. “So you’re talking about controlling the clock, you’re talking about playing good defense, and all of that goes out the window if your special teams aren’t clean.

“We’re certainly working hard to teach these guys and emphasize that every single day. We’re committing a lot of time to it. We’re doing a lot in terms of teaching special situations.”

Partridge said special teams are crucial for the Razorbacks to have the kind of year they want.

Transfer talk

Coach Bret Bielema said he learned a lesson early in his head coaching career about how to deal with transferring players after he tried to hold up a key player’s transfer to a rival Big Ten school.

“It created a bad situation for him, for me, the media,” Bielema said while discussing his assistance with receiver Mekale McKay’s transfer to Cincinnati last week.

“I was just like, ‘OK, chalk that up as lesson 101,’” Bielema said. “Since that time, I’ve worked with kids.

If I want them to stay, I’ll talk until I’m blue in the face. But if they’ve made the decision, this is something we’re going to do, let’s work together.”

Bielema said he called Cincinnati running backs coach Eddie Gran, a longtime Tommy Tuberville assistant, to help facilitate McKay’s transfer.

Worth noting

Fan day is today from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Walton Arena. Fans are asked to request only one autograph per player or coach. Several giveaways are scheduled, and the event leads into an open scrimmage for the Razorbacks’ volleyball team.

Receivers coach Michael Smith’s daughter, Kylie, is a freshman outfielder who hits left-handed and throws lefthanded for the Razorback softball team this year.

Sports, Pages 26 on 08/18/2013

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